So, does a octagon barrel make any diffrence?

[Preacher]

It was purely aesthetics to me. The octagon barrel is just plain sexy!

[Mistered]

It was purely aesthetics to me. The octagon barrel is just plain sexy!

Yep! - hard to beat an octagon barrel for appearance - they are WAY to cool looking!

[RanchRoper]

I guess a factory reject hexagon barrel would a collectors item...

[clovishound]

It certainly makes them heavier. I found the weight and balance of the BBS to fit me better than the BBB. YMMV.

[Sir Henry]

My Small Game Carbines in .22LR have a good balance and are my most accurate Henrys.

[ESquared]

I was having the same debate (BBS vs. Classic in 357) and I was able to handle both, side-by-side and the first thing that jumped out at me wasn't the weight difference (which is noticeable) but the fact that the Classic has not checkering on the stocks. They're both beautiful, but, for me and my first Henry, I went with checkered stocks. Easier to keep a good grasp on (at least in my mind) and maybe a bit less of a worry about losing a grasp and potentially scarring up that beautiful brass finish.
But that's just me.

[Mags]

I bought my Henry H009B LCR for the shiny brass and octagon barrel beauty. The recoil kicks and my shoulder is sore after 50-60 rounds. But the recoil kick is straight back into my shoulder. The barrel being so heavy doesn't lift very much, making for very little reposition on the next shot. By comparison my BrazTech Rossi .22LR doesn't kick back into my shoulder hardly at at all, but the barrel does lift a whole lot more. My target groupings are way better with the heavier barrel rifle.

However packing the heavier rifle around was tiring on my arms, so I bought a 'No drill' sling for it (didn't want to drill the beautiful wood of the stock).

So initially, personal preference and then learning the heavy barrel gave me better shooting results.

[jcch004dd]

I like the look of an octagon barrel, but I prefer the weight of a round barrel. 8+ pounds doesn't balance well at the end for a carry gun.

[Mistered]

I have four octagon barrel rifles - yes they DO make a difference!

[Mags]

For me the biggest benefits are that the heavy octagon barrel absorbs straight back recoil better and gives better target grouping because the barrel doesn't recoil upward very much when fired. So I don't have to reposition hardly at all between shots.

Off course the downside for me, the rifle is tiring to carry when scouting around. A sling is a must for carry.