Lever Gun Scope Rant

[RanchRoper]

I'm sure it helps zero in on the target but aesthetically it's not for me. I'll stick with the open sights as long as I'm able....

[North Country Gal]

As I've mentioned, before, I really wish I could keep shooting irons and shoot them as well as in my younger days, but my eyes ain't what they used to be and that's just the way it is. I still shoot irons on some guns and I always will, but the only way I can now shoot at my best, day in and day out, is with the help of optics.

Now, for those of you who think putting a scope on a lever gun is "cheating", I invite you try shooting from a standing position/no rest with a scope. Using a scope without a rest is a separate shooting skill all its own. It takes a lot of practice (and constant practice, at that), plus you'll burn up a lot of ammo before you'll be comfortable with those crosshairs doing a hula dance while you squeeze the trigger. You'll get to know your gun's trigger in a way that you never will by just shooting irons. It's a whole new shooting game with that scope from a standing position. Trust me, its a skill you don't learn, overnight.

Rant over.

[GaHenryFan]

I've found that shotgun scopes work really well on lever guns.

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[North Country Gal]

Love those scout mounts and scout rigs on a lever gun. Great setup on that Marlin.

[Yornoc3]

I've used scopes on big game hunting rifles since I was 19, because I never really shot well (tended to shoot high) with conventional iron sights. That's 56 years of deer hunting; I started at age 12. But I do have a couple of peep sight mounted bolt action carbines, which I can shoot OK, and am really intrigued with the ghost ring style sights that came on my "new old" Henry 30-30. I think that set up will be fine, even for these old eyes, for close range hunting use, particularly on some of our bad weather days when keeping scope lenses clear of snow or ice fog can be tough. I much prefer low powered scopes with 20 mm objective lenses for woods hunting, 1.5 -4X or 1.75-5X work fine for me, and I still have a couple fixed 2.75X. My rant on this subject is the mounting of scopes capable of discerning the rings of Saturn, often with really high mounts required by their 50 mm objective lenses, on light, handy hunting rifles .

[GaHenryFan]

Thanks, North Country Gal! They work on Henrys too.

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[North Country Gal]

I've used scopes on big game hunting rifles since I was 19, because I never really shot well (tended to shoot high) with conventional iron sights. That's 56 years of deer hunting; I started at age 12. But I do have a couple of peep sight mounted bolt action carbines, which I can shoot OK, and am really intrigued with the ghost ring style sights that came on my "new old" Henry 30-30. I think that set up will be fine, even for these old eyes, for close range hunting use, particularly on some of our bad weather days when keeping scope lenses clear of snow or ice fog can be tough. I much prefer low powered scopes with 20 mm objective lenses for woods hunting, 1.5 -4X or 1.75-5X work fine for me, and I still have a couple fixed 2.75X. My rant on this subject is the mounting of scopes capable of discerning the rings of Saturn, often with really high mounts required by their 50 mm objective lenses, on light, handy hunting rifles .

I'm with you 100% on the giant scope thing. I especially don't like them on a lever gun. My favorite lever gun scopes are the low power scopes with a straight tube in front or a small bell, the smaller and more compact, the better.

[North Country Gal]

Thanks, North Country Gal! They work on Henrys too. 2018-01-23 17.27.15.png

They sure do. Looks good on your Henry.

[RanchRoper]

Actually those shotgun scopes look better than some I've seen. More compact looking to me.

[GaHenryFan]

Actually those shotgun scopes look better than some I've seen. More compact looking to me.

Thanks, RanchRoper, they are Simmons Prodiamond 4x shotgun scopes. A really nice scope for the money if you ask me.

[.45Steel]

I don't always use a scope, but when I do...I use my little Bushnell Banner 2.5-4


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[JEBar]

I don't always use a scope, but when I do...I use my little Bushnell Banner 2.5-4


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I like the looks of your rig .... I bet it shoots well

[roddy]

Though not a lever gun, it's close in concept and size...this is my .357 Timber Wolf with a Burris Droptine 2-7X 35mm Slug Gun scope. I wouldn't go any bigger.

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[Yornoc3]

Burris made some compact scopes in years past that I'd consider perfect for lever guns, single shots and other compact, light carbines. They're small, light and optically plenty good enough. There was a fixed 4X, a fixed 6X, 2-7X, 3-9X and 4-12X variables. I have the fixed 4X, 3-9X and 4-12X AO, both the 4X and 4-12X AO are unemployed at the moment (I think the 4X will be applying for a job on a Henry .22 soon ) The ones I wish I had are the 2-7X, which would be the most useful for hunting, and the fixed 6X would make a nice .17 HMR scope. One way to compensate for lower magnification when sighting in or trying ammo is to simply shoot at a bigger target. Just another way to see better .

[North Country Gal]

As mentioned in another thread, I highly recommend the new Leupold Freedom 1.5-4x for a nice compact, lightweight scope on a lever gun or small carbine. It's relatively affordable as Leupolds go at under $200. The big advantage of this scope compared to old vintage scopes are the great optics. Also, this Freedom line build dimensions are that trim old school design, not the oversized eyepiece bells and skyscraper tall turrets that are so popular now for their tactical look. Trim dimensions also allow lower scope mounting and that's always a plus on a lever gun.

[ESquared]

As mentioned in another thread, I highly recommend the new Leupold Freedom 1.5-4x for a nice compact, lightweight scope on a lever gun or small carbine. It's relatively affordable as Leupolds go at under $200. The big advantage of this scope compared to old vintage scopes are the great optics. Also, this Freedom line build dimensions are that trim old school design, not the oversized eyepiece bells and skyscraper tall turrets that are so popular now for their tactical look. Trim dimensions also allow lower scope mounting and that's always a plus on a lever gun.

In doing my scope research, I went back through this thread, and I keep going back to "smaller is better" for this .357 BBS, especially when considering that I want to get the scope as low as possible and not have to worry about cheek risers and that kind of stuff (if that's really the right term for it). This 1.5-4X20 looks like it would be great aesthetically with the Henry, but would the Henry one-piece rail/ring set-up that they sell on Henrypride.com give me the lowest possible mounting height, or would I be better off with separate rings and rail approach?

https://henrypride.com/collections/rifl ... 1320460313

[Mags]

The Henry one piece supports scopes with bells up to 50mm when used on the H006 (2nd Gen) and H012. So you might find a ring set that got a 20mm scope lower. About as low as you can go is with a ring set that bolts directly to the top of the receiver without a base rail. Just need to make sure hole spacing of the rings match the Henry. Have you sent Alison an email at HenryPride to ask about the one piece height yet? It's not on their webpage.

[ESquared]

The Henry one piece supports scopes with bells up to 50mm when used on the H006 (2nd Gen) and H012. So you might find a ring set that got a 20mm scope lower. About as low as you can go is with a ring set that bolts directly to the top of the receiver without a base rail. Just need to make sure hole spacing of the rings match the Henry. Have you sent Alison an email at HenryPride to ask about the one piece height yet? It's not on their webpage.

I've been back and forth with Patrick Hall at Henry about the height of the one-piece rail set up, and here was his response:

"The one piece mount will be quite low but the picatinny with a set of low rings will most likely be the same if not slightly lower."

Based on the "most likely be the same if not slightly lower" comment, I went ahead and ordered the one-piece Talley fixture from Henry. It's on the Henry Pride site for $49.99 and Talley sells it direct for $60, so there's that.

Now to figure out the scope part. Having just been to my LGS and looked at and through a couple, there's no doubt that I want to stay away from the 3-9X40 type scopes; just too honkin' big for my taste.

Looked at a Nikon Prostaff Shotgun 2-7X32 that seemed pretty nice and not much money.

[Mags]

...I've been back and forth with Patrick Hall at Henry about the height of the one-piece rail set up, and here was his response:
"The one piece mount will be quite low but the picatinny with a set of low rings will most likely be the same if not slightly lower."
...
Looked at a Nikon Prostaff Shotgun 2-7X32 ....

When you get the one piece measure form the bottom of the rail to the seat of the scope ring, then add 0.5" (for 1 inch scope tube). That gives you your scope height from the top of the Henry. I'm curious what that is.

At the Nikon website, the scope, although not that many reviews total, got mostly 5 star reviews.

[ESquared]

Even FURTHER research indicates that Nikon has stopped making this shotgun scope, and scopes come and go all the time, but I'm drawn back to NCG's recommendation on the Leupold VX Freedom 1.5-4X20. And she's not the only one here who seems to have adopted one. Pretty good deal at Midway thru tonight, so this may be it! Also found the right Butler Creek covers for the front and back.
Would love to hear from anyone and everyone who has put some rounds through their Henry with this scope!