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Henry X in .45 Colt shooting high.

Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2020 11:43 am
by Eagledancer
Picked up my first Henry, X in 45 Colt and finally had the chance to shoot it. Had my bench set up at 36 yards (I was zeroing a new red dot on my Mini-14) and thought good time to break it in. Sights were way off and I managed to get them on paper but elevation I just could not get any better than 4-5 inches above POA. At that I had the rear sight adjustment screw no longer touching the barrel and the sight all the way down. I did notice that the set screw for the rear fiber optic was pulling the optic up in the dove tail so that I can see light between the optic and the dove tail. Love the bright colors but I don’t want to live with sights that far off. Anyone have this problem and any suggestions!

Re: Henry X in .45 Colt shooting high.

Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2020 12:35 pm
by CT_Shooter
Welcome to the forum from CT. Congrats on your new Henry. You may hear from other members who have an X rifle who can give you first hand advice. But, a call to Henry CS might be helpful, too. They could have a taller front sight for your rifle. Let us know how you make out.

Re: Henry X in .45 Colt shooting high.

Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2020 3:26 pm
by John E Davies
The factory rear sight on my BB X .44 Mag is set at about one full turn up from the lowest height. That is with factory 240 gr jacketed range ammo at 50 yards. What were you using, and have you tried different ammo? Before you get Henry involved, make sure it is the gun that is the problem... I don’t know if Henry uses different front sights for the different calibers, maybe they just mounted the wrong one on your gun. If your gun shoots high with standard ammo, measure the front height and ask them.

I have never measured mine, but this solid Skinner Bear Buster for the X rifle is 0.560”.

John Davies
Spokane WA

Re: Henry X in .45 Colt shooting high.

Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2020 5:07 pm
by JEBar
Eagledancer wrote:
Tue Dec 08, 2020 11:43 am
Picked up my first Henry, X in 45 Colt
welcome to our forum, delighted to have you join us .... other than if its as bad as you note, other than to call Henry, I can't help with the sight question .... I have no doubt that members who are familiar with the sight adjustments will be along shortly .... be sure to follow the link below to where you can add your Henry to our community's total


http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.p ... 91#p153691

Re: Henry X in .45 Colt shooting high.

Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2020 6:47 pm
by Bake
I've got a silly question. I assume you are using a standard round bull's eye target, and your sight picture is a dead-center hold? I ask because I never use anything but a 6:00 o'clock hold on the bottom of the black bull. Not being a hunter, I only shoot paper, and steel using the 6:00 O'clock hold ...

Re: Henry X in .45 Colt shooting high.

Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2020 7:39 pm
by BigAl52
Might help if you post a pic of the sights on the gun. Sounds like the front sight is to tall.

Re: Henry X in .45 Colt shooting high.

Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2020 7:46 pm
by BigAl52
Welcome to the forum as well glad you joined us

Re: Henry X in .45 Colt shooting high.

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2020 11:22 am
by Eagledancer
Thank y'all for the welcome! Couple of thoughts on the high shooting. I was using some handloads I had made up for my New Vaquero, Starline case 250 lead over 8.5 CFE Pistol so maybe not a fair test and it was cold 37. At 36 yards I was holding dead center or as well as these old eyes allow. I don't think the front sight would be too tall otherwise I'd be low I think. It's warmer today and I'm going to take some factory ammo (Herter's 250 lead) my "lead sled" and start from scratch.

Re: Henry X in .45 Colt shooting high.

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2020 11:32 am
by BigAl52
If you can use a 6oclock hold. Also a pic of the rear sight as I have not seen a X model rear sight

Re: Henry X in .45 Colt shooting high.

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2020 11:56 am
by Eagledancer
Hi Big Al I'll post pic's soon as I can figure how to to that. I did measure the front sight and it is .44" from the top of the barrel to the top of the sight. Rear sight is .33" from the top of barrel to the where the dots line up, not sure if that means any thing or not. Edit: Target was 1 foot diameter and I was able to get near (2") bullseye by holding at bottom of target.

Re: Henry X in .45 Colt shooting high.

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2020 4:30 pm
by The Wiz
Welcome to the forum!!!!!

Re: Henry X in .45 Colt shooting high.

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2020 5:03 pm
by Eagledancer
2nd Range report: Much Happier Camper!!! Not sure what changed, perhaps a phase of the moon, magnetic field flux? but my Henry and I are getting along better. I undid everything I did chasing the zero and started again, first shot was on paper at 25 yards walked it down to a couple of bullseyes. The rear sight screw was just touching the barrel and so we moved out to 50 yards and raised the sight about a half a turn to bring us back to where these old eyes were happy. Tried both factory and handloads and they were about the same. We'll have to wait to work on the 100 yards until next spring probably, but I now have confidence I can put a big glob of lead pretty much where I want to with the irons 50 yards and in, well maybe 75.

Thank y'all for your welcomes and advice, much appreciated. Looking forward to learning this new Henry.

Re: Henry X in .45 Colt shooting high.

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2020 5:38 pm
by BigAl52
Glad you got it figured out.

Re: Henry X in .45 Colt shooting high.

Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2020 8:17 am
by JEBar
Eagledancer wrote:
Thu Dec 10, 2020 5:03 pm
I now have confidence I can put a big glob of lead pretty much where I want to with the irons 50 yards and in, well maybe 75.
OUTSTANDING .... really good to hear it performs well with both factory ammo and your loads

Re: Henry X in .45 Colt shooting high.

Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2020 11:53 am
by John E Davies
Those fiber optic sights are pretty nice for tired eyes, don’t you agree? But a low powered scope is even better.

John Davies
Spokane WA

Re: Henry X in .45 Colt shooting high.

Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2020 3:24 pm
by Rifletom
Welcome to the forum. Glad you have the sights figured out. My eyes won't work with irons after 2-3 shots. Blurry. Like John^^^ said, low power scope helped me a TON. Really like my Henry .45 Colt steel.

Re: Henry X in .45 Colt shooting high.

Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2020 7:13 pm
by Eagledancer
I agree on the tired eyes, and will start looking for an optic for the “X”. Always like to have the irons dialed in, just in case. Been reading some about the new Skinner scope.