Henry rifle question

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vega

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Hey, I recently got myself an iron frame Henry rifle, which I am really impressed with. I have an Uberti double shotgun which while serviceable, is no great work of the gunmaker's art. The Henry is something else entirely, the workmanship is just amazing for a repro, both form and function are perfect.

Anyhow, I had it out yesterday with some black powder loads, 35gr fffg under a 200 gr lead bullet and it shot about 8 inches high at fifty yards with the rear sight at its lowest position.

There doesn't seem to be enough meat on the rear to do enough filing to get things settled, and while I figure the mid-range should be high at fifty, it's too high for my liking.

Any ideas?

Any experience with raising the front sight?

Thanks.
 
What sight picture are you using? Six o'clock, center, 12 o'clock? I haven't played with a henry for a long time but I have a vague recollection of the sights being the usual 19th century optimistic device, lowest setting being 200 yards, in other words. You can weld up and file the front, I can't recall if they are removable or not. If the are and the barrel has a dovetail, you can buy taller blanks and file to fit. - dan
 
Thanks guys. I hold center. The front sight is a blade in a linear dovetail, that is parallel to the barrel, and it's in a sight boss. Kinda reticent to knock it out of there until I have more info as the whole muzzle assembly looks quite fragile. I'll go check out the CAS sight.

Cheers
 
henry sights

greetings- i have in past soft soldered a small strip of copper wire on top of the blade to get the appropriate height and it worked well. we always protect the front sight anyway so it never came off in use.
 
Henry sights

Vega

I've got a 'brass' frame Henry repro in 44-40 and like yours, it hits high with a 'normal' sight picture. I've learned to take a 'fine' sight with it and then it shoots like a trooper.
Fixing a trip or bead on top of the standard sight sounds like a viable solution.
 
Thanks a lot Gents. Bill, that sounds like the ticket. Shall probably do that.

Also, according to the Henry bible by Les Quick, the original load was .44-26-216. However, as the Henry repro is built around the .44wcf, seems likely to me that Pedersoli would have (should have) sighted the gun for the cartridge its in, not the original.

Anyhow, sounds like I've now got the info I need to get on with things. Cheers.
 
Henry sights

Vega

Then you oughta have conversation with the guys in CAS that shoot their Henrys chambered in .45 Colt .... They kick a lot of butt.

Your point of impact depends on factors other than the sights - powder type and charge, bullet alloy, bullet shape, weight, lube, etc.

Regardless of calibre, the Henrys are beauts, but NOT a rifle for the fool hardy. Avoid dropping the follower on any number of rounds in the mag. Get in the habit of putting your hand over the mag tube slot as you close the nose cap.

I've been present twice when three rds detonated in the mag tube after the shooter just slapped shut the nose cap. No - they were not pointed bullets and there were no high primers in any of the remaining ammo; both experienced shooters and hand loaders.

The phenomenon was not unheard of in the era of the .44 Henry RF either, the fulminate of mercury in the priming mixture being very sensitive.

You will also experience the Henry 'fox paw' of stopping the follower with your supporting hand, especially on a cold day while wearing gloves. Ask me how I know ..... ;>)
 
Thanks Sharps. When I first got the rifle, I had a look on utoob and saw vids of a couple of guys just dropping the rounds down the mag, supposedly experienced "xspurts." Just blew me away. Needless to say, I don't do that, firearms are for fellers who think before they do. I bet those who do the drop, got used to doing that with tube-fed lever action .22's, so they just go ahead and do what they're used to doing. If you're around guns long enough, you'll see it all. Of course, the same can be said for lots of other stuff. The Henry sure is a cool gun though. Pedersoli is a truly fine gunmaker.
 
Henry Blow Ups

A fellow on the CAS City forum has expostulated a reasonable theory regarding Henry detonations when the follower is dropped any distance on to loaded rounds.
He figures that enough energy is transmitted to the primer to cause movement within the primer cup of the anvil against the priming compound.

In the absence of any other logical, scientific explanation when high or sensitive primers have been ruled out, it makes sense.

A possible solution is a soft face on the mag follower to lessen impact. A better solution is total prevention by putting hand where it can intercept the follower after closing the nose cap, and lowering it gently.
 
Yep, mine has the soft face already, but as you say, no reason to just let it snap down. Seems like a no brainer to me to just guide it down gently.
 
One of our older members had a Uberti Henry and experienced the same issue you have. He built a taller front sight then shot it trimmed the front sight till it was zeroed to his sight picture.
BTW...He shot the gun in a test I did back in the early 1990's on the Custer battle. Amazingly it shot a six inch group at 300 yards off a rest , it out-shot his Shiloh Sharps (no surprise). I think he was using close to 30 gr. FFFG.
 
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Henry accuracy

My Henry is my 'long range' CAS rifle. It will keep all it's rds in the 8" bull of a target at 100 yds - off hand.
From a seated position, it's deadly out to 200 and beyond.
 
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