Hello to the forum

[cyclerambler]

Greetings to all from Northern Alabama. About a couple months back my son bought a Ruger American 22LR and a PC Carbine, two that I
had been eyeing. First time we had firearms in the house so now it was my turn. After looking high and low, doing tons of research, with
a glance at my budget, I brought home last Friday afternoon a Henry Single Shot chambered in 223. Fabulous rifle and so we took
them all out to the range yesterday and had a great time. I did have a couple nits though and wanted to run them by the forum
for experienced thoughts....

1) Since I wear progressive lens glasses both sights are blurry when aiming. Tried turning them upside down without success. This isnt
new, as it was the same when firing my son's guns. He recently picked up a red-dot scope thing and, after a short learning curve, I
find it helps. Am also considering a scope for >100yd targets (not quite into hunting yet). Any thoughts/comments?

2) After about 30 rounds the barrel was not opening as it should...I would press the lever to open it and nothing would happen...until
I smacked the barrel end with my palm then it opened up. So I thought I would give it a good clean and oiling (did that last evening)
before I asked for help...so I'm hoping this fixed the problem....

Anyway thanks for the opportunity to participate...looking forward to many good years ahead.

[brm4450]

Welcome to the forum from Dacotah. I have the same problem with glasses and sights so I have went to the scope. The scope i like is the Leupold VX-Freedom 450 Bushmaster 3-9x40 Riflescope. I have several and really like them.

[BrokenolMarine]

The front sight should be your focus when aiming. The rear sight should be blurred, or fuzzy, as should the target. Most of the competitive shooters I shot with, who wore glasses, had prescription glasses FOR shooting, with the focal plane set a their front sight distance, or bifocals. A portion of the lens set up for the front sight and the other portion for downrange. Our optometrist would have us bring the unloaded firearm along, cased, and buzz us in the back door. That way we didn't upset the Karens in the waiting room. He would measure the prescription using the rifle or handgun of choice.

You could also bring a dowel cut to the length of your sighting plane.

As for hard opening, a good cleaning, or simply twist a brass chamber brush in the chamber when it starts to bind. When shooting competition, we would brush out the cylinders between relays as a preventive measure.

If that doesn't help, call Henry Customer Service and pose your question. They are there to serve.

[BigAl52]

Welcome to the forum. I have a single shot 357 and I have a red dot on it which I like. But I know if I had a 223 I would scope it for sure. As far as a scope goes most guys here will recommend a Leupold. Im not against Leupold but I think there is other scopes out there for less money that are just as good. After you cleaned the gun does it now open without smacking it?

[Hatchdog]

Being a single shot your rifle is the perfect platform for a scope. No fast follow-up shots so no fast sight re-acquiring needed.

Also .223 is a caliber that can reach out and be very accurate at mid-range distances, 400 - 500 yards easily with your rifle. A good quality 3-9x40 or a 4-12x50 would be perfect. .223’s can be picky with bullet weight, check your twist rate (should be stamped on the barrel (ie1-9 or 1-8, etc) or listed in the specs in the manual or on the Henry website. The faster the twist (1-8 is faster that 1-9 which is faster that 1-10, etc) the heavier bullets will perform better. 69 - 80 grain. The cheap 55 grain .223 ammo is designed for AR platforms more so than bolt or single shot .223’s.

Welcome to the Henry forum and Henry ownership as well. Great people here.

[cyclerambler]

Appreciate the input guys...thanks...
It does open now without smacking, though I havent shot anything since the cleaning/oiling.

[leverjc]

I also wear progressive lenses and have to adjust them on my nose when shooting. If I keep them all the up 0n my nose it appears that my front sight is bent to the left. I use peep sights when I am not using a scope so it is easier to just concentrate on the front sight as BrokenMarine advises. Play with position and see what works for you.

[The Wiz]

Welcome!

[Vaquero]

Hello & Welcome aboard, not much help here, as I don't wear glasses nor do I own any of the Single shots.
As to the 223, I'd say scope it.

RP

[Ernie]

Welcome to the forum. I too have the glasses problem and prefer a scope.

[Cofisher]

Hey Rambler. Welcome from Nebraska. We have some single shooters that will be happy to talk. Enjoy your Henry.

[Kissmybrass]

Welcome to the forum from Dacotah. I have the same problem with glasses and sights so I have went to the scope. The scope i like is the Leupold VX-Freedom 450 Bushmaster 3-9x40 Riflescope. I have several and really like them.

Welcome!
Can't go wrong with Leupold, I have a couple 1.5-4 Pig Pig Plex and AR scopes on my 45-70 (perfect for 25 to 100 yards) and Daniel Def build. Solid stuff!
I'd love to use red dots by my astigmatism is horrible and the red dot looks like a crazy starburst.

[zara_puppy]

Welcome Cyclerambler! The folks here are tops and they speak from experience. I own a couple Henry single shots. The .243 single shot wears a Leupold 3.5X10. Great scope. But as Big Al noted there are scopes out there that will perform just fine with a bit less investment. I've a .223 bolt action Savage and it wears a Vortex 4X12. And to be honest, it could use a bit more magnification - the .223 is excellent past 300 yards if you do your part. And as Hatchdog said - fast twist, heavy bullet. And like Mr. Brass above, I used to use a red dot which eventually became a star.

Scope your .223. That single shot will end up surprising you at some pretty far distances. Two things before I go - ask these folks anything. A great deal of experience (and friendliness and encouragement) on these boards. And be careful - next thing you know you'll own 5 or six of these Henry rifles.

[cyclerambler]

Appreciate all the insights...thank you!
Took the 223 single out to the range this afternoon to, hopefully, confirm my cleaning and oiling was the answer to the sticking barrel issue (rap the barrel to get it to open after a shot) but no soap...on the third round (right through round 20) it would not fall open...required the rap to open it up. Submitted a new gun warranty request to Henry later in the day in hopes of having it corrected. One thing though...I'm using the cheapest steel cased rounds I could find...anyone think going with higher quality ammo be the answer?
Thanks again
Tom

[BigAl52]

Its worth a try before sending it back. I would go try and find a box of brass casing 223.

[cyclerambler]

Ok...went to the indoor range after work today to try a batch of brass cased rounds...All was good after 10 firings and
was congratulating myself on finding the fix...then I thought I may as well shoot more of the 50 round box I bought...then.....
somewhere between #12 and 15 the barrel hung up again...decided shoot 25 and found that every one from about 19 on
resulted in a locked up barrel (which was quite warm at that point)
So, sadly, it goes back to Henry in the next couple days for fixing. Not sure what the turn time will be but hope to have it
back by the year end break.

[fergy]

Welcome to the forum. I tried hard to go iron sights with my Rossi lever but my eyes are always messing with me and my sight seems to change a little for a while and change back. I also went with the Leupold for a scope mainly because I wanted made in USA from butt plate to business end. (and i had the money at the time!) I set my scope for my glasses which are for distance viewing only.
Your situation may differ and that's cool. Hope you enjoy the group here.

[Holiday009]

Welcome aboard

[cyclerambler]

Just as a follow up wanted to pass on how impressed I am with the Henry gang...after they received the rifle I had it back in less than 2 weeks and, after spending some time at the range this afternoon, I'm happy to report it works great.
I'm looking forward to many fun outings with the H015-223...now its time for a scope...Its on my Christmas List!
Thanks again to all the commenters...greatly appreciated.
Tom

[JEBar]

hearing positive comments about Henry's customer service comes a no surprise .... nonetheless its always goo do hear .... its also good to hear that you are happy with its performance .... be sure to follow the link below to where you can add your rifle to our community's total .... you still have time to get 25 post so as to be able to enter our current drawing .... Henry is supplying most of the prizes


http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.p ... 97#p187197