Got an original Henry 44-40 coming—bullet size?

[smkummer]

I am planning on loading Lee’s 44-200 RF in the new original Henry. They come out as cast at .430-.431. Those work wonderful in my micro groove Marlin 44 mag. for cowboy action. My colt single action 44 specials all have a groove diameter of .427, so that bullet sized to .429, works very well. I do have a .427 sizer if needed. Right now, I have my most 44-40 brass as Remington. Thanks ahead of time.

[Savvy Jack]

I am planning on loading Lee’s 44-200 RF in the new original Henry. They come out as cast at .430-.431. Those work wonderful in my micro groove Marlin 44 mag. for cowboy action. My colt single action 44 specials all have a groove diameter of .427, so that bullet sized to .429, works very well. I do have a .427 sizer if needed. Right now, I have my most 44-40 brass as Remington. Thanks ahead of time.

Sometimes the best thing to do is try one or two and see what happens.

Large diameter bullets, thick Remington brass and a roll crimp is typically followed by quite a few forum posts.

[veeman]

Very simple, slug your bore, go from there.

[stubshaft]

I do NOT even look for a mold until I know what the bore measures!

[Outpost75]

With .44-40 you also want to measure the neck diameter of your chamber, tapping a dead soft .45 round ball into the chamber nrck, tapping it back out and then measuring it. A SAAMI chamber seldom exceeds .445 neck diameter, precluding easy chambering or safe release clearance in thick neck walled brass with bullet diameters larger than .428-.429, whereas original 1873 and 1892 Winchesters and Gen1 Colts will have chamber necks of .447-.449 and can safely chamber larger bullets needed to shoot accurately in barrels of larger groove diameter. I have seen original Winchester 1873s with barrels as large as .435 and a great many modern .44-40s assembled using barrels of .44 Magnum dimensions run .430-.432 groove. You need a .448 chamber neck to safely use .430-.431 bullets in Starline brass.

My 1920 Colt New Service has .448 chamber necks, .4305 cylinder throats, 11-degree forcing cone in the barrel with .4255" groove diameter and shoots like a rifle with Accurate 43-215C cast 1 to 30 tin-lead, pan lubed in 50-50 olive oil and beeswax and loaded as-cast and unsized at .430" with 6.5 grains of Bullseye for 880 fps from a 5-1/2" barrel with 0.008" cylinder gap. I shoot the same ammo in my 1905 Gen1 Colt SA and 1930 Winchester '92.

John Taylor rechambered my Ruger Vaquero with the reamer he had made for chambering relined Winchesters, which matches the dimensions of my Winchester 92 and Colt New Service and it now shoots as well as the 100-year old guns.Staying on a 12" steel gong at 100 yards with the revolvers off sandbags or out to 200 yards with the iron-sighted lever rifles is reality.

[smkummer]

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...-44-40-loading

Looks like my current mold will work. Gotta have rifle in hand before I proceed. Again, most of my brass is Remington for the 44-40. I thought both Remington and WW was thinner neck than Starline. Currently, my only other 44-40 is an original Remington 1875 revolver of which I have been shooting starting loads of 700X powder at under 8000 cup. It appears the Remington brass does expand adequately at the low pressure.

[country gent]

Overall length is very important as there is only the stop on the carrier in this design

[wwmartin]

My first year Marlin 1889 44-40 measures .4345 but will not chamber anything larger than .433. Old guns have a tendency to vary, so slugging the bore and an Accurate mold is kind of a necessity.

Bill

A chamber cast would be recommended also.

Bill

[freakonaleash]

Henry as in a real antique Henry? Those were only made in rim fire.

[smkummer]

Nope, New 1860 Henry by Henry

[country gent]

Brass or steel frame

[smkummer]

Brass or steel frame

Henry says it’s special hardened brass is as strong as steel.

[country gent]

Nothing wrong with the brass receiver. looks good and is solid. When I bought mine I opted for the case hardened as I like the looks is all. I actually think the brass may be a little smoother due to the inherent lubricity of the brass

[smkummer]

Ok, got the Henry and love it. I have almost 200 RP cases. I had to trim those cases to the min length for 44-40 at 1.295” for crimp consistency. That why some were kinda of hanging up. My new lee 6 cavity .429-200 RF drops them right .429. Works perfect as cast. On the left is a low pressure cowboy load (700X) which I also shoot in my original 1875 Remington revolver. On the right is a full power unique load at about 1250 fps out of the rifle. A bit too much kick for cowboy action. I am shooting from my rural sub division garage inside a cardboard drum container with the bullets going out the side entry door.