Sighting in my Henry

[Zeb Kingsford]

Hey gents and gentiles:  From reading the forum,  I know that you can not lay an 1860 Henry on sandbags due to the harmonics of the barrel and loading tube.  I also read that a person should lay his or her hand between the rifle and the sand bags.  Well I tried that today and my Henry shot all over the place.
I know the gun shoots good,  I stood on my back legs and hit the targer everytime.  However,  if I want to see what kind of a group I am getting,  shooting offhand is not the way.
Do you have any suggestions?
Thanks
Zeb

[Christopher Carson]

You might try supporting your forearm elbow on a sandbag on a bench.  There's a way to use a tripod-like bench rest to provide additional support under the butt... but dunno it'd be worth going through all that, and it might not help anyway...

-Chris

[Zeb Kingsford]

Thanks Chris I will give that a try.  I would think just about everyone has gone thru this,  I would think anyway.
Zeb

[Fox Creek Kid]

Rest the brass frame on the sandbags and do not touch anything forward of the frame with your left hand or leave it free.

[buckskin billy]

here is what my henry will do at 50 yards, resting just the frame on sand bags like fox creek kid suggested



3 consecutive shots at 50 yards. taking a fine bead. the load is 45 colt loaded in remington brass with 40 grains of 3f goex. no wad, cci magnum large pistol primers 255 grain bullets drop from a lee mould not sized and lubed with home made lube of beeswax and tallow.
  the gun had a clean bore, no fouling shot. the same afternoon i shot a deer at 65 yards and dropped it where it stood. the barrel was not cleaned before the hunt. knowing the gun was printing a little low at 50 yards and the range of the deer was confirmed by a range finder of 65 i held high on its shoulder to allow for drop. the bullet hit exactly where i aimed at. don't know why and can't explain. haven't done no shooting on paper beyond 50 yards to know what the bullet does. it has been suggested by some other shooters i know that the dirty barrel may have made the gun hit high or the bullet is on the rise at 65 yards. i don't know and don't pretend to know. but what i do know is a henry rifle is accurate and the 45 black powder colt will kill deer grave yard dead.
i hope this info will help you get your henry rifle shooting true

[Zeb Kingsford]

Thanks Fox Creek and Buckskin Billy.  I should have thought of that myself.  I guess I am not used to sighting in a rifle without resting it on the forearm.
I am heading out today to try it out.
PS:  Buckskin that is a good hunting story.
Zeb

[Montana Slim]

I've seen cross-sticks used for some fine shooting with a Henry...might give that a try.

Regards,
Slim

[cactus joe]

nice shooting buckskin billy, my .45colt hits about the same at 50yds, but lately i've tried to shoot at 100yds and have been all over the place. Some of the shots that do hit the paper are 4 or 5 inches to the left,and most shots are way low or not even on the paper. obviously i need more practice. Most of my hunting shots come from 25 to 70 yds. thats all the sight range i have from my tree stand. So i'm not going to adjust my sights at all just practice more to get used to seeing how much hold over i need at different ranges. I usually shoot sitting with my elbow on the bench using a tang sight , 250gr. bullet  and smokless powder at the range. Haven't downed a deer yet with mine , hopefully next year!

[Henry4440]

I shoot(sometimes) my Henry(44-40) not from a sandbag, but from a rest.I lay the barrel on the rest, not the frame, and have no problems with the accuracy.
10 shots with the holy black stuff at 50m from a rest with my Henry.

[buckskin billy]

dern fine shooting lonesome henry and a dern fine rifle. i  would want you backing me when the chips went down

cactus joe i have shot my henry some at a 100 yards and mine too shoots all over the place. i like you need to practice more at that distance. most of my hunting shots are less than 50 yards as i'm forced to hunt a pine thicket, so i haven't worried too much about sighting the henry beyond that.

[cactus joe]

Ya buckskin billy, the way i'm shootin at 50yds i'm eaten venison tonight, at 100yds the bucks live to make some more little ones for next year.   lonsome looks like you will need a new 9 of spades for your saturday night poker game.   nice shooting. by the way i know you are on the metric system there in Germany, and i could probably figure it out, but i know you most likely know, how many yds is 50meters equal to?

[Henry4440]

C.J.
50 Meter=54.5 yards
http://www.meterstoyards.com/

Need more than a 9 of spades.
Mostly my friend and i are shooting with our Sharps at Norwegian kroner or washers,
but shooting at cards with my Herny  is the best!!

[Fox Creek Kid]

Different gravity laws in Germany that don't apply here.   

[Zeb Kingsford]

Darn fine shooting Lonesome Henry.  What is your load in your 44/40 with the "Holly Black"?
Zeb

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I can't even see a playing card at 50 yards, so milking the ultimate accuracy out of a rifle is kind of lost on me.

I have a nice set shooting sticks rig that I always use to sight in rifles at the bench. Yes, I do usually put the barrel in the sticks, not the frame. But like I say, I can barely see past my nose anyway, so it don't really matter for me.

But..........I do remember reading about a trick a couple of years ago. If you sprinkle some talcum powder or other light powdery substance on the barrel before shooting, the vibrations will knock most of the powder off the barrel except at the harmonic nodes. Then you place the barrel on the sticks at the point where the most talcum powder stayed put. Should work better with octagon barrels where the top is flat. I was told about this back when I was trying to shoot my Sharps accurately. Bad eyesight eventually made me give up.

I ain't never tried it, but it sure sounded interesting.

[Henry4440]

Darn fine shooting Lonesome Henry.  What is your load in your 44/40 with the "Holly Black"?
Zeb

Hi Zeb,
When i use the 'Holy Stuff', i take 35 grs Swiss 3 (ffg), 0.070 wad,200grs  bullet(20:1) Lyman : 427666 and Lube 103.
For smokeless powder i use Hodgdon Titegroup, 6.2 grs, Starline case and a 205grs WM(Willy Minter) Silvermoly bullet.

Howdy

I can't even see a playing card at 50 yards, so milking the ultimate accuracy out of a rifle is kind of lost on me.

Without an black background , we take the Target for rapid fire pistol , i have my problems to see the card.
Will make some pics next friday at the shooting range.

[cactus joe]

thanks lonsome for setting me straight on my metric conversions. I'm heading out now to pratice my 91 meters shooting.

[Henry4440]

Howdy

I can't even see a playing card at 50 yards, so milking the ultimate accuracy out of a rifle is kind of lost on me.

Driftwood Johnson,
here are two pics from todays shooting.Well, we try shooting. 10 minutes after taking the pics it became so foogy, we couldn't see the targets at 50 m.




D.J. , can you see the card?


Now i have to wait til Sunday. Hope the weather is much better.

[cactus joe]

lonsome, it must have been the fog, because your shooting was a little off compared to the day you shot the spots off the 9 of spades. I can see the card but i couldn't tell you it was a 7 of diamonds.

[Henry4440]

lonsome, it must have been the fog, because your shooting was a little off compared to the day you shot the spots off the 9 of spades. I can see the card but i couldn't tell you it was a 7 of diamonds.

I didn't shoot today. The target for rapid fire pistol was a used one. Believe me, i'm not so bad with a rifle.