H009 At The Range

[ditto1958]

I've been neglecting my Henry 30-30 for too long, so I dragged it down to the range the other day. Mine is the "Gen 2" model, with the XS ghost ring sights. I brought box of handloads- 150 grain Sierra bullets, and 30 grains of IMR3031. It's a load that has worked well with my Marlin 336.

Anyway, I thought I'd try to push the limits of the ghost ring sights. These sights are different than "peep" sights, as the rear sight is a largish ring intended to "ghost" as you focus on the front sight. The front sight is a rather wide blade with a thinner white line in the middle. They're intended to give hunters fast sight acquisition at distances most deer hunting happens east of the Mississippi- usually about 25-75 yards. At those distances, hitting a paper plate sized targets with the XS sights is pretty reliable.

At 100 yards, shooting at a hockey puck sized steel swinger, and at clay pigeons is a little harder, it's like putting an orange tootsie pop on a white stick. I was able to hit the "puck" a couple of times. The clay pigeons, while the same size, were for some reason easier.

I don't have any pics of my rifle handy, but here is one I have "borrowed" of a rifle just like mine:

IMG_0062.JPG (232.14 KiB) Viewed 1724 times

[ditto1958]

Oh, perhaps a note on the "generations" of Henry steel 30-30 rifles. The first steel receiver Henry H009 didn't last long, as it was not very successful. It was BIG, and heavy. Unlike the current models, it had a rear barrel band instead of a forend cap. It had a semi-buckhorn rear sight and a brass bead front sight.

Gen 2, the model I have, got slimmed down substantially. It is very similar in size and weight to a Marlin 336. Again, the forend got the cap on the front, and it also got the XS ghost ring sights.

Gen 3 came about a year or so ago when Henry 45-70 owners were having issues with their outer magazine tubes. (I'm still puzzled as to why this started happening, as it never had been a problem before). Henry fixed a goodly number of rifles, but the owners usually had the same thing happen again after a few shots. Henry decided a re-design was in order. Although I am not aware of anyone having the problem with the H009's, Henry gave it the new design along with the 45-70 rifles. The current H009 lost its XS sights in favor of Marbles semi-buckhorn/brass bead front blade combo.

If I were buying a new H009 for the first time, I'd be happy with the current model, but I'm glad I got one of the Gen 2's. The ghost ring sights are excellent, and help to make my rifle a joy to shoot.

As with pretty near all Henry lever guns, my rifle came with a slick as snot action, every bit the equal of my 40 year old Marlins. My Henry leaves the Marlins in the dust, though, in the trigger department. Stock 336 triggers, while "okay," will never be known as match triggers. My Henry's trigger, though, is more like what you'd find on a nice bolt action hunting rifle.

[NoFlyZone]

Nice looking rifle! Thanks for the lesson on Gen1,2,3

Dale - AZ

[Henry88]

Excellent write up ditto. Posts like yours are the reason folks come to the forum.

[PT7]

Very cool "history" on the Henry .30-30, Ditto. I enjoyed it a lot.

I did not have my Henry .30-30 very long back in 2014. I'm not sure what "gen" it was, but I had one with a similar problem to other Henry owners of this model. The lever kept popping open on ammo load into the magazine, and it made no difference how many rounds I tried to load. Henry did a great job of twice shipping the rifle back/forth to try and repair the problem. Never could get it fixed, and Henry offered to refund full purchase price. I wish that rifle would have been a good model.

BTW, totally agree with your liking the XS ghost ring sights and the front blade. I had that sight configuration on a tactical shotgun once, and it is a great sighting system. I wouldn't mind Henry putting that on other models, too.

Thanks again for your report, and for the very sharp-looking photo of your rifle!

[North Country Gal]

Another thank-you for the Henry info. I'm very much a newbie with the Henry rifles, so appreciate the lesson.

Yeah, seems more and more I'm opting for sight setups that are easier to use, even if it means not being able to print those bragging size groups. For instance, I still shoot a scope, offhand, but, let me tell you, focusing on those crosshairs as they fly all around the target and then trying to get them swinging on the target at just the exact instant as the trigger releases is a LOT of work. Takes a huge amount of concentration. An hour's worth of that and I leave the range feeling exhausted.

[RanchRoper]

Great info. Thank you.

[ditto1958]

I brought the .30-30 to the range again yesterday. I get compliments on it every time I bring it out. As usual, it performed well, going through about 30 of my handloads.

My regular recipe uses 150 grain Sierras and 30 grains of IMR3031. This results in a load with less recoil than factory ammo, but that is still fast enough if I wanted to use it for hunting. The main thing, though, is that is is accurate with my Henry and my Marlin 336.

I'm also surprised that when others shoot my Henry they really like the XS ghost rings. For deer or bear hunting at distances of less than 100 yards, I think these sights would be a very viable alternative to scopes.

[Squatch]

Glad you got out. I too would rather have the ghost ring blade combo. Any ring is better than a buckhorn for me.