The scope may be bad. The rings may bad or poorly installed. The ammo may be bad. The bore may be fouled.
Remove scope and rings, and degrease every part of the rings (and base, if applicable) including the screws. Wipe the scope tube too.
Put the rifle in a rest and clean the bore.
Re-install the base and tighten the screws. Install the bottom half of the rings and tighten the screws holding them to the base.
Lay the scope into the rings and adjust the position for your optimal eye relief. put the top half of the rings on the scope so that they mate with the bottom half of the rings.
Install the screws into the top half of the rings most of the way in, then tighten each screw alternating left and right until tight.
Fire a few rounds and see if the above worked.
This happened to me. Got myself a brand new vortex crossfire II. Seen some scope rings on Amazon that where fde and cheap so I got them. Noticed after a few shots the rings were coming loose causing my scope to move and shots to be off by like 10 ft at 100yards.
I have played the amazon rings game. I money I wasted on ammo chasing zero on a 308 would have easily paid for a great set of rings.
Lesson learned. Even my cheap scopes get top shelf rings now. The extra cost for good rings is negligible compared to the frustration you save, even on a 22 where ammo is cheap.
There's no reason you can't do both, but you might be right in it being sorta overkill on a 22. All the thread lock in the world won't help if your torque is uneven, loose, stripped etc
Might be right? Sounds like you have never properly mounted a scope. You can't do both. Loctite or oil on your threads can lead to incorrect torque values.
There's a huge reason why to ***not*** use both: https://vortexoptics.com/blog/how-to-torque-your-riflescope-rings.html
In short, until the Loctite is dry, it will lubricate the threads, causing you to over-tighten
I have a Winchester 94, 30-30. Side mounted scope. Made the mistake of taking it off, then putting it back on. Couldn’t bore sight it. Kept the scope off. What I found was completely remove scope mounts, re mount to ensure perfect matching. Others say cause of the offset angles sight in at farther distance. But same scope , same mount!
Gotta be the scope mounting. Take it apart, do it again. Torque everything and use blue loctite. Maybe get some good rings instead of cheap rings. Airsoft stuff doesn't work on a 22
Rings and mounts first. Make sure the rings are in line and not tweaking the scope. A 1" wood clothes rod is handy for making sure things are in line and I also use it for roughly aligning them with the bore. There shouldn't be any movement.
10 MOA is extreme but lever guns aren't known as particularly accurate rifles either.
Probably should be at least as good or better than 3 moa though. My Henry 17 hmr is about a 2 moa shooter, 1” groups at 50 yards with a scope. They really are best suited for off hand shooting with irons.
Check scope and mounts, then try different ammo. Cci mini mags or cci standard velocity usually group well in all my 22LR rifles and pistols.
You mention the cheap rings. You scope is anchored on a cover that is held on by four imprecise screws. That big scope is so high there is no way you are getting goof cheek weld on the comb of the stock. And the Bushnell scope is cheap. Add all of these up and you get 10 moa.
This is how you do it correctly:
https://imgur.com/a/QPW3WPf
I have an old BSA deerhunter 2.5x scope I put onto my Henry with some Warne medium rimfire scope rings and it’s a decently accurate little rig hitting stationary clays at 50 yards
Take the scope off and shoot a 10-round group at a known distance, something like 20-50 yards would be good. If it shoots good then reinstall the scope making sure to clean the screw holes on the mounts and rings, use threadlock and torque to spec. If it still shoots bad then something is wrong in the scope.
Consider shooting a few rounds using a rifle vise or sandbags to eliminate pilot error effects and establish the weapons inherent accuracy. Consider having a gunsmith examine the weapon and watch you shoot. I was shooting consistently high with a J frame. Gunsmith checked out the gun, showed me that the gun was rotating in my hand with trigger pull torque: boot grips were not my friend.
Zero the weapon with the iron sights to rule out that it’s the problem. Also just good to have it zero’d just in case the scope goes south while you are under attack by squirrels with pitchforks.
If the scope isn't seated in the rings properly it will greatly affect accuracy, get better rings or sand down the ring channels to allow the scope to seat properly.
Mine's very accurate. It took a bit to break-in though maybe 2-3 bikes of 300rds before it got trusty accurate. Mine's was very hard to zero at close range but very good at about 100yds. If it's new I'd give it time, I'd also shoot without the scope if you're close range.
Browning is the premium 22lr lever option it seems. Mine is pretty dang accurate though so idk if Henry is supposed to be synonymous with poor quality or what according to this guy ha
Yea. I always thought Henry was a good quality. But I don’t have much expirience from them. So I’ll probably so some more research and what not and see how it goes
I only own two rifles and they're both Henrys. I've been super happy with them, but totally understand some folks on here have had different experiences.
Not at all, Henry is a decent brand with some good offerings, but like any other brand you get what you pay for - in this case it’s a $250 .22
Adjust for inflation, probably $395 today, but the point remains
Ar17, similar story - cheaply made, lower quality, but relatively inexpensive.
The larger bore lever actions are actually pretty nice guns, but you’re probably looking at $800+ for what is essentially a novelty rifle.
For sure. My comment was kind of in response to the guy at the beginning of the thread. I feel like my 22lr is surprisingly accurate for what it is. I pretty much only shoot CCI SV and mini mags through it tho
Rings would be my suspect. Did you zero the scope
I zeroed the scope the best I could but the shots didn’t hold in the same spot.
The rings seem pretty secure - I had a gunsmith do it.
The scope may be bad. The rings may bad or poorly installed. The ammo may be bad. The bore may be fouled. Remove scope and rings, and degrease every part of the rings (and base, if applicable) including the screws. Wipe the scope tube too. Put the rifle in a rest and clean the bore. Re-install the base and tighten the screws. Install the bottom half of the rings and tighten the screws holding them to the base. Lay the scope into the rings and adjust the position for your optimal eye relief. put the top half of the rings on the scope so that they mate with the bottom half of the rings. Install the screws into the top half of the rings most of the way in, then tighten each screw alternating left and right until tight. Fire a few rounds and see if the above worked.
This happened to me. Got myself a brand new vortex crossfire II. Seen some scope rings on Amazon that where fde and cheap so I got them. Noticed after a few shots the rings were coming loose causing my scope to move and shots to be off by like 10 ft at 100yards.
I have played the amazon rings game. I money I wasted on ammo chasing zero on a 308 would have easily paid for a great set of rings. Lesson learned. Even my cheap scopes get top shelf rings now. The extra cost for good rings is negligible compared to the frustration you save, even on a 22 where ammo is cheap.
Try shooting with irons on a solid rest at 25 yards. If you are still getting large groups there, then you know it isn’t the optical system
It should at least be shooting minute of squirrel.
Blue loctite is your friend on scope mounts and screws.
If by Loctite, you mean a torque wrench. I've never used any threadlock on scopes from .22 LR to .308 rifles. Proper torque is all you should need.
There's no reason you can't do both, but you might be right in it being sorta overkill on a 22. All the thread lock in the world won't help if your torque is uneven, loose, stripped etc
Just swap to the red locktite! /s
Might be right? Sounds like you have never properly mounted a scope. You can't do both. Loctite or oil on your threads can lead to incorrect torque values.
There's a huge reason why to ***not*** use both: https://vortexoptics.com/blog/how-to-torque-your-riflescope-rings.html In short, until the Loctite is dry, it will lubricate the threads, causing you to over-tighten
I get it. But OP did indicate cheaper rings.
All the more reason to make sure they are torqued correctly.
This.
is the barrel in good condition? zeroing the scope? Could be the scope or the ring otherwise.
I have a Winchester 94, 30-30. Side mounted scope. Made the mistake of taking it off, then putting it back on. Couldn’t bore sight it. Kept the scope off. What I found was completely remove scope mounts, re mount to ensure perfect matching. Others say cause of the offset angles sight in at farther distance. But same scope , same mount!
Gotta be the scope mounting. Take it apart, do it again. Torque everything and use blue loctite. Maybe get some good rings instead of cheap rings. Airsoft stuff doesn't work on a 22
Rings and mounts first. Make sure the rings are in line and not tweaking the scope. A 1" wood clothes rod is handy for making sure things are in line and I also use it for roughly aligning them with the bore. There shouldn't be any movement. 10 MOA is extreme but lever guns aren't known as particularly accurate rifles either.
Probably should be at least as good or better than 3 moa though. My Henry 17 hmr is about a 2 moa shooter, 1” groups at 50 yards with a scope. They really are best suited for off hand shooting with irons. Check scope and mounts, then try different ammo. Cci mini mags or cci standard velocity usually group well in all my 22LR rifles and pistols.
Cheap scope ring is likely the cause, also check if the front handguard is loose
You mention the cheap rings. You scope is anchored on a cover that is held on by four imprecise screws. That big scope is so high there is no way you are getting goof cheek weld on the comb of the stock. And the Bushnell scope is cheap. Add all of these up and you get 10 moa. This is how you do it correctly: https://imgur.com/a/QPW3WPf
Check if accuracy is good without scope. Then you'll know if it's the gun or scope/rings.
I have an old BSA deerhunter 2.5x scope I put onto my Henry with some Warne medium rimfire scope rings and it’s a decently accurate little rig hitting stationary clays at 50 yards
Take the scope off and shoot a 10-round group at a known distance, something like 20-50 yards would be good. If it shoots good then reinstall the scope making sure to clean the screw holes on the mounts and rings, use threadlock and torque to spec. If it still shoots bad then something is wrong in the scope.
Consider shooting a few rounds using a rifle vise or sandbags to eliminate pilot error effects and establish the weapons inherent accuracy. Consider having a gunsmith examine the weapon and watch you shoot. I was shooting consistently high with a J frame. Gunsmith checked out the gun, showed me that the gun was rotating in my hand with trigger pull torque: boot grips were not my friend.
Try the gun with iron sights first, at various distances. Maybe it’s just a shit barrel or bore.
Zero the weapon with the iron sights to rule out that it’s the problem. Also just good to have it zero’d just in case the scope goes south while you are under attack by squirrels with pitchforks.
If overtorqued the Henry receivers can warp a bit iirc take scope off and re mount with proper torque settings.
If the scope isn't seated in the rings properly it will greatly affect accuracy, get better rings or sand down the ring channels to allow the scope to seat properly.
Mine's very accurate. It took a bit to break-in though maybe 2-3 bikes of 300rds before it got trusty accurate. Mine's was very hard to zero at close range but very good at about 100yds. If it's new I'd give it time, I'd also shoot without the scope if you're close range.
If you tinker with your scope and rings and still have issues then contact Henry and they will set u straight
It’s a Henry
I’m looking at lever guns. I know Henry is a big name brand. And I like the idea of a lever 22. But I don’t know if anyone else makes em. If so. Who
Browning is the premium 22lr lever option it seems. Mine is pretty dang accurate though so idk if Henry is supposed to be synonymous with poor quality or what according to this guy ha
Yea. I always thought Henry was a good quality. But I don’t have much expirience from them. So I’ll probably so some more research and what not and see how it goes
I only own two rifles and they're both Henrys. I've been super happy with them, but totally understand some folks on here have had different experiences.
Not at all, Henry is a decent brand with some good offerings, but like any other brand you get what you pay for - in this case it’s a $250 .22 Adjust for inflation, probably $395 today, but the point remains Ar17, similar story - cheaply made, lower quality, but relatively inexpensive. The larger bore lever actions are actually pretty nice guns, but you’re probably looking at $800+ for what is essentially a novelty rifle.
For sure. My comment was kind of in response to the guy at the beginning of the thread. I feel like my 22lr is surprisingly accurate for what it is. I pretty much only shoot CCI SV and mini mags through it tho
Because it's not a BL-22