Scout scope on Golden Boy

[El Explorador]

I wanted to describe a method for mounting a scope on GB - perhaps somebody finds it useful.

For quite a while I struggled to scope my GB to get a good cheek weld. I have Henry's cantilever scope mount, and while it does seem to work for many people, it does not quite work for me (scope sits too high). One can try to machine the mount and install a comb raiser, as shown here:
http://www.chuckhawks.com/henry_golden_boy_varmint.htm
but it requires significant modifications of the stock. Thus I decided to take another route: scout scope mounted directly on the barrel.

The barrel already has two holes drilled and tapped for cantilever scope mount, so I figured that one could use those holes to put picatinny rail directly on the barrel. In order to get a stronger mount, I needed one more hole. I decided to use the dovetail slot for this purpose.Skinnersights sells dovetail blanks with tapped hole, I bought it and grinded its top a bit to make it sit almost flush with the barrel.

This gave me 3 holes to attach the rail. I drilled the rail in the right place for the holes, and used dremel to make some space on the bottom of the rail to accommodate the dovetail insert. In order to lower the scope even further, I milled the bottom of the the picatinny rail (with poor man's mill, that is, a drill press with milling bit).

I then installed a scout scope with Leupold QD low rings. The result is shown in the picture. As you can see, the scope sits so low that it almost touches the receiver. Together with a leather cheek riser, this gives me a reasonable cheek weld - way better than with Henry's cantilever mount.

henry.jpg

I have been using this setup it for about a year, and it works really great. With the scout scope, you can see both the target and its surroundings, and shooting with both eyes open is more "natural" than when using a regular scope.

[North Country Gal]

Another fan of the scout setup, here. Have done it with a couple of Marlins and it really does allow you to go lower with the scope. Have also found that you can use a small fixed power 1.5x or 2x pistol scope and still get the right eye relief for a scout setup.

Fast and easy to use, plus nothing on the receiver, so the gun is easier to carry. Even with only 2x, target visibility is improved and no hassles seeing sights. Scope is an old Leupold 2x M8 pistol scope.

[JEBar]

welcome indeed .... happy to have you join our forum .... I have no doubt you will enjoy your Golden Boy .... please take a look at our How Many ? thread (link below) and add your Henry to our community's total

http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.p ... 163#p52163

after doing so, take a look at our When will we hit 500 in "How many" contest at this link ===>http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.p ... 080#p52080 <===

[Sir Henry]

I've been told a scope mounted to the barrel is more accurate than one mounted to the receiver. How does it shoot?

[El Explorador]

I like JEBar's setup, it seems that the scope is even further forward than in my case.

Regarding accuracy, I have not done any formal comparison, but I wold guess that mounting to the barrel should indeed give better accuracy than mounting on the receiver. However, in the case of GB, the cantilever rail is also mounted on the barrel, and is made of thick steel, so it seems rock solid. I can shoot better with the scout setup not because it is more stable, but because of the the better cheek weld.

BTW, I made a CAD design of my mount and printed a prototype with shapeways.com. I was thinking that the plastic 3D printed mount would perhaps be good enough. Unfortunately, it was not rigid enough, and had other problems. I considered printing it in metal, but it was too expensive, so I abandoned the idea and fabricated the mount from aluminum shotgun rail which I purchased at a local store.

Here is how my design looks like:

henryrail.jpg

As you can see, the bottom has a similar profile as the original cantilever mount, that is, it is designed to fit snugly on the top of the octagonal barrel. Some day I will do more experiments with printing in metal - perhaps I could start selling it

[Auriemma]

Well today I took my Henry Golden Boy 22LR with 2-7x32 scope (with Henry scope mount) to the range. And after 1.5 hours and 150 rounds I came home frustrated. The scope mount for the GB is just... wrong. My rings are low profile and it’s just too high to feel comfortable. So I took the scope off, remounted the buck horn, and headed back to the range. After 20 minutes the open sights are sighted in.
Came home... not frustrated anymore.

[Sir Henry]

Bummer that after all that hard work you weren't able to enjoy the fruits of your labor. I have a Golden Boy and have only shot it a few times because it just does not fit me. I feel like I need a ladder to shoot it.

[North Country Gal]

Gotta go with what works for you.

I do understand the tradition behind those old lever guns with such a steep drop on the comb height. Very old school, but not in keeping with our more modern cheek weld shooting style, these days. Just not my thing. Love the looks of the brass, but when I go with a Henry, it will not be a brass model.

[Ojaileveraction]

?The Golden Boy stock has more drop than all the other Henry's?

[Sir Henry]

?The Golden Boy stock has more drop than all the other Henry's?

Yes. So much so it is hard to get a good cheek weld for many of us.