Issue with case head separations in .44 Spl/Mag Henry lever action rifle

[btreanor]

Over the past two weeks, I've had two case head separation events in my "new-to-me" Henry .44 lever rifle. It's also worth noting that these are the first case head separations I've ever experienced in over 40 years of shooting and reloading.

The first event happened with once-fired Remington .44 Mag brass with 296 and a Speer 225 gr. half-jacket. I shot about 3 or 4 of these and then had the case head separation. The powder charge weight was within published recommendations and the primers in the previously fired pieces of brass showed no sign of excessive pressure. Actually, the primer on the extracted case head showed no signs of pressure, either. The stuck case was in there pretty tight and had to be removed by using a chamber casting with Cerrosafe.

The second event happened yesterday with some older .44 Spl. brass. The load was a 250 gr. cast lead bullet and a "plinker" load of 231. Once again, the powder charge weight was well within the published guidelines. I fired several with no problems whatsoever and then had the case head separation event. Fortunately, the stuck case was only loosely held in the chamber and I was able to use a dental pick to grab the front edge of the case and pull it out. There were no signs of excessive pressure on any of these cases, either.

At this point, I put the Henry rifle up and shot the rest of the ammo (warm loads with 296 and plinker loads with 231) in my S&W 629. I had no issues whatsoever with any of them.

I've shot this same brass with different loads in several S&W revolvers and a Marlin lever action over the years and I've never had these kind of problems. I was wondering if the chamber in the Henry rifle may have some "looseness" that may be contributing to these case head separations. If you have any suggestions about how to diagnose this problem, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!

[redhawk0]

Analyze the cases with a micrometer/caliper after firing. How much expansion is going on near the head. Check it against what comes out of your S&W (I know apples/oranges...) but it should give you some idea of how close the chamber is on the Henry. If you notice the cases are outsize SAAMI spec for the 44Mag...notify Henry and have them fix it.

redhawk

[Gtek]

Maybe heading the wrong way by me, but what about a really tight chamber (sharpened how many times reamer). I heard Cerrosafe up there, what about a properly done full chamber cast. Maybe cut a case short and do a pound cast, something for measurement. The thought of me sending something out or back without actually knowing what was up, well---. Plunk test with your loads, Any history on Rifle?

[Wayne Smith]

If you have already removed a stuck case with Cerrosafe go ahead and make a chamber cast. Let Henry know the measurements and see what they say.

[Earlwb]

I wonder if using a Go-no-go gauges would help show if anything is amiss with the rifle.

[Texas by God]

I wonder if using a Go-no-go gauges would help show if anything is amiss with the rifle.

It sounds like a headspace problem so that’s what’d I’d do for sure. Or use a brass case and shims.

[Wolfe]

Henry's have Very tight Tolerances so I would think that maybe seating a cartridge with dead primer and no powder without any crimp into the bore would give an actual length measurement that you could back off just a tad to get a perfect fit every time.

[Jedman]

It sounds like a headspace problem so that’s what’d I’d do for sure. Or use a brass case and shims.

Another easy test for headspace is just fire a normally sized case with just a primer in the gun.
If you have excess headspace the ejected case will have the primer proud from the case bottom.

Jedman

[Greg S]

Headspace is probably fine, it is a lever gun with a generous chamber to feed a semi straight wall case. Had the same thing going on in a Winnie 94AE in 45 Colt. If I would have kept it, my solution was to just size the area where the bullet would be seated until I had problems chambering or waller out the bottom half of a all steel 45 Colt sizing die.

Old brass that is work hardend gets brittle and can't stress like newer brass. It is too close to the case head to anneal so either half size or locate a steel sizer and lap it out carefully.

[alfadan]

You can get a good idea of spacing by chambering an empty case and put a cleaning rod down the muzzle with a tight patch into the case and feel/measure the back and forth movement.

[44magLeo]

Plain old Scotch tape works for checking head space. Measure the thickness of the tape.
Take a case and add one layer to the case head. Try to chamber the case. Go easy. If it chambers ok then add another layer.
Repeat till the case won't chamber. Count how many layers on the case head. Your head space is somewhere between the last to layers.
Lets say it chambered 3 layers but not 4. You measured the tape and got .002 thick. 3 layers at .002 is .006, 4 is .008. Your headspace is about .007.
Your tape may be thicker or thinner than mine. Just try it.
Leo

[mnewcomb59]

I once had a Rossi 92 357 that took 12 pieces of scotch tape on the rim before the lever wouldnt close. I has ruining 38 special cases on first firing, and a small percent of factory and reload 357s would have case separations after firing or during resizing.

I vote that it is excessive headspace.