Henry .22 scope zero issue

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  • Ark

    Grandmaster
    Site Supporter
    Rating - 100%
    25   0   0
    Feb 18, 2017
    6,734
    113
    Indy
    I have a 20" Henry Frontier .22lr with a Simmons 3-9x mounted on the Weaver rail on top of the receiver, and it seems to suffer from wandering zero. Pretty much every time I take it out and shoot it, groups land in a different place. Most recent example is that I zeroed it in at 50 yards, put it in a rifle bag, took it out at an event four days later, and at 36 yards it was about 3-4 MOA high and right. The rifle itself is quite accurate and will shoot quarter-sized groups at 50 off a rest with CCI SV.

    My suspicion is that the problem is in the mounting to the receiver. The dovetail isn't actually part of the reciever, it's part of a sheet metal cover that goes over the pot metal reciever frame and is attached with 4 screws on the sides. If you take it off to clean the gun, zero is completely lost, but I suspect it wanders and flexes even when screwed in place. This u-shaped cover "floats" on these four screws.

    Anyone know if there are other ways to mount a scope on this platform that will retain zero better, or if I should just scrap the scope completely and put it on something more suitable for accuracy work? I've had a lot of frustrating misses on squirrels with this rifle and I think the wandering zero is the main reason.
     

    Gingerbeardman

    Sharpshooter
    Rating - 100%
    17   0   0
    Mar 17, 2017
    635
    93
    Anderson
    I'm no expert but I have used a dab of fingernail polish as loc-tite on fine thread gun screws. I would suggest that plus torquing everything with an inch-pounds or gunsmithing wrench to verify nothing is moving.
     

    Gabriel

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    9   0   0
    Jun 3, 2010
    6,713
    113
    The shore of wonderful Lake Michigan
    If you are taking that dust cover off after every time you shoot, I can see how your zero would shift. I have an optic one of my Henry rimfires, but I don't take the dust cover off when cleaning it and haven't lost zero on that rifle ever.
     
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