Henry Rifle Forums

I had a productive and fun day at the range yesterday with my two favorite rifles, my Big Boy in .44 and one of my cheapie AR's. This AR is from Palmetto State Armory. It has a 14.7" barrel with a pinned and welded A2 flash hider making it the legal 16" without having to have a tax stamp. The barrel was built by FN and seems to quite good as are most parts & guns built by FN. I may be taking one or the other on a hog hunt in a couple of weeks. Don't know whether it will be a daytime or nighttime hunt. If at night I'll bring the AR, if during the day I'll bring my Henry. I have had a Leupold VX-R 1.25-4x20mm with Fire Dot reticle (red dot) mounted on it since I bought it. If I do get to go on the hunt, the ranges will most likely be from 7 to 40 yards, so I decided to mount my Aimpoint PRO on the AR. I bore sighted it on Friday trying to get it sighted in for about a 50/200 yard setting. I wasn't very close with my bore sighting. I attempted to hit steel at 100 yards quite unsuccessfully. Couldn't tell where the impacts were as there was grass on the berm behind the plate. I then attempted to put it on paper at 50 yards. Still couldn't tell where it was impacting. My friend Dano started spotting for me as I aimed just above the target in the dirt of the berm. We identified my poi as being about 6" to the left and high. A quick couple of adjustments got it sighted in at 50 yards. What really pleased me is that in trying four different loads including my defensive load, 55gr Speer Gold Dot, XM193, PMC 55gr .223, & Federal American Eagle 55gr .223, all resulted in the same poi. That also held true at 100 yards.

I tried three loads in my Henry, 7.1gr of Red Dot under a 240gr HC RNFP coated from Missouri Bullet Company, 7.2gr Red Dot under Speer 200gr Gold Dot, and 8.2gr Red Dot under the same 200gr Gold Dot. The 8.2 gr Red Dot load drives the Gold Dot a little fast for its best performance, at least at the muzzle. But, the accuracy was probably the best of any load I've tried out of my Henry with the tiny four shot group shown below in the bottom photo. It looks like three holes, but there is actually four shots in that group. The black circle is 3" in diameter. The three holes above the black circle are from the 7.2gr Gold Dot load. Not particularly spectacular accuracy, but the velocity is just about perfect for this bullet at least at very close ranges. The accuracy of the 7.1gr load with the 240gr HC was as always consistent and accurate, not nearly as tight as the 8.2gr Gold Dot load, but predictably consistent. If I use the Henry for hog hunting, the 240gr cast would be the more conservative, reliable choice. I've seen how the 200gr Gold Dot works in properly calibrated organic gel, and it performs spectacular and would probably be excellent with smaller to perhaps medium hogs even though it is not marketed as a hunting bullet.

I also tested the Leopold scope to see if removing and remounting changed the POI. It did not seem to, so I will be able to easily go back an forth on this AR with the Aimpoint and Leopold with little effort. I'll keep flip up sights on my other AR's.

Last, I tried hitting my 12" X 20" plate at 100 yards offhand with the Henry and the AR. I had better results with the AR, finding it quite easy to consistently hit the plate aiming at the lower section, missing once in about 10 shots or so. I hit the plate with the Henry at about a ratio of 3 hits out of every 5 shots or so.

Top photo is from 100 yards offhand with the Henry & AR.

Third photo is Arabella, my supervisor, inspecting the rifles to make sure I cleaned them to her standards

Fourth is from 100 yards with various loads from the AR.

Fifth is my 8" plate with various loads from the AR.

Sixth is 50 yards from the Henry with the 240gr HC load. The difference in the shots higher vs lower, was just me determining a consistent sight picture so that the POI was correct for the distance. I have it figured out now along with adjusting the rear sight elevator for 50, 100, and 210 yards with my slow moving hand loads.

Bottom is two different loads from the Henry. The mediocre/poor group above the black circle is 7.2gr Red Dot under the 200gr Gold Dot. The small group in the circle is the 8.2gr load with the same bullet.

All the black circles are 3" in diameter.

Did you clean your firearms to Arabella's standards?

Quite an outing comparing (from my perspective) apples & oranges. Other than the similar function of a bullet flying out of the muzzle end, they are completely unlike guns!! I really liked the photos of your two long guns as they show such striking differences between an AR and Henry lever-action.

For your last test of firing both at 12" X 20" plate @100 yards, what do you attribute the better AR results to? Possibly the sight configurations?

All in all, it was an interesting Range Report, and I enjoyed the read. Good job and good shooting, no matter which one you used!!

Yes, I think a big part is the sight configuration and the muzzle heavy Henry vs the shorter and lighter AR. The red dot works really well for me, plus I may be able to hold the AR a bit steadier due to it's weight. I do shoot the Henry offhand quite well at 40 yards as I have been training with it offhand at that distance quite often, but very little beyond that distance.

Yes, both of them are quite different. One is a beautiful work of art and the other is a beautiful in its simplicity and function. One thing I really noticed was the difference in the triggers. The AR has a rack grade mil-spec type trigger with a little bit of take up and a nice crisp but fairly heavy pull. The Henry has a much lighter trigger with no take up and even crisper. Both are good, but the Henry is better. I seldom shoot them on the same day, so this was quite nice for a change.

Good shootin'! Thanks for the report.

Enjoyed the report. Thank-you. Always nice to see what other folks are shooting. Very interesting contrast on this one.

I'm with you on the red dot for 100 yard work. I can usually stay in the same ballpark at 50 yards with irons or a red dot, but I do better at 100 with the red dot or, even better, a scope.