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Uberti Henry in .44 Rimfire


H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619

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I have two questions.

 

1.  I have heard it asserted that a few years ago, Uberti did a limited run of reproduction Henry's in .44 Rimfire.  Is there any truth to this? 

 

2.  If said rifles do exist, would a centerfire bolt made by them fit, thus allowing you to have a Henry in .44 Henry Centerfire?

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Never heard of a Uberti in 44 rimfire.  I have heard of a few in 44 Special, and I know of a few 44-40s converted to 44 Special, 44 Colt, and 44 Russian.  Because the barrel and magazine are one piece its not a simple matter of setting back the barrel and recutting the chamber as some do with a 66 or 73.  The 44 Colt conversion I saw had the 44-40 chamber sleaved and the elevator modified for the shorter cartridges. 

 

Not sure what your desired end result is, but I know of a few guys that modified Uberti Henrys in 45colt to shoot the shorter Schofield or cowboy special cases.  This conversion only requires a modified elevator block and nothing special to the chamber.  Ballistics are similar to the original 44RF and the shorter ammo means most people can get their support arm out in front of the magazine follower. 

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Yes, there was a run of Navy Arms .44 Rimfire made back in the day.  Don't know about parts fitment, but that was back when they had the short carrier, so finding a centerfire bolt (or any other parts) would be fairly difficult.

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IIRC the first ones that Val Forgett had made/imported were in rimfire. Had a special run of ammo done as well by somebody. Don't reckon you'd find either very easily today.

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1 hour ago, Abilene, SASS # 27489 said:

Yes, there was a run of Navy Arms .44 Rimfire made back in the day.  Don't know about parts fitment, but that was back when they had the short carrier, so finding a centerfire bolt (or any other parts) would be fairly difficult.

 

31 minutes ago, Goody, SASS #26190 said:

IIRC the first ones that Val Forgett had made/imported were in rimfire. Had a special run of ammo done as well by somebody. Don't reckon you'd find either very easily today.

↑ ↑ ↑ ↑  These fellars are correct.

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3 hours ago, July Smith said:

Not sure what your desired end result is, 

 

It's really very simple.   I think it would be cool to own a Henry in .44 Henry Centerfire.   That's all. 

 

I do have one of the very early Navy Arms 66's.  The ones with the lever safety and the cut out in the frame for the .44-40 case cuz they kept the dimensions the same as the originals.   IF I could find one of the Navy Arm's Henry's, I could see if the 66 bolt fits, and then either get another one, or have a duplicate custom made.

 

Yeah...  It's a lot of trouble to go to for very little benefit, but well, I just find the idea fascinating.

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11 hours ago, Griff said:

 

↑ ↑ ↑ ↑  These fellars are correct.

Yup! I coulda bought one, but, since I was just starting in SASS, I went with the Navy Arms .44-40.  I just didn't think I wanted to try reloading .44 Henry by grinding up old match heads! :o :rolleyes:

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As I understand it, and based on what I have read, there were at least 1000 early Henrys made by Navy Arms.  Half were 44rf and half were 44-40.  I have one of the 44-40 guns (sn 6xx) and have seen a 44rf for sale on gunbroker.  Never seen one in person.  

 

These early Navy Arms gun’s were not made by Uberti, but in the US.  Mine has no Uberti markings and no Italian proof marks.  There are some differences between the Navy Arms gun’s and both originals and current Uberti gun’s (which I also have).

 

I should have bought the 44rf when I saw it and converted it to centerfire.  Short on cash at the time it came up.  

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On 1/22/2019 at 9:52 PM, Redwood Kid said:

what about fabricating 44 rimfire ammo? I think there’s a kit someone makes that uses 22 blanks as the primer

 

Those have to be placed individually into the chamber of a revolver. The 22 blank is offset in the brass case. They have to be positioned so the rimfire blank will be struck by the centerfire primer. Would not work in a rifle, where the rounds would feed from the magazine in random orientation.

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Here is a video by Mike Beliveau on loading up some 38 'rimfire' cartridges using 22 blanks as primers.

 

https://www.full30.com/watch/MDEwNzAy/remington-new-police-revolver-38-rimfire-reloading-part-2

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17 hours ago, Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283 said:

 

Those have to be placed individually into the chamber of a revolver. The 22 blank is offset in the brass case. They have to be positioned so the rimfire blank will be struck by the centerfire primer. Would not work in a rifle, where the rounds would feed from the magazine in random orientation.

Well there goes my dream of ever owning an original 66 carbine and still being able to shoot it

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