High Noon, June 25th, 1860

[RanchRoper]

Just got back from the range. 72F, and a hot breeze from the southeast coming in off the prairie.

100 yards. Today was the day. Cowboy up or go home. The 1860 Henry in 45 Colt.

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First up though, a little warm up at 50 yards. Warm is the operative word as I shot a full mag tube (12 rounds) rapid fire! Off hand, standing, as fast as I could crank it. HOT BARREL! 8" target. 10 of 12 rounds on the black circle. 1 on the rim, and 1 somewhere into the great beyond.
It feeds great, even at that speed. No hang ups but you have to keep an eye on the tube spring tab that's moving so you don't get your hand in the way. Suffice to say the results weren't spectacular and the 1860 is not designed to shoot rapid fire, at least not in my hands.

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Next up, the daunting 100 yd target. Winchester 250 gr LFN as usual. 12" square target. 38 rounds total. I used the ladder sight up and on the lowest setting. The first shot went just over the top of the target board into the dirt. Lucky I saw it hit, so I was able to adjust for elevation. End result: 2 rounds missed paper, 3 rounds missed the black square, and 33 rounds in the 12" black. 9 of those on the big diamond.
I was crouched on 1 knee for this target, not sure if you still call that off hand shooting, but there was no bench. So it is possible to get on paper at 100 yds with this rifle and the open sights, just need lots of practice.

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[North Country Gal]

Oh what a beautiful gun pic that is with the 1860 leaning on a post and the prairie in the background! That's one for the photo contest if that still going on. That one gets my vote.

That's some mighty fancy rapid-fire shooting at 50 yards, cowboy. With that kind of shooting you should try to get a job as a scout for the next wagon train or cattle drive.

Of the four standard positions - prone, sitting, kneeling and offhand - kneeling is generally regarded as second behind offhand in terms of difficulty. My scores certainly reflected this, back in the distant past when I was in rifle club. That's a nice target from the kneeling position. I suspect a lot of shooting back in the old west was done that way.

[BigAl52]

I agree with NCG cool pic RR nice to see green up your way instead of all the white you been sending us. Great targets to nothing there to sneeze at thats for sure. I bet you had a great time Al

[RanchRoper]

Thank you both very much. Next time I shoot rapid fire, I'll want an ice bucket to stick my hand in. I could have branded calves with that barrel. Thanks for the info on the shooting positions. I would expect NCG is correct that a lot of old west shooting was done from that position. You can get into position fast and aim quick with a better chance of accuracy for sure. Plus, when you miss, you can get the hell out of there in a hurry. I was excited to finally spend some time on the 100 yd range. It felt pretty "old frontier" using the ladder sight and sending lead that far down range. Circle the wagons, I'm ready....Great fun!

[North Country Gal]

Great fun is right. Doesn't get much better than putting a classic lever gun through its paces.

[RanchRoper]

The other thing I forgot to mention; I got up the courage yesterday to pull the side plates off my 1860 and have a look at the toggle link action. I've shot 500+ rounds since getting it in April, so I had visions of a black gunky mess. So I tried to loosen the 2 little screws beside the elevator block as directed in a few videos. Takes the pressure off the lever apparently. (bear with me, I am the least mechanical type guy you'll meet, if it doesn't have a mane and tail I'm pretty much not interested in how it works). Legend says that Uberti screws are very soft, so I used the proper gunsmith screwdrivers. First screw came loose after some effort. 2nd screw? NOT A CHANCE. Broke 2 hollow ground bits, and finally there's no screw head left. However, the first screw took the tension off so I was able to take the lever screw/pin out. A little tap on the side plate, and voila! Action was far cleaner than I thought it would be. It was kinda dry though so I cleaned everything and oiled it all up with Hoppes. Back together and today that action was AMAZING. Slick like butter. Way better than before.
As for the screwed up screw, it's still in there until I can get it to my gunsmith guy who will drill it out properly and replace all the screws and lever pin with the VTI Gun Parts hardened ones I bought. I'll let him do it, and if he wrecks my rifle, he's the Cimarron dealer so he can replace it!

TGR or NCG...wanna come over for coffee and fix my rifle?.... ....in the meantime, it still shoots great and if you don't look real close you'd never see where some dumb cowboy stripped a screw head.

[RetiredSeabee]

Excellent shooting sir. Wish I was there!