Sights and ammo for hunting

[Loophole LaRue]

 Every year I get fired up to hunt whitetails with the Henry, and then I chicken out and use a bolt action.  Not this year...it's the Henry or nothing.

So I went to the range last year to see what I could hit at 100 yrds.  Ooops - needed to hold about 6 inches high (that matches Winchester's estimate of the drop on their 250 gr RNFP .45 smokeless rounds), but also had to aim about 6 inches to the left.  It was then that I realized that I don't know how to adjust the front sight.  A single screw on the left side...and the blade looks like it's already sitting slightly to the right of the centerline of the barrel (I have never touched it since I bought it; it's right on for SASS, and never had a reason to sight in on any other distances)  So, how do you adjust the sights?

For those of you who deer hunt with your Henry - any ammo recommendations in .45 LC?

Thanks in advance.

LL

[major]

LL

The front sight on a Herny is not adjustible for windege, only the rear sight will adjust.  Move the rear sight in the direction you want the bullet to move.  For the front sight you can buy taller sight blades that will bring the inpact of the bullet down to the point of aim.
Terry

[buckskin billy]

for the front site if it is hitting to low you can file it down a nose hair at a time to bring it up to point of aim. i usually limit my hunting to about 50 yards maybe 75 yards.
here is a formula that gun smith hamilton bowmen printed in july 2006 guns magazine:

"sight radius x distance to move group  divided by  range of target IN INCHES = poi movement
for examp;e, if your gun has a sigth radius of 8 inches and your shooting at 900 inches(25 yards) and you need to raise the point of impact  2inches, the equation would be 8x2  divided by 900=.0177inches"

be sure to take that measurement for sight radius from the back of the front sight  to the rear sight notch.

as far as ammo goes you will have to play around with it some if you are using factory ammo. my dad has reloaded for 50 years and i have been reloading for about 15 years, so i am a factory ammo virgin. so i can't be no help there.
for my 45 colt henry rifle my favorite load is using remington brass i can almost get 40 grains 0f 3 f goex. with a cci magnum large pistol primer and a 250 grain rnfp bullet from a lee mould lubed with spg i get a little shy of 1100 feet per second. more than enough ummp to take a white tail with a well placed shot to the vitails at reasonable range of around 50 to 75 yards.
another word of advise is to use a soft lead bullet for hunting.  i cast my own so i have several alloys of bullets on hand. for cowboy shooting i use a mixture of tire weights and plumbers lead. for hunting i use straight plumbers lead(i'm a plumber). some will  say its much to soft, but i have no complaints.
to prove my case on the soft  bullets vs hard bullets with black powder loads. i shot a whitetail doe a few years ago with my  hatfield plains rifle .54 caliber round made from tire weights. the range was less than 10 steps she ran out in front of me while i was stalking. it hit her right behind the shoulder a little high. the ball bounced off a rib and exited out of the top of her back. if the ball would not had broke her spine that deer would had got away as the bullet did not flatten out.
shot another doe at about the same distance but she was standing still right be hind the front shoulder with a round ball cast of pure plumbers lead and the ball punched straight through leaving a exit wound that was huge. so i'm a believer in soft lead for huntiing  

[J23]

Finally, a question I have an answer to...!!! 

I too, and going to give the Henry a try this year.  I have the standard civilian model, 24" barrel, brass frame by Uberti.

I am loading a hard cast (quenched wheelweights) Lee 45-255-RF (about 262 grains) over a charge of 8.0 grains of Unique, CCI LP primer and WW cases.  I am guessing between 900-1000 fps at the muzzle.  I filed on my front sight a little to bring the point of impact down to 50 yards; at 75, I am about 3 inches down, and can whack a pop can with every shot at 75.  At 50 yards, five shots slips into less than 2 inches over and over again.

I dont expect instantanious knock down, but that hard cast 262 grain bullet with a wide meplat moving at close to 1000 fps ought to do all that needs doing on any deer that I may come across, and Im sure itll punch through both sides from ANY angle I care to slip that bullet into the vitals.  I'm probably going to go for the shoulder break, or a double lung shot, and I have no doubt Ill be able to eat right up to the hole.

She's no .270 but dont be afraid... most every deer Ive killed here in West Virginia has been well under 100 yards. Put a couple hundred rounds through an iron sighted rifle and youll no longer feel it's a handicap; quite the contrary, after 2 years of iron sights and cast bullets (boolits,) I feel weird shooting a scope sighted bolt gun. 

Hope that helps!

[Loophole LaRue]

Hmmm...the plan now is to hunt in  Alabama in Dec/Jan...friend from NOLA has a 54 acre hunting lease...

But - Alabama requires "mushrooming" centerfire ammo for whitetails...

Bearing in mind the limitations of the rifle, what do you think of a Hornady 225 gr. JHP with a flexible tip?

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=449013

Looks like about 1000 fps.

Many thanks.

LL

[Capt. Montgomery Little]

Do the Game officials check the spent bullets when you check in the kill or are you concerned about being checked before the kill?  I don't see how anyone could make a determination about "mushrroming" capabilities of a bullet until after impact and then what happens if it is a clean through shot with no bullet recovery?  Too durned many idiots making laws in this country that don't amount to a hill of beans.

[Loophole LaRue]

Capt.:

I'm not real lucky when dealing with LEOs....if there are 10 guys out hunting that morning, I figure I'm the one the warden will decide to check. 

As for the wisdom of the regulation...not my concern.  I'm an out-of-stater, choosing to hunt in their state; I figure I need to respect their rules.  And my assumption is that they may check pre-kill, when non-conforming ammo is much more easy to detect.

Hey, succeeding despite the limitations makes it worthwhile!

LL

[Loophole LaRue]

Uh, oh....

I tried out the Hornady FXT rounds with the soft tips this weekend.....and they are TOO LONG; will not cycle.

So....should I (a) forget it; or (b) try to set the bullet deeper?  I understand Hornady has a special die for setting these bullets, that accomodates the tip......

Any experience out there?

Many thanks.

LL

[Will Ketchum]

LL, you might try a softer lead bullet.  Shoot one into a gallon jug of water with a phone book behind it.  Recover the bullet and carry it with when you hunt.  You will be able to show it to any warden when you hunt .  I assume Alabama has a muzzle loading hunt you can use round ball in.  You wouldn't need a bullet that soft.  I wouldn't think leading would be much of a factor because you probably won't shoot that many and even if it leads some it isn't that hard to remove.

Will Ketchum

[Loophole LaRue]

Will:

Ya lost me.  Are you saying that a lead bullet meets the definition of "expanding bullet" in hunting laws? 

I'm not sure about the muzzle loader season; I don't have a muzzle loader, in any event.

The whole idea here was to find a suitable load, that meets the state regs and functions well in the Henry; and kills deer efficiently.

LL

[Will Ketchum]

If the only requirement is that the bullet expands then a lead bullet would fill that.  After all a jacketed soft point or jacked hollow point only have jackets to prevent leading at higher velocities.   You might consider gas checked bullets as they keep the base of the bullet from melting and help prevent leading.

I suggest calling Alabama's Department of Natural Resources (or what ever they call it there)  and asking if lead bullets satisfy the mushrooming requirement.

Will Ketchum

[pistol1911]

Full metal jackets are not allowed for hunting in Alabama. Lead bullets are legal.Muzzle loader 40 cal or larger.Rifle bullets can be lead or jacketed soft points. As long as you do not shoot FMJ in a rifle or handgun you are legal.

[Loophole LaRue]

Thanks, Pistol....a little local knowledge is helpful.

LL

[Joe Lansing]

    Soft cast lead bullets are best. Jacketed (not full jacketed) bullets, including hollow points expand very poorly at Henry velocities.

                                                        J.L.

[Marshal Deadwood]

Go with 'soft lead' as has been advised for hunting. With the .45 you will get penetration anyways, but with soft lead you will get penetration AND expansion.

Remember this also....all the stuff a bullet does once out the other side,,,,,,,,,,kills nothing. You want the body of the deer soaking up all the 'stuff' a bullet does ,,,,,,,,inside the deer.

MD

[USCG Flyer]

I load a 250gr Hornady XTP over 2400 for hunting, can't recall the charge without looking at my notes though. Shoots well, runs less than 3 MOA. The bullet profile works well in the Henry action. If you want to go factory, maybe try the Winchester PDX1 defense load, if it works on a person, I see no reason why a deer would be any different. Other than the JHPs, you have gotten some good advice with the soft lead flat nose.