Henry "Big Boy steel" .44 mag, question about boolits

[bigjake]

I'm thinking on getting the henry big boy steel w/ a round bbl. for $683

question is; what length barrel is best for shooting cast boolits, 16.5" or 20"

[Shuz]

BBL length is not the issue. Twist rate in .44 mag is the issue, based on my experience with both Marlin and Winchester .44 mag rifles. Marlins have a 1:38" twist and would not group well for me with cast boolits. Winchester's in .44 mag have either a 1:20" or a 1:26" twist and they group cast boolits very well. FWIW the Henry rifles in .44 mag, have a 1:38" twist.

[jmort]

"Marlins have a 1:38" twist and would not group well for me with cast boolits...FWIW the Henry rifles in .44 mag, have a 1:38" twist."


"For the Marlin 1894 lever-gun, there is a clear advantage to the 300s (SAECO, LBT LFN, Lyman or RCBS 300 GC-SWC) at 1700 fps. All will deliver good to excellent accuracy and more than enough thump to handle anything I'm going to point that sweet little carbine at. The heavier bullets have specialized profiles that make them difficult (or impossible) to use in this gun and the 350s don't stabilize properly with the 1 in 38" twist."
http://www.lasc.us/fryxell44overweight.htm

[Shuz]

jmort--The issue I had with the Marlin's was that I couldn't find any boolit that they "liked". Here's a few that I tried: NEI 429-158(173g), Saeco 446-A(200g),Lee 200gRNFP, Lyman 429303(215g loaded singly),429215(220g),RCBS 44-225(230g),Lee custom 225RNFP(225g) Lyman 429667(250g), Lyman 429421(252g),Lyman 429244(255g),Lee Ranch Dog 265g, Lyman 429650(300g) Saeco(300g), Lee 310g, MP-433-300HP(295g), MP-432-256(256g). I also experimented with different hardnesses from Saeco 6 to 10, and sizes from .430 to .432.

[jmort]

What more could you do? That is way more "testing" than I have ever done, so will defer to you. I don't know if it was gun specific. My Rossi 92 in .357 does not like anything much above 160 grains due to its twist. Twist is important.