Henry Rifle Forums

Ok, here we go...the wind actually died down to a breeze so the Wild West Show was on. Shooting my Henry 1860 45 Colt, an ol' cowpoke's best friend. Open sights, and some 50 yd & 100 yd fun today. 7.0 gn of Universal and 200 gr LRNFP. This is my favorite load to shoot. Very punchy little rounds that my rifle seems to love. This also marks the return of my stock cover, which I mothballed awhile back thinking it was not fitting me right.

Today I changed up my hold a little as per the "Recoil" thread. Instead of my usual tight in the shoulder (best way to describe it is on the inside of the shoulder against the collar bone), today I put the crescent between the bicep and the ball of my shoulder. Very comfortable and I think the results show it. Especially at 100 yds. The stock cover was an issue with being too bulky to get it in tight like before. The change is actually minimal in the distance the rifle is moved on the shoulder, but it is noticeable. Open sights, with the ladder sight up for the 100 yd shoot.

Alright enough of the details, let's pay our $.05 cents and go to Buffalo Bill's Show...


..a nice winter day in southern Alberta cow country...



First up, 2 pop cans at 50 yds....shake well before using, and KABOOM! Unfortunately it took me 3 rounds to get 'em but the result was catastrophic....


Next up is a couple of targets both at 50 yds, shooting from 1 knee....




and last but not least is 100 yds from 1 knee position...old buffalo hunter style without smelling like one...that's 12 rounds on 12" target, some actually close to where I tried to put 'em...



...and the 1860 Henry that helps me keep my $10/week job with the wild west show...That's all folks, hope you enjoyed the little trip back in time....shoot safe, RR

Loved the show RR! Got my 1873 out today and had some fun!

nicely done .... thanks for reporting on the hold position .... I'm going to have to some thinking about it

I may have unknowingly done it before, sometimes I shoot rapid fire and just shoulder fast. It did feel ok though, and not as uptight shooting. A little more free if that makes any sense. Might hep with breathing too, never thought of that but holding in really tight I tend to hold my breath a lot. I don't really want to overthink too much, just want to shoot.

Great info on that traditional hold for the crescent, RR. I have one crescent buttplate gun in my beloved 1885 22 LR. Recoil won't be an issue, of course, but it'll be fun to try the hold. Thanks, again, for another classy old time show.

I would be interested to know your thoughts. It seemed like a better feel to me, or maybe it's all in my head.

ps...anybody shooting pop cans....if you don't shake them up before shooting you need to....they really blow up good!

Havent done pop cans yet need to get some of those when there on sale. Nice shooting RR bet you had a great time like always.

These were two in the back of the fridge that nobody seemed to want. Raspberry Ginger-ale...yuck. An explosion of pink spray....

Holy smokes RR, that is some shooting! Especially with those open sights. I'm going to try your load of Universal/200gr rnfp bullets, as my load of 8.5gr Unique and 200gr rnfp did not work well at all. Your results tell me different. Really liked the story and pics. Back at the bench tomorrow.

Let me know how it works for you. I quite like it.

Great shootin as usual RR. I think I may have to try that load when I get my reloading setup finished. My BBB in .45 colt doesn't like the Buffalo Bore or Double Tap hollow points or the LEVERevolution I've run through it , all 255gr.

I only reload 200 or 250 gr LRNFP. Both shoot big holes.

TMB thats all some pretty hot ammo. Try slowing it down some and see what happens.

The BB Brass I had for awhile shot Winchester Super X cowboy loads very well. 250 gr LFN. Black Hills too. Hornady was fine too but all I shot was 255 gr LFN as well.

BigAl52 wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 03, 2020 9:08 pm

TMB thats all some pretty hot ammo. Try slowing it down some and see what happens.

That's what I was thinking.