For those fond of western movies,
Henry repeating rifles and
Winchester Lever-Action rifles are omnipresent easily recognizable elements. All the fights with Indians and most heroes use these carbines armed through the trigger guard. One of the modern movies (
The Last Samurai (2003), Tom Cruise) shows the hero exhibiting such a weapon (I no longer know whether it was a Henry or Winchester rifle), and George Armstrong Custer lost the fight in Little Big Horn in front of Henry repeating rifles (and more than 1000 Indians…).
We have not managed to identify this model of rifle manufactured by Gonher, though we may suppose it was a Henry repeating rifle (according to its shape), and if you have suggestions, we are open to them.
History of defect/accident
As usual, the cause of the accident was the manner and purpose of use… In other words, a rifle (carbine) has several uses: as a bat, a lever, a small bench to sit on it, a shovel, an oar, or anything else crosses the mind of small cowboys.
The same way we lost the large number of photos taken, we lost the initial story as well (might this have happened due to the number of beers drunk with his father?) Anyway, the rifle butt stock was broken and not just anywhere but in a resistance area – the joining area of the metal mechanism.
Action plans
Any repair involving broken plastic materials is usually made by gluing – with solvents or adhesives. In this case, we used both materials with different even complementary purposes. The first approached aimed at gluing the broken parts and the second aimed at the strengthening of butt stock-breechblock assembly in order to avoid such accidents in the future…
Required parts and tools
We dismantled everything that was demountable – since it rattled from all its joints, so we used some mechanical tools, the vice bench, pliers and elastic tapes for fastening, solvents and adhesives. I do not know if I spoke about the importance of space, but the place where you let something set for 24 hours is very important, especially when you have intruding “guests” (from 3 to 16 years and not only)…
The Repair
We completely dismantled the rifle, blew away all dust and sand with compressed air, we greased all the moving parts, glued the broken parts with solvent and waited. The next day, we put everything together fastening the rattling parts (almost all of them rattled) with silicone rubber for a better rigidity. Nothing left but to “fire a few cartridges” with the little cowboy when he impatiently came to take over his beloved rifle…
Final Result
Henry repeating rifle – left side view. As usual, the “beneficiary” was extremely happy by continuing their “activity” as if they never stopped… We know that probably they will come back with another rifle or maybe with the same one.
Other comments
Gonher toy weapons (imitations/replicas or not) have different levels of quality. Normally, the more metal it contains or the closer it is to the original (in terms of details), the better the item is. For non-collectors and for those who supply us with working material, these details are less important. We, the ones ensuring their operation, must compensate for the lacks or omissions of designers and manufacturers.
All images left available:
