Henry Rifle Forums

Hey, Well I finally took my new Big Boy Side Lever .357 to a local indoor range. It only goes out to 25 yards, thank the Lord. I cleaned it last week. My first time
ever shooting a lever. Shotgun was 15 years ago as a LEO.
I started at 10 yards and took her out to 25. Started with 38 special and then mixed back and forth with .357. Both 158gr. Federal AE 38sp. and PMC .357 jsp.

The good: No malfunctions of any type. I never short strocked her. The trigger is smoother when you're shooting and doesn't feel heavy at all. Lever action very smooth and felt shorter while shootig.
Right on target at 10 yards. Recoil, what Recoil! .38 Special was a little more than a loud cap gun. Lol. .357 was just plain fun and very controllable! I felt like I was shooting a rifle! Can't wait to try some very hot Double Tap I have.

The bad: I couldn't for the life of me figure these sights out. The sight picture for my aging eyes was terrible. I obviously was bringing up the Brass dot too high above the buckhorn diamond rear. I was also shooting left. I had the elevation set second from lowest. The windage, I just tapped slightly for next time. I can't see these sights well and will be ordering HiViz sights after one more disappointing range session.
And....let's not forget the scratches on the buttstock. I need a glass of wine. Ok, maybe a bottle!

Looks like some pretty good shootin for the most part.
Getting used to the sights and all,
Yep, the ole 357 is pretty tame coming out of the rifle barrel.
I put a few rounds through mine this afternoon also.

RP

Not bad! No hurry. You'll get it dialed in. ☺

Looks like you were on center most of the time and good shootin' for first time Henry shootin'!

Yes my eyes had trouble with the factory type rear sight not giving enough picture around the brass bead. So I fixed that issue on all my Henry rifles!

Here's a link to Forty's thread on how to make up that Ghost Ring sight. Forty did a great job of creating that home grown cure and many here have taken advantage of it. i have them on both my Henry BBS and my Marlin 1894 and they work great.

http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.p ... de#p131130

Paul

Another user of the forty cheap-peep sight,
I have one on my Henry 44 BBB & my Marlin Cowboy.
They work great.

RP

Iron sights are a challenge for sure. Keep at it and don't get frustrated. There's nothing wrong with that target you posted. This might help too:

One thing I did was take that little center piece out that has the white diamond on it and turn it around. That white diamond is annoying to me

BigAl52 wrote: ↑

Tue May 24, 2022 9:02 pm

One thing I did was take that little center piece out that has the white diamond on it and turn it around. That white diamond is annoying to me

Yes it is. I had three different ones and the little white diamond wasn't centered on any of them. I ended up scoping it.

The other thing you can do is adjust your sights for a six o'clock hold. In other words, float your target atop the pattern if you don't want to / can't change to a peep right now.

Then old eyes have a cleaner sight picture.

Of course a red dot or scope works well too.

As others stated, keep it up. Open sight can be a challenge. I like using 6 O'clock hold, when I can. If not, center hold. The further or smaller the target, the more I lean toward a center hold.

Picture a grizzly charging you. It will improve your aim considerably.

Just ordered skinners for mine, not bad for the first time with the factory sites!

As far as scratches, I've been giving the furniture a little rub down with Boiled Linseed Oil when cleaning. Light rub, drying off thoroughly. Seems to be hiding those small annoying scratches.

Background: I am so insane about scratches the side gate doesn't get used because I'm afraid of marks.

RanchRoper wrote: ↑

Tue May 24, 2022 8:57 pm

Iron sights are a challenge for sure. Keep at it and don't get frustrated. There's nothing wrong with that target you posted. This might help too:


Using-the-Peephorn.jpg

Thanks, I was using the second sight picture most of the time!!

RanchRoper wrote: ↑

Wed May 25, 2022 10:59 am

Picture a grizzly charging you. It will improve your aim considerably.

Hah!!! Awesome.

zara_puppy wrote: ↑

Wed May 25, 2022 9:36 pm

RanchRoper wrote: ↑

Wed May 25, 2022 10:59 am

Picture a grizzly charging you. It will improve your aim considerably.

Hah!!! Awesome.

Yup! Well put!!

RanchRoper wrote: ↑

Wed May 25, 2022 10:59 am

Picture a grizzly charging you. It will improve your aim considerably.

What? shoot the guy beside and run?

RP