All Weather Big Boy grouping issues

[Sumaru]

Howdy all! First post here, and bought my first Henry (All Weather Big Boy in 44 Mag, model H012GAW) last Friday. Got it out to shoot last Sunday, (NOT a fan of the semi buckhorns) and could NOT get the thing to produce reliable groupings. This was from a seated and benched position. And I'm talking from 20-30 yards here, and three different brands of factory ammo. Picked up a base/rings assembly and Vortex scope and will try again this weekend, but I fear there could be something wrong with the gun. Anyone have similar experiences? Am I going to have to return this to Henry? Anyone with experience on that as well?

[fortyshooter]

Welcome to the forum! I had issues with my 2018 Henry 44 Carbine with mild loads and cast bullets. Did some measuring and found the bore to be on the large side at .4315 instead of .429/.430. Also the older ones still had the slow 1 in 38 rifling twist. If I shot hot loads with a FMJ type bullet it shot a little better. With the mild loads I would get some keyhole hits at 30 yds. The .44 Mag rifles for some reason were all over the place for bore size from several makers.
I later sold it and bought a hard to find Uberti 1873 Winchester carbine in .44 Mag and it shoots great! Hope you have good luck with yours.
Get some soft lead and slug the bore and see what you have.

[jstanfield103]

There has been a few complaints I've read. If not better after trying it with the Vortex, call Henry and let them work it out. I had a 22lr that they replaced the barrel on and another rifle that they replaced the whole rifle.

[Sumaru]

There has been a few complaints I've read. If not better after trying it with the Vortex, call Henry and let them work it out. I had a 22lr that they replaced the barrel on and another rifle that they replaced the whole rifle.

Hey Stan- what were you seeing in those cases that made you want to return them? What steps did you take before returning?

[Sir Henry]

Welcome to the forum. I don’t have that particular rifle so I can’t make a comment.

[Sumaru]

Welcome to the forum! I had issues with my 2018 Henry 44 Carbine with mild loads and cast bullets. Did some measuring and found the bore to be on the large side at .4315 instead of .429/.430. Also the older ones still had the slow 1 in 38 rifling twist. If I shot hot loads with a FMJ type bullet it shot a little better. With the mild loads I would get some keyhole hits at 30 yds. The .44 Mag rifles for some reason were all over the place for bore size from several makers.
I later sold it and bought a hard to find Uberti 1873 Winchester carbine in .44 Mag and it shoots great! Hope you have good luck with yours.
Get some soft lead and slug the bore and see what you have.

Hey 40...thanks for answering up. Any tips on "slugging the bore"? Unfamiliar with this but assuming this is measuring a projectile after having been compressed by the barrel under pressure? By no means a newbie to shooting but for sure a noob when it comes to this!

[DsGrouse]

Slugging the bore: a few videos
https://youtu.be/DRRZDZsDoBY
https://youtu.be/bQb_L4o29nA
https://youtu.be/j2yB783fK30

[leverjc]

I am wondering what type of factory ammo you were using, if it was jacketed I don't see much reason to slug the bore unless you are going to shoot lead bullets in the future. I am wondering what size groups you are shooting, at 30yds even with buckhorn sights I would think a 2" group would be about right.

I do not have a BB in 44 but have one in 357 that I have had all sorts of barrel problems with. If you don't have a bore scope you can probably tell if bore has a lot of chatter in it by how much copper and lead you can get out of it when you clean it. It will also take a lot of scrubbing to get it clean. A problem I had with one of my barrels was that the last half inch was not rifled. This problem you can check by inspecting the end of the bore with a flashlight.

Henry does have very fast customer service so all you have to do is call them and they will set you up.

By the way welcome to the forum. Happy shooting.

[fortyshooter]

If you have say a Hornady XTP bullet which normally measures .430 does it expand enough at normal .44 Mag loads to grip the rifling if the bore is .4315?

[Sumaru]

I am wondering what type of factory ammo you were using, if it was jacketed I don't see much reason to slug the bore unless you are going to shoot lead bullets in the future. I am wondering what size groups you are shooting, at 30yds even with buckhorn sights I would think a 2" group would be about right.

I do not have a BB in 44 but have one in 357 that I have had all sorts of barrel problems with. If you don't have a bore scope you can probably tell if bore has a lot of chatter in it by how much copper and lead you can get out of it when you clean it. It will also take a lot of scrubbing to get it clean. A problem I had with one of my barrels was that the last half inch was not rifled. This problem you can check by inspecting the end of the bore with a flashlight.

Henry does have very fast customer service so all you have to do is call them and they will set you up.

By the way welcome to the forum. Happy shooting.

Hey Lever,
I was using Cowboy loads to verify it's on paper..2 rounds or so. Then I'd switched to 240 grain PMC TCSP as I tried to dial this in. After getting NO kind of semblance of grouping, I'd suspected the ammo and decided to use some of the Hornady Leverevolution rounds I'd be hunting with. I managed to get a two shot group (if you can call that a group) that was probably 1.75" at 20 yards. Horrible. Rifle looks to be rifled all the way through. I did check the end of the bore with some Brown & Sharpe calipers...looks like around .425"-.427". Is that undersized?

[Sumaru]

If you have say a Hornady XTP bullet which normally measures .430 does it expand enough at normal .44 Mag loads to grip the rifling if the bore is .4315?

Yo 40! Like I mentioned in the response to leverjc, I just checked the bore with calipers (no bore guage here) and it comes to about .425"-.427"...Could this be an issue?

[Travlin]

It's not the bore but the distance between the grooves that counts. Slug the barrel and then put a micrometer on the slug to get the truth.

[jstanfield103]

The one that they replaced the barrel on was a 22lr Goldenboy that the rifling did not go all the way to the end of the barrel. The other one was a .357 Mag that the barrel sights were not cut top dead center on the front sight.

[pennsylvaniapete]

I have the same problem with my X series .44 mag.

Can’t get it to do any better than 5 inch groups at 50 yards. I was using Federal 240 gr. JHP. Then I changed to 240 gr. lead round nose. They were even worse. I was shooting off Caldwell front/rear rests….and using a 1.5 to 7 power scope. Does anyone know what proof Henry needs from us to change out barrels!

I guess we all can use .44 special ammo……and see how that works!

[Sumaru]

I have the same problem with my X series .44 mag.

Can’t get it to do any better than 5 inch groups at 50 yards. I was using Federal 240 gr. JHP. Then I changed to 240 gr. lead round nose. They were even worse. I was shooting off Caldwell front/rear rests….and using a 1.5 to 7 power scope. Does anyone know what proof Henry needs from us to change out barrels!

I guess we all can use .44 special ammo……and see how that works!

Not sure about you, but I'm not game for spending that much $$ and having to make such a compromise. I'm hoping it was my aging eyeballs and/or shitty rear sight design/performance. I plan to mount a scope and try again. I'll send it back if I have to, but not savoring that idea considering what I expected to get, having spent so much.

[jstanfield103]

One thing on Henry,
Sending it back and turn around is very good with them. Probably as good and even better than all the other manufactures. I sent mine back and in both rifles turnaround time back to my door was less than two weeks. Great customer service. Just to bad they need the customer service. But everyone does in every business.

[Mags]

... I'll send it back if I have to, but not savoring that idea considering what I expected to get, having spent so much.

I agree with that. I had to send my Long Ranger back. I was not happy and worried the whole time if I would ever see it again (my first time doing so). This was early 2019.
Took 5 days shipping from here to Rice Lake. Henry had it for 4 days. Took 4 days shipping to get it back.

I now own 4 Henrys and everyone of them had an issue or issues that should not have escaped the factory. My opinion Henry has a ship it and fix later mentality. Except for the Long Ranger, I dealt with the other things myself, but pissed me off having to do so for how much I'd invested in the purchase of each rifle.

That said their cosmetic quality, rifle functionality and warranty service is the best I've ever experienced. Top shelf there.

[pennsylvaniapete]

I just filed a warranty claim request with Customer Service yesterday afternoon. It was for my X Series .44 magnum which cannot shoot acceptable groups at 25 yards. Henry acknowledged receipt of my request for service. Now, we will see what they want to do.

[Sumaru]

I just filed a warranty claim request with Customer Service yesterday afternoon. It was for my X Series .44 magnum which cannot shoot acceptable groups at 25 yards. Henry acknowledged receipt of my request for service. Now, we will see what they want to do.

Hey Pete- please let us know how that goes! I had to settle today (burning too much ammo) with essentially a 4" group at about 45 yards. And that's with what I presumed were a lot of "flyers". Still not sure if that should be acceptable with a mounted scope.

[Shakey Jake]

Better to measure the bore with plug gages if you have them. I have sets from .011 to .500 but use them in my business. It would be a bit expensive to purchase just for one issue. They come in either plus or minus sets. Henry will also let you know what the diameter of the grooves ( rifling) is and also the lands. They provided that info for me when I was having issues with my .327 Fed Mag
Jake
Addendum: Henry told me the .327 Fed Mag barrel was .303"