Henry Rifle Forums

Spent some range time today after I decided to change my rifle POA from 6 o'clock hold to dead on bull (DOB). I shoot my SGC to DOB with a Henry front bead sight, just as the Big Boy is equipped. I decided to be consistent when shooting these two carbines.

No bench rest used, shot off hand, standing, shot only .357 Magnum rounds. Here is how it turned out.

I will pitch this used-up 8" splash target...finally! Ammo: S&B 158gr FMJ. Not yet sure why I land my POIs to the left at 50 yards. Elevation is still pretty good, as I thought my sight in was reasonable. Maybe the increased distance? But I know I will get better. Outer target ring is 7"; orange dot is 3".
Ammo: Rem Golden Sabre 125gr JHP (10 rounds) and CT-Shooter's Reloads, Zero 130gr FMJ. Last 20 rounds placed on this 6" target with 1" red bull. I'm going after a reason today for generally so-so POIs. I noticed my elder eyes were getting somewhat weary, and I had shot a total of 70 rounds. Ah well, one of those days. Other than that, did have a lot of fun re-doing the sight in, followed by the plinking time.
Ammo: CT-Shooter's Reloads, Zero 130gr FMJ.
End of Range Report. Next will head to the rifle cleaning table to finish up a good day!
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
PT7

Holy Buckhorn, Batman, that looks pretty good! Standing, offhand, no rest, iron sights? Was there cross-wind that maybe pushed things to the left?

Great work, PT. I use a six o'clock for bullseye work, only. That's where it shines. For hunting, though, I've always used a dead on hold for the sake of simplicity. Never did like having to figure out how low to hold when hunting game of various sizes and various distances when using a gun that I sighted in with a six o'clock. Much, much preferred a dead on hold for my hunting or field shooting with iron sights. One less thing to worry about. Just hold dead on and shoot.

ESquared,
Thanks.
Answer to your 1st Q: yes, yes, yes, yes.
Answer to your 2nd Q: Wind was negligible. The Caped Crusaders wouldn't even have flinched if scaling a Gotham skyscraper.

ESquared wrote:Holy Buckhorn, Batman, that looks pretty good! Standing, offhand, no rest, iron sights? Was there cross-wind that maybe pushed things to the left?

NCG,
Thanks.
Yup, it was simpler and more comfortable using dead on bull. For sure the brain drain is lessened.
Still have a ways to go to be ready for deer hunting season, but do like the practice time. Just like my SGC, this Big Boy Carbine handles and shoots so well, it doesn't take a lot of concentration to keep it going smoothly. The "how-to-shoot" is another story!

Can't wait to get up north to my son's-in-law outdoor range and use only black steel targets. Oddly enough, that's easier to do for me than paper targets. I'm really mellowed out when shooting onto steel....maybe it's the soothing clangs that does it!

North Country Gal wrote:Great work, PT. I use a six o'clock for bullseye work, only. That's where it shines. For hunting, though, I've always used a dead on hold for the sake of simplicity. Never did like having to figure out how low to hold when hunting game of various sizes and various distances when using a gun that I sighted in with a six o'clock. Much, much preferred a dead on hold for my hunting or field shooting with iron sights. One less thing to worry about. Just hold dead on and shoot.

Fun is a good thing. I recall shooting to the left using open sights on my Marlin. I think it could have been a combination of my picture sight alignment and trigger pull. It has been a while since I checked. It came with a scope. So, I put the scope back on and bought a Henry to shoot using open sights. So far, I don't shoot as far to the left with it. But, I will kept working at it.

I have to hand it to you, no way I'd try to adjust the sight on any firearm without having it firmly supported on a solid surface (AKA shooting bench) .... for me to properly adjust sights, I have to remove every possible variable that I can control .... the unsteadiness of my off hand is one such variable .... once I get the sights locked in, I will fire off hand but haven't ever been able to do so as part of the process of adjusting the sights

JEBar wrote:I have to hand it to you, no way I'd try to adjust the sight on any firearm without having it firmly supported on a solid surface (AKA shooting bench) .... for me to properly adjust sights, I have to remove every possible variable that I can control .... the unsteadiness of my off hand is one such variable .... once I get the sights locked in, I will fire off hand but haven't ever been able to do so as part of the process of adjusting the sights

If I'm going to be shooting a rifle off hand I always fine tune the sights shooting off hand after sighting in on the bench.
A Benchrest shooter can almost remove themself as a variable but one can't do that shooting off hand. That fine adjustment to my shooting that particular rifle.
For me it's usually going up and to the left, so I make a correction.

Ojaileveraction wrote:If I'm going to be shooting a rifle off hand I always fine tune the sights shooting off hand after sighting in on the bench.
A Benchrest shooter can almost remove themself as a variable but one can't do that shooting off hand. That fine adjustment to my shooting that particular rifle.
For me it's usually going up and to the left, so I make a correction.

very interesting .... first time I recall ever hearing that theory

Ojaileveraction is EXACTLY right on this. I see it to a much greater degree when sighting in a handgun off the bench then shooting offhand, but it does apply to rifles, too. Remember, the way you hold a gun and all the pressure points involved, all acting through the shot, make a difference in point of impact. Traditional lever guns, especially, are not the best rifles for shooting off a rest, so very difficult to use the same hold going from a rest to a standing position. What I'm saying is DON'T be afraid to tweet those sights as needed when shooting offhand after sighting in with a rest.

I also tend to shoot lower offhand versus a rest. No way can I prove as solid a support as a rest, for one thing. My arm flexes and gives during a shot. For another, the gun tends to bounce up off a rest during a shot and raise the POI. For me, when my shots start drifting down in elevation when shooting from a standing position is a sign fatigue is setting in, so time for a rest or to call it quits for the day.

With my handguns, now, I actually no longer bother to sight them in using a rest. I just go straight to a standing position and bypass the rest, entirely. Saves on time and ammo. Takes a long time to get to such a point, but I'm there, now. The only time I use a rest for handguns, now, is to test for accuracy with a new gun, but after that, all shooting is without a rest.

North Country Gal wrote:... Traditional lever guns, especially, are not the best rifles for shooting off a rest, so very difficult to use the same hold going from a rest to a standing position. What I'm saying is DON'T be afraid to tweet those sights as needed when shooting offhand after sighting in with a rest.

I found the same from my little experience with my Henry. My POI so far has been no better from sitting firing from a rest than from sitting firing off hand.
I zeroed my scope first standing leaning on garage door opening with a laser bore sight. Then at the range my POI was down and to the right while firing sitting off hand. My POI standing and firing off hand is useless unless I have something to lean my forward arm on for stability.