Help Please Henry 44 Mag with 278 WFN PB for Deer

[Themoose]

I was willed a BigBoy 44 mag and would like to take a deer with it this fall... I have used a couple of other 44 mag rifles over the years to hunt deer with successfully, but the LBT LFN's in 280 and 270 GC, just don't seem to work will in the Henry. Anyway, I a bought a NOE .432 278 WFN PB mold complete with two sets of pins for hollowpoints... think I get 280, 265 and around 255 grains depending on solid,reg HP or big HP. I don't want to shoot any high velocity loads and plan on casting with air cooled wheel weights for alloy. At 70 my eyesight is not as sharp and I put a set of Skinner sights on the rifle... plan on shooting under 100 yards..

Has anyone had any luck with this or a similar bullet in a 1:38 twist 44 mag?
What velocity do I need to stay away from to prevent leading?
Any other suggestions for making this a working combination? (Change alloy, powder choices, velocity ranges, etc.)

Thanks to all who can share their experience.

Kindest regards,

TheMoose

[JoeJames]

This probably will not be of any help, but I got a Big Boy 44 mag/44 Special a few months ago mostly as a companion piece to my Ruger Blackhawk 44 Special. I tried 44 Special HSM 240 grain cowboy loads which miked out to about .428" and key holed at 16 yards; Speer 240 grain .430" SWC's which key holed some of the time at 16 yards; and finally Oregon Trail laser cast .431" 240 grain swc's which grouped pretty well, around 1-1 1/2" at 16 yards. All were 240 grain, but the diameter and probably the hardness made a super big difference.

[Larry Gibson]

I don't want to shoot any high velocity loads may not be compatible with shooting longer, heavier cast bullets in a 1:38 twist. To stabilize those bullets may have to be driven fast. A 240 - 250 gr SWC at 1050 - 1100 fps over 8 gr Unique will kill deer all day long out to 100 yards.......if you do your part.

[JoeJames]

In 44 Special the .431" Oregon trail were running a little hot for me with 6.8 grains of Unique, so I dropped it down to 6.5 grains running about 900 fps in the 4 1/2 " Ruger BH. I figure, though I did not chronograph it, in the Henry probably around 1050 - 1100 fps.

[Themoose]

Larry,

Larry,
When I said that I don't want to shoot any high velocity loads I was concerned as to the potential for leading and using a plain base. What velocity level do you think I can attain with the bullets(assuming that I get a good fit for the bore) where leading shouldn't be a problem. I do shoot the LFN's that are gas checked out of my other two 44 mag rifles and purchased Veral Smith's book and I do shoot them pretty fast under a full load of H110, but they are gas checked... the Henry also seems to transfer more recoil to these old bones than the other do wearing softer rubber pads.

[Outpost75]

I use 1:30 tin-lead from Roto Metals about 8-9 BHN in both the .44-40 and the .44 Magnum in Marlin rifles with Microgroove rifling and 1:38" twist, using plainbased bullets at velocities around 1350 fps and have no issues with leading. I have gotten best grouping with 230-240 grain bullets and RL7 powder in the .44 Magnum and .44-40 Marlins. Bullets are lubricated with Lee Liquid Alox and sized .430"

Attachment 228981Attachment 228982

[longbow]

Not a Henry but I have a Marlin 1894 with 1:38" twist and typical "fat" bore for rifles at 0.4315".

I decided I liked the "heavy boolit" trend and made a mould for 300 gr. PP boolits. I used a "J" bullet load which IIRC was 21 grs. of H110. It shot quite well to 50 yards but keyholed at 100 yards. After trying a few things unsuccessfully I bought some 300 gr. Hornady "J" bullets and loaded those up... same results.

I made a new mould and cast some 265 gr. boolits. They shot well and were stable at long range. So, I stick with boolits of 265 gr. or lighter and generally load as cast at 0.433"/0.434".

RanchDog said his 300 gr. design was stable to 300 yards if pushed hard and I have read that 300 gr. boolits with large meplats (making them shorter) can be stable if shot at max. loads. I settled on keeping weight below 265 grs. and that seems to work for me. You might be just over that limit with the 278 WFN. If it casts 0.432" it should be fat enough. Have you slugged the bore and size accordingly.

Oh, I only shoot PB boolits from my Marlin and even hot loads don't lead significantly. My favourite powder is IMR4227.

FWIW

Longbow

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

My 2¢, I would steer clear of anything over 250gr in a 44 Mag Levergun that has a 1:38 Twist barrel.
While some have had success with heavies, I have not...maybe it's me?

BUT, since you have the mold, load some of your AC COWW boolits with a starting load of H110 and see what they do at your local range (100 yds). My experience was a 5" to 6" group using a Ranch Dog 265gr.

[Larry Gibson]

Larry,

Larry,
When I said that I don't want to shoot any high velocity loads I was concerned as to the potential for leading and using a plain base. What velocity level do you think I can attain with the bullets(assuming that I get a good fit for the bore) where leading shouldn't be a problem. I do shoot the LFN's that are gas checked out of my other two 44 mag rifles and purchased Veral Smith's book and I do shoot them pretty fast under a full load of H110, but they are gas checked... the Henry also seems to transfer more recoil to these old bones than the other do wearing softer rubber pads.

My bad for the misunderstanding......As Outpost75 has developed an affinity for RL7 loads I preferred 44 magnum rifle loads using PB'd bullets using H4227. I simply haven't tried RL7 loads yet. Been some time since I loaded for a 44 Magnum rifle though. My records show I used 23 gr H4227 (Winchester cases, WLP primers) under a commercial 270 gr FB'd cast bullet. They ran 1490 fps out of a 16" barreled M94 carbine with a 38" twist. Accuracy shows a 10 shot 2" group at 100 yards with factory sights. My eyes were much better back then when I could see the sights. I purchased those bullets from a commercial caster (out of business for years) unlubed/unsized. I would have sized them at .430 and lubed them with Javelina.

The classic Keith load of 22 gr 2400 ran 1450 fps and gave 3 moa accuracy at 100 yards. Those would have been cast of old COWWs sized .430 and lubed with Javelina. I would use todays COWWs and add 2% tin and lube them with BAC.

I got no leading with either load, just excellent performance.

[Themoose]

Thanks to all for your help... Larry, thanks for your comeback, much appreciated. My head is not completely in the game.. I had done some initial work with the rifle, but my wife's extended illness and subsequent passing put casting and reloading completely off my radar. I am now trying to get back to things, but seems like I just need to start over...I had even forgotten that I got the NOE mold and found the bullets when I was straightening up in my reloading area.

Again, thanks to one and all for your valuable input.. it will help me get started without having a clue as to a starting point.

Kindest regards,

TheMoose

[Themoose]

Got a chance to assemble some loads last night... I used the NOE mold 432 278WFN with two sets of HP pins, so I had 278 g solids, 271 and 256 g. HP's to shoot. Only shot @50 yds off bench... Put Skinner peep on back and their large orange bead on front... pretty much covered 2" bull...best group went to large HP running avg of 1858 fps using 21.5gr A2400...followed by solid using 21.0 gr. IMR 4227 avg 1345 fps and solid using 23.0 gr IMR4227 running @ 1474 fps. Velocities were all average of 5 shot strings.

My eyes and lack regular shooting leave me questioning the accuracy... so I think my next step is to load up some of these particular loads and try them in my scoped 44mag rifles(Rem 788 and Ruger 44/77) I know the twist is faster, but it would be interesting to see if they shot well there and then I could step out to 100 yds.

Thanks to all that helped me get started with this project.
Kindest regards,

TheMoose

[indian joe]

Got a chance to assemble some loads last night... I used the NOE mold 432 278WFN with two sets of HP pins, so I had 278 g solids, 271 and 256 g. HP's to shoot. Only shot @50 yds off bench... Put Skinner peep on back and their large orange bead on front... pretty much covered 2" bull...best group went to large HP running avg of 1858 fps using 21.5gr A2400...followed by solid using 21.0 gr. IMR 4227 avg 1345 fps and solid using 23.0 gr IMR4227 running @ 1474 fps. Velocities were all average of 5 shot strings.

My eyes and lack regular shooting leave me questioning the accuracy... so I think my next step is to load up some of these particular loads and try them in my scoped 44mag rifles(Rem 788 and Ruger 44/77) I know the twist is faster, but it would be interesting to see if they shot well there and then I could step out to 100 yds.

Thanks to all that helped me get started with this project.
Kindest regards,

TheMoose

Moose
1:38 twist and long boolits - you are gonna have to push velocity to get stability - simple physics at work

You might get a load that shoots nice at 50 yards and makes two foot keyhole patterns at 100

I have ran headlong into this problem three times when it mattered - each time the cure was either more powder or less lead -

once was loads I made for a 22-250 in warm weather that test shot beautiful, then we took em out fox shooting on cold nights and I missed half a dozen good pelts - turned out the load was keyholing at 100yards and I couldnt cover the pattern spread with the brim of my very large hat - a grain more W760 fixed it.

[Themoose]

That's one of the reasons I want to try in other rifles with scopes so I can test fairly@ 100yds

[10mmShooter]

I have a Henry .44 also.... I learned the hard way... cast lead bullets need to be sized to .432