Henry Rifle Forums

I got my Henry Big Boy 44 Mag as an early Christmas present from my kids. Love it!

I immediately started researching the best replacement sights because I read so much about replacing the Buckhorn sights.

I admit that with these 53 year old eyes it was a little hard to make out the brass on the front sight on the buckhorns.
I bought an orange paint pen and used about 1/10 of a drop directly on the face of the brass. It made a world of difference , especially in low light.

I’m gonna see if I can post a pic of a 10 round group at 65 yards. ( Not to brag, I can do better with practice, like anyone else)
At this point I plan to stay with the Buckhorns.

Happy new year everyone!
Mike

NICE!
Looks like they suit you just fine. Nothing wrong with that group at all.
It just seems as we get older the BH's are harder to use.
Were using factory ammo or is that your own loadings?
I'm 63 and still use them some, I have a couple that have peeps, but "most" of my hunting rifles now wear scopes.

RP

I still use iron sights on many of my handguns, but put skinner sights on my Big Boy Carbine. Old Eyes get tired and they don't see the sight picture as clearly. Peeps work better for me these days on long guns.

nice group .... certainly one capable of putting meat in the freezer .... I have scopes on all but one of my rifles .... the one without a scope is a Winchester Model 94 with factory Buckhorn sights .... be sure to follow the link below to where you can add your Henry to our community's total


http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.p ... 64#p213664

Nice shooting, Mike. I agree about buckhorns. When the light is good and my eyes are fresh, I've never had a problem with them. Used them all the time in my younger years. It's when the light is bad that I struggle with them. By the way, buckhorns have a very interesting tradition. Those "buck horns" are actually more than just for looks. Gives you the option of several different sight pictures for various ranges. No way as accurate as a peep or even a good blade open sight setup, but they've been doing the job for over a hundred years.

Yup, I like 'em and use them on all my rifles.

DeathValleyMike wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 28, 2022 3:31 pm

Why do folks not like the Buckhorn sights?

I like them for nostalgic reasons. For nostalgic reasons, scopes on lever actions aren't visually appropriate. Unfortunately, my poor eyesight requires that I put scopes on my levers

First, congratulations on your Christmas present! I suspect that you will enjoy it for years to come. As for buckhorn sights, I like semi-buckhorn sights. I have not tried buckhorn sights. My level actions came with semi-buckhorn sights. Yet, one came with a scope as well. For me, using a semi-buckhorn sight for targets less than 100 yards is fine. I am happy with the POI at that range. Any target greater than 100 yards, I probably will op for a scope. To me, it is more important to hit POA than anything else. What is the point of shooting something, if you don't hit it?

P.S.
I did put a peep sight on my Henry. I was wanting to get tighter groups at 100 yards. So far, I am happy with it.

Mike.. looks like you got a great shootin' 44 Henry! In some cases I have to widen the buckhorn sight groove a bit to let more light/space in around the front sight bead due to my old eyes at 68. I do like staying with the basic type sights on lever rifles. On my Henry rifles I have made a slip in ghost ring sight insert which uses a .150 diameter hole to center up on the front sight. Helps me get on target a lot better!
Again great shootin' with your new Henry 44 Mag!

Buckhorns cover up half of what you're looking at.......I File all of them flat.......Those big "ears' are useless.

For comparison:

Nothing much wrong with them but given a choice I prefer something like a Williams Fool Proof. Even when I bought my Sheridan Blue Streak 20 caliber air rifle new many years ago I ordered it with the Williams site. My marlin .375 has one and so did my Savage 99-358 until I scoped it. The Henry BBS .44 and the pump .22 still have the stock sites.

.

Travlin wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 30, 2022 11:03 pm

... There doesn't seem to be a way of editing a post after it is put up.

Click the little pen, left most icon, in the upper right of the post.

If your eyes can't adjust to the near rear sight and the far front sight, one or the other will be a blur. A good peep lets you look through the rear and even if its blurred, its blurred into a circle and the eye will still naturally find the center. I never put a peep on a rifle til I was in my 60s.
I'm very far-sighted and even with glasses that close in sight was a blur.
Buck horns are fine for the sharp eyed. (Lucky devils)

Thanks Mags