Initial report BBSC 41mag...

[TNman]

Picked up BBSC 41 today at noon at my dealer...rifle looks really nice with dark straight grained walnut and a linear knot on left side of buttstock which looks nice to me...some character. Fit and finish are very good/excellent and the lever/bolt cycles very smoothly. The rifle has noticeably more heft/weight than my .357. After cleaning the bore, the woodshed was the next stop where I have an 18 yard set up for pistols primarily. One of my loads was fired first-offhand and it stuck a bit right with obvious punch and authority; the 30# ar500 plate emitted a big clang. This carbine has some punch; recoil is no problem at all imo. I loaded it with 4 more Rem HTP rounds and they landed in the same general group. The trigger pull is very nice too; seems a bit better than my .357 but that is probably subjective and luck of the draw. After that first 5 round group I shot more of my loads using Hodgdon Lil’Gun and Starline brass. Function is perfect with smooth feeding, firing, extraction, and ejection. There were no feeding hiccups or stalls etc. The .357 is one of my favorite handy woods rifles but this 41 will edge it out I’m thinking...it really is nice. And the 41 cartridge doesn’t leave any room for questions about power up to black bear imo. Anyone on the fence will find zero discouragement from me at this early assessment. It is best for a handloader imo but with the Internet, ammo is just a few clicks away. Tonight I mounted a Vortex Venom on a shortened Henry rail and it looks great...identical in appearance to my .357. Supposed to rain a lot tomorrow but with my covered firing point sighting in the Venom should be no problem. Hopefully it will hold decent groups to 100 yards; if so it will be the cat’s meow. I will try to attach some pics.

[TNman]

Here are a couple more pics...I hope...

[Mags]

Good report! Thanks for sharing. Good looking Henry there. That little knot gives it personal character that in only yours. How about a picture with the scope mounted? Looking forward to tomorrow's report.

[PT7]

That beautiful wood on your rifle stock sure dresses up the woodpile! Sharp-looking rifle, and the stock knot is exceptionally nice.

Only one thing. Because I own and thoroughly enjoy my BBS .357 magnum carbine, I was "sad" to read your statement:

The .357 is one of my favorite handy woods rifles but this 41 will edge it out I’m thinking...it really is nice.

At least it is one Henry surpassing another Henry. Good to keep it in the family.

Great that you can shoot to steel. Enjoyed the Range Report.
PT7

[ESquared]

Great looking Henry there, congrats on the acquisition. Like Mags, would love to see a pic with the scope, just because.

Love that little knot in the stock! My SGC has one, but not nearly that eye-catching! More luck of the draw in furniture than there is in trigger pull, huh?

Great report and photos, thanks for sharing!

[JEBar]

nice .... very nice indeed .... looking forward to your coming range and hunting reports

[TNman]

Ok, got the Venom mounted last night and took the 41 out to the 25 yd range where I have a bench. As mounted, the first shot hit low and left but it dialed in perfectly with 3 more shots. After zeroing, busting 3-4” chert cobbles at 25 yards was child’s play and generated a lot of pleasing dust and rock fragments. I shot about 15 rounds with three of my different handloads. They seemed to have the same poi at least at that range; rifle function was perfect. The rains began again and that postponed shooting at longer ranges. This evening about 2 hours before dark under a threatening sky I went to the 104 yard range; I intended to shoot from the 53 yard bench first but a wasp nest under my shooting seat cancelled that plan! No stings and they are destroyed now but I moved back to the 104 bench. My target is a 10” square steel and it is hard to be real precise with the red dot even at it’s lowest brightness in the dim forest light and I wasn’t even sure it would hit it at all since I didn’t fine tune it at 53. First shot was a satisfying clang. 2nd was the same and they looked to be near center. The 3rd was off to the left about 2” but the first two were near touching and centered! Awesome! Now the red dot and glare was making it difficult to aim precisely in the dim light and I had to keep aiming off and then back to the target. Heck I was pleased to hit it at all but this rifle is going to be a real shooter it appears. It will be easier to aim and evaluate group size capability in better light. Here are a couple of pics of the 41 with the Venom mounted; the bit of cut off rail is shown too. I didn’t like the rail cantilevered over the front of the receiver ring and carry is much better with the shorter rail. I sawed it off with a hacksaw, smoothed the cut surface a bit and blackened it with aluminum black and it looks great. There is also a pic with the rubber sight protector that just snaps on for storage and etc.

[ESquared]

Great looking set-up and great results clanging the steel @ 100+ yds. Congrats and keep 'em coming. Haven't read much on this forum about this caliber, so interesting to hear your tales.
Thanks for sharing!

[JEBar]

very interesting, I most certainly appreciate your reporting .... what interest me the most is your experience with a red dot sight .... I have had one on a Ruger Redhawk 44 Mag revolver for decades .... depending on lighting conditions, I find it to be very effective for hunting or range shooting out to 50 or so yards .... not so much at longer ranges .... for that reason, I've literally never considered mounting one a rifle .... hence the reason I'm highly interested in following your reports

[BigAl52]

Nice job and the gun looks great. I love the wood as well. Good to see some 41 action on here. I as well like my 41 and have often wanted to get the carbine model in the brass version. I have the full size version as well as several pistols in that caliber.

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Here is mine and I need to get her to the range its been a while. Al