Henry H14 Long Ranger Big Woods Carbine: 18.5-Inch .308 Lever Carbine

The Henry H14 Long Ranger Big Woods Carbine is a purpose-built variant of the Long Ranger platform, designed in collaboration with Big Woods Bucks, a whitetail hunting brand focused on hunting large-antlered bucks in dense northeastern timber. The collaboration started with a clear specification: shorter, lighter, and faster to mount than the standard Long Ranger, without sacrificing the terminal performance .308 Win provides.

Henry cut the barrel from 20 inches to 18.5 inches. That single change drops overall length from roughly 40 inches to 39 inches and keeps the rifle under 7 pounds. In thick cover where maneuvering between trees is as important as making the shot, those 1.5 inches and the trimmer balance point are real. The carbine-length barrel on a lever action also keeps the rifle from catching brush on the swing. For a more comprehensive look at how the Long Ranger compares to other hunting rifles, see our best deer hunting rifle guide.

Big Woods Bucks is a New York-based hunting brand built around pursuing mature whitetail bucks in unbroken northeastern forest, the kind of terrain where deer move through second-growth hardwoods and shots inside 80 yards are the rule rather than the exception. The rifle was unveiled at a launch event held at Frank's Gun Shop in Amsterdam, New York, with BWB founder and Henry representatives on hand.

The collaboration drove three specific choices. First, the shortened barrel for tight-cover handling. Second, the Skinner peep sight to replace the factory folding rear; the peep gives a naturally centered sight picture that comes up faster under pressure than a notch-and-bead combination. Third, the matte black receiver finish instead of the traditional blued steel, reducing glare and reflection in the woods. Henry added the Big Woods Bucks logo engraving on the buttstock, along with pre-installed sling swivel studs, which saves a step for hunters who will be carrying this rifle all day.

.308 Win at timber hunting ranges (inside 100 yards, often inside 50) delivers terminal performance that far exceeds what any whitetail requires. The case for .308 Win specifically, rather than the traditional .30-30, is the Long Ranger's detachable box magazine. Because the magazine feeds from below rather than a tube in front of the barrel, the rifle can use spitzer bullets with high ballistic coefficients. When a blood trail leads out of the thick woods and opens into a field, a hunter with a .308 Long Ranger is not limited by round-nose bullet selection the way a .30-30 tube gun is.

For the ranges where big-woods hunting actually happens, Federal Fusion and Hornady SST loads in 150- or 165-grain .308 perform reliably and are widely stocked. See our best .308 ammo guide for a ranked list of hunting loads. The 18.5-inch barrel on the Big Woods Carbine will lose roughly 50-100 fps compared to a 24-inch bolt gun, which has no practical consequence at woods distances.

The factory Skinner peep sight is the most functionally meaningful upgrade over the standard Long Ranger. Skinner Sights machines their peep bodies from solid bar stock, and the ghost-ring aperture is sized for fast acquisition at close range, not precision target shooting. The shooter's eye naturally centers the front sight in the rear aperture without deliberate effort, which is exactly what timber hunting demands when a deer appears at 20 yards and moves quickly through a gap in the brush.

The orange fiber optic front sight picks up light well in the gray-dawn and dim-timber conditions that define October and November deer hunting. The combination of a wide peep rear and a bright fiber optic front is a proven woods-hunting setup; standard factory sights on most lever guns are fine for calm range use but slow in hunting conditions. The receiver remains drilled and tapped for a Weaver 63B scope base, so hunters who want to add a low-powered variable for longer shots in transitional cover have a clear path. For more on Henry lever action upgrade options, see our best Henry lever action upgrades guide.

The lever action hunting market has seen sustained growth since 2020, driven by hunters in states with straight-wall or limited-cartridge regulations, and by hunters who simply prefer the manual action and classic aesthetics of a lever gun. Henry holds a dominant share of that market with American manufacturing, a broad lineup, and consistent build quality. The Big Woods Carbine extends that reach into the specialized segment of thick-cover, close-range whitetail hunting that was previously served mainly by .30-30 rifles.

The closest direct competitors are the Marlin 336 in .30-30, which is lighter and shorter but limited to round-nose bullets, and the Browning BLR in .308, which covers the same cartridge at a higher price. The Henry Long Ranger in standard .308 at $1,280-$1,330 MSRP undercuts the BLR meaningfully; the Big Woods Carbine at $1,500 adds the sight and carbine package at a $170-$220 premium over the base model. For a broader comparison of lever action options, see our best lever action rifle guide. You can also compare platforms side by side on our comparison tool.

Henry and Big Woods Bucks built a rifle for a specific job: moving through heavy timber, getting on a deer quickly at close range, and making a clean shot. The H14 Big Woods Carbine checks every box on that specification. The 18.5-inch barrel keeps it handy. The Skinner peep sight is a genuine improvement over the standard rear. The .308 Win chambering and detachable box magazine keep the rifle versatile outside the woods when longer shots present themselves.

At $1,500 MSRP, it sits at a premium over the base Long Ranger ($1,280-$1,330) and the same price as several entry-level bolt guns. Hunters who will actually use it for the stated purpose, tracking deer in northeastern timber, will find the sight setup and carbine proportions worth the difference. Hunters who want a general-purpose .308 lever gun and plan to add their own scope will find the standard Long Ranger a better starting point. The rifle is shipping now. Check Henry's dealer locator at henryusa.com for local availability. For a broader look at .308 rifle options across all action types, see our best .308 rifle guide.