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First time at range.....sucked!

Posted: Tue May 24, 2022 4:44 pm
by Retlawman
Hey, Well I finally took my new Big Boy Side Lever .357 to a local indoor range. It only goes out to 25 yards, thank the Lord. I cleaned it last week. My first time
ever shooting a lever. Shotgun was 15 years ago as a LEO.
I started at 10 yards and took her out to 25. Started with 38 special and then mixed back and forth with .357. Both 158gr. Federal AE 38sp. and PMC .357 jsp.

The good: No malfunctions of any type. I never short strocked her. The trigger is smoother when you're shooting and doesn't feel heavy at all. Lever action very smooth and felt shorter while shootig.
Right on target at 10 yards. Recoil, what Recoil! .38 Special was a little more than a loud cap gun. Lol. .357 was just plain fun and very controllable! I felt like I was shooting a rifle! Can't wait to try some very hot Double Tap I have.

The bad: I couldn't for the life of me figure these sights out. The sight picture for my aging eyes was terrible. I obviously was bringing up the Brass dot too high above the buckhorn diamond rear. I was also shooting left. I had the elevation set second from lowest. The windage, I just tapped slightly for next time. I can't see these sights well and will be ordering HiViz sights after one more disappointing range session.
And....let's not forget the scratches on the buttstock. I need a glass of wine. Ok, maybe a bottle! 😆

Re: First time at range.....sucked!

Posted: Tue May 24, 2022 6:40 pm
by Vaquero
Looks like some pretty good shootin for the most part.
Getting used to the sights and all,
Yep, the ole 357 is pretty tame coming out of the rifle barrel.
I put a few rounds through mine this afternoon also.

RP

Re: First time at range.....sucked!

Posted: Tue May 24, 2022 6:58 pm
by markiver54
Not bad! No hurry. You'll get it dialed in. ☺

Re: First time at range.....sucked!

Posted: Tue May 24, 2022 7:09 pm
by fortyshooter
Looks like you were on center most of the time and good shootin' for first time Henry shootin'!

Yes my eyes had trouble with the factory type rear sight not giving enough picture around the brass bead. So I fixed that issue on all my Henry rifles!

Re: First time at range.....sucked!

Posted: Tue May 24, 2022 7:25 pm
by Headhog
Here's a link to Forty's thread on how to make up that Ghost Ring sight. Forty did a great job of creating that home grown cure and many here have taken advantage of it. i have them on both my Henry BBS and my Marlin 1894 and they work great. :D

http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.p ... de#p131130

Paul

Re: First time at range.....sucked!

Posted: Tue May 24, 2022 7:34 pm
by Vaquero
Another user of the forty cheap-peep sight,
I have one on my Henry 44 BBB & my Marlin Cowboy.
They work great.

RP

Re: First time at range.....sucked!

Posted: Tue May 24, 2022 8:57 pm
by RanchRoper
Iron sights are a challenge for sure. Keep at it and don't get frustrated. There's nothing wrong with that target you posted. This might help too:

Using-the-Peephorn.jpg
Using-the-Peephorn.jpg (31.82 KiB) Viewed 1030 times

Re: First time at range.....sucked!

Posted: Tue May 24, 2022 9:02 pm
by BigAl52
One thing I did was take that little center piece out that has the white diamond on it and turn it around. That white diamond is annoying to me

Re: First time at range.....sucked!

Posted: Tue May 24, 2022 9:33 pm
by markiver54
BigAl52 wrote: ↑
Tue May 24, 2022 9:02 pm
One thing I did was take that little center piece out that has the white diamond on it and turn it around. That white diamond is annoying to me
Yes it is. I had three different ones and the little white diamond wasn't centered on any of them. I ended up scoping it.

Re: First time at range.....sucked!

Posted: Tue May 24, 2022 10:32 pm
by BrokenolMarine
The other thing you can do is adjust your sights for a six o'clock hold. In other words, float your target atop the pattern if you don't want to / can't change to a peep right now.

Then old eyes have a cleaner sight picture.

Of course a red dot or scope works well too.