my new Big Boy X 44 mag

[deerwdr]

deerwdr, I cannot tell, is that the one piece integeral Talley base/ring set-up?

Yes it is

[Conax]

178FFCF7-2044-4588-BF26-66802287ED15.jpeg

I hope this is just a poor match of ammo and gun. I guess I could swap scopes and try again and see how it shoots ?

My .44 BBS carbine wasn't a great shooter on its first few outings. The grooves in the bore looked rough. I only had access to an indoor range in those days, and indoors (dark with buck horns) I got 2 to 3" 5 shot groups at 23 yards. At 50 or 100 it would have been very poor. After putting a couple hundred jacketed bullets through it the bore looks as good as any now and the groups have tightened up considerably.
It may need some break-in to come up to speed. At 25 yards today (checking the adjustment of a peep) it shot about 1 1/2" with 3 through the same three eared hole. The other two were my fault, no doubt. They aren't really target rifles, the barrel isn't bedded or anything.
You should be able to get it to good hunting accuracy with a little practice and a couple hundred rounds. Clean the bore well between sessions, get all the copper out of there.
Nice looking rifle you have there!

[Kissmybrass]

BTW wherever did you find an X anything!?!?!?!

[Conax]

Oh, I wanted to mention how you can remove copper fouling without a lot of scrubbing, or even removing the bolt.
I have had excellent results with a bore cleaner called Wipe-Out. I use Hoppe's or Ballistol to clean up the powder residue, then squirt the Wipe out in, let it stand for an hour, run a patch (it will be all blue) then re apply the Wipe Out and give it some more time.
A few swipes with a clean patch and your bore will look like new. No scrubbing.

[deerwdr]

I have two center fire rifles I bought in the 80s. Remington Kmart-special 700 30 06 with no alpha characters, not ADL or BDL etc. the other is a marlin 30 30. From a bench with iron sights, 3-4 inch groups at 100 yards with either. Scoped, the 06 put three rounds on less than 2”, almost as good with the 30 30. Hopefully this Henry will shoot better with another ammo brand—especially with the price it cost and the non stop marketing. Even my Thompson Center 50 caliber 209 muzzle loader shoots 1” groups at 50 yards. As it is shooting on this first time out, I would not use it for hunting in fear of wounding an animal. Like I said, hopefully it’s the ammo. We’ll see. I did not buy it for plinking pie plates or bowling pins at 25 yards.

[deerwdr]

BTW wherever did you find an X anything!?!?!?!

It is crazy out there. I sent Henry emails for over a year complaint that I could not find any of their rifles except the shiny brass models. A rep just emailed that they may be able to help me find a single shot from Bass Pro. It’s nuts.

I was in a small sporting goods shop in PA and they had this x model sitting there for a few weeks. PA is pretty much a rifle state so a 44 mag in a rifle isn’t popular.

[deerwdr]

178FFCF7-2044-4588-BF26-66802287ED15.jpeg

I hope this is just a poor match of ammo and gun. I guess I could swap scopes and try again and see how it shoots ?

My .44 BBS carbine wasn't a great shooter on its first few outings. The grooves in the bore looked rough.

Thanks for sharing your experience with the product. If I can’t get 1” groups at 50 yards with a scope, I’ll unload this rifle. Too soon to tell though. First I’ll try some different ammo, and if necessary I’ll swap out the scope.

[Conax]

178FFCF7-2044-4588-BF26-66802287ED15.jpeg

I hope this is just a poor match of ammo and gun. I guess I could swap scopes and try again and see how it shoots ?

My .44 BBS carbine wasn't a great shooter on its first few outings. The grooves in the bore looked rough.

Thanks for sharing your experience with the product. If I can’t get 1” groups at 50 yards with a scope, I’ll unload this rifle. Too soon to tell though. First I’ll try some different ammo, and if necessary I’ll swap out the scope.

I never scoped my .44, but I did a Henry .22 magnum. It shoots 3/4" groups at 50 yards. I hope you get it shooting, your're right, they aren't cheap.

[deerwdr]

I'll take the scope off the henry and try it on a new Ruger 350 Legend to make sure the scope is still ok. If it is, I'll try a couple different 44 mag loads. Buffalo bore gets good press but their magnums will not cycle in a BBX unless you load it one at a time. They do have a couple standard 44s that will work in a BBX so I'll order a box or two and see. My go-to ammo has always been federal premium. I never had issues in any gun with those, but I cant find any

[deerwdr]

So the 4-5" groups at 50 yards was not the scope's fault. This is the Ruger 350 legend zero at 50 yards with the scope I had on my Henry BBX 44.

sight in.jpg

Anybody have experience with the Henry single shot rifles? Do they shoot well at 100 Yards? Before I go down the path of spending hundreds on different ammo or trying various iron sight or peep sight combos, I might write it off and move on.