New to me Henry H015 .45-70

[FergusonTO35]

Since I ended up getting a Henry instead of a Handi, I figured I should just start a new thread on it. Love this rifle so far, she makes nice cloverleafs at 65 yards with 12.5 grains Unique and 300 grain boolit. Only problem so far is the primer strikes are on the weak side. I have had one round with Remington LR primers that required a second strike to fire. I know that when these first came out people were having the opposite problem, hard trigger pull due to being oversprung. My rifle has an awesome trigger pull so I guess it went in the opposite direction. Did we ever settle on the best mainspring for these rifles? Or should I just send it back to Henry?

[koger]

I have had 6 remington primed rounds not fire in bolt action rifles off late, bad primers.

[FergusonTO35]

Thanks. The thing is, even with other primer brands the indentations are still on the weak side. My experience has been that Remington primers are practice only, use Federal or Winchester for anything important. What's weird is, Remington factory ammo has always worked extremely well for me and I won't hesitate to buy it.

[FergusonTO35]

I have been sizing to .459 with RCBS 80008 lube for all my .45-70 Boolits. Tonight I dipped some of the Lyman 457191 as cast in LLA to see if that changes anything. It's a lot faster than the lube sizer, for sure.

Also, tonight I made some rounds with LP primers and tried them out. All went bang with much better indentations than the rifle primers, accuracy seemed about the same.

[fenderman57]

Pull the butt stock off, cut down the OD of a 1/4 inch washer and put it under the hammer spring. That worked well for me.

[FergusonTO35]

Thanks so much, will try that!

[FergusonTO35]

Contacted Henry about the light strikes and they said that they would be happy to warranty it. I 'spose I'll do that after the season is over, if I haven't come up with a better solution by then.

[Sgt H]

For the light loads you are using try large pistol primers. I shoot a lot of 45/70 loaded with "pistol powders", mostly unique and 2400 and routinely use large pistol primers. Have also found a bit better accuracy on some loads with pistol primers too.

[Sgt H]

BTW good choice on the Henry vs the Handi. Henry is nicer looking IMO and much more elegant. Would be even more so if they would ditch the exposed exposed hammer and have a striker system and tang safety like the old Savage 219 - poor man's stalking rifle.

[FergusonTO35]

Thanks Sgt. I have some LP primers that need to be used and I'm currently trying to find loads that work well with them. 12.5 grains Unique/LR primer/300 grain Laser Cast boolit is still the gold standard and I haven't yet found a load with LP primers that is as accurate. Unique and most other Alliant powders are extinct here. I'm thinking about switching to a faster powder like Titegroup and using an LP primer. According to the GMDR site, TG is one of the most accurate powders for lite loads with a 300 grain boolit.

I have about 30 Laser Cast slugs left and they are now $60.00 + shipping for 200, close to jacketed price. I'm going to save them for hunting aas the rifle is already sighted in dead on with them. I have a Lyman 457191 mold that makes awesome boolits, but they are not as accurate as the Laser Cast, at least not with the same load. I'm thinking that a faster powder might work better with them, since they are definitely on the lite end for this cartridge. I am very pleased I got the Henry, it's a well made and handsome rifle with awesome customer service. It won't be my last one, that's for sure. I think a brass frame or two is in my future!

[Ramjet-SS]

I bought one some time ago. First of the curl in that stock and forearm is absolutely insanely beautiful. Second off the accuracy with a 460 grain WFN over a dose of Unique is an absolutely accurate gun. In fact one of the most accurate guns I own. As far as primer strikes I have never had an issue. Send it back have them re-spring it. Or make sure your primers are seated well as I have seen this be an issue with Starline brass or new brass.

Awesome rifle I really like mine.

[FergusonTO35]

Thanks. Yes, the primers are seated firmly. Tried it out some more yesterday and found that it really likes the Lyman 457191 over 12.8 grains Unique with LP primer so I loaded some more of them. Half the box has boolits sized to .459 with RCBS lube, the other half are dipped in LLA as cast. It would be sweet if the as cast slugs shoot well.

[FergusonTO35]

As it turns out, the unsized slugs with LLA shoot great. It's no special trick to put them all into a nice cluster at 65 yards with this load so I'm sticking with it. I did have to try different front and rear sights to find some of the right height. The tall Marble's adjustable leaf rear and a .530 front work best. I look forward to taking this rifle into the woods!

[FergusonTO35]

Update: still enjoy shooting the Henry, it is definitely as accurate as I can take advantage of. The primer strikes seem to be stronger than they were when using LR primers, mebbe it just needed to break in some. I've been talking to my local General Assembly representative about allowing single shot medium/big bore cartridge rifles during muzzleloader season, a few other states already allow them. She thinks that is a good idea and is going to talk to Fish and Wildlife about it. May as well, given that today's inline muzzleloaders with all the innovations will easily outperform a nineteenth century cartridge rifle in every way except loading speed.

[Ramjet-SS]

Update: still enjoy shooting the Henry, it is definitely as accurate as I can take advantage of. The primer strikes seem to be stronger than they were when using LR primers, mebbe it just needed to break in some. I've been talking to my local General Assembly representative about allowing single shot medium/big bore cartridge rifles during muzzleloader season, a few other states already allow them. She thinks that is a good idea and is going to talk to Fish and Wildlife about it. May as well, given that today's inline muzzleloaders with all the innovations will easily outperform a nineteenth century cartridge rifle in every way except loading speed.

Seems if you load with Black Powder they should allow it’s used in the primitive season. Let us know how that goes with them.

[Jedman]

I would send it to Henry to repair. I have a 015 that was a 357 mag and the previous owner sent it to M Bellm to rechamber to 35 Rem. I have the same problem with light primer strikes but since my rifle was modified Henry wouldn’t touch it.
I made a new firing pin with a longer backside so the rebounding hammer hits it a little sooner so should have more striking energy. I have only fired it a few times and so far it works ! I have so many projects to finish so for now it is fixed until I have time to return and shoot it more.
I would like to know how Henry addresses this problem ?
Jedman

[FergusonTO35]

Seems if you load with Black Powder they should allow it’s used in the primitive season. Let us know how that goes with them.

Thanks, I sure will. I think regs are controlled by the Fish and Game Commission, who are not Fish and Wildlife employees. I have no idea what their attitude would be on this topic. They did approve crossbows for archery season, so hopefully they will be open to this idea.

[koger]

Just a note to your original post. I reload a lot and help others load using my equipment to get them started. I have seen more fail to fire rifle primers this year, than in a lifetime of reloading. Win, Rem and CCi all have had several that even Mauser bolt actions failed to dent, too hard, or they failed to fire when they had perfectly good primer strikes. I am not alone, as several of my reloading friends have had the same experience. Thankfully all of mine have been on the range, not in the woods where i would lose a shot at game.

[FergusonTO35]

Thanks. I have had a few that even a bolt action wouldn't set off. I save my Federal primers for the important stuff, hope I can find some more soon.