My Henry youth gun is a solid rifle and I've got thousands upon thousands of rounds through it with no issues. Where did the ones you played with wobble? More than likely it just needed to have the buttstock screw tightened (the buttstock comes off with one long bolt, and if it's loose the buttstock will wiggle a little). It's the same with the foregrip, it's held on by one long screw and if it's loose the foregrip might move a little.

My little Henry is actually one of my favorite .22's. It will feed and fire all .22LR, .22L, and .22S rounds just fine [.22 shorts are great for small pest control or backyard target shooting]. It's very compact [overall length is only 33", which is ~7" shorter than a standard Marlin 39A or Browning BL-22]. It's very light [at around 4.5 lbs]....and finally, I really like the hooded front sight, as it can be extremely quick to aim when hunting small game.

Another upside to Henry is that they have one of the best warranties in the business, they pretty much go out of their way to make sure you're satisfied. Amazingly, if you e-mail the company, Anthony Imperato (the owner) will more often than not answer your e-mail personally.

Do they make the highest quality guns out there? Not really, as they use a lot of cast parts and some plastic here and there (less on their higher end guns). However, they make an awesome gun for the money and they're reliable, which is what counts. Plus all the components for them are made right here in the USA.

I mean, I paid the same price for my little Henry as I did for a compact 10/22, and I would take the Henry over the Ruger. To get a better quality lever rifle, one would probably have to go with a Browning BL-22 or a Marlin 39A, which are around double the price at least....and a lot of people have had issues with newer Marlin 39A's (specifically related to poor extraction and light-strikes from the rebounding hammer).