Henry Rifle Forums

What a completely different range day from my last time out with my Henry .22LR small game carbine. Last outing I simply could not steady the rifle as I aimed. Today, it moved around very little, and I landed quite a number of very good POIs. I shot 70 rounds of Win M-22 40gr CP-RN ammo: 30 into splash/cardboard targets, and 40 at a 10"X12" black steel rectangle. All were shot standing, off hand, using the stock Skinner receiver-mounted peep and the front bead sights. This is the second time shooting my SGC per NGC's suggestion to try a different POA. I re-sighted the rifle last time and I changed my POA from dead-on bull to a six o'clock hold. I really like this adjust.

But the most fun part of this range day was that I held the rifle so much more steady. And that brought along a lot less eye strain, as well. If only next time I could be steadier yet.......

Here are the various yardages I shot, with my POI results.

25 yards, shot "warm up" rounds at an 8" splash stapled to a tree trunk. 18/20 in target, 2 in tree trunk.
50 yards, shot at 8" circle on white cardboard. 6/10 in target, 2 in cardboard (one high, one low), and of course had to leave 2 rounds in yonder forest.
No pictures of the black steel target, but I honestly did make these clangs today: First I shot at 60 yards, 6/10 clangs. Since I was still keeping the SGC at a steady hold, I decided to back up and garner the longest distance I could from the shooting board that held the steel target. I ended up at 83 yards. I was most pleased to hear 4/10 clangs at this distance today! More would have been better, but the distance at least didn't skunk me.

Thanks for checking out my range day at Poverty Knob. It was a good one for me, and a load of fun.

Good job, PT. You're in the groove, now, and by that I mean a routine where your offhand shooting is showing consistency, shot after shot. That initial unsteadiness with the sights bouncing all over the place when folks start shooting offhand tends to spook them, throwing off the rest of their technique. Only way to beat that is by practice. Consistency, not so much group size, is the best measure of progress with offhand work.

As for the steadiness thing, some days are better than others, for whatever reason. Time of day also makes a difference for me. I'm generally a bit steadier in the afternoon, maybe from the effects of my morning coffee wearing off.

Keep up the good work.

Nice job. Great report too. I wanna shoot at your place.

If I gave the impression it's my place, sorry about that. I shoot at a friend's place about 40 minutes north of Kansas City. He bought 20 acres about 3 years ago, and one project he's doing is to clear some woods near their house for gardening, etc. Oh yes, he heats their house with a wood stove/furnace, so the wood is going to good use. Anyway, he has also started building a shooting range there. As I wrote in this report, from the far end of his yard I can get 83 or so yards to the target board. If I use one of the trees to mount a target, I can gain some more yardage. I have shot my 12-ga shotgun (slugs) out to 110 yards. Just beyond the range site I hope to go rabbit hunting with my friend this fall. That will be a great "test" for the SGC accuracy and yardage! BTW, they call there "homestead" Poverty Knob. It's a quiet, country site, and I've relaxed more than a few times there on my days away from my caregiver responsibilities. Very nice place to "set a spell," watch the hummers & squirrels from under a shade tree, as well as shoot!

You're welcome to join me at this small range anytime. The PK owners would not mind at all.

RanchRoper wrote:Nice job. Great report too. I wanna shoot at your place.

Good shooting sir. the SCG is still on my list of Henrys I really want. Glad to see someone getting range time with one.

NCG,

Thanks for keeping an eye on my off hand shooting. I know you love to shoot that way, and I always appreciate your comments or suggestions.

And again I really liked what you said here: "Consistency, not so much group size, is the best measure of progress with offhand work." I'm not really into group size as a primary goal. And I think I noticed what you said about consistency in my white cardboard 50-yard POIs. When I went up to the target, I liked the fact that there were three 2-round "groups" in target, and not six "wild" POIs in target. Does that make sense? Those six shots simply looked good to me, and I even smiled at that 50-yard shooting. I'll look for this again, especially with my SGC at longer yardage. Definitely will practice more, as I want "to keep up the good work."

....PT7

North Country Gal wrote:Good job, PT. You're in the groove, now, and by that I mean a routine where your offhand shooting is showing consistency, shot after shot. That initial unsteadiness with the sights bouncing all over the place when folks start shooting offhand tends to spook them, throwing off the rest of their technique. Only way to beat that is by practice. Consistency, not so much group size, is the best measure of progress with offhand work.

As for the steadiness thing, some days are better than others, for whatever reason. Time of day also makes a difference for me. I'm generally a bit steadier in the afternoon, maybe from the effects of my morning coffee wearing off.

Keep up the good work.

Range time Im not sure I know what that is anymore. I m jealous. I need some range time for an attitude adjustment.

Yes, looking at the concentricity of your group makes a lot of sense, PT, even when shooting from a bench with the main goal being group size. I'd rather have a slightly larger concentric group with a gun than a smaller group that tends to string either vertically or horizontally. Tells me the rifle is properly bedded and so on. On an offhand group, a nice round group with only a few flyers tells me I have the fundamentals down and that I just need to do some fine tuning to shrink things a bit.

Al, I know the feeling. I've been fighting off a case of the flu, this week, but, even so, still managed to hobble downstairs at shoot the airguns a bit. Hope to make a trip to the range, today, though.