Henry BBS Carbine 357 factory sights

[babo]

Hello all!

Im about to take the plunge into lever actions with the big boy steel carbine in 357mag! but curious, Is there any adjustment thats needs to be made out of the factory box for sights? Im hoping i wont have to immediately take out a brass hammer and punch and adjust the sights. anybody would like to share their thoughts of when they first got their henry?

appreciate it!

[BigAl52]

There could be and then again maybe not. You will just need to gather up some of your favorite ammo and take it to the range. Ive been pretty lucky with mine and have not had to make any major windage adjustments only elevation adjustments.

[SGC]

My .357 steel carbine was spot on.

[GFK]

Greeting and welcome. I had to adjust for elevation too. I fail to understand that the diamond insert can be adjusted as well. After lowering the insert also, I was pretty much hitting center at 25 yards.

[Mistered]

My BBB shot ok out of the box with minor sight corrections but the stock buckhorn left a lot to be desired. The blade notch is too small but that was easily remedied with a dental drill. Also the blade itself is too narrow, does not fit the channel well and is difficult to adjust. Better buckhorns are available and this is one of the few complaints I had about my Henry, and wondered why they didn’t choose something better. Regardless I wasn’t planning on keeping it anyway as I finally replaced it with a Williams receiver sight as I have on all my lever action rifles.

[babo]

im also kind of confused on how the semi buckhorn sights work. is the front bead suppose cover the center of target, and to be in line of the little notch of the rear sight?

[Mistered]

im also kind of confused on how the semi buckhorn sights work. is the front bead suppose cover the center of target, and to be in line of the little notch of the rear sight?

Well technically yes but a lot of people like to sight in at the ‘6:00’ method which means you sight in a bit high so your target (be it a bullseye on paper or a deer head) will rest on TOP of the front bead so none of the target is obscured. And yes the front bead will be centered and aligned with the notch in the rear which should be a ‘U’ shape and large enough so there is some light between it and the front bead so you have some contrast.

[roddy]

My Golden Boy needed a bit of fiddling with the rear sight out of the box. If the BBS uses the same rear sight, adjustments are easy...no hammer or punch needed. There is a small screw that locks the rear sight in the dovetail. Just back it out a bit, then you should be able to slide the rear sight left or right for windage. The elevation is as simple as lifting/lowering a notch, and fine tuning with the sliding insert (also locked by a small screw).

[shootinthecinders]

im also kind of confused on how the semi buckhorn sights work. is the front bead suppose cover the center of target, and to be in line of the little notch of the rear sight?

When I first bought my H006 Henry I had never used semi buckhorn sights so I googled them to gain some knowledge about them. The lowest setting is with the rear sight at its lowest position on the ramp all the way back toward the receiver and the bead of the front sight centered in the small “u” or “v” notch at the bottom of the rear sight. This works for close targets. For further distances move the rear sight up the ramp. From what I read and experienced, leaving the front bead in the small notch will give the more accurate shot. But there is still more adjustment available utilizing the positioning of the front sight in the rear buckhorn sight. This includes positioning above the small notch, the middle of the notch, base of the curved horns, between the top of the horns, and above the top of the horns. In other words anywhere that you can consistently reference the front sight on the rear semi buckhorn. Rememember that with each front sight adjustment, you will have all the ramp adjustments on the rear sight. It’s an interesting system if you have the time, ammo, and inclination to determine the various settings for the desired distances. Of course some settings will overlap each other. Hope this helps.
The peep sight would be easier and more accurate but there is some “fun” involved with figuring out the semi buckhorn. Best of luck to you.
ETA: I used the word curved horns which is the buckhorn style. The semi buckhorn has the angle and then flat top but you just reference on these points of the rear sight.

[Mistered]

It’s an interesting system if you have the time, ammo, and inclination to determine the various settings for the desired distances.

True statement - unfortunately most do not take the time and ammo to do this and loose interest quickly or mount a scope. Buckhorns can be made to shoot very accurately but take a lot of work. Most seem to think the front bead should 'fit' the rear blade U or V 'tightly' when looking through it. This is not conducive to accuracy as there has to be some light seen between the front bead and the rear notch to be able to 'center' the front bead or blade. I managed to get my 1899 Winchester shooting with it's original Buckhorn and front blade pretty well (100 yard clays are easy) but it took some reshaping of the rear blade notch from a small 'V" to a clean "U' about 3/32 in width. This allows me to set the base of the blade in the bottom of the U notch and leaves the remains of the blade (about an 1/8" or less) of the blade above the notch and is not a bad combo (working with the original sight) As an experiment I tried a 'modern' Winchester Buckhorn on it but it was taller than the original and I couldn't adjust it low enough to bring it on paper.
I will eventually get a Marbles Tang Sight for this rifle as it is not drilled & tapped for a Williams (this started in 1952) - or maybe not - I really got it shooting well with the stock Buckhorn - but it DID take the requisite time and ammo to get it to this point.

[Leftofcenter67]

I had a Beretta CX-4 Storm Carbine. And I couldn't sight it well. I wound up selling it.
I have a Big Boy Steel Carbine in .357 Magnum. The Buckhorn sights with the brass at the end, is easy to see, and easy to sight, and fun to shoot.
Don't think you need to really sight it.