Henry, BLR or Savage 99 308
 

I have a friend looking for a Henry Long Ranger 308, I am open to thoughts on the good or the bad of the three listed in title.

I've owned all but the Henry. The BLR I had was a newer aluminum framed model in 358. It was very accurate, but didnt always fire when you pulled the trigger. I researched it a bit and found there were quite a few guys with the same problem so I sold it. I've had quite a few Savage 99s over the years and still have one. IMO they are the cadillac of all lever guns. Most shoot real good and they are built to last. Take one apart sometime and you will be amazed at how overbuilt and simple they really are.

Scoped or iron sights?
 

Savage 99 & 1899 were never meant to be scoped. The receiver and location for scope base mounting holes is so far forward you'd need a scope with about 5 inches of relief. Good lever gun other than that.

Unless you have a circa 1958 with the rolling brass rounds in mag counter. My brother inherited my dad's and had it looked at by a smith in Cgy who advised it's pretty much an unfixable issue. Either the little spring is tough to find or the repair cost is over the gun value.

This is a 99F I believe. Solid enough gun but the shorter barrel made it jump like crazy and he could never get it to shoot very accurately. Nice bush carry gun for close range work.

I will say up front that I have no experience with the Henry. I did end up in a deal where I got a BLR in 308 and a 99 in 243 with a clip. I played with them a while and found the Savage was easier to carry. It had a better hand feel and balance. I would take the Savage any day.

How about the Winchester model 88? I have my grandfathers, the serial number puts the manufacture date in 1958. It still shoots like new.

Ive never heard that complaint before. My savage 99 was drilled for scope bases by savage factory. Savage even moved where they originally put the logo on the action so that the logo is still visible with scope bases installed.

My scope bases are the exact same distance forward of the trigger as my bolt action rifles. A 3 inch or 3.5 inch eye relief would have zero issue being installed. I have a 4 inch eye relief scope installed, and it is fine also.

The only negative about savage 99 is that they stopped making them.

The very early models were not drilled and tapped, but later models were, and that takes in most of the 99s ever built. Being able to mount a scope on the 99 was a huge selling point. Im not sure what you are talking about but I've never seen a 99 with scope base mounting holes so far forward. I've had four scoped 99s and they are as easy to mount a scope on as any bolt gun, a friend collects them and he has over 20 with scopes.

Can't comment on the Browning and Savage, but I do have Henry's in 30-30 and rimfire.
Both have shot very well and are very reliable. They are known for their butter smooth actions...many times I've cycled the rimfire and been sure it didn't pick up a round because it had so little resistance.
Another thing is that they are very well know for their customer service.
I've never needed to take them up on it, but last year I did send them a very complimentary email. A week later I received in the mail a nice Zippo lighter with their logo on it and an letter thanking me for their patronage.
That don't happen often these days!