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1860 Henry Calibers


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Okay, modern replicas of the Henry Rifle are chambered for .45 Colt and .44-40. Both good calibers, and they make sense in that rifle.

 

We also know that they are not "authentic" to the design.

 

Now, just for the sake of discussion, what would be a more "authentic" cartridge for these guns?

 

The prospect of making them in .44 Henry Rimfire is nonexistant and useless to us, as nobody makes the ammo anymore. As such, we'd have to look for a cartridge that is "closer" to the original rimfire.

 

Now, up front, let's rule out the centerfire version of the .44 Henry. While this would be "as close as we could get" it's just not a practical solution. There are reloading dies for it, but brass is hard to come by and nobody loads it commercially, as far as I know.

 

So, where does that take us? I think the most likely candidates would be .44 Russian, .45 Scofield or .45 Cowboy Special. Maybe .45 Autorim. It could be argued that the Russian round, being a .44 is the closest, and I would not disupute it. On the other hand, you can make the case that the CS (and Autorim) are closer to the case length of the orginal Henry cartridge.

 

With careful handloading, any of the candidates could probably be made to duplicate the performance of the original Henry.

 

Finally, there is another, tangential, question, what about .44 Special? While farther away than the Russian, it seems to be comparable to the 45 Colt and .44-40 cartridges. It seems like it would be a convenient one to put in those guns as well.

 

Purely an academic excersize here, as I don't see any of it ever happening, but it's fun to speculate at times.

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didn't they make a replica in .44 special at one time or maybe someone had one converted??

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The prospect of making them in .44 Henry Rimfire is nonexistant

Change the block - make a RF firing pin - re-angle the firing pin - drill out a 44-40 CF - insert a 22 short for ignition ... da da ... a 44 Henry rimfire cartridge !

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Howdy HK

 

Personally, I have no problem with my Henry being chambered for 44-40 and can never understand why anybody wants to chamber one for a more anemic cartridge like 44 Henry Rimfire. That is why the 44-40 was invented in the first place. But for what it's worth, my Black Powder loading or the 45 Schofield cartridge comes very close to the powder charge and bullet weight of the original 44 Henry cartridge.

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The .44 cal. Russian round is almost identical in all dimensions to the .44 Henry. The Russian is a fine round and shoots well, with plenty of zip for those who want it. I loaded my magazine with .44 Russian just to see how many jot held and with one in the chamber it held eighteen RNFP rounds.

 

If I ever get outta the poor house I plan to have one of the .44 WCF Henry replicas converted to .44 Russian.

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Just for the fun of it. Here is a photo showing the comparative sizes of several old cartridges. Left to right they are 44-40, 44 Special, 44 Russian, 44 S&W American, 44 Henry Rimfire, 45 Schofield and 45 Colt. Since these cartridges were loaded with Black Powder, overall size is a pretty good indicator of their power. However, without listing the actual load, I will say that despite their similarity in size, my 44 Russian loads do not contain as much powder as the original 44 Henry Rimfire round did. Probably because modern solid head 44 Russian brass does not have as much case capacity as the old 44 Rimfire round did. My 45 Scofield rounds hold the same powder charge and the same weight bullet that the Henry round did.

 

4440_44Sp_44R_44Am_44H_45Sch_45C-1.jpg

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Just for the fun of it. Here is a photo showing the comparative sizes of several old cartridges. Left to right they are 44-40, 44 Special, 44 Russian, 44 S&W American, 44 Henry Rimfire, 45 Schofield and 45 Colt. Since these cartridges were loaded with Black Powder, overall size is a pretty good indicator of their power. However, without listing the actual load, I will say that despite their similarity in size, my 44 Russian loads do not contain as much powder as the original 44 Henry Rimfire round did. Probably because modern solid head 44 Russian brass does not have as much case capacity as the old 44 Rimfire round did. My 45 Scofield rounds hold the same powder charge and the same weight bullet that the Henry round did.

 

4440_44Sp_44R_44Am_44H_45Sch_45C-1.jpg

 

Hey ! DJ!! Ya' forgot to post the picture!! :o:lol:

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I have an Uberti Henry chambered in .44 Special.

She is fed with .44 Colt (inside lubed) bullets only.

I had another Henry that was originally .44-40 converted to the same .44 Colt.

The .44 Colt inside lubed works fine with BP and smokeless in the Henry.

Long Johns Wolf

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I think the closest practIcal modern rifle you could get would be in .45 Colt with a Cowboy .45 Special carrier conversion.

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Howdy HK

 

Personally, I have no problem with my Henry being chambered for 44-40 and can never understand why anybody wants to chamber one for a more anemic cartridge like 44 Henry Rimfire. That is why the 44-40 was invented in the first place. But for what it's worth, my Black Powder loading or the 45 Schofield cartridge comes very close to the powder charge and bullet weight of the original 44 Henry cartridge.

 

That would work for me seein' I shoot .45 Schofields. If it's ever offered by Uberti, Henry or whoever, I'll be one of the first to place an order. I had a Spencer in .45 Schofield but I sold it this past winter.

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For the record, my own Henry is also in .44-40, and I don't have a problem with it being in that caliber. I do find it a tad ironic, in that it was created for use in the Winchester 73, the gun that basically killed off whatever life was left in the Henry, 66, and the Henry cartridge that they both used, but that's neither here nor there.

 

I ask about this more as a curiosity than anything else. I shoot a lot of different calibers in this game, and it's interesting to me to speculate about possibilities for other options from time to time.

 

Besides, if I ever decide to tool up for yet another caliber, like say .44 Russian, it'd be nice to at least wonder about a rifle in the same caliber.

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I have a converted .44-.40 to shoot .44 specials but it has a piece stored in the butt plate that allowes to shoot russians. the barrel is now stamped .44 russian. it will hold 10 rounds of specials. I had Lassiter work on it twice to get the short stroke and timing done.

 

Happy Trails O.R.

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What's the procedure to convert .44-40 to .44 Russian?

I'd like to know also. One helluva lot of work with the dimension differences! And especially when the Parent Case for the 44 Russian is the 30-40 Krag ... not the 44-40 Winchester

 

Cartridge Parent Caliber Neck Shoulder Base Rim Rim Case Name Case Blt Dia. Diam Diam Diam Diam Width Lngth

 

44 Smith & Wesson Russian 30-40 Krag .433 0.457 None 0.457 0.515 0.059 0.97

 

44-40 Winchester 44-40 Win (basic) 0.427 0.443 Yes, Unk. 0.471 0.525 0.065 1.31

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I have a 44 Henry centerfire Orginal 1866 Winchester later model 1880 that I have loaded 44 Russian with. Same or very close to Orginal 44 Henry centerfire Orgianal. Works fine. Brass and dies are avalible from Bufflow Arms.

 

Texas Man

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