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As always, being on the lookout for the rare and unusual (or, the usual, meaning usually nobody else will buy it...), I came across this 12bore rifle at a recent auction.
There are a couple disclosed issues with it.
The hammer is a replacement which, although a decent job, is not correct in that it allows all of the force to be born on the firing pin. In most guns this is proper, but the Henry design has such hammer force that the remedy was for the underside of the "dolphin" hammer to actually contact the top of the action body. There must be some amount of final filing to insure adequate firing pin engagement and that the underside of the hammer has nice flat engagement with the action.
That is why Henrys have such a distinctive hammer shape.
Anyway, the hammer and the overall used condition were the only negatives in the description and as you may know, I actually love rifles with honest signs of heavy use. IMO, they have soul and of course are more affordable!

Now, to the unexpected surprise.
The bore in this gun is absolutely beautiful Henry rifling! Oh, there are a few areas with very slight surface roughness but look as though they will clean out well. By the looks of the chamber, it will use a paper shell but the bore is, I believe, .739" so it might take a brass case.
Just one oiled felt donut pushed through with zero scrubbing revealed this:

Here is the rest of the rifle:

The auction photo

And for a funny comparison of the 12b, a 450/400 and a small frame for the 360 2-1/4"
The more common 450 sized frame is just a little bit bigger than the 400 but mine is a left hammer so wouldn't fit in the lineup.

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He who lives in the past is doomed to enjoy it.

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