Very poor accuracy in BBS 357

[Hogstir]

That's shooting great!

[threefiveseven]

Hogstir, I'm looking to buy a BBS 357 and would like to know the following regarding your BBS replacement rifle:

Is the replacement BBS barrel stamped Bayone, NJ or Rice Lake, WI ?

Seeing as Henry admitted to just recently replacing the tooling required to make the 357 barrels, is there anyway you can give some guidance as to what serial number to look for in a new BBS as it compares to the serial number on your replacement BBS?

Thanks,
Ray

[CT_Shooter]

Welcome to the forum, Ray. Hogstir will answer you directly, I'm pretty sure; but you might also want to call Henry's Customer Service to talk about your concerns. They'll be candid and helpful.

Let us know what you find out.

[Hogstir]

Hogstir, I'm looking to buy a BBS 357 and would like to know the following regarding your BBS replacement rifle:

Is the replacement BBS barrel stamped Bayone, NJ or Rice Lake, WI ?

Seeing as Henry admitted to just recently replacing the tooling required to make the 357 barrels, is there anyway you can give some guidance as to what serial number to look for in a new BBS as it compares to the serial number on your replacement BBS?

Thanks,
Ray

My barrel on the replacement rifle is marked Rice Lake WI.
The serial number on the other rifle was BBS010470M. The replacement rifle serial is BBS011XXXM so it was manufactured after the one with the defective barrel.

[threefiveseven]

Hogstir, thank you for the info... very helpful! Now I just need to keep my eye out for a BBS greater than serial# BBS011XXXM

Thanks,
Ray

[Hogstir]

No problem.

[SMG6702]

Hi all I have a question my barrel is from rice lake WI and a few hundred or so less then your replacement barrel I took to the range for the first time since I just bought it a week ago and I was shooting to the left of my target by about 4 inches this was my first time shooting a Henry so I'm hoping it was me for the most part and not the barrel they were all going in the same area but up and down in a 6 inch group I was shooting 357 FMJ at 25 yards I never set my sights I just took it the way it came from factory . Henry told me I need to set the sights myself that they don't do it from factory I guess I'm a little concerned after reading what you went through thanks in advance

[Hogstir]

Try a different ammunition. I've heard that Henry's don't do well with FMJ bullets. Try a jacketed soft point or hollow point like the 158 Hornady XTP.

[JEBar]

Try a different ammunition. I've heard that Henry's don't do well with FMJ bullets. Try a jacketed soft point or hollow point like the 158 Hornady XTP.

sound recommendation ..... once you find ammo that your Henry groups the best, adjusting the sights can take place .... every rifle and/or revolver I've every owned has been capable of firing better groups than I am capable of routinely making it fire .... when I take a look at target the question always seems to be, how much of the spread was my doing ....

[Hogstir]

Try a different ammunition. I've heard that Henry's don't do well with FMJ bullets. Try a jacketed soft point or hollow point like the 158 Hornady XTP.

sound recommendation ..... once you find ammo that your Henry groups the best, adjusting the sights can take place .... every rifle and/or revolver I've every owned has been capable of firing better groups than I am capable of routinely making it fire .... when I take a look at target the question always seems to be, how much of the spread was my doing ....

I used a total of 9 different loads before I decided that there was a problem with the rifle.
Don't worry about where the rounds are hitting just yet, you need to be looking at grouping.
POI can easily be adjusted by adjusting the sights after you find an ammo that groups well.
If you find an ammo that groups well and it would take excessive adjustments to the sights to change the POI then it's time to call Henry.

[SMG6702]

Thanks I'm going to try different ammo tomorrow and bench rest it to check the groups was your original barrel from Wisconsin that you had the problem with ? I just wonder how many that happened to before they realized

[Hogstir]

Yes it was from Wisconsin.

[SMG6702]

Great LOL I got some soft points I'm going to try tomorrow I'll keep you posted

[SMG6702]

Ok just got back from range and did much better I used Remington 125 grain JSP I was still off center but I just concentrated on POI which at 25 yards was all pretty much in a 1 inch hole I was resting the front on a sand bag so I had to reset every time but it was pretty consistent at 50 yards Which is a bit hard to see with the iron sight I'm getting old was also pretty consistent not as good as 25 yards but it was probably me I did notice that at 50 yards I was about 8 inches from center should that be the case ? I think so I'm not sure if that seems like the barrel is good and I just need to adjust windage please let me know again I'm new to this thanks in advance

[Hogstir]

Make sure your your front and back sights are dead center in the dovetail left to right. Try adjusting the rear sight to correct for the windage but if you have to adjust too much I'd call Henry.

[SMG6702]

I went and looked at my sights and my front sight is a little more to the left in the dovetail then the center very slight but not dead center the rear seems to be centered but a little hard to get a really good look is the little screw next to the diamond sight the adjustment or I need to loosen the rear sight at the dovetail or move front to dead center

[Hogstir]

You loosen the screw at the dovetail and move the sight for windage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6kY_nG3jLw

[Henry88]

I went and looked at my sights and my front sight is a little more to the left in the dovetail then the center very slight but not dead center the rear seems to be centered but a little hard to get a really good look is the little screw next to the diamond sight the adjustment or I need to loosen the rear sight at the dovetail or move front to dead center

OK, so if you think about it, moving the front sight "a little more to the left in the dovetail" will naturally move the barrel (and hence your group) to the right.

So, it looks like someone may have already been working to correct this already.

My next step would probably to leave that be, and move the rear sight in the direction you want the rounds to go, in your case to the right.

I usually put masking tape on the barrel and mark the point of the rear sight with a sharp pencil.

Then I would move the sight to the right maybe 1/8" at most to the right, and try again. LIke so many things in life, the tendancy here is to over correct.

Good Luck

[SMG6702]

After looking back at my post I realized I said I was shooting to the left when actually it's to the right of center by about 4 inches at 25 yards sorry about that do you think the front sight being off a little would do that ? From the back of the rifle looking as if you are shooting that's where the front sight is off to the left a bit maybe a 1/16 of an inch would that be what I should adjust to be centered or just move the rear sight over to the left thanks for all your help

[JEBar]

to be clear, I'm no expert on adjusting OEM iron sights, haven't done so in decades .... that said, back when I was adjusting iron sights my approach was to center the front sight and then adjust the rear as necessary .... I only mess with the front sight if all else fails with adjusting the rear