Henry Rifle Forums

Just got my Big boy case hardened 44 mag rifle (10+1). Shoots great with my old eyes and buckhorn sights, nicer trigger than my Smith 1854. I want to put on a picatiny scope rail and Henry customer service said for model H012GCC, rail BB-RSMP is the right choice. I noticed that the top of the case hardened receiver has a slight radius along the 1 inch dimension. Some cheap after market rails have a flat bottom, thus causing an unstable mount which would require shimming or milling rail. I have not received the Henry scope rail yet to see if the radius is milled into the rail bottom. I wondered if others that have this rifle have a good fit with the Henry rail.

[update]My other Henrys have the radius part at the barrel end of the receiver. My H012GCC .45 receiver is true flat in length and width.

[previously]
I bought a 3rd party rail for my H012GCC 45 Colt. It's short enough to not encroach on the radius part at the barrel end of the receiver.
I did have to round jeweler file the forward most hole in the mount with a couple swips. That last hole didn't quit line up (guessing couple of thousandths).

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Also, Welcome to the forum!

Thanks for reply, I have a better explanation of problem. I clamped a machinist square to receiver and shined light for back light to see the curvature.
I put feeler guage of .005" thru mid way into curve. Without making any modifications to receiver or scope rail any opinions on whether this will effect the steadiness of the scope? Or is this good enough since we are looking for only 100 yard accuracy. 50 yard accuracy is great with the buck horn sights and my old eyes. There does not seem to be a quick fix if trying to achieve accurate mounting results. In thinking out loud, i come up with the following ideas....Sanding the scope rail with wet dry paper attached to a large radius like a 5 gal bucket is option. Mounting vertically in milling machine and taking cuts with a long radius fly cutter is another option. Mounting in shaper and taking cuts to arrive at a guestimate of the raidus and then hand sanding against a 5 gallon bucket to arrive at a close desired radius. Or finally the best for perfect fit is to precision grind the top of the receiver so any rail with matched holes can be used.
Question is if mounting a scope is desired, should I just snug down the scope rail and add some shims if necessary.
Anyone encounter a curved top receiver?

coalburner1854 wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 13, 2025 9:48 am

... Or finally the best for perfect fit is to precision grind the top of the receiver so any rail with matched holes can be used.
Question is if mounting a scope is desired, should I just snug down the scope rail and add some shims if necessary.
Anyone encounter a curved top receiver?

I wouldn't grind the receiver. It'll ruin the Case Hardening, it's only skin deep.
What you might try is to put a strip of rubber (not plastic) electrical tape on the bottom of the mount and then just snug the mount down. I think the squeeze on the rubber would eliminate any potential mount wobble from the slight curve.