Anthony Imperato and the Future of America’s Lever Gun
Before I even asked a question, Anthony Imperato wanted to set the tone:
“I’m 68 years old. I’ve been in the business for almost 45 years. I’m semi-retired, sure, and I still keep my eye on things. So, you know, I appreciate moments like this, and love talking about the business, the industry, and, most importantly, the consumers out there.”
Imperato is the founder and CEO of Henry Repeating Arms, and if you care about lever guns at all, his fingerprints are everywhere in the modern landscape. In 1994, he took out a home equity loan and launched the Colt Blackpowder Arms Company from Brooklyn. Two years later, he and his father, Louis, founded Henry. By 1997, they were standing behind a folding table in the SHOT Show basement with a prototype rifle and no guarantees.
From that humble start, Henry Repeating Arms grew into a company defined by an exacting devotion to consumer service and American manufacturing. As other companies outsourced, Imperato doubled down on a different philosophy: Made in America, or Not Made at All.
And when the lever gun world was at its weakest, Henry kept the platform alive.
“We Gave Birth to the Lever Action Rifle”
When I asked Imperato whether today’s lever-gun boom is a fad or a lasting shift, he didn’t reach for analytics. He reached back to 1860.
“Okay, I’m going to take a step back in history. And so, you know, if we go way back to the invention of the lever action… Benjamin Tyler Henry invented the first repeating rifle, the lever-action, in 1860, and then, of course, from the mid-1860s on, Winchester took control… It was America’s rifle.”
For him, that isn’t an opinion; it’s identity.
“And I’d still like to state that claim, that it’s America’s rifle… We gave birth to the lever-action rifle.”
But the story wasn’t always bright.
“Now we come to the 1980s 1990s and there is beginning severe decline… Winchester… bankruptcy… Marlin was aging out…”
And then came Henry.
“Lo and behold, I started this small company… and three or four years later, we put out the first Henry lever action rifle… I can confidently and humbly say that we were responsible for the resurrection of the lever action and preventing it from becoming literally extinct…”
So, is today’s resurgence a trend or a transformation?
“This platform is here to stay… It’s not going anywhere. Okay?”
“This Is Our Baby”
Henry is widely recognized as the lever-gun company most willing to innovate, with side gates, threaded barrels, tactical variants, collaborations, and modern designs that push the platform forward.
I asked Imperato why.
“Well… the lever action, you know, that’s what we’re primarily known for… This is our baby, the lever action, and we eat, sleep, and you know what the other word is… it’s what we do…”
And crucially:
“We listen to the consumers. We listen to our dealers… and sometimes we create things that the market wants.”
Henry’s success wasn’t built on guessing. It was built on listening.
What the Lever Gun Gave Him
When I asked Imperato what this business had given him that he never expected, the conversation shifted from industry to gratitude.
“Jay, that’s probably… the most important question you can ask me… I am so grateful for the gifts that were bestowed on me… traveling all over America… meeting the greatest of people… all races, creeds, colors…”
Then came the part he calls “the gifts.”
“Guns for great causes… pediatric cancer… families of military and first responders… youth shooting sports… those are all gifts… I’m incredibly, incredibly blessed.”
This isn’t just commerce to him.
“Sometimes I shake my head… thank you, God… I can’t believe this has all happened… It’s a special place… we fight a lot of things… but I still love it.”
The emotion in his voice says everything.
“When You Think Lever Gun, Think Henry”
Finally, I asked him what he wanted to say to the entire lever-gun community—manufacturers, hunters, newcomers, collectors, everyone.
“Our goal at Henry is going to be one stop shopping in lever actions… everything from our garden gun… up to the long distance, super accurate lever action… We want to be everything in lever actions… deliver quality… extraordinary customer service…”
And then the line that may as well be Henry’s true motto.
“When you think levers, think Henry, and when you think Henry, think you’re going to be happy. Henry is happiness.”
That is Anthony Imperato in one sentence: bold, sincere, and utterly unashamed of building something meaningful.
A Future Worth Fighting For
The lever gun isn’t just surviving, it’s evolving.
It’s being built by more companies than at any point in the last century. It’s being carried in more hunting camps, more trucks, and more tree stands. It’s being embraced by new shooters and lifelong hunters alike. It’s inspiring modern cartridges, tactical variants, suppressor-ready rifles, and precision builds.
And the reason is simple:
People like Anthony Imperato refused to let America’s rifle fade.
Henry didn’t just make lever actions.
They kept them alive long enough for the rest of the industry and the country to rediscover them.
When you think about the future of the lever gun, you realize something fundamental:
As long as people keep building them with heart, honor, and passion, the lever gun will remain what it has always been: a uniquely American rifle with a future worth fighting for.
Jay Pinsky
Editor – The Hunting Wire
jay@theoutdoorwire.com