Austin & Halleck 420 "Mini-Review"
Immediately when you look at an A & H, you notice that it looks like a "real rifle," as far from a plastic toy as can be imagined. At first blush, the curly maple stock tells you that this is not the common specimen of "highly polished plastic made by old world craftsmen."
The supplied Austin & Halleck 420 comes complete with TWO stocks; the fancy curly maple stock with the barreled action installed, and an auxiliary synthetic stock for those who wish to keep their fleur-de-lis checkering pristine while hunting the bush. In my case, the fancy maple looks far too good too be removed.
After a recent bout with muzzleloader triggers that have been just plain lousy, the Austin & Halleck trigger was a delight. There is a little initial take-up, no grit, and an excellent, repeatable, 3 lb. 14 oz. break.
The rest is in the shooting. Like the trigger, love the wood, some 209 blowback is there but LESS than I have seen on ANY open action 209 fired muzzleloader.
Either by luck or by design, the Warne front base partially extends over the breech area, and the 209 primer areas. While still an open action, the significantly less-than-normal 209 blowback is deflected further by the steel Warne base. We mounted a Redfield 2 x 7 scope; and purposely sighted in the rifle with no scope protector. There was some residue on the bottom of the scope, but surprisingly little more than the so-called "sealed" Knight full plastic jacket Disc Extreme. The rifle is extremely comfortable to shoot, even with relatively heavy 405 gr. Powerbelts. Apparently, the rigidity offered by the half-octagonal section actually works. We were shooting about an inch groups with T7 pellets + 295 gr. and 405 gr. Powerbelts. Day in, day out-- 5 shooting sessions, 1" 100 yard groups every time. How delightfully boring!
The nickel finish Provo, Utah gun has an action even smoother / easier to cock than the blued 420, and an even better trigger, which breaks at 3 lbs. 10 oz. The A&H standard ramrod is not quite as good as the XS Sights Power Rod, which is a factory A & H option, but better than the Knight and Thompson rods.
Usable barrel length is wildly exaggerated by many muzzleloading manufacturers. For example, the Thompson Encore 26" barrel is actually 25" muzzle to breech. The CVA Optima Pro 29" barrel is only 27.5" muzzle to breech. Both these guns have false muzzles, subtracting the 1" QLA section from the Thompson gives you a 24" usable barrel. The A & H 420 nickel's 26" barrel is actually LONGER than claimed, at about 26.5" from muzzle to breech. Most many not realize it, but an A & H 26" barrel is LONGER than a Thompson Omega's 28" barrel. Go figure!
There were design changes I was ignorant of. I initially felt that the "Provo, Utah" made (current manufacture) gun was a bit better balanced, but wrote it off to wood density, etc. More to it than that-- the Provo gun's barrel is ΒΌ" SHORTER than the Missouri assembled gun. The checkering is sharper, and the recoil pad is better fitted as well. Add to this the smoother action and lighter trigger of the current "Provo" model, the Provo gun is clearly the better gun.
It has been a LONG time since I have been as impressed with a muzzleloader like I am with the Austin & Halleck 420. With its superb trigger, rigid barrel to stock assembly, amazingly good repeatable accuracy, very soft shooting, and knock-out gorgeous curly maple wood with very crisp beautiful checkering, the A & H 420 is a gun to take pride in. It has a quick-release bolt that works like a dream, and the hammer actually self-extracts your 209 primers! Very handy. If you have no need for 209s, the A & H shoots #11 caps or musket caps with the change of a nipple.
It shoots as good as it looks, and that speaks loads. I think it is one wonderful muzzleloader-- and, the word is quickly spreading. The Austin & Hallecks just keep getting better.
More info is at
www.austinhalleck.com
