Looked around see what groupings people were getting with their henry rifles and the results weren't too satisfactory so while waiting on another barrel to come in for an AR22 project decided some unscientific tests myself. Hopefully this will be useful to someone because I think these rimfires are pretty underestimated with how accurate and precise they can be with good ammo, and optics.
Model: Henry Youth H001Y
Purchase Month: July 2023
Modifications: 400grit polish to lever and hammer to smoothen up operation, Goon-Tape added to handguard and butt of stock for extra grip
Lubrication: Slip 2000 to moving components
Cleaning Method: Wet patch of Hoppes Solvent followed by a few strokes with a nylon brush on a brass Otis 22lr rod followed by dry patches and a mop
Accessories: Henry HLPA001 Picatinny rail w/ screws tightened down to snug w/ blue Loctite, Vortex Venom screws same as rail, while EP-5 scope was torqued per factory recommendations
Location: Indoors at about 70F with low humidity. Real nice ideal conditions.
Bench setup: a foam rest the range had and me positioning my support underneath the stock like a resting bag. The gun itself was resting on the receiver not the handguard.
Wasn't the most stable bench setup, but if people are interested enough in what groups I could get with higher end ammo or would like me to do this again I can take a more stable rest setup in a few weeks and season the barrel with 50 rounds before checking groups.
Venom was zeroed with older Federal Champion 36gr and then confirmed with newer Federal Champion 36gr, within 25 yards no major difference was noted in POI to POA albeit new Champion just having a wider SV from odd powder loads so as outside of ones with lower and higher charges, the average were fine.
General observations is the feeding mechanism did little to no harm to groups albeit some ammo types seemed to benefit a little from it. I'm guessing it might be because of coating v. no coating. I do this because in Ruger 10/22's even with BX10 magazines a bit of the bullet is shaved off upon chambering at least on my stock Ruger 10/22 tactical.
Ammo Testing Methodology with Venom:
Ammo Testing Methodology at 50 yards with EP5:
Federal Punch: Second most surprising group of the day. I think those three fliers in the right pasty were me, everything else was a nice ragged hole. Really good if you intend to use these for their penetration and makes me curious what the groups would look like out to 100 yards indoors.
Federal Champion 36gr current production: The worst groups by far to the point midway I had to verify zero again because of charge differences. These are gtg within 25 yards, but beyond that are atrocious. Handloading them made it worse too.
Aguila Super Extra Hyper Velocity 40gr lead round nose: Not too bad, handloading them into the chamber seemed to help, but shots were either a bit scattered or consistent. Recoil and sound didn't seem too inconsistent. I think these groups can tighten with a better rest but largely speaking each shot fell within a general area of the reticle, not many in the same spot.
CCI Velocitor: The most surprising ammo of the bunch, those three fliers were among the last few shots, everything else was either a ragged hole or opened up a bit from shooter error. Next time I do something like this I'll properly season the barrel with 50 rounds and get 3 - 5 shot groups. Handloading them into the chamber seemed to make the groups worse. Not sure why.
CCI SV: the spread was pretty consistent, some fliers groups in the same spot so likely shooter error. Handloading them into the chamber before each shot seemed to tighten things up a little but could have also been from the barrel seasoning a bit more. I think with a proper rest these could tighten up to 3MOA average. Maybe a bit tighter if you were just going for 3 - 5 shot groups.
Closing thoughts:
If I were to do this again and was more serious about it I'd use a more stable rest (I do have one just didn't feel like bringing it this time) and have a lot more ammo on hand to test and season the barrel with. I would also clean the barrel with a few patches and some Hoppes before seasoning it with 50 rounds and shooting another 50 - 100 or so to get a better idea of how well each ammo groups.
I am also tempted to see how this compared to a 20" frontier with a heavier octagonal barrel, or if they were available something with a match chamber. It really makes me tempted to take this to competitions where people use semi autos or bolt actions just to see how well I do if I got a sample that shot really well with match ammo.
Model: Henry Youth H001Y
Purchase Month: July 2023
Modifications: 400grit polish to lever and hammer to smoothen up operation, Goon-Tape added to handguard and butt of stock for extra grip
Lubrication: Slip 2000 to moving components
Cleaning Method: Wet patch of Hoppes Solvent followed by a few strokes with a nylon brush on a brass Otis 22lr rod followed by dry patches and a mop
Accessories: Henry HLPA001 Picatinny rail w/ screws tightened down to snug w/ blue Loctite, Vortex Venom screws same as rail, while EP-5 scope was torqued per factory recommendations
Location: Indoors at about 70F with low humidity. Real nice ideal conditions.
Bench setup: a foam rest the range had and me positioning my support underneath the stock like a resting bag. The gun itself was resting on the receiver not the handguard.
Wasn't the most stable bench setup, but if people are interested enough in what groups I could get with higher end ammo or would like me to do this again I can take a more stable rest setup in a few weeks and season the barrel with 50 rounds before checking groups.
Venom was zeroed with older Federal Champion 36gr and then confirmed with newer Federal Champion 36gr, within 25 yards no major difference was noted in POI to POA albeit new Champion just having a wider SV from odd powder loads so as outside of ones with lower and higher charges, the average were fine.
General observations is the feeding mechanism did little to no harm to groups albeit some ammo types seemed to benefit a little from it. I'm guessing it might be because of coating v. no coating. I do this because in Ruger 10/22's even with BX10 magazines a bit of the bullet is shaved off upon chambering at least on my stock Ruger 10/22 tactical.
Ammo Testing Methodology with Venom:
- For 3 - 7 yards, 1 - 3 shots to get a general idea of holds
- For 10 - 25, 5 - 6 shots for the same reason as no.1
- For 30 - 40 yards, 13 shots (main focus was getting all within the 4" pasty)
Ammo Testing Methodology at 50 yards with EP5:
- 1 - 3 shots to establish close poi poa
- 12 - 10 shots for grouping, noting poi and fliers from tube, also checks if the feeding mechanism is damaging the bullet upon chambering
- 13 shots for grouping by inserting each bullet into the chamber by hand to check if the feeding mechanism is changing groups
Federal Punch: Second most surprising group of the day. I think those three fliers in the right pasty were me, everything else was a nice ragged hole. Really good if you intend to use these for their penetration and makes me curious what the groups would look like out to 100 yards indoors.
Federal Champion 36gr current production: The worst groups by far to the point midway I had to verify zero again because of charge differences. These are gtg within 25 yards, but beyond that are atrocious. Handloading them made it worse too.
Aguila Super Extra Hyper Velocity 40gr lead round nose: Not too bad, handloading them into the chamber seemed to help, but shots were either a bit scattered or consistent. Recoil and sound didn't seem too inconsistent. I think these groups can tighten with a better rest but largely speaking each shot fell within a general area of the reticle, not many in the same spot.
CCI Velocitor: The most surprising ammo of the bunch, those three fliers were among the last few shots, everything else was either a ragged hole or opened up a bit from shooter error. Next time I do something like this I'll properly season the barrel with 50 rounds and get 3 - 5 shot groups. Handloading them into the chamber seemed to make the groups worse. Not sure why.
CCI SV: the spread was pretty consistent, some fliers groups in the same spot so likely shooter error. Handloading them into the chamber before each shot seemed to tighten things up a little but could have also been from the barrel seasoning a bit more. I think with a proper rest these could tighten up to 3MOA average. Maybe a bit tighter if you were just going for 3 - 5 shot groups.
Closing thoughts:
If I were to do this again and was more serious about it I'd use a more stable rest (I do have one just didn't feel like bringing it this time) and have a lot more ammo on hand to test and season the barrel with. I would also clean the barrel with a few patches and some Hoppes before seasoning it with 50 rounds and shooting another 50 - 100 or so to get a better idea of how well each ammo groups.
I am also tempted to see how this compared to a 20" frontier with a heavier octagonal barrel, or if they were available something with a match chamber. It really makes me tempted to take this to competitions where people use semi autos or bolt actions just to see how well I do if I got a sample that shot really well with match ammo.
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