Scoping Henry Lever Action Rifles

An avid squirrel hunter brought me his Henry Golden Boy lever action .22 rifle to be sighted-in with the existing buckhorn-style open sights. "It’s hitting way left, ‘course my eyes aren’t quite what they used to be either," he said. I suggested the possibility of replacing the open sights with a scope. Following a detailed discussion, he liked the idea and left the gun with me to complete the work.

The Henry rifle was invented by Benjamin Tyler Henry back in 1860 as the first effective lever action repeating rifle. These lever action rifles were made in a number of calibers with open sights, including the popular .22 rimfires. The rifle brought to me was the Henry Golden Boy tubular magazine lever action with open sights. There was no built-in provision for a scope sight but the receiver was flat on top with the surface running parallel to the bore line with adequate length and width for a receiver base.

The receiver top was more than thick enough for the base screws, allowing for a thread depth equal to the width of the 8-40 base screws I would use. The receiver cover, over which the action is enclosed, is not made of steel but of a brass-like coated metal that appeared to be hardened aluminum. This one piece, well-machined action cover encloses and guides the leverdriven bolt assembly immediately below the surface where the new base screws would be drilled and tapped.

It would therefore be absolutely necessary to maintain a smooth, linear surface here for the bolt to slide on. Remnant threading burrs can really gall moving parts. While the owner’s manual suggests it is not necessary to take the Henry lever action apart to keep it clean, installing a base atop the receiver required it. Such disassembly This is the flat-top part that makes scope mounting possible.

Were the receiver cover not solidly anchored in line with the barreled action, reliable accuracy would not be possible. Below center: View of the receiver cover shows the required flat surface for attaching the dual purpose scope base on the Henry. The dual purpose scope base is shown with 3/8" dovetail and Weaver quick detachable rings attached. The base tang, which must be milled off, is shown at the bottom. is quite easy, requiring only a properly fitted screw driver for removal of six screws.

The receiver cover tang screw, which passes through the stock at the end of the upper aspect of the tang, is removed first. A wood screw enters the stock through the lower tang, permitting the stock to be removed by pulling it rearward. Removal of the four cover screws, two of which are located at the bottom sides of the receiver, enables the cover to be removed upwards. The bolt assembly will come out with the cover, which can be removed by sliding it rearward.

The bolt remains intact, as do the exposed action parts. It’s a relief to not have spring loaded parts flying

around during disassembly as some guns do. Access is thus gained to the one-piece receiver cover on which the rifle scope base would be attached. Now to measure and fit the receiver cover for scope base screws. It didn’t take me long to realize that the flat surface of the Henry Golden Boy lever action rifle would lend itself well to adaptation of a flat, one-piece scope base. It would be a matter of finding such an adaptable, top-mount base. That didn’t take long either.

I found a Weaver top mount base (Part #TO-10 48202) which is designed for Winchester 94/22 and some other 22 rifles with 3/8-inch grooved receivers. Only problem with the Henry lever .22 is it doesn’t have a grooved receiver. I would have to mill off the grooved receiver wings from the TO- 10 Weaver base to fit the flat surface of the Henry rifle receiver. A real advantage here is that it would permit the use of either 3/8-inch dovetail rings or standard Weaver tip-off rings as mounted.

What could be better for a .22 rifle owner than to have this option in mounting a rifle scope? I used my milling machine and milling vise to remove the laterally opposing 3/8-inch dovetail wings from the TO-10 scope base. The base fit perfectly flat on the receiver. I then measured and cut the base to 3.55" in length to fit the Henry receiver.

Two additional cross slots were then cut for Weaver style rings to lock them se- Below center: Underside of the milled base and the flat surface of the receiver cover which is later prepared for base attachment. curely in place. This was quickly accomplished on the milling machine, leaving the base ready for attachment to the receiver. I also had to be sure there would be no complication in cocking the external hammer beneath the low mounted scope, which would extend out over the hammer.

This presented no problem as it fit nicely beneath the ocular lens housing of the scope. The rear sight would, however, have to be removed for clearance of the objective lens housing which cleared the barrel by about 3/16". There was also ample clearance to cock and lower the hammer beneath the scope tube without the use of a hammer side spur. Shell case ejection was perfect from beneath the scope too. Any one of these things could present a problem in mounting a scope such as this, but everything worked out well.

Now for fitting the scope base. The new base would be attached with four 8-40 flat-head, 82-degree countersunk screws. I carefully marked and located the base on top of the receiver, which was held squarely in the milling/drilling vise for in-line hole locating and drilling. The front base screw hole was marked, drilled and tapped, and the base fastened perfectly in line with the barrel and receiver. I then used a center drill to spot the three remain-

Holes are beveled for the 82-degree 8- 40 flat head base screws. Above center: Following precise base screw hole alignment, a center drill is used as a locator for each screw hole. The flat top receiver cover on the Henry rifle is ideal for attaching the dual purpose scope base. ing holes for completion of the hole drilling and threading. Each base screw was then individually fitted for maximum thread depth and inside receiver clearance.

The holes were then cleaned up of burrs and the base securely attached in-line to the receiver top. No thread bonding material was used and each screw was torqued to specifications. This was another reason I went to the 8-40 thread in lieu of the regularly With all holes drilled and tapped, and scope ring slots milled, the dual purpose base is ready for mounting. Below center: The dual purpose scope base is solidly in place atop the Henry receiver cover.

Four 8-40 screws hold the base solidly in place without the use of any screw thread adhesive. 22 rifle shows attachment of each type of scope ring. On left, 3/8" dovetail .22-style ring. The Weaver one-inch Quad-Lock detachable ring on the right is also used on centerfire rifles. used 6-48 thread size. This is particularly indicated in non-ferrous metal softer than steel. As a result, the base was solidly and squarely attached to the receiver. I chose to go with Weaver oneinch Quad Lock medium height scope rings.

This allows for up to a 40mm objective lens on most high power rifles but the modified TO-10 base was at minimum thickness and still worked out for a most attractive mounting. Distance between ring centers is at 2.80" with scope tube clearance over the receiver at 0.160". I guess we have all seen mounted scopes that didn’t seem to fit the rifle but this scope has a most excellent aesthetic appearance as if it really belongs there.

Sighting In At any time when mounting a scope with parts not specifically made for the job, it is possible to exceed the windage and elevation adjustment limits, leaving the reticle not adjustable. I ended up right on track here. Both windage and elevation were well within normal adjustment with

much to spare. A common problem with some scopes sometimes finds the turret adjustments working the high or low radius of the erector lens tube, causing problems. Typically here, a scope being adjusted for windage may also cause adjustment of the elevation reticle and vise versa. But all was well with the Henry rifle sight-in. The average squirrel/target rifle is sighted for closer range at about Far 22 rimfire scope. This scope base offers the shooter a most useful scope mounting combination.

Bottom Sometimes a gunsmithing project turns out better than anticipated. 25 yards, enabling the user to make head shots, thereby saving more edible meat. The owner wanted his Henry .22 sighted at 25 yards with .22 Shorts. I chose to use CCI Pistol and Remington Target ammo as a good compromise. Three five-shot groups averaged 0.397 inch, which would indeed be a challenge if open sights were used. Trigger pull weighed 4.75 pounds and could be adjusted by a skilled gunsmith.

Scoping the Henry Golden Boy rifle turned out to be a very worthwhile project, which I can highly recommend for anyone wanting this rifle to shoot and look even better. I’m sure old Benjamin Henry would allow us to break tradition for this reason. The owner liked the addition of a scope on his rifle very much. He plans to put it to good use. I just learned that Henry Repeating Arms has designed a rifle named The American Beauty, symbolizing the strength and spirit of the American woman.

The rifle is just like the Henry Golden Boy but has an engraved nickel-plated receiver cover. The American Beauty comes drilled and tapped for scope mounting and sells for $900. This sort of makes the scoped Golden Boy look even better. AG 22 are excellent for a production rifle using different ammunition.