Henry Rifle Forums

I just bought a .357/38 Big Boy over the weekend and today was the first time I had a chance to shoot it. What a nifty rifle! I loaded up some lswc 158 gr bullets with 4.1 gr of HP-38 and commenced firing. Out of the box at 25 yards the darn gun just plain RULED! My first group was impressive,to say the least since I never had much experience with the buckhorn sights. This is an 8 inch bull. The 2 that are not in the 9- 10 ring are operator error. I tried 38 special 158 gr lswc loads and the results were just as amazing to me. Then I went to .38 special 125 gr Golden sabre loads and it made no difference. By the way, everything fed well with no hang-ups. Finally I loaded up some Fiocchi .357 magnum 158gr fmj loads I bought ( so I wouod have some cases to reload), and they performed equally as well. I did not have a chance to try 50 or 100 yards because I ran out of daylight. To top it off, I set up some 12 ga hulls at 28 yds and proceeded to send them flying offhand. What a blast! This is one of the most fun guns I have shot and I have pistol caliber carbines in 9mm and 45 acp. I am about as happy as you can get with this Henry and as an added bonus, the guy next to me said that it needed a display case cause it was too pretty to shoot.

Welcome to the Forums from the Show-Me-State.

Great range report, Capt steve!! You've sure made a "splash" with your first post. And enjoyed your excitement shared with us.
Yes, that .357 Magnum Big Boy is an excellent Henry rifle.

BTW, although a nice compliment from the guy next to you, shooting the Big Boy is the way to go! Enjoy.

Thanks PT7. Next I will be loading some 158 gr xtp's I can't get over how pleasant this weapon is to shoot.This is the 125gr golden sabre group. Again, operator error not the gun[attachment=0]

nice report and well understood .... we feel the same way about our grandson's Henry 357 ....

Congrats and some fine shooting, too. You guys keep these reports up like this and I may not be able to wait till spring to buy one.

Congrats! I enjoy my .357 Henry as well. Can't miss with it!

Is this the one with the bright brass receiver? Handled one the other day and it shouldered nice. Was wondering how the Big Boy Steel version with the recoil pad shoulders compared to the golden brass receiver with brass butt plate.

Congratulations, great report and great shooting with your new Henry rifle!

Bugs wrote:Is this the one with the bright brass receiver? Handled one the other day and it shouldered nice. Was wondering how the Big Boy Steel version with the recoil pad shoulders compared to the golden brass receiver with brass butt plate.

I bought a Big Boy Steel 357 for our 8 year old grandson .... in working with him for over a year, I've never allowed him to fire a rifle that would kick him .... he's learned no bad habits from recoil .... it shoulders well

all handgun cartridges through a rifle is sweetness, I shot my Winny 44 magnum and it is so much comfortable than trying to control a 6lb handgun. I love the Henry BB's but hate the loading procedure. I email Anthony about 5yrs ago if he will ever make a rifle with a loading gate and the first email he said "No" and that was the end of that email, I asked him that again a few weeks ago and at the end of his explanation his answer was "maybe in the future" I know of many people that will to buy the Henry because of no loading gate but I still like my Henry 22 magnum.

I'm really looking forward to getting my BB .357. It was supposed to be here in 5 days, but now it's 12 weeks.

If it shoots as well as yours, Steve, it'll be well worth the wait and I'll be very happy!

Congrats on your HENRY rifle!

Thank you for your report too.

Cate

Thanks for the report and the pics. Great shooting!

Tape wrote:I love the Henry BB's but hate the loading procedure.

I know of many people that will to buy the Henry because of no loading gate but I still like my Henry 22 magnum.

I have no problem with anyone feeling this way because its a matter of personal preference .... I have a Winchester Model 94 with a loading gate and like it .... I've owned Marlins with a loading gate and enjoyed them .... I own multiple Henry rifles with the loading tube and enjoy using them .... if I was planning to load while on horseback I can see an advantage in having a loading gate but I don't so that ain't an issue .... when it comes to safely/quickly unloading the magazine, I do prefer the loading tube

Nice shooting, looks like another one hooked

Great range report. Nice to see a fellow gunner discover how much fun a Henry Big Boy can be. Now you start thinking - what would this be like in 44 mag? or what would a carbine be like? or what would a single shot 45/70 be like? and as DWD445 says - you're hooked. I bet you can't but just one.

Bugs,
Yes it is the hardened brass receiver. I figured if I was going to lay out the bux, I'd get the prettiest one.

That is some rootin' tootin' good shootin'!

Capt steve wrote:Bugs,
Yes it is the hardened brass receiver. I figured if I was going to lay out the bux, I'd get the prettiest one.

Bought the steel version today. Price was just too good to pass up.