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Henry 357 "Dark"

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azdover
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Henry 357 "Dark"

Post by azdover » Sat Dec 31, 2022 5:14 pm

My Henry 357 version of Marlin's Dark. Start with an H012GML and then throw money at it. Added the following -
- Henry H010AW pistol grip stock set
- Henry pistol grip large loop lever
- XS lever rail plus their Ghost Ring Sights & a Skinner .750' front sight
- Burris 2-7 Scout Scope in Warne low QD rings

Now just have to take it to the range and see where the boolits will go.

Image
6 x

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Cofisher
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Re: Henry 357 "Dark"

Post by Cofisher » Sat Dec 31, 2022 9:17 pm

Can't go wrong with the 357.
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leverjc
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Re: Henry 357 "Dark"

Post by leverjc » Sat Dec 31, 2022 9:37 pm

Nicely done.
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5shot
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Re: Henry 357 "Dark"

Post by 5shot » Sat Dec 31, 2022 10:50 pm

Good looking setup! I especially like the low mounting on that scout scope.
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azdover
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Re: Henry 357 "Dark"

Post by azdover » Sat Dec 31, 2022 11:24 pm

XS did a good job designing their lever rail. The scope fits nicely in the channel down the center of rail.
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Travlin
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Re: Henry 357 "Dark"

Post by Travlin » Sun Jan 01, 2023 12:22 am

Very interesting . I could see that also in .44 magnum.
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John E Davies
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Re: Henry 357 "Dark"

Post by John E Davies » Sun Jan 01, 2023 10:19 am

azdover wrote:
Sat Dec 31, 2022 5:14 pm
- Burris 2-7 Scout Scope in Warne low QD rings

Image
Love that scope setup! Warne QD rings come off in seconds, but most importantly they hold zero, as long as you make a mark on the rail so you don’t make a mistake, and you push the scope forward to take up any slack.

The downside is the rings are really heavy.

I have used the low QD rings on two lever rifles, and would continue to choose them. Please let us know how it shoots.

John Davies
Spokane WA
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jstanfield103
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Re: Henry 357 "Dark"

Post by jstanfield103 » Mon Jan 02, 2023 4:44 am

Only thing I can say id "Nice"
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Hatchdog
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Re: Henry 357 "Dark"

Post by Hatchdog » Mon Jan 02, 2023 10:25 am

Nice work, you have a winner there.
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azdover
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Re: Henry 357 "Dark"

Post by azdover » Fri Jan 13, 2023 6:09 pm

Finally got to the range to sight in the new irons and scope. Unfortunately, things didn't go too well. Some of it was learning to use the new sights and scope but I'm sure a lot of it was due to my poor eyesight (blended bifocal prescription) plus my overall lack of shooting ability.

When i ordered the XS Scout rail, I also ordered their Ghost Ring Sight Kit even though it said it was for the 45-70. The website does state in the small print that kits for the 44 and 357 Mag are coming. However patience has never been a virtue of mine. Sure enough, the rifle shot a couple inches high out to 50 yards and I ran out of up adjustment on the peep. The XS 45-70 front sight is .600" tall. I ordered a Skinners .750" front sight replacement and that fixed the problem. I now have plenty of elevation adjustment. Rounds grouped around the POA. But it was difficult for me to get a good sight picture even with the smaller .191" peep sight that comes in the kit. Best I could do was 3-4" groups at fifty yards. Taking a look at XS's website, I noticed that they sold a 7/32-40 Threaded Aperture - Long Stem that would work with Skinner apertures. I happened to have the smallest Skinner aperture (.040") in my parts box and that did the trick. Incidentally, the eyepiece no longer overlaps the peep sight base as shown below. I moved it down the rail one notch while adjusting the eye relief at the range. If you do run this same setup (Leupold IER scope with Warne QDS low rings) and mount the scope like I initially did, you'll probably have to take some metal off the front of the peep sight base like I did here since the eye piece will hit it.

Image

I now get 1 1/2" to 2" groups at 50 yards. In the picture below, I was doing great (for me) until I decided to mess with success and drop the last shot to the bottom of the target. Nothing to write home about but still a big improvement over my previous results.

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The Burris scope was a little better. I was able to get it to group around the POA, but no matter how much I messed with the eye piece or scope power, I could not get a clear sight picture. Best I could do was 4-5" groups at 100 yards. Again probably due more to poor eyesight and poor technique than the scope itself. Lot of folks have been very happy with the Burris but it just wasn't working for me. After some more Googling I decided to try Leupold's VX-Freedom 1.5-4X28 IER Scout scope. This one did the trick. Finally a clear sight picture!

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The biggest difference is the Leupold is a 1.5-4 power scope and has a shorter 6-6.9" "intermediate" eye relief, versus the Burris 2-7 power and 9.5-10" "extended" eye relief. Both scopes sit nice and low on the rifle so it's easy to get a good cheek weld, but the Leupold worked a lot better for me personally. I was able to shrink my 100 yard groups down to about 2.5" to 3" even though the Leupold only has a max of zoom of 4 power. Of course, it never hurts to throw a shot high or low to keep me from getting cocky.

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My groups were shot with 158gr Hornady XTP flat point 357 Mag reloads off of sand bags resting on some plastic boxes. I'd bet that this setup would be more accurate shot off a proper rifle rest with some factory loads. Still, I'm happy with the improvements from the changes to the iron sights and scope. Just thought I'd throw this out there if you're considering something similar.

Pete
3 x

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