Henry 30-30 accuracy?

[Vaquero]

Hello neighbors,
...
I am looking at the H009G or maybe an X model in 30-30. What are you guys getting in the real world for accuracy?

BTW, I do handload and shooting nothing buy my own cast bullets. Right now I shoot a Lyman 311041 over IMR 3031 in my Savage 219 single shot.

Thanks for your replies and any suggestions.

Welcome from the Tualatin Valley!

I have both and H009B and H024 (gated) in 30-30. I have no complaints with accuracy within 100yds. I haven't tried beyond that.
My favorite factory ammo is Federal Fusion. My reloads are with Leverevolution powder with Hornady #3035 and Sierra #2000, both 150gr bullets.

Have you ever tried any 170gr ammo in either?
Of the 30-30s I have, the 2 Marlins that I shoot the most they both shoot the 150gr pretty good, but shoot smaller groups with a 170 gr bullets.
Just curious.

RP

[Mags]

...
Have you ever tried any 170gr ammo in either?
Of the 30-30s I have, the 2 Marlins that I shoot the most they both shoot the 150gr pretty good, but shoot smaller groups with a 170 gr bullets.
Just curious.

RP

I've shot some 170gr factory ammo in the H009 a long time ago. I don't recall there being any difference in performance compared to 150gr. At the time 150gr was more available and so I just stayed with it. And that carried over into what I reload for.

[GFK]

I can agree. My Henry is not as picky as my Marlin. My Henry pretty much iked all grains (150, 170 and 160) that I tried. Yet, my Marlin seems to like 150gr.

[DsGrouse]

The only reason i mentioned the 170's is that for subs i want the extra 20grains of mass. At 1050 fps it's 50 more foot pounds of energy .

367 vs 416

[Vaquero]

These both shoot the 150's fine, its just the 170's seem to always get tighter groups. This is my first rifle and I killed a bunch of deer using the 150gr factory ammo. After I started reloading I noticed that the 170's were grouping a tic better.
Not that it really matters at the usual yardage that I hunt with them. And my 308mx really likes a 170gr pill so I just keep more of those on hand.
Here's a small comparison I did a couple years ago.

20221211_181142.jpg

RP

[GFK]

Nice looking Marlin! And, nice shooting!

[leverjc]

I do not know if Henry has improved their barrel quality in the last couple of years but I would not accept delivery of one without checking the bore with a scope. I have never owned a Henry in 30-30 but the two Henrys I have bought have been back to the factory seven times over barrel issues. If I were to buy a new one I would go with Ruger as their barrel are hammer forged and are less likely to have a dull cutter pushed too fast to make a clean bore,

I do have four 30-30's, two Marlins, an Uberti and a 1940 Winchester. All but the pre cross bolt Marlin have excellent accuracy. The marlin has a sloppy chamber and heads space issues. There are a lot of things that affect the repeatable accuracy of lever action besides the bore, like barrel band tightness and stock fit to the action. if you have a good bore and chamber the rest can be worked on.

[sghart3578]

I do not know if Henry has improved their barrel quality in the last couple of years but I would not accept delivery of one without checking the bore with a scope. I have never owned a Henry in 30-30 but the two Henrys I have bought have been back to the factory seven times over barrel issues. If I were to buy a new one I would go with Ruger as their barrel are hammer forged and are less likely to have a dull cutter pushed too fast to make a clean bore"

It's funny that you mention the barrel quality of Henry. The Henry X in 357 magnum is a prime example. In my original post I mentioned that I am very happy with it but it took a little while to get there.

I bought the rifle used. The price was hard to pass up. I am a Marlin fan and have 1894's in several calibers. The Henry would shoot groups of 6-8" at 75 yards. Not 100 yards but 75 yards. I shoot nothing but cast lead so I proceeded to slug the bore. The slug went about 1" into the muzzle then fell all the wy through to the chamber. I did it twice because I couldn't believe it the first time.

To make a long story short Henry replaced the barrel and paid shipping both ways, even after I made it clear that I was not the original owner. It now shoots as well or maybe slightly better than my Marlin

After reading your post and other entries in other forums I can only assume that Henry is pushing product out the door at a break neck pace. Then do quality control via customer complaints.

I am now having second thoughts and will probably stick to my 336 from 1965 and my Savage 219 from the 30's.

[220]

Cant comment on the henry in 30/30 but my 1978 manufacture marlin shoots very well.
When I purchased it the previous owner guaranteed it to put 5 federal 150gr into under 2" at 100y, I have never checked, it will put 3 hornady leverevolution into 4" at 300y and my 160gr FTX reloads into moa at every distance I have tried.
When the kids were little I was after a lower recoil load so tested some of the sierra 125gr, the first to loads tested both put 5 shots into 1" at 100y.

[Mr. Neutron]

While not the most “impressive” group I’ve ever shot (or seen/shot with, say, my scoped .30-06…….), I felt these 2 groups were good and “huntable” for my brass framed .30-30. I wish I could say that they were offhand shooting, but they were off a bench. Was double checking my impacts before hunting season. I probably won’t bother movin’ my zero point to the left; probably won’t affect the outcome of a hunt.

One group was at 50 yds.; one from a hundred. Shot with a Skinner peep rear sight, and a brass post front one. Hornady 150s with 37 grains of LEVERevolution. Good for 2425 fps through my chrono. I’ve no doubt a scope would tighten this up a good bit, but feel like a scope on a lever rifle should be illegal…….

image.jpg

[BigAl52]

Nice shooting for peep sights. Not found of scopes on leverguns either but Ive not seen many cowboys shooting levers with peeps either. But the older I get the more I tend to reconsider. Kinda like the simplicity of the green dot without lining up irons.

[Mr. Neutron]

Thanks, Al!
I guess my cataract surgery helps!

When I posted this last night, it was getting late (for me, anyway, and I did forget to add one thing regarding .30-30 accuracy.

I have 2 H009 sidegates. A steel round barreled rifle, and a brass framed octagonal barrel that shot the groups I posted the pic of. The brass framer is DEFINITELY the more accurate of the two guns. It’s always shot tighter groups, and especially with factory rounds. The steel round barreled H009g rifle doesn’t like much of any ammo, be it factory rounds, or hand loads. Now, for hand loads, I’ll admit I’ve sorta been hamstrung from a lack of bullet availability. There are some other bullets I’d like try, but can’t find. But that doesn’t explain why the H009bg (brass framer) is fairly accurate with about anything it gets fed, and the steel one is not a good grouper.

Both rifles have a Ranger point Precision sear, with nearly identical trigger pull weights of around 3 lbs.. One rifle has a round barrel, and one is an octagon shaped pipe. I have one of those tools you measure fired cases’ lengths with using my dial calipers, which helps me to set my resizing die. I’ve noticed the steel H009g’s chamber is quite a bit longer than the H009bg’s chamber is. Dunno for certain if this is why the brass rifle has been a better shooter or not. But it does kinda seem to tell me that getting a a good accurate barrel is really important, and possibly somewhat of a crap shoot.

Hee hee……. Nice shooting joke I just made there……. Get it??? “Crap Shoot”?? Kinda describes the steel round barrel’s groups……. Anyway…….

[Vaquero]

That's some fine shooting, man. No way I can get those kind of groups, at a 100 yds., not without a scope. I can see the plate, but not a 2" dot.
Could be the beefier barrel is just more accurate, probably not that many that would have both like you.

RP

[Mr. Neutron]

Thanks, Randy & Al!!!

But I'm still a long ways from RanchRoper territory as a shooter........ There's a LOT of really good shooters on this site......

But my point is that these rifles in .30-30 can be a shooter. Again, I feel certain that a well adjusted scope would likely tighten the groups up on my rifle(s), as it would on most others.

You may have to do some experimentin' with a variety of factory rounds and handloads, but I believe most of these rifles will get to something acceptable.

There are a few different bullets and weights I'd lke to experiment with for my handloads, to see if they might shoot better than the Hornady 150s. Some components are just not as easy to come by as we'd like......