Henry Big Boy Steel problem

[oscarflytyer]

Bought a used Henry 45 Colt big Boy Steel. Love the rifle. Have to have peep sights, so didn't really do anything but function test/shoot it with factory sights. Bought a set of Skinner sights: .750 high front blade and rear winged peep. Love the setup - BUT!

With the high/long front blade - it is very obvious that the barrel has "droop,"/is either turned into the receiver a little too far, or front dovetail is cut off square! Same basic problem as the Remlins, I believe. Regardless, windage at various distances moves from a NE (close in) to SW (further out) angle. Pretty pronounced. Two loads. 25 yd group location compared to 10 yd group location is 2" left. IMO, 2" windage drift over 15 yds is pretty severe.

So... anyone seen/heard of this with the Henrys? And/or, any experience with Henry's warranty? Thanx

 

[S Mac]

I have the same rifle, no complaints. I scoped mine, no problem with the sights, my eyes are the weak link. Don't know about second hand but my new rifles paperwork state they stand behind their product.
Go to their website, email them and ask.

 

[Ian]

So you're saying the front sight dovetail is clocked wrong in relation to the receiver?

Where does the Skinner peep sight mount?

 

[fiver]

2" over 15 yds is ridiculous.
that's like bent barrel off.
even a cocked barrel should shoot near the cocked sights.

 

[Brad]

That is horrendous. Can you get a photo down the sights from the rear to show us?

 

[Ian]

My brass receiver/octagonal-barreled BB .45 Colt shoots quite straight to at least 100 yards, I ran a box of old Lee 255RFs through it yesterday and was amazed at how well regulated it was with the load. Skinner rear dovetail aperture and factory blade with the bead tube ground off to make a square blade.

 

[oscarflytyer]

That is horrendous. Can you get a photo down the sights from the rear to show us?

Prolly can. Have to admit, I have a bad habit of "kanting" a rifle. pita when mounting a scope! at first, I thought it was me. Then realized it wasn't. Had two others look at the sights to confirm. And the target doesn't lie!

 

[oscarflytyer]

So you're saying the front sight dovetail is clocked wrong in relation to the receiver?

Where does the Skinner peep sight mount?

The rear sight is fine. It is level/square. the front sight dovetail/front sight leans WAY over to the left. Either the dovetail is cut of canter, OR (most likely!) the dovetail was cut in the bbl, then the bbl screwed in to set the headspace, and it took a slight extra bit of turn, canting the front sight to the left.

 

[Ian]

Is the rear sight mounted to the barrel or to the receiver?

 

[Axman]

I’d call Henry.

 

[CZ93X62]

Is the rear sight mounted to the barrel or to the receiver?

The Skinner aperture sights I have looked at are screwed into the scope mount holes atop the receiver, much like Marlin leverguns. HTH.

 

[oscarflytyer]

Is the rear sight mounted to the barrel or to the receiver?

Receiver

 

[oscarflytyer]

OK - think Occam's razor may have cut me a good one! Could not get a pic of the front sight thru the peep (cell cam will only focus on the closest object). So I brought out the machinists thingys to see if I could measure/"prove" what the problem was. And yeah, I did. The long tall front sight blade is bent. Had to use a square and a level, and level the receiver first. But upon doing all that (and needing really 4 hands), I am convinced that the very tall (.750/intend to file it down) front sight blade is bent. So, back to Andy to get a new blade - as that is WAY cheaper and easier than sending the gun to Henry and have THEM refer me back to good ol' Occam! Pics are of the rear mount, and the target shows the group location from 10 yds (top cloverleaf hole) to about 2" left at 25 yds (lower group set). This coincides with the blade being bent to the left.

 

[Mike H]

You need to move the group to the right,that means move the rear sight right,or the front sight left,there is a mismatch somewhere with your sights.

 

[CZ93X62]

I've thought about a Skinner sight on one of the Marlin 94s and the Henry BB 357, but I can still use the OEM open irons well enough to strafe ground squirrels and jackrabbits to 75 yards, so If It Ain't Broke Don't Fix It. On Sunday I got a bit of blood on the Henry 357 finally, a jack and 3 ground squirrels got ended with #358156 ahead of 13.5 grains of 2400. 6 shots sent, 4 critters whacked. Not bad for a rusty old codger like Yours Truly. I'm glad I had that 357 rifle and the 686 x 4" along on our trip down Coxey Ranch Road (3N14) from Big Bear Lake to Apple Valley. I would have whacked a few more varmints had the scoped 22 Hornet or 22 WMR been in the mix.

 

[oscarflytyer]

You need to move the group to the right,that means move the rear sight right,or the front sight left,there is a mismatch somewhere with your sights.

No. Windage should be basically the same at diff distances. Those two groups are at 10 and 25 yds. The "mismatch" is a bent front post.

 

[S Mac]

I've thought about a Skinner sight on one of the Marlin 94s and the Henry BB 357, but I can still use the OEM open irons well enough to strafe ground squirrels and jackrabbits to 75 yards, so If It Ain't Broke Don't Fix It. On Sunday I got a bit of blood on the Henry 357 finally, a jack and 3 ground squirrels got ended with #358156 ahead of 13.5 grains of 2400. 6 shots sent, 4 critters whacked. Not bad for a rusty old codger like Yours Truly. I'm glad I had that 357 rifle and the 686 x 4" along on our trip down Coxey Ranch Road (3N14) from Big Bear Lake to Apple Valley. I would have whacked a few more varmints had the scoped 22 Hornet or 22 WMR been in the mix.

Thought lead was verboten in your neck of the woods.

 

[Walks]

S Mac,
Shush, be quiet now......

 

[S Mac]

Got to thinking, he must of been reminiscing of back in the day.

 

[oscarflytyer]

Update: going to go the simple/easy route first, and try a replacement front sight from Skinner. As fully expected, they are replacing the sight. Sending the replacement right out. Did ask for mine back/want to confirm it is bent. Excellant Customer Service from Andy and crew as always! I really hope it is bent, as it is the easy fix. If it is not, then I have to revisit the possibility of a bad dovetail cut.