Henry 357 big boy steel and bullet selection.

W

Wendyj

New member
I ordered one of these so I could put a scope on it. Old eyes can't see rear sight anymore. I reload for my hand gun in 357 with 158 xtp. I want to use it on the 70 acres where I keep my horses. Up and down hollers and hills with 100 yard max shot. Deer loads is what I'm looking for and would like to use the 125 xtp for extra velocity but not sure what the rifle will stabilize best. Wondering if anyone has one and what theirs like best
 
I've shot over fifty deer with the 357mag in handguns and another seven or eight in a Marlin lever gun. I've used bullets ranging in weight from 140g up to 180g in both type guns. Most of the deer shot were shot with Hornady XTP bullets. All that being said, DO NOT select the 125g bullet for your bullet of choice. I've recovered a lot of bullets from those deer and although the 125g can and will kill a deer, it's simply not the best choice in bullet weight. Even more so in a rifle. Most of the deer I shot were shot with the 158g XTP and expansion was excellent and about half were pass throughs. I've never lost a deer with the 357mag that I hit. Using the 180g XTP bullets, about 3/4 were pass throughs and expansion was still very good. As the bullet weight goes up, so does penetration. Over expansion isn't necessarily a good thing. It is to a point, but too much reduces penetration and you begin to lose weight as the bullet can fragment. Your choice, I'm just sharing my forty plus years of handgun deer hunting. Good luck with the new gun.
 
That's good news with the Hornady 158 xtp because I've got 200 loaded and ready to go. May have to try some 180s but haven't seen any local. Will have to order some.
 
I don't have the steel, but I have the regular 357 Henry and I've found in my limited testing that the heavier the bullet, the more accurate I am. But I will admit that I haven't shot it enough to understand why yet. More shooting to come.
 
I don't have the steel, but I have the regular 357 Henry and I've found in my limited testing that the heavier the bullet, the more accurate I am. But I will admit that I haven't shot it enough to understand why yet. More shooting to come.
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Probably the twist rate of the barrel.
 
My 2 cents worth

I have a Rossi model 92 in .357 mag my go to bullet for white tails here in S.W. Wisc. is a 158 gr JHP that I get from Magnus bullets.I am from N.E Iowa right on the Mississippi Iowa is a shotgun state so I always go over to Wisc. for rifle season.I have to agree that the 125 grain bullets will do the job but not as clean as the 158s,the deer in the area where we hunt run well over 200 lbs and the heavy bullets are needed to get good penetration that you don't always get with the lighter ones
 
I wouldn't have to worry about too many deer here topping 200 pounds but have several bear that do. I think I'll opt for the 158 and possibly buy a few 180s to try out for groups.
 
180 grain bullets in .357 magnum

Wendyj
I have shot some 180 grain bullets through my Rossi and this may not be the case for everyone but they seem to run out of gas after about 50+ yards and of course the accuracy drops off as well
 
I had one sample .357 Henry carbine that put 3 100-yard holes inside an inch.
That was with a load it obviously liked.
Denis
 
I got mine yesterday and scoped it up. It just didn't look right even with weaker eyes so off came the scope this evening. Unlike my Rossi I can see rear sight no issue. I'm thinking a Williams peep may be the ticket and still look authentic. If not back to a much smaller scope.
 
I put a Skinner peep on mine and it helped quite a bit. About all I've shot with it is Freedom new and re-man 158gr .357 and .38. I haven't shot paper with it, but I can pretty reliably break clays and then the bigger pieces at 100 yards.
 
I put the Skinner peep on my Henry Golden Boy 22lr and it made a huge difference for me. I can shoot it very well now
 
The skinner peep you are referring to does it mount on rear with 2 screws or do I have to punch rear site out like on my Rossi.
 
The one I put on is the Skinner Express, just scroll down this page till you find it. With .357 I place the front bead in the bottom of the peep ring at 100 yards and hit dead on. I simply removed two of the screws on top of the receiver (might have been all three, I don't remember now) and installed the Skinner sight using the provided hex screws.

http://www.skinnersights.com/henry_rifles_18.html

I didn't have to touch my factory rear sight, this mounts on the receiver.
 
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