Shooting a Henry H001 Using Factory Sights

[DMW1116]

I’m determined to make this work, as it’s such a light, handy rifle I don’t want to put anything on it.

I did a fair bit of work on the factory sights to get it zeroed in at 50 yards. I filed down the front sight so high velocity 22 hit right on top of the front sight with the rear sight set on the lowest notch at 50 yards. This is effectively the same zero at 25 yards.

With the rear set on the second notch, standard velocity ammo hits pretty much dead on at 50 yards. I feel this was intentional and grant Henry a congratulations for thinking of it.

I had hoped the third notch would give similar results at 100 yards, but the impacts fell low. That seems like more drop than I had anticipated. Anyone tried one of these rifles beyond 50 yards with the iron sights?

 

[DMW1116]

Oh and for what it’s worth, at 60 yards it hits centered on the front sight. At 50 yards the whole group is at or above the front sight. By 60 it’s dropping a little so the group is centered on the front sight. My plan is to use it at 58 yards for a silhouette competition.

 

[Ethan Verity]

Since each step up on the ladder is the same height increment, the added zero distance will become progressively less due to the trajectory... sounds like one step takes your zero from 25 yards to 50 yards with standard velocity? So, the next step up would be a bit less added zero range.... and so on. So hitting a bit low at 100 on the second step sounds right. It's different than something like a BDC, which raises the rear sight progressively more with each increment to get you at a defined zero range based on the round's calculated trajectory.

 

[DMW1116]

At 50 yards, each notch raises the point of impact about 4". Also at 50 yards, standard velocity (1080 to 1100) is right above the front sight on the second notch. On the third notch (the last one) at 100 yards, the POI is lower than the sight using high velocity ammo (1250 fps). I know its pushing the limit of the rifle/caliber. I have a couple of different ammos to try that might raise the POI a tad. Since there are only three notches, I figure it shouldn't be much trouble to record the different zeros for the 2 ammo types. A rest and a clean target would probably help. This rifle is somewhat unsuited to rested shooting, with it's straight stock. I'll try again next weekend.

 

[DMW1116]

I thought about it and decided there really shouldn’t be any drop from 50 to 60 yards that I could really identify, especially not as much as I was seeing. I took some of its favorite ammo, Aguila Super Extra High Velocity, and compared group height at 50 and 60 yards off a rest (Matrix rest from Cauldwell). Shooting the factory sights at 50 and 60 yards isn’t the most precise thing to do, but I can’t tell any difference in elevation of the groups. I will be putting quite a few more rounds through this rifle in the near future trying to figure out what I’m doing that makes it seem to hit low at 60 vs 50. It definitely appears to be a problem with the nut behind the trigger instead of the rest of the gun.

 

[film495]

Isn't a 50 yard zero a bit uncommon? I'm no expert, but isn't a 25, 75, or 100 yard zero more common? With iron sights, I usually just have a solid idea of drop etc. and just compensate with point of aim, once I have an idea of what's going to work consistently. I'd rather just compensate than mess with sights that are set and tight. How do the rear sight notches work? Not familiar with them. I'd be thumbing through the owners manual to get a better idea of exactly what that is supposed to do for you.

 

[DMW1116]

That’s a good idea about the manual. I’ll read through just in case.

From the factory I couldn’t zero the sights. I had to call Henry for a new front sight assembly. It hit 4” high at 50 yards and I couldn’t lower it any more. They sent me a taller front sight and I filed it down to walk the POI up at 50 yards.

The rear sight is an old school notch. Raising it means moving it up on a three notched ramp, so there are only three elevation settings. My Marlins have 5 settings but each one only raises the POI 2”.

Based on yesterday, 50 yards and 60 yards have essentially the same zero. I plan to map things out now that I have a large supply of its favorite ammo: 25, 50, 75, 100. Depending on the size of the target, there isn’t much point in aiming past 60 yards anyway.

 

[TonyAngel]

With my .22 zeroed at 25 yards, I have to dial 6.5 mils of elevation to get to 100 yards. That's something around 23 inches, so I can see there being a difference between 50 and 60 yards.

Things very rarely work out as conveniently as you're trying to make them. Sounds like you gonna wind up with a zero that's just gonna be a little high at one distance and a little low at the next distance as a happy medium.

IIRC, .22 goes transsonic at about 70 yards or so. If you're gonna shoot between close and long ranges regularly, it might serve you to stick to standard velocity ammo for all of your shooting so you can learn your dope. It's what I do. Other ammo is just used for plinking.

 

[DMW1116]

The issue seems to be a changing POI when I go from rested to shooting off my elbows at the bench. For whatever reason this rifle seems to like high velocity stuff better though I have not shot it past 60 yards and hit anything. Today is a centerfire load test day but I’ll be back into 22 after that. Right now I think I’m the issue but it will take a couple more sessions to be sure.