2nd Henry......44mag or 45LC?

[Lefty Red]

Well seems like my son is going to be claiming my Henry Big Boy in 357. We went and shot it and even though its heavy and he is only 11, its his rifle for deer hunting and at the range he informed me this weekend! LOL Looks like his 22lr is going into storage. The Henry is all he wants to shoot. So we got it sighted in for him and "Yel-Bub" (as he calls it now. thinking its a shortened Yellow Boy he must have read from my book on the history of lever action rifles) is just waiting for a deer next month.

I got this BB during the summer and settled on a bullet and load and it sports a Skinner Sight and a red FO front sight. Might have to get Jr a large loop lever handle he was eyeing, but all and all this project is done.

As much as I would like to find another 357 BB, I am not going to push my luck. I put back some cash in case one pops up on the rifle rack, but not going to hold my breath. I lucked into this one. Just don't see the 357s around here. And one just doesn't pass up a reason to buy another Henry!

So looking for a Big Boy in either 44mag or 45LC.
Purpose is for deer hunting in KY and SEMO and range shooting.
Distance is less than 150 yards for the most part.
I cast and reload for both calibers already.
Don't plan on hot rodding either caliber. They are fine deer slayers as is.

I know this subject has been dragged to death in handguns, but could find allot of info in rifles. I know most people would just grab what ever their pistol was and have the benefit of two weapons with the same caliber. That makes sense, but I don't shoot pistols in these calibers but friends do. But even if I did have a pistol in either of these calibers, experiance has shown that seldom did the same load work well in both weapons. You either had a weak load for the rifle or a too hot load for the pistol.

Gun shop has one of each, used, and priced within $5 of each other.
What would you get?

Jerry

[06ackley]

Well since I already have one in 45lc I would get the 44 mag. If I didn't have either one I would probably go with the 45 first then find a way to get the 44!I really like mine and since I put on the Skinner sights it shoots better than I can.I have been thinking about getting one in 357.

[DougGuy]

I would ask the gunshop owner if you could or he could slug some bores and look at chamber dimensions. Make sure it will chamber and feed the loads you might want to hunt with. For me that would be the Lee C452-300-RF in .45 Colt, and the Lee C430-310-RF in .44 magnum. I would pick the one with the best dimensions.

Leverguns seem to be all over the place with groove diameters and chamber throat dimensions, a LOT of variance out there from brand to brand, and as witnessed by many posts on this forum, the owners are as perplexed with what it takes to get one to shoot well, most are cured when the boolits are sized and assembled to fit the specifics of that gun, and less often the owner shoots loads he uses for his Rugers and has good results. Just sayin'

If you aren't going to hot rod the loads, that would severely cripple the .45 Colt compared to the .44 Magnum. If you are going to load the .45 Colt to the Ruger Only load data with a 30,000psi pressure ceiling, then that basically puts both calibers on an even playing field, with a slight nod going to the .45 Colt as it will be able to launch a slightly heavier boolit with the same pressure ceiling as the .44 Magnum. There is NO substitute for caliber, so I think I would go with the .45 Colt UNLESS looking it over reveals a larger-than-optimum chamber throat, or some other anomaly that would serve to be a PITA in the long run.

[starmac]

I know every rifle is a different animal, but as easy as it was to get mine to shoot them 300 grainers out of a CHEAP lee mold, I would not hesitate getting the 45. Mine is a marlin, but it flat spoiled me.

That 357, should make a fine rifle for your son, bet he is all smiles.

[Tom Herman]

Congrats on your .357 Henry! I'm keeping my eye out for one. I lucked into a .44 Mag Henry, and it's my "go to" rifle... I think I would give a slight tip of the hand to the .44: I can fire either .44 Mag and .44 SPL out of it (and I usually use the .44 Special). That being said, make SURE you use a round nose, flat point bullet. I've found out the hard way that SWC's just don't feed well in .45 and .44 Mag actions, in either my Henry, or my Taurus Thunderbolt (.45 LC). Because the .44 Special is shorter than the Magnum, my beautiful 429421 bullets do feed well in the Henry. Either way you go, you'll have an awesome rifle!

[Lefty Red]

I would ask the gunshop owner if you could or he could slug some bores and look at chamber dimensions. Make sure it will chamber and feed the loads you might want to hunt with. For me that would be the Lee C452-300-RF in .45 Colt, and the Lee C430-310-RF in .44 magnum. I would pick the one with the best dimensions.

Leverguns seem to be all over the place with groove diameters and chamber throat dimensions, a LOT of variance out there from brand to brand, and as witnessed by many posts on this forum, the owners are as perplexed with what it takes to get one to shoot well, most are cured when the boolits are sized and assembled to fit the specifics of that gun, and less often the owner shoots loads he uses for his Rugers and has good results. Just sayin'

If you aren't going to hot rod the loads, that would severely cripple the .45 Colt compared to the .44 Magnum. If you are going to load the .45 Colt to the Ruger Only load data with a 30,000psi pressure ceiling, then that basically puts both calibers on an even playing field, with a slight nod going to the .45 Colt as it will be able to launch a slightly heavier boolit with the same pressure ceiling as the .44 Magnum. There is NO substitute for caliber, so I think I would go with the .45 Colt UNLESS looking it over reveals a larger-than-optimum chamber throat, or some other anomaly that would serve to be a PITA in the long run.

When I say I am not going to hot rod the calibers, I should have been more clear in my wording. I mean I am not going to try to make a 454 Casull out of the 45LC. My fault about that. But like always, your response is right on! Those are the two bullets that I would be using.

Doubt i will be able to slug anything. But I trust the gun shop and Henry. Since the rifle is used, if any problems they will allow me to swap (asked him today in fact) to the other. Since the shop is only five miles from the shooting range, I might see if I can shoot both and see what gives. But I would have to use factory ammo bought there. So wouldn't really tell me anything about the bullets I want to use.

Jerry

[Lefty Red]

Well since I already have one in 45lc I would get the 44 mag. If I didn't have either one I would probably go with the 45 first then find a way to get the 44!I really like mine and since I put on the Skinner sights it shoots better than I can.I have been thinking about getting one in 357.

If you can find one! I lucked into this one. Its was used and in a box in back. And that Skinner Sight in Black and Gold looks great on it. I get allot of compliments on it. Not much about the FO front sight. LOL

[Lefty Red]

Congrats on your .357 Henry! I'm keeping my eye out for one. I lucked into a .44 Mag Henry, and it's my "go to" rifle... I think I would give a slight tip of the hand to the .44: I can fire either .44 Mag and .44 SPL out of it (and I usually use the .44 Special). That being said, make SURE you use a round nose, flat point bullet. I've found out the hard way that SWC's just don't feed well in .45 and .44 Mag actions, in either my Henry, or my Taurus Thunderbolt (.45 LC). Because the .44 Special is shorter than the Magnum, my beautiful 429421 bullets do feed well in the Henry. Either way you go, you'll have an awesome rifle!

Thanks. My 357 BB doesn't like the SWCs either. And the older Lee 150-SWC is my favorite 38 bullet. Well it was til the Lee 158-RF came along. Even the poorest casted bullets from that mold shoot good. Ask me how I know! :)

[FergusonTO35]

Never seen a used Henry centerfire around here and you found two of them. Henry has awesome service after the sale, I wouldn't hesitate to buy either one.

[DougGuy]

Jerry you just need to buy both and shoot both with handloads then sell one on here, that way at least some lucky cast boolits member would get a neat rifle. I am wanting one in .45 Colt myself in the worst way. Have geetars and basses to trade but disabled from cancer so not enough income to buy one outright.

[Lefty Red]

Never seen a used Henry centerfire around here and you found two of them. Henry has awesome service after the sale, I wouldn't hesitate to buy either one.

Larry's has nine on his rack and five are used. Guys around here will mostly just buy them for looks, maybe shoot a box of shells through it and hang it over the fireplace. The two I am looking at have a few dings, and I don't mind because I would hate to the first one to mark one up!

ANd Henry fixed my 357 for free! Used rifle and they didn't even blink.

Jerry

[Tn Jim]

Ok Red, here's my two cents. I have a 44 and I put a black gold Skinner peep on mine too (damned bi-focals!). The Lyman 429421 will not feed out of the mag tube in magnum brass. It should out of Special brass, mags make the OAL too long. The Henry has a 1:38 twist, so a 240 grain is about as heavy as it will stabilize. Also, I e-mailed Kevin McGuire at Henry and these are the specs he sent me on the 44. Bore diameter .424 +/- .001 groove diameter .431 +/- .001. I have used a Lee 240 grain swc/gc sized to .431 over 19 grains of 2400 and shot 5 rounds into 1.5 inches at 50 yards. I will try .432 in a couple weeks and see what it does. I also have no feeding problems with the Lee.

http://i637.photobucket.com/albums/uu93/JAtkins63/IMG_0143.jpg (http://s637.photobucket.com/user/JAtkins63/media/IMG_0143.jpg.html)
http://i637.photobucket.com/albums/uu93/JAtkins63/securedownload.jpg (http://s637.photobucket.com/user/JAtkins63/media/securedownload.jpg.html)

[dnotarianni]

More ammo variety in 44 and during a hunting trip you can almost always find 44 vs 45lc if you need ammo and your out of town
Dave

[10mmShooter]

I like my Henry .44 BB, I have tried .431 too just a hint of leading near chamber.... but here is my new brass accurate mold bullets sized to .432 seated to 1.580 so it should cure my leading issue. The mold has 3 driving bands so I hoping for good accuracy on next range trip.

122516

[Ramjet-SS]

My son took over my 45LC and I have shot both end of the scales 310 grain RF GC one load 22 Grains of WW296 and another load of 7 grains of Unique. The gun just continually shoots very small groups with either load. I prefer the 45 over the 44 I look at this way in the He ry anything the 44 can do the 45 will do just alittle better.

[sthwestvictoria]

I don't have one in either calibre however there was an interesting article in the November 2014 Rifle Magazine about the new Winchester colt and the historical waxing and waning of twist rates.
http://i61.tinypic.com/qsw13l.jpg

[FergusonTO35]

Larry's has nine on his rack and five are used. Guys around here will mostly just buy them for looks, maybe shoot a box of shells through it and hang it over the fireplace. The two I am looking at have a few dings, and I don't mind because I would hate to the first one to mark one up!

ANd Henry fixed my 357 for free! Used rifle and they didn't even blink.

And here I sit with the gun fund pulling vacuum and already sold all the non-keepers...