PT7's BBS .357 Carbine -- failure to perform
Posted: Sat Sep 30, 2017 6:58 pm
I'm not totally sure how to tell this story. It comes with an unhappy ending. I'm sending my Henry BBS.357 Carbine back to Rice Lake --- permanently. Hmmm, I've got it! The story can be told by looking through the sights.
I bought this carbine on July 19th. First time at the range was July 31st, and subsequent to that I went out four more times. Result? It is not possible to get this rifle sighted in. Here are rear sight changes I made with each followed by another attempt to sight-in the BB.
My first range time was using the stock buckhorn sight. Shot only 10 rounds, and could not find the paper target using a full-sized silhouette at 15 yards.
Changed rear sight to a barrel-mounted Skinner peep. Ran out of aperture stem threads (windage up) trying to keep POIs on target.
Removed the peep and install a receiver-mounted Skinner Express. At this range visit, the lever action began to seize very hard and I could barely close the action. One time I had to pull it through with both hands! Also the lever action was generating a lot of mis-feeds and ammo jams.
Sent rifle to Henry Rice Lake, WI facility and requested a refund. That was my need for Customer Satisfaction. The Henry rep at the WI shop was most agreeable, and she shipped the Henry to WI at no charge to me.
A goof at Henry shop. The rep was on vacation when the Henry arrived, and the gunsmith/tech never fully read my letter. They "repaired" the rifle and sent it back to me....all at no charge. Here is what was done: extensive cleaning of the bore, removing numerous dark lines from muzzle to crown, and removing a huge amount of copper fouling from the rounds I had put through it. In addition to the bore work, Henry also did this work and replaced parts: deburred and smoothed out receiver, feed ramps, and chamber, adjusted lock up, and replaced bolt. The rep convinced me, when she found out what happened, to try out the repaired carbine again. I did yesterday.
Spent the afternoon at my son's-in-law range. The action worked quite smoothly with no problems. But neither of us could get the rifle sighted in. He is an excellent marksman, and we couldn't keep the POIs on paper target at 25-yards using a Tru-Glo red dot he took off his Mossberg. I couldn't believe the difficulty he was having shooting this carbine!! He then removed the red dot and shot at 20 yards with the buckhorn sights. He couldn't achieve a group any smaller than about 3.5". Astounding for him. At 20 yards with iron sights he can easily put 5 POIs touching each other.
So we looked at the bore very closely. Here are a couple of photos I took (sorry they're not clearer; I'm not the best photographer).
My son-in-law said that the bullet was not hitting any rifling at the end of the barrel, and was in fact, "bouncing" from side-to-side as it came out of the crown. He has shot so much, he knows how long it takes to wear out a barrel on his sniper rifles. He said this Henry BBS barrel is already ruined. It happened possibly during repair by the Henry gunsmith trying to clean the straight lines and excessive copper fouling in the bore after the rifle was shot about 60 times. Or maybe when the rifle barrel was originally made? That might be as I've had such difficulty getting this rifle to shoot to POA. May never know what has happened. The damage seen in my photos is after a total of only 90 rounds fired.
C'est la vie. This has been the most difficult time I've ever had with a NIB Henry rifle. I'm a little "gun shy" now, and may hold off on my next Henry for a while. I will be contacting Henry WI rep on Monday, and with her help, return and receive a refund on this rifle.
I know this problem report is written kind of all over the place --- a little like the bullets we were sending downrange!
It has been some sighting trip!
I bought this carbine on July 19th. First time at the range was July 31st, and subsequent to that I went out four more times. Result? It is not possible to get this rifle sighted in. Here are rear sight changes I made with each followed by another attempt to sight-in the BB.
My first range time was using the stock buckhorn sight. Shot only 10 rounds, and could not find the paper target using a full-sized silhouette at 15 yards.
Changed rear sight to a barrel-mounted Skinner peep. Ran out of aperture stem threads (windage up) trying to keep POIs on target.
Removed the peep and install a receiver-mounted Skinner Express. At this range visit, the lever action began to seize very hard and I could barely close the action. One time I had to pull it through with both hands! Also the lever action was generating a lot of mis-feeds and ammo jams.
Sent rifle to Henry Rice Lake, WI facility and requested a refund. That was my need for Customer Satisfaction. The Henry rep at the WI shop was most agreeable, and she shipped the Henry to WI at no charge to me.
A goof at Henry shop. The rep was on vacation when the Henry arrived, and the gunsmith/tech never fully read my letter. They "repaired" the rifle and sent it back to me....all at no charge. Here is what was done: extensive cleaning of the bore, removing numerous dark lines from muzzle to crown, and removing a huge amount of copper fouling from the rounds I had put through it. In addition to the bore work, Henry also did this work and replaced parts: deburred and smoothed out receiver, feed ramps, and chamber, adjusted lock up, and replaced bolt. The rep convinced me, when she found out what happened, to try out the repaired carbine again. I did yesterday.
Spent the afternoon at my son's-in-law range. The action worked quite smoothly with no problems. But neither of us could get the rifle sighted in. He is an excellent marksman, and we couldn't keep the POIs on paper target at 25-yards using a Tru-Glo red dot he took off his Mossberg. I couldn't believe the difficulty he was having shooting this carbine!! He then removed the red dot and shot at 20 yards with the buckhorn sights. He couldn't achieve a group any smaller than about 3.5". Astounding for him. At 20 yards with iron sights he can easily put 5 POIs touching each other.
So we looked at the bore very closely. Here are a couple of photos I took (sorry they're not clearer; I'm not the best photographer).
My son-in-law said that the bullet was not hitting any rifling at the end of the barrel, and was in fact, "bouncing" from side-to-side as it came out of the crown. He has shot so much, he knows how long it takes to wear out a barrel on his sniper rifles. He said this Henry BBS barrel is already ruined. It happened possibly during repair by the Henry gunsmith trying to clean the straight lines and excessive copper fouling in the bore after the rifle was shot about 60 times. Or maybe when the rifle barrel was originally made? That might be as I've had such difficulty getting this rifle to shoot to POA. May never know what has happened. The damage seen in my photos is after a total of only 90 rounds fired.
C'est la vie. This has been the most difficult time I've ever had with a NIB Henry rifle. I'm a little "gun shy" now, and may hold off on my next Henry for a while. I will be contacting Henry WI rep on Monday, and with her help, return and receive a refund on this rifle.
I know this problem report is written kind of all over the place --- a little like the bullets we were sending downrange!
It has been some sighting trip!
I like my SGC too much; it is so well-made, a beautiful rifle, and such a pleasure to shoot. I know there are many, many excellent Henrys that have been, and are being, built. There are good ones out there, and I bet I could find another one of those someday!! 
