Henry Rifle Forums

I have a henry in 44mag. The best i can do is a 4in group at 100yds.
I have shoot differnt brands of ammo, even reloads. What kind if groups is everyone getting at 100 yds? I am using a scope. Maybe a 4 in group is as good as it gets.













what kind of groups is every one getting

4 inch groups at a 100yds. sounds and looks bad. In reality the bullet is going to be in the boiler room on a deer and I guess you could say it is hitting 2" in any direction from where you are aiming. I have seen pump and semis shoot about the same as your Henry but some are better. I am sure there is Henrys that shoot better but there still may be a load that yours will shoot like you want it to. The white box Winchester 240's have been the best for me but hard to find right now for some reason. I have owned many 1894 Marlins chambered for pistol cartridges and some shot like that. I can take my 35 Remington 336 and load it down and shoot much better than my 357's shot. I can load my 444 Marlin down to 44 Mag. velocity and shoot better groups than my 44 Magnum 1894 Marlin. I am not a big fan of pistol cartridge rifles but if I buy another I would buy the Henry in 357 especially if they made it with a pistol grip stock.

I don't have a picture of a 100 yard target, the one below shows 10 rounds at 80 yards .... I have little doubt that the high and right flier and much of the spread resulted from driver error .. .. in short, their is absolutely no doubt that it is capable of firing better groups than I am .... I'm not at home so I don't have the specs, the bullets fired were our handloads ... if it would help, I'd be happy to post the recipe later today

Never tried to put my BBS 44 "on paper" at that distance, but with no scope and a Skinner peep sight, I consistently hit a metal target at 100yds.
I cannot see but just a little of the target under my front sight!! With my reloads.

JEBar wrote:I don't have a picture of a 100 yard target, the one below shows 10 rounds at 80 yards .... I have little doubt that the high and right flier and much of the spread resulted from driver error .. .. in short, their is absolutely no doubt that it is capable of firing better groups than I am .... I'm not at home so I don't have the specs, the bullets fired were our handloads ... if it would help, I'd be happy to post the recipe later today

please, excuse me if this comes in twice. I wrote something earlyer, but do not see it. Thank toy JEBar that will be kind of you. I have been trying and trying to get this rifle to shoot better. I am using 240 gr. Hornady XTP and H110 powder.

The rifle wasn't designed to bring home the Gold in the Olympics. It was designed for hunting and a four inch spread at 100 yards will bring home dinner every day of the week. Still I think with everything going right your group could be a tad smaller.

one3 wrote:please, excuse me if this comes in twice. I wrote something earlyer, but do not see it. Thank toy JEBar that will be kind of you. I have been trying and trying to get this rifle to shoot better. I am using 240 gr. Hornady XTP and H110 powder.

for hunting we use Nosler 240 grain JHP bullets pushed by 23.8 grains of W296 or H110 (can't tell any difference in performance) ignited by a Large Pistol Primer .... for many years we only used W296 but went through a spell where it wasn't easy to find so we switched to the H110 .... hope this helps

JEBar wrote:

one3 wrote:please, excuse me if this comes in twice. I wrote something earlyer, but do not see it. Thank toy JEBar that will be kind of you. I have been trying and trying to get this rifle to shoot better. I am using 240 gr. Hornady XTP and H110 powder.

for hunting we use Nosler 240 grain JHP bullets pushed by 23.8 grains of W296 or H110 (can't tell any difference in performance) ignited by a Large Pistol Primer .... for many years we only used W296 but went through a spell where it wasn't easy to find so we switched to the H110 .... hope this helps

Thank you I will try that.

I wouldn't see that as cause for serious concern, more like just needs more tweaking. Have had a couple of scoped Marlin 44 mags that were 3" shooters at 100 yards on a good day. Those light carbine lever guns were not exactly bench friendly guns to shoot, but as mentioned, we're not talking bench guns here, anyway.

I've had miserable accuracy to just over 1" at 100 yds with the open sights. My Big Boy seems to be very finicky with bullets and powder charges. The best has been with a 200gr plated bullet from Xtreme Bullets over 6.8gr Red Dot in Starline Brass and Winchester Large Pistol primers. 7.0 grs also seems accurate. When I go to 7.2 grs it is all over the place. But 7.2 grs is the most accurate load in my Ruger Bisley. For heavier loads, I have heard of excellent accuracy with Hornady XTP's over H110. Haven't tried that myself yet.

6.8 gr of Red Dot over the 200gr plated is a very nice plinking load. Extremely quiet in a 20" barreled rifle and very light recoil. You can shoot it all day on the bench. Plus very clean with very little residue.

Ive never had much luck with H110 or 296 in any of the magnums I have tried it in. But there is 2 others you might give a try. One of those is 4227 and the other is 2400. Im not one to load a magnum to its full potential because in many cases you just don't need it. 10 grains of unique and a 240 shoots good to for me and doesnt give you the recoil. I use that load with a 240 swc and a 250 swc in 44 mag all the time. Al

DAVIDF wrote:I've had miserable accuracy to just over 1" at 100 yds with the open sights. My Big Boy seems to be very finicky with bullets and powder charges. The best has been with a 200gr plated bullet from Xtreme Bullets over 6.8gr Red Dot in Starline Brass and Winchester Large Pistol primers. 7.0 grs also seems accurate. When I go to 7.2 grs it is all over the place. But 7.2 grs is the most accurate load in my Ruger Bisley. For heavier loads, I have heard of excellent accuracy with Hornady XTP's over H110. Haven't tried that myself yet.

6.8 gr of Red Dot over the 200gr plated is a very nice plinking load. Extremely quiet in a 20" barreled rifle and very light recoil. You can shoot it all day on the bench. Plus very clean with very little residue.

When someone says they can shoot a 1 inch group at 100 yards with iron sights. They don't even know it, but a human necked eye can't even see a 1 inch diameter circle at 100 yards. So, how can one even shoot that tight of a group...???

Sir Henry wrote:The rifle wasn't designed to bring home the Gold in the Olympics. It was designed for hunting and a four inch spread at 100 yards will bring home dinner every day of the week. Still I think with everything going right your group could be a tad smaller.

I gotta go along with this. Four inches is nothing to be disappointed in. I can, on average shoot 2-3 inch groups with mine (Skinner sights). It varies a bit day to day. And that is me I am sure. My best load is 19.6 grains of Lil'gun under a 225ftx in modified Winchester Brass. I have tried bullets from 180 to 240 grains and various powders like Unique, 2400, H110, Lil'gun and a few others. I played with powder charges a tenth a grain at a time and fired hundreds of bullets to get where I am.

What works for me might not be the same for you. You might be at the guns limit or your limit or you have a bit more work to do. Keep working with the gun and trying different loads. FWIW the best I could do with off the shelf ammo was about 6 inches at 100 yards,

Just a odd thought, Have you been shooting a mix of lead and jacketed bullets? Maybe your barrel is copper fouled? Grasping at straws, I know.

one3 wrote:I have a Henry in 44mag. The best i can do is a 4in group at 100yds. I have shoot different brands of ammo, even reloads. What kind of groups is everyone getting at 100 yds? I am using a scope. Maybe a 4 in group is as good as it gets. What kind of groups is every one getting

What magnification/power is the scope your using. A 5 shot 1 inch group at 100 yards takes a 12X power scope to yield that tight of a group. To shoot a 1 inch group, it takes special ammo to yield that tight of a group. Everything has to be controlled or duplicated to get that tight of a group. Before I changed my setup, I was able to shoot a 5 shot 1 inch group at 100 yards. But, I couldn't do it every time because my setup wouldn't hold zero. I found a few of the problems and fixed them, but they returned. Since then, I've changed my setup and put better equipment on my rifle to yield better results. Someone also mentioned these are not bench rest rifles. Little do they know, where shooting at 100 yards, not a 1000 yards like most bench rest shooters do. ALL bench rest shooters zero there rifle at 100 yards to get there zero. Nope....there not using pistol cartridges in there high power long range rifles. But, we "are" shooting at 100 yards to yield a tight group just like the bench rest shooter do. And it doesn't take a bench rest rifle to yield a 1 inch 5 shot group at 100 yards. Watch YouTube, there are few YouTuber's doing it right now. It takes special equipment to build bench rest ammo. Not all reloading equipment can do this. A hand loader must control and duplicate everything. Even the environment has an effect on ammo and ballistics.

The bullet I use, is the 44 Magnum Nosler 240 grain JHP P/N 44842. I use Starline brass cartridge casings (they have the best primer pocket, flash hole uniformity in my opinion and the overall length is the best uniform consistency). I use CCI bench rest primers (yup....I use large rifle bench rest primers in pistol cartridges and yes....I recut the primer pocket for these large rifle primers). But, be advised or for warned....once you recut the primer pocket, you can't use large pistol primers in these casings no more (the depth is the problem). I use Winchester powder (W296 or H110 - same powder). I use a Forster Co-Ax press, bench rest dies, and I measure the bullet concentricity (run out) with a bench rest gauge. I measure everything and separate everything by weight and length. I use go and no-go gauges to measure cartridge cases. I use comparator as well. My powder measure, it measures powder down to 1/100th (0.01") of a grain . The standard is 1/10th (0.1'') of a grain.

Also, the rifle out of the box will not shoot a 5 shot 1 inch group. It has to be worked over by someone that knows what there doing.

Nosler Sporting Handgun Bullets 44 Caliber (.429 Diameter) 240 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point Box of 250
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/542355 ... box-of-250

44 Remington Magnum Load Data
http://www.nosler.com/44-remington-magnum-handgun

Short list of company's equipment that I use to build bench rest ammo.
- http://www.forsterproducts.com/product- ... ing-press/ (Forster Co-Ax reloading press)
- http://www.redding-reloading.com/online ... -die-chart (competition bullet seating die)
- http://kmshooting.com/
- http://www.xxicsi.com/concentricity-gauge.html (concentricity gauge with wheel and indicator - P/N: 1605)
- http://ballistictools.com/store/small-a ... ket-gauges (go and no-go gauges)
- http://www.larrywillis.com/ (digital headspace gauge)

Let me ask this question as best as possible since I'm reading about folks shooting tight groups with iron or skinner sites (pep) at 100 yards.

How big does the object have to be for the human eye to see it at 100 yards...??? Remember, the front sight will cover the target some. I will give an hint....it's allot bigger than 4 inch's.

Yet....I'm reading.....folks are shooting 1 to 3 inch groups at 100 yards with iron or pep sights. How are you doing that.....you can't even see 3 inches at 100 yards cause of the front sight post. Someone, please explain this to me. You must have a field of view to measure, yet the human eye can't even see a 1 to 3 inch object at 100 yards.

For my iron sight work at 100 yards, I use a six or, sometimes, an eight inch black bullseye and a six 'o'clock hold, meaning I set the bull on top of the post. I don't cover the bull with the post.

Rugerfanboy wrote:Let me ask this question as best as possible since I'm reading about folks shooting tight groups with iron or skinner sites (pep) at 100 yards.

How big does the object have to be for the human eye to see it at 100 yards...??? Remember, the front sight will cover the target some. I will give an hint....it's allot bigger than 4 inch's.

Yet....I'm reading.....folks are shooting 1 to 3 inch groups at 100 yards with iron or pep sights. How are you doing that.....you can't even see 3 inches at 100 yards cause of the front sight post. Someone, please explain this to me. You must have a field of view to measure, yet the human eye can't even see a 1 to 3 inch object at 100 yards.

Got to go with logic on this one, rfb is right, I mentioned earlier that I was hitting a metal target at 100yds. I believe it is 16-18" and my stock front sight all but covered it. I had dialed it in when I got a new Skinner barrel mount peep at 50yds, missed first shot, raised front to top of peep and ding. I was using a somewhat mild load of 240g nosler and 11.4g CFE pistol. I added.5g to the next batch, much more power and little effect on target with 10" revolver. Haven't tried it in the Henry yet. I have some hot loads of H110, but haven't played much with them, they are WAY hotter!!
Bottom line, I'm good with 100yds hitting 18" with open sight, from a coyote to a large dear, it's going down!!

I usually shoot at a 6 inch square or circle at 100 yard. Usually a white(tag board) back ground. I have played around with different colors of targets Red and green seem to stand out the best for my eye sight. Black is ok but looks more like a fuzzy gray to me. Harder to see for me. I put the front sight at the bottom of the target. Sort of lolloping the target. And do my damnedest to aim on the same spot each time. Then I look at the target and see what my groups look like.

At one hundred yards you are just aiming at the center of a dot. Not really a good looking very defined target per say. With practice you get the feel for hold over and where the bullet will land. I can't say I can hit the ten ring every time but I can make a nice group that will kill something if i was hunting,

Here is a 100 yard target with a few flyers. I was playing around adjusting the sight to lower the point of aim. The 4 holes towards the center are actually 5 if you look closely. I was aiming towards the bottom for my sight picture. Probably an inch or so up TBH. If I were hunting I would might lower it a bit more.

This is with the Merit Aperture on probably the 3rd to 4th smallest setting. With it setting that small I can barely see an image on each side of the front blade when looking threw the aperture. I am going to thin the front blade a bit more. The blade is nearly as wide as the target at that distance. I shoot for group size by making sure point of aim is in the same spot each time. I don't aim for the ten ring, Hell, I can't see it. If you can you have better eyes them me!



Later this summer I am going to be doing a lot of shooting at 200 yards with the 45-70 and open sights. Skinner and Merit sights as well. I will post my results. I will take a stab with the 44 mag at that distance but I won't hold much hope for doing that well.

Edit: I just spotted NCG's post, she is doing pretty much what I am doing. She knows what she is doing!

North Country Gal wrote:For my iron sight work at 100 yards, I use a six or, sometimes, an eight inch black bullseye and a six 'o'clock hold, meaning I set the bull on top of the post. I don't cover the bull with the post.

Rugerfanboy wrote:

DAVIDF wrote:I've had miserable accuracy to just over 1" at 100 yds with the open sights. My Big Boy seems to be very finicky with bullets and powder charges. The best has been with a 200gr plated bullet from Xtreme Bullets over 6.8gr Red Dot in Starline Brass and Winchester Large Pistol primers. 7.0 grs also seems accurate. When I go to 7.2 grs it is all over the place. But 7.2 grs is the most accurate load in my Ruger Bisley. For heavier loads, I have heard of excellent accuracy with Hornady XTP's over H110. Haven't tried that myself yet.

6.8 gr of Red Dot over the 200gr plated is a very nice plinking load. Extremely quiet in a 20" barreled rifle and very light recoil. You can shoot it all day on the bench. Plus very clean with very little residue.

When someone says they can shoot a 1 inch group at 100 yards with iron sights. They don't even know it, but a human necked eye can't even see a 1 inch diameter circle at 100 yards. So, how can one even shoot that tight of a group...???

By using a very consistent sight picture on a target that is highly visible. I can do it using my steel plate painted certain ways for specific sights. I find it fairly easy to do that with a non-magnified red dot on my AR and harder, but sometimes possible with the semi-buckhorns on my Henry. If I try to do it on a paper target, it doesn't show up well enough for me and I can't get the same sight picture each shot.

I just read North Country Gal's post. I do the same thing with a circle painted in the middle of my 12" steel plate. Or, at the very bottom of the plate itself.

Rugerfanboy wrote:Let me ask this question as best as possible since I'm reading about folks shooting tight groups with iron or skinner sites (pep) at 100 yards.

How big does the object have to be for the human eye to see it at 100 yards...??? Remember, the front sight will cover the target some. I will give an hint....it's allot bigger than 4 inch's.

Yet....I'm reading.....folks are shooting 1 to 3 inch groups at 100 yards with iron or pep sights. How are you doing that.....you can't even see 3 inches at 100 yards cause of the front sight post. Someone, please explain this to me. You must have a field of view to measure, yet the human eye can't even see a 1 to 3 inch object at 100 yards.

A 4" object at 100 yards is quite easy to see. For example, clay pigeons are 4" in diameter. They are very easy to see at 100 yards. Their orange color makes them stand out against the dirt berm in the background of the outdoor range I go to. On my last trip to that range, I had my steel plate painted with a black 4" circle and the rest painted a bright orange. I painted in that pattern after noticing how visible the 4" clay pigeons were. I found the 4" circle to big bigger than necessary. I have it painted black with a white 3" circle in the middle to try next time. That pattern should work great with my red dot on the AR. I may need to paint it orange with a black 3" circle for it to show up good with the Henry's sights.

My vision with corrective lenses is 20/15, but I just asked my wife and she could see the clay pigeons easily as well. Her corrected vision isn't as good as mine.