Henry H001L vs Remington 514

[DAVIDF]

I have been almost exclusively shooting AKs the past year and working on my ability to be accurate with them. I decided to try something different and shoot a rifle I haven't taken to the range in quite a while. However, I have had it since 1968. My dad bought a Remington model 514 single shot bolt action rifle for me after he returned from a tour at Udorn AB Thailand in 1968. From the barrel markings it was manufactured in March of 1968.

On Saturday I tested it at 25 yards against my Henry H001L, both with open sights. I was happy with the results of each, seeing mostly 3/4" groups with three different loads, Remington Standard Velocity Target 40gr, American Eagle 38gr HP, and Winchester 36gr HP 222 round bulk pack. None of these are match grade ammo of course. I've chronographed the Remington and AE. The Remington had a pretty poor ES of 94 and SD of 32. The AE was much better with an ES of 44 and SD of 13. However, I did not see any significant difference in accuracy or POI shift between those 3 loads at that distance. The 52 year old Remington with its awful trigger performed slightly better than the Henry. I think it was the sight picture and not a better barrel that made the difference. But, it made me happy that the old Remington is shooting quite nicely.

IMG_E1456.JPG (245.75 KiB) Viewed 1185 times

This is a group from the 514. I was verifying that windage was good by holding on that vertical line. Didn't do such a good job at keeping elevation consistent however.

25 yd 514.JPG (15.85 KiB) Viewed 1185 times

Same thing for the Henry.

h001l.JPG (15.57 KiB) Viewed 1185 times

I was really pleased with this group from 50 yards with the 514 using the Remington Standard Velocity. Measured 3/4" if I measured correctly.

514 50 yds.JPG (15.54 KiB) Viewed 1185 times

[Rifletom]

They both seem to be shooting/grouping well. Hard to beat shooting .22's! Any chance getting trigger worked on the 514?

[DAVIDF]

No, I won't bother with the 514. Simple mechanism. It could probably be polished somewhere perhaps. But, I think it would be impossible to get it to the point where it could be called a good trigger. It is not very crisp, somewhat heavy, and even has a lot of sideways play.

[North Country Gal]

3/4" group at 50 yards with open sights is an excellent group. Well done. I do a lot of that very same kind of shooting.

Yes, the 514 was the budget grade Remmy single shot 22, so not surprised at the trigger. I usually shoot Winchester 67s as my budget grade 22 single shot. Also very simple triggers, but not too bad and on some I've been able to do some tuning.

[DAVIDF]

Thank you NCG. That was the only group that I shot at 50 yards that day with the .22s. One and done, figured stop right there Don't know if those results would have been repeatable for me. I think this is the only time that I ever tried to actually shoot a tight group on paper with that rifle from a bench. Only the second time I've tried it with one of our Henry .22s. It was a lot of fun. Next time, I am going to do more at 50, 75, & 100 yards to try to figure out the elevation with rear sight.

[BigAl52]

Id be happy with either one of those groups nice shooting.

[Vaquero]

Looks pretty darn good to me, like Al said I'd be pretty happy with those results.

RP