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H001M accuracy inconsistencies — SOLVED

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henry22
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H001M accuracy inconsistencies — SOLVED

Post by henry22 » Wed May 30, 2018 11:35 pm

I had purchased a Vortex Diamondback 4-12X40 that I bought used from a guy I know, and had 2 separate Weaver rings installed. Since the warranty is transferable, I had no concerns. But the more I shot the rifle, I realized the groups I was getting were irregular, sometimes very accurate, then loss of accuracy, even after perfect zeroing — after an hour or so at the range, high, right, left, down and left on some days, — agonizing.

People I'd speak with would say things like, "well, it's a lever action", or "22 mag ammo is inherently inaccurate", and "you need a bolt action" - that kind of thing. Some people at the range I belong to have said several times, "I think it's your scope, or scope & rings".

So today, I pulled the plug. I always wanted to put a Leupold on the Henry, but could never justify it, thinking the Vortex Diamondback, 4-12X40 was all the scope I'd ever need.

I bought the Leupold VX Freedom, 3-9X40, and changed the mounting system entirely to a Hawke Match Mount, 1 Piece 9-11mm Medium rail system. It was only $32 bucks. https://us.hawkeoptics.com/match-mount- ... edium.html

I let the range manager do the install, he bore-sighted, let me check the eye relief etc. I setup at the 50 yard bench, and took at least 20-25 shots to dial it in. I should have used a 1" inch grid target, but opted for the birchwood casey bulls-eye target I had leftover from last weekend.

I'm astonished, elated, and my mind has been blown. Once I realized I was high and left by about an inch each way, it was much easier to bring everything center. The groups were comprised of shots, placed over shots, more than a few in the same hole, or overlapping, and some marginally away from my POI - which I attribute to my excitement.

I have to say, I'm in love with my Henry all over again, and I can't believe how wacky my previous scope and rings were, and I thought it was my doing all along, or the ammo. Not the case.

I POUNDED round after round through this thing, trying to get the barrel as hot as I could with 100 + rounds, although loading them 1 at a time via the breech. Regardless, I only took enough time in between shots to eject the previous shell, insert another, and fire it, over and over again - sometimes with a minute of rest to take a drink of water.

I hit every single 1" potato I stuck onto the target board, 2 sets of 8, each one after the other, dead on, without question. I'm absolutely astounded at this rifle's accuracy. And once zeroed for 100 yards, I have total confidence that this will be the same result if I do my part.

All attributed to a either a bum scope, and or poor coupling of scope rings. Either way, I'm one happy camper now.
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JEBar
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Re: H001M accuracy inconsistencies — SOLVED

Post by JEBar » Wed May 30, 2018 11:39 pm

outstanding .... truly great to hear
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Sir Henry
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Re: H001M accuracy inconsistencies — SOLVED

Post by Sir Henry » Thu May 31, 2018 12:24 am

Nothing beats good glass.
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PT7
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Re: H001M accuracy inconsistencies — SOLVED

Post by PT7 » Thu May 31, 2018 7:07 am

Sir Henry wrote:Nothing beats good glass.
....and always helps that there is a good shooter behind it!

Henry22 fits the bill this time. ;) Congrats on resolving your accuracy challenge.
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~Пока~

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henry22
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Re: H001M accuracy inconsistencies — SOLVED

Post by henry22 » Thu May 31, 2018 7:50 am

Much thanks for the congrats. I'm just glad that it's been solved. And now I have no concern about the zero going out the window. It's never been this consistent - ever since I bought the rifle, and now, I wouldn't trade it for any other rifle.

Yes, Leupold ONLY from this point forward. My dad and I put a VX2 4-18X40 on a CZ 455 in .17 HMR, same deal, bang on, every time. I just wasn't expecting that with the Henry.

It's really satisfying when you get to know how a rifle handles; how to hold it, where it balances best on the front rest, and it becomes almost like an extension of you, and you shoot better over time, because you know THAT rifle so well.

As per usual, the forend was slipping a tiny hair, just enough that when I pulled back on the forend towards the receiver, it closed that gap like always, and yet with the gap, and after closing it, had no effect on accuracy or consistency whatsoever. What a great feeling when you and your rifle are 1. And I'm not being a fan boy here, but these rifles, although I wish Henry would make one in an all steel model, are exceptional, the machining and tolerances are so precise, in the slickness of the action, and obviously the repeatable accuracy, which I never got to fully appreciate until this scope and mount change.

Interesting side note: I had purchased 50 rounds of the Federal 50 grain hollow points in 22 mag, and when I tried to place them in the same bullseye where the previous CCI 40 grain maxi-mags were, the Federal was low by about 3—3.5 inches. I wasn't expecting that.

I'm going to push it next time with radishes at 100 yards, and see what happens.
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JEBar
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Re: H001M accuracy inconsistencies — SOLVED

Post by JEBar » Thu May 31, 2018 8:00 am

henry22 wrote:People I'd speak with would say things like, "well, it's a lever action", or "22 mag ammo is inherently inaccurate", and "you need a bolt action" - that kind of thing.
sure hope some of those folks are around the next time you are out there mashing 'taters .. :D
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Sir Henry
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Re: H001M accuracy inconsistencies — SOLVED

Post by Sir Henry » Thu May 31, 2018 10:19 am

henry22 wrote:.......As per usual, the forend was slipping a tiny hair, just enough that when I pulled back on the forend towards the receiver, it closed that gap like always, and yet with the gap, and after closing it, had no effect on accuracy or consistency whatsoever.......
In another thread about the barrel band screw being stripped and not going straight through to screw into the other side the hole was too small. In your case the hole is too large. This is the tradeoff. Try putting a round of scotch tape around the screw up to the treads. This will help tighten the forestock.
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North Country Gal
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Re: H001M accuracy inconsistencies — SOLVED

Post by North Country Gal » Thu May 31, 2018 11:27 am

Congrats on finally solving one of the toughest problems we shooters face, namely having to go through the process of elimination and trail and error, trying to hunt down the reason a gun doesn't shoot for us. It can be frustrating. Have been there many times. Sometimes you win and sometimes you don't. Glad to hear this one was a win. Good for you.
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henry22
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Re: H001M accuracy inconsistencies — SOLVED

Post by henry22 » Thu May 31, 2018 7:30 pm

Much thanks NCG. I was elated when I dialed in the scope - it took me awhile. I should have used splatter targets with 1" grids, but I used these instead:
https://postimg.cc/image/o9tqmz1az/

I know it's a rough target. I was using this one last weekend with my dad, when I still had the Diamondback on it. Look at the colour coded circles for reference. The numbers you'll see, from 1-4, are the order that I shot in, to try and zero the scope. It took me awhile, because I should have used grid targets. But I wanted to show a side by side, same rifle, same ammo, different scope and mount. And from 2, to 3 and 4, you'll see how the groups tighten, I was dialing the scope in, a bit at a time to tighten everything, in pairs of clicks.

OLD Scope: Diamondback Vortex, 4-12X40 with single weaver rings (Everything circled in YELLOW)

NEW Scope: Leupold Freedom, 3-9X40 with a Hawke 1-Piece 1" Match Mount for 9-11mm Rails (Everything circled in GREEN)
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/images/ima ... 215266.jpg

The next time I go shooting, I'll use these targets:
https://www.birchwoodcasey.com/CMSPages ... 17249599ca
and I'll post what I shoot at 50 yards, then 100.

I'll try and make the legend better, and I'll identify which distance with the CCI 40 grain, in 5 shot groups per bulls-eye, then the same thing at 100 yards, just to give you guys an idea. I'm sure you've seen this all before, so I don't want to bore anyone. I just want to stretch this thing out, to see what it can do if I do my best.

I'm hoping to try and illustrate HOW much better the groups are, compared where they were for the last few months, up until yesterday. If you look at the top target, and to the far right, you'll see 4, BEST GROUP, HOLE IN HOLE. There are ragged, hole in hole shots, sometimes 2 shots over the 1st shot in the same place. I wasn't trying to hit bulls-eye dead center, but trying to see how close I could get each shot to the next.

On the target with the 1 in green, see the one shot in the red horizontal line that comes to a point, and to the left of the group in the bullseye? That was deliberate, I was hoping I could put it in that red line, where the point meets.

I'm blown away, this rifle and scope combo is awesome, and so much more fun to shoot now.
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bandit1250
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Re: H001M accuracy inconsistencies — SOLVED

Post by bandit1250 » Thu May 31, 2018 10:38 pm

Some of the bad accuracy issues can be traced to the fast focus eye piece on the newer scopes especially the lower priced models made in China. The Vortex Diamondback was one in particular that seems to have that problem. With your rifle on sand bags or any stable rest and the cross hairs on the bull reach up and move the fast focus side to side or up and down slightly and watch the reticle do a dance. I try to stay away from fast focus because of that plus the terrible over size eye piece that requires much to high rings on some bolt action rifles. Lock ring eye piece is still better in my opinion. YMMV. Good choice on the Leupold.
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