New Guy, Older Eyes, Head About to Explode, Have Questions

[RanchRoper]

Congrats on your new Henry. I would give the factory sights a try, but then that's all I shoot. Best of luck.

[North Country Gal]

Thanks for all your replies so far, very interesting to hear everyone's take on the topic. As I suspected, there are as many answers and points of view as there are shooters and rifles.

Mistered, your Williams 336 (mounted backwards!) looks very nice, but is there a simple way to attach it to a BBS 357? I'll google that for more info, so thanks! And interesting to hear that front sights are an easy swap. I'm used to the pistol world, where you need a sight pusher and/or a gunsmith.

I'll look into red-dots, but I come back to the install question. Doesn't look like they can be used with the standard Henry ring and base set, am I wrong about that? If not, what other hardware would be required for my BBS?

First things first, though. Let me get it in my hands and see how it works for me out of the box. Thanks again for the guidance!

Red dots use the same base and/or base and rings as a scope. Some like the Burris Fasfire can be ordered with their own weaver style adapter and can attach right to any weaver scope base, no rings needed. Tube style red dots like an Ultradot 25 will use standard one inch weaver scope rings and the 30 mm Ultradot will use standard 30mm weaver scope rings. In fact, they are supplied with the rings. You then attach the red dot with rings directly to a weaver base, same as a scope with weaver rings. If you can mount a scope on your rifle, you can also mount a red dot, though the specifics of how and what it takes will vary with the model of red dot. In some cases, it's actually easier to add a red dot than a scope.

[ESquared]

Yes, I believe all the Big Boys are drilled identically.

[Mistered]

Yes, I believe all the Big Boys are drilled identically.

Well if this is the case then a Williams would be an inexpensive (about $39), and easy install. You would still however need to install a taller front sight.

[tractortad]

Welcome to the forum from Viginia's Shenandoah Valley, ESquared. A 357 steel BigBoy is an excellent choice for your first Henry - very fun and versatile caliber in a lever gun - congrats.
Here is another option for a sight setup:
Skinner peep on the rear, Lyman Globe on the front. For me, this setup works much better than the factory buckhorn/front bead set that comes on a new Henry. In good lighting, this is almost like looking thru a 1x scope, but still keeps the old "lever gun" look for the rifle.

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[ESquared]

Thanks, Tractordad, that looks like a very nice setup! I did a quick search on Amazon for the Lyman Globe, and, of course, there are a few of them, at different heights. Do you recall which one you installed?
Looks like they come in .404", .584" and .700".
And, then it looks like they sell inserts.
Can you tell I have no idea what I'm doing?

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c ... OYC3N3DMA4

[tractortad]

Thanks, Tractordad, that looks like a very nice setup! I did a quick search on Amazon for the Lyman Globe, and, of course, there are a few of them, at different heights. Do you recall which one you installed?

Hey ESquared - I didn't know anything about Lyman Globes or Skinner peeps before I got my first Henry, either. I learned about this from another great Forum member named Squatch (unfortunately recently passed), who wrote an excellent post ("The Process") on his experience while setting up this same setup on his first Henry. I'm just repeating his knowledge.

The setup you see in the previous pics is a .494" 17A Lyman Globe front sight paired with a Skinner "Express" BigBoy rear peep and Lee Shaver inserts (they are finer looking inserts - better for target shooting). This same setup would probably work on your steel 357Mag BigBoy, but you really don't know until you try it. I have found the best place to buy the Lyman Globes to be Midway or Brownells.

Don't want to make it more difficult for you, but here is another setup that would probably work on your Henry:
A Skinner "Low-Pro" rear peep with a .404" 17A Lyman Globe on the front. The Low-Pro is a less expensive Skinner option, but still works great on a Henry. If you go with this, make sure to get the 8-40 threads.

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[ESquared]

This is very helpful, Tractortad, regardless of where the information originated. It's so nice to be able to tap into the wealth of knowledge and experience here!
That "Low Pro" option is very appealing to me, not because of the cost difference, which is a good thing, but because of the way it looks.

To my untrained eye on these Henrys, "less is more" in most cases, and that certainly fits that bill. That's kind of the knock on putting scopes on these beauties, isn't it? Just sort of distracts from the classic look. What you've got there is a very clean, uncluttered look, especially once you remove the buckhorn.

I'll continue to explore ALL of these options, but right now, the Low Pro is at the top of the list.

[ESquared]

Me again.

There seem to be lots of Lyman Globes that start with "17A". There's 17AHB, 17AUG, 17AMI, 17AML.

So sorry to continue to go back and forth, but can you confirm which one is in your picture? I'm guessing it's the "17AML", as that seems to be the only one that's .494". Do I have that right?

[ESquared]

Since we're discussing options, has anyone tried the HiViz three-dot set that's on the Henry website? I'm very accustomed to the three-dot sight picture from all my years with handguns.

https://henrypride.com/collections/rifl ... 7840240665

Thoughts and/or opinions?