Pistol caliber carbines (PCCs) chambered in 9mm Luger are popular competition and personal defense options. The smaller, low-recoil round in a compact package is more conservative than a full-sized rifle firing a full-power round. PCCs also excel in situations where handguns in the same caliber would be too unwieldy to shoot. When Henry Repeating Arms released the Henry Homesteader 9mm carbine in 2022, the idea of the working gun came back into the vernacular.
Any gun can be a working gun. However, in the context of the great outdoors, it is often that one gun that does a bit of everything but none of those things well. A typical hunting rifle has plenty of power but is usually low capacity and not too quick on reloads. Small-caliber rifles chambered in rounds like .22 rimfire are quicker to shoot with more capacity but lack power. The 9mm carbine has the virtue of being cheaper to feed, quicker to shoot, and easier to handle than a typical hunting rifle. Meanwhile, the 9mm has about three times the power of a typical .22LR. The Henry Homesteader embodies this flexibility while retaining the homely blued-steel furniture and checkered walnut stocks that characterize the hunting rifles that all-too-often pull triple duty for making meat, putting down pests, and defending the homestead. Jeremy Stone from GMW got his hands on a Henry Homesteader and recently gave us a straight report from the range.
The Henry Homesteader
The Homesteader is Henry Repeating Arms’ first autoloading platform. This rifle is built along Henry’s traditional lines while offering some accessory flexibility. The forend and buttstock are made of oiled American walnut with crisp checkering where the hands meet the stock. The stocks are separated by a beefy billeted steel receiver and the gun is complimented by a threaded round barrel with blued finish.
In terms of controls, the Henry Homesteader is a blowback-operated 9mm carbine with reciprocating bolt. The charging handle can be mounted on the receiver’s left or right side. The magazine and bolt release are also reversible. The Homesteader does not lock open on an empty chamber. However, the bolt can be held back by retracting it rearward and depressing the bolt catch in front of the trigger guard.
Unlike most Henry rifles, the Homesteader has a manual safety. Similar to many Mossberg shotguns, the shooter’s thumb operates the Homesteader’s tang-mounted safety. This safety is conveniently placed whether the shooter is wrong-handed or right-handed.
Although aesthetically presented in the same vein of the long-discontinued Marlin Camp Carbine as a BAR-esque farm rifle, the Henry brings more adaptability to the game with a modular magazine well. The mag well can be changed for proprietary Henry magazines or commonly available OEM Glock, Smith & Wesson, or Sig Sauer magazines.
Henry Homesteader Quick Specs:
- Caliber: 9mm Luger
- Barrel Length: 16.37 inches
- Overall Length: 35.75 inches
- Weight: 6.6 lbs
- Muzzle: 1/2×28-inch TPI
- Receiver: Anodized steel
- Safety: Tang-mounted manual
- Sights: Skinner peep rear and Marble’s front gold-beaded post
- MSRP: $928 (2023)
Jeremy’s Take
When Jeremy takes out a 9mm carbine, he tends to do a lot of moving and shooting. It looks cool and heats up the firearm under scrutiny. For a homely offering like the Homesteader, he opted for a square range setup. After some warmup shooting, Jeremy settled in at the bench on the firing line to give it a proper evaluation.
His initial shooting impressions were good. Aside from an initial failure to feed using a Magpul D50 drum magazine, he had no other malfunctions. The Homesteader’s weight made it tame and quick to shoot. Although the 9mm’s sonic crack remained, Jeremy’s Silencerco suppressor did an ample job at deadening the sound with no perceived blowback into the action. Unfortunately, a heavy trigger pull quickly became noticeable, so Jeremy sat down to get to the bottom of it and answer a few other questions along the way.
The Trigger
The trigger is short and crisp, but Jeremy estimated the actual pull weight around 5 1/2 pounds. Using a Wheeler trigger pull scale, he consistently pulled the trigger at 7 1/2 pounds. This trigger pull weight is greater than the rifle’s weight. While workable for close-end use, that weight is unacceptably high for shooting at distance. Henry rifles are well-known for their glassy, short triggers. However, Henry’s Single Shot rifle and shotgun series were recently recalled for onerous trigger pulls.
Ballistics
Jeremy did his best to work past the trigger as he tested the Homesteader’s power and accuracy. While the braced-pistol dominated the PCC market until recently, firearms like these still had short barrels with similar ballistics to a handgun. Although most pistol caliber ammunition is designed for handgun-length barrels, the Homesteader’s traditional barrel length is a ballistic advantage and adds to the 9mm Luger’s reach.
Ballistics By The Inch is an excellent real-world database for general ballistics figures. Their analysis showed a 17 inch barrel will max-out the 9mm cartridge’s potential. Generally speaking, less than that results in decreased performance while a greater barrel length has no benefit. Jeremy shot the Homesteader over a chronograph and, despite a dying battery in the chrono, got a preliminary muzzle velocity of 1329 feet per second. While Jeremy does not give us the type of ammunition he shot, the database puts it in the ballpark for standard pressure 115-grain ammunition.
Accuracy
Next, Jeremy put the Homesteader on the benchrest and tried for accuracy at 100 yards. While a closer distance would be more appropriate for initial sight-in, the 9mm Luger, when propelled by a carbine, should hit targets at that distance with some authority. Jeremy stacked three rounds into one hole at 100 yards. Unfortunately, it was several inches to the right of the bullseye. An additional round successfully hit the bullseye at the right elevation. Overall, Jeremy’s punches on paper showed good accuracy potential but too much vertical stringing, an indication the trigger pull forced movement to the left and right on the bench.
Although an improved trigger pull might save performance, Jeremy ultimately concluded the Homesteader, with his eyes and stock iron sights, is not up to the task for killing varmints from a football field away. However, he came around to the idea of the Homesteader as a potential training rifle where 9mm ammunition and Glock mags are plentiful. You can see Jeremy’s full review here.
