[Jeff Higgins]

Um, yeah - Henry. I wouldn't own one if you gave it to me. "Made in America or not made at all" notwithstanding, they are no Marlin nor Winchester. Cheap junk built to a price. Hardly anything with which to judge the veracity of the .44 mag in a rifle, nor any other straight walled cartridge.

You guys know I'm a fan of both lever guns and single shots. Most of mine shoot straight walled cartridges, mostly rifle cartridges, but a few shoot revolver cartridges. While none are bench rest guns by any stretch, all will shoot better than I can hold from any practical field position. They are eminently useful rifles in the real world, away from the gun club ranges and their fixed bench rests. Relatively lightweight, well balanced, easy to carry for extended periods of time, unlike some scoped AR with a 30 round mag hanging out of the bottom, right where you want to cradle it when you're out walking in the woods.

And yes, the real rifle calibers "kick like a mule", at least from the perspective of someone weaned on semi-automatic "poodle shooters" like the AR15. Get over it. It's a simple fact of life. If you want a real rifle, effective in the field, it is, by its very nature, going to kick. Aversion to that can be overcome with practice, which breeds familiarity. It's a mindset. Anyone can do it. If all you want to do is plink in the gravel pit, just avoid all of that and a lot of needless expense and buy the rimfire that pleases you the most. Have fun, plink away - no one needs more power than that to roll soup cans.