My new Henry Frontier Octagon .22 Magnum

[Pat Riot]

I must admit I probably wouldn’t own one of these unless someone gave it to me. That’s exactly what happened.
My wife’s uncle gave it to me as a “thank you” for cleaning up a bunch of guns that got moldy in his gun safe. 21 long guns, 3 revolvers and 1 semiauto. That’s a story in itself.
Anyway, I was telling him I was close to finishing all the rifles when I mentioned the brand new Henry NRA branded rifle looked pristine but the box was moldy. He told me that I could have the Henry for helping him out.
I have never been a fan of .22 Magnum guns. Maybe due to limited experience. I definitely would not have purchased this rifle. I think my wife’s uncle got from a Friends of the NRA a few years back.

I took it to the range the other day. It shoots a few inches to the right at 50 yards. I didn’t have tools to adjust the rear sight and it’s obvious to me that I need to do something with the front sight. I can’t see it well at all.
I must say though, it’s a fun lever gun. I just ordered a bunch of ammo for it.

The lame target:
Or I should say, my lame attempt at hitting the target.








It’s definitely a fun gun.
I plan to color that brass beaded front sight red. Perhaps that will help. It has a white diamond rear sight. If coloring the front sight doesn’t help, putting a light scope on it isn’t out of the question.

 

[swoter]

I like it! I believe that the front or rear sight is reversible. Probably the rear, but one is.

 

[Frulk]

I like Henrys. If I was to buy one of their .22 Mags it would be the one you have. Not a fan of their untapered octagon barrels. Adds unneeded weight to a gun otherwise ideal for being toted through the fields and woods with no particular task in mind except the occasional squirrel, rabbit or woodchuck and odd dirt clod.

Sights can easily be fixed. The .22Mag is under appreciated. Shoot it enough and you’ll become a fan.

 

[Pat Riot]

I like Henrys. If I was to buy one of their .22 Mags it would be the one you have. Not a fan of their untapered octagon barrels. Adds unneeded weight to a gun otherwise ideal for being toted through the fields and woods with no particular task in mind except the occasional squirrel, rabbit or woodchuck and odd dirt clod.

Sights can easily be fixed. The .22Mag is under appreciated. Shoot it enough and you’ll become a fan.

I have had octagon barrels before and I am not a fan, but this one balances nicely.
From the little I shot it I can tell I am going to like it…once I fix the sights.

 

[Pat Riot]

I like it! I believe that the front or rear sight is reversible. Probably the rear, but one is.

The rear one can be flipped to all black or with a white diamond. The white diamond shows now, which is why I want to paint the front side red. I can put the red dot on top of the white diamond.
I like the red and white contrast on my handgun sights so I figure it may work for the Henry.
This is the cheap fix. If it doesn’t work I may get some fiber optics or a Skinner peep with a fiber optic front.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

I don't hate it. Free makes everything better too!

 

[hunt127588]

Try some 30gr VMAX in it. They will cut holes at 50 yards.

 

[DMW1116]

Is there a dovetail on the front? A red fiber optic sight might be a good option.

 

[doubleh]

Just put a scope on it. Pooey on the nay sayers about scores on lever action rifles. Your eyes will thank you and you will waste less of that rather expensive for what it is ammo. I have a long barrel frontier and went with a tang mounted peep and taller front sight. It was better than the factory setup but not nearly as good as the 4X scope that replaced the peep sight. Mounted in low Weaver rings with UTC adapters to get it close to the bore the cheek weld is good also.

 

[tubeshooter]

Congrats on your new rifle!

I have a similar model; mine is .22LR, shorter barrel, large loop and came with a Skinner peep. I like it pretty well actually. The octagon barrel balances well in my case.


I do have to concede that once you start trying to hit small targets beyond 50 yards or so, you would be better served with even an average scope. But 30-something yards is child's play using the peep.

 

[Pat Riot]

Is there a dovetail on the front? A red fiber optic sight might be a good option.

It does have a dovetail front sight. I am going to try painting the brass bead and getting it sighted in that way. If not I will go with fiber optics. Perhaps a Skinner peep with a fiber optic front sight.

Just put a scope on it. Pooey on the nay sayers about scores on lever action rifles. Your eyes will thank you and you will waste less of that rather expensive for what it is ammo. I have a long barrel frontier and went with a tang mounted peep and taller front sight. It was better than the factory setup but not nearly as good as the 4X scope that replaced the peep sight. Mounted in low Weaver rings with UTC adapters to get it close to the bore the cheek weld is good also.

I think at some point I will put a scope on it. I always like to get iron sights dialed in or get a good set of sights on a rifle that comes with iron sights before mounting a scope. This way I know it’s still useful should the scope get damaged.

Those that grouse about scopes on lever guns make me laugh.

 

[Riomouse911]

That was a classy thank you, he deserves a huge thumbs up for recognizing your efforts to help him clean up his collection.

The Henry .22 mag is a fun lever gun. One of their standard ones was my first Henry lever, it shoots pretty well for me out to 50 yds or so with the open sights.

I’m a fan of octagon barrels, having cut my teeth on a Win 1890 .22 pump back in the days. I like the vintage look, but everyone’s eye is drawn to different stuff so I get that others aren’t so enamored.

Like every rimfire I will bet your gun will take a variety of ammo to find it’s favorites, my Ruger American .22 WMR and the Henry did. (Federal 50 gr for the RAR, CCI 40 gr fmj for the Henry, I tried a few different brands to find out. )



If it won’t come around with your sight-tweaks, nothing is wrong with a scope. I put a Gru-Bee 4x on my BL-22 a while back, I just couldn’t get it to shoot for me with open sights. (I also put a Gru-Bee 4x on a Browning Auto-22, it has a nice retro vibe.)

Good luck, let us know what you end up trying and how it works out.

Stay safe.

 

[Skylerbone]

Congratulations on both the salvage operation of your wife’s uncle’s collection and on your well earned reward. Two things I might suggest on sighting; find a better set-up ie front rest/rear bag or simple sand bags. Two, and this is something I do with every new brass bead, try polishing it with a fine fingernail board or some 800 grit sandpaper to improve its visibility. Even new rifles can tarnish as was the case with my 10/22s so I feel the 30 seconds invested is worth the effort to anyone on the fence. Of the three family owned Henry rifles (each of my kids owns one) one shoots irons, one scoped, and the final wears an RDS with no phobia surrounding assisted sighting. Enjoy your rifle.

 

[Pat Riot]

I put a Gru-Bee 4x on my BL-22 a while back, I just couldn’t get it to shoot for me with open sights.

Thank you for the recommendations. I also have some more ammo to try now.
I found the Gru-Bee website. Cool little retro scopes. I am definitely keeping those in mind. As a matter of fact one of the guns I just finished for my wife’s uncle wears a 1-4x20 Redfield on a Weaver mount. Nifty little scope. The Gru-Bees are copies of those old scopes.

Two, and this is something I do with every new brass bead, try polishing it with a fine fingernail board or some 800 grit sandpaper to improve its visibility.

I’ve owned a number of rifles with brass bead sights. Polishing them just doesn’t help for me. Perhaps it’s my eyesight but brass just fades into the target or the surroundings for me. I tried a real gold bead once. I got the same result. The sight just blended into the target for me. BUT, I will try your suggestion anyway. It can’t hurt. Thank you for the recommendations.

 

[Oldschool shooter]

I have found as I've gotten older that bright yellow works better than red for my old eyes.

 

[GooseGestapo]

I “HAD” one circa 2003. It was the standard version. I won it in a PPC Regional match.
It was an earlier version with the plastic combination front sight, and magazine tube hanger. Also plastic forend/barrel band.
It shot TERRIBLE! Even with a scope attached to the stamped steel receiver cover, it shot 3” groups at 50yds. And, never to the same point of impact from one day to the next. About like an SKS with the scope mounted to the receiver cover…
I promptly traded it for something…
I will say it was pretty…
I had the occasion to attempt to sight in another one like the OP’s that had a Nikon 4x rimfire scope attached. I got 1” groups from it at 25yds.
I’ll pass…

Realize that My Remington M597 and Marlin 783 get 1.25-1.5” groups at 100yds with the Winchester 40gr HP loads.

 

[Tentwing]

Skinner makes a brass apeture rear sight that is adjustable for windage and elevation. I had one installed on my Henry Golden boy 22WMR . My results were good enough that my grandson quickly talked his PawPaw into letting go home with him