PT7's BBS .357 Carbine -- failure to perform

[PT7]

I'm not totally sure how to tell this story. It comes with an unhappy ending. I'm sending my Henry BBS.357 Carbine back to Rice Lake --- permanently. Hmmm, I've got it! The story can be told by looking through the sights.

I bought this carbine on July 19th. First time at the range was July 31st, and subsequent to that I went out four more times. Result? It is not possible to get this rifle sighted in. Here are rear sight changes I made with each followed by another attempt to sight-in the BB.

My first range time was using the stock buckhorn sight. Shot only 10 rounds, and could not find the paper target using a full-sized silhouette at 15 yards.

Changed rear sight to a barrel-mounted Skinner peep. Ran out of aperture stem threads (windage up) trying to keep POIs on target.

Removed the peep and install a receiver-mounted Skinner Express. At this range visit, the lever action began to seize very hard and I could barely close the action. One time I had to pull it through with both hands! Also the lever action was generating a lot of mis-feeds and ammo jams.

Sent rifle to Henry Rice Lake, WI facility and requested a refund. That was my need for Customer Satisfaction. The Henry rep at the WI shop was most agreeable, and she shipped the Henry to WI at no charge to me.

A goof at Henry shop. The rep was on vacation when the Henry arrived, and the gunsmith/tech never fully read my letter. They "repaired" the rifle and sent it back to me....all at no charge. Here is what was done: extensive cleaning of the bore, removing numerous dark lines from muzzle to crown, and removing a huge amount of copper fouling from the rounds I had put through it. In addition to the bore work, Henry also did this work and replaced parts: deburred and smoothed out receiver, feed ramps, and chamber, adjusted lock up, and replaced bolt. The rep convinced me, when she found out what happened, to try out the repaired carbine again. I did yesterday.

Spent the afternoon at my son's-in-law range. The action worked quite smoothly with no problems. But neither of us could get the rifle sighted in. He is an excellent marksman, and we couldn't keep the POIs on paper target at 25-yards using a Tru-Glo red dot he took off his Mossberg. I couldn't believe the difficulty he was having shooting this carbine!! He then removed the red dot and shot at 20 yards with the buckhorn sights. He couldn't achieve a group any smaller than about 3.5". Astounding for him. At 20 yards with iron sights he can easily put 5 POIs touching each other.

So we looked at the bore very closely. Here are a couple of photos I took (sorry they're not clearer; I'm not the best photographer).

BBS carbine bore_crown damage1.JPG

BBS carbine bore_crown damage2.jpg

My son-in-law said that the bullet was not hitting any rifling at the end of the barrel, and was in fact, "bouncing" from side-to-side as it came out of the crown. He has shot so much, he knows how long it takes to wear out a barrel on his sniper rifles. He said this Henry BBS barrel is already ruined. It happened possibly during repair by the Henry gunsmith trying to clean the straight lines and excessive copper fouling in the bore after the rifle was shot about 60 times. Or maybe when the rifle barrel was originally made? That might be as I've had such difficulty getting this rifle to shoot to POA. May never know what has happened. The damage seen in my photos is after a total of only 90 rounds fired.

C'est la vie. This has been the most difficult time I've ever had with a NIB Henry rifle. I'm a little "gun shy" now, and may hold off on my next Henry for a while. I will be contacting Henry WI rep on Monday, and with her help, return and receive a refund on this rifle.

I know this problem report is written kind of all over the place --- a little like the bullets we were sending downrange!
It has been some sighting trip!

[RanchRoper]

That's a shame your rifle didn't work out. Is it just me or are we seeing more and more HRA quality issues lately?

[CT_Shooter]

This is very sad news, PT7. I'm sure you'll keep us informed, but I'm so sorry that you're " ...a little "gun shy" now, and may hold off on my next Henry for a while." It's the saddest part of your range report. It's my hope that Anthony will win your confidence in HRAC once again.

[North Country Gal]

I feel you pain, PT. Sooner or later, we all end up with a headache gun out of the box. I've had my share to the point of no longer trusting a certain brand or brands. No experience with Henry, though, so I hope this one is a fluke.

[JEBar]

I'd be prone to telling them that they needed to send a replacement .... one that had bee thoroughly checked at the factory prior to shipping

[Cofisher]

Sorry to hear your story PT. We all know how you were looking forward to a great experience. I agree with JEBar.

[Henry88]

Thought I was on the Remlin Owners forum for a minute.

But yeah PT, at some point to got to scrub, and start a new project fresh; happens to us all.....................

[PT7]

RR, don't know if more Henry QC issues lately or not. I know that it does happen no matter how hard we try to build perfection. I was most surprised to see the bore problem (photos) that Englishfan recently posted. http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3331 That didn't look good at all to me!!

That's a shame your rifle didn't work out. Is it just me or are we seeing more and more HRA quality issues lately?

Thanks, CT_Shooter. I'm thinking the "shyness" will go away before very long. I like my SGC too much; it is so well-made, a beautiful rifle, and such a pleasure to shoot. I know there are many, many excellent Henrys that have been, and are being, built. There are good ones out there, and I bet I could find another one of those someday!!

This is very sad news, PT7. I'm sure you'll keep us informed, but I'm so sorry that you're " ...a little "gun shy" now, and may hold off on my next Henry for a while." It's the saddest part of your range report. It's my hope that Anthony will win your confidence in HRAC once again.

Like that expression, NCG: "...a headache gun out-of-the-box." I think it did feel like a two-month-long headache. The high majority of the Henry rifles I've had, plus the excellent Henry CS, have not brought along many headaches. Just some minor glitches, which were always handled/fixed well. This BBS was border-line migraine for me. I think part of it was the tougher mid-summer days I had this year....just wasn't handling the rifle problems very well through it all.

I feel you pain, PT. Sooner or later, we all end up with a headache gun out of the box. I've had my share to the point of no longer trusting a certain brand or brands. No experience with Henry, though, so I hope this one is a fluke.

Gentlemen Three. Appreciate all your comments, which I'm considering. Like I posted, I'll be chatting with the Henry WI rep tomorrow about this BBS carbine. Shall see if there are any other alternatives, which she might bring my way.

I'd be prone to telling them that they needed to send a replacement .... one that had bee thoroughly checked at the factory prior to shipping

Sorry to hear your story PT. We all know how you were looking forward to a great experience. I agree with JEBar.

...But yeah PT, at some point to got to scrub, and start a new project fresh; happens to us all.....................

[BigAl52]

Man PT hate to hear this and its been coming up alot lately. Im sure trying to come out with the new models and trying to stay in a time frame with the release of the new models there is more issues. I know you will keep us posted and Im sure they will take care of it. Al

[PT7]

I think you're "spot-on," BigAl. The Henry rifle went through some production problems and QC issues. But I am still confident in Henry's off-the-chart CS, and the guarantee from Anthony Imperato that I will end up to be a "100% satisfied Henry owner." One way or another.

Man PT hate to hear this and its been coming up alot lately. Im sure trying to come out with the new models and trying to stay in a time frame with the release of the new models there is more issues. I know you will keep us posted and Im sure they will take care of it. Al

[Englishfan]

I feel your pain sir I have just had this exact problem with the crown of my bbb .44 . I'm across the pond though so the Henry cs is reliant on the importer here finding me a new one or importing a new one from Henry witch has the potential to take months.
I will definitely give Henry another chance as it's a quality rifle BUT I will be looking real hard at the next rifle and very critical and vocal of any defects.
I wish you the best of luck sir in a quick resolution to you problem and I am sure you will have a fine rifle in the end .

[PT7]

English --- I closely looked over the post with your photos of the BBB .44 bore damage. I'm still trying to figure out how that happened. I've never before seen that kind of metal damage in any gun barrel.

Being "across the pond" creates more challenges for you then I have here in the colonies. Over the years, I've had very short turnaround time with Henry as they've handled any rifle repairs for me. No complaints here. Sure sorry for the length of time it will potentially take for your rifle issues to be resolved. And I hope your importer will stay on top of it for you. Fortunately, you bought a rifle from a company that wants to help out its customers. So good luck to you as well.

I feel your pain sir I have just had this exact problem with the crown of my bbb .44 . I'm across the pond though so the Henry cs is reliant on the importer here finding me a new one or importing a new one from Henry witch has the potential to take months.
I will definitely give Henry another chance as it's a quality rifle BUT I will be looking real hard at the next rifle and very critical and vocal of any defects.
I wish you the best of luck sir in a quick resolution to you problem and I am sure you will have a fine rifle in the end .

[Leftofcenter67]

I just got a .357 BBSteel 16" Carbine. (Car-Been? Car-Bine?) Only issue I have is the second to last round sort of skips when you load it. You move it around a bit, then it loads. Other than that, no issues on the sights or rifling. Are you using your own reloads or factory? Hope the company replaces it for you.