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CAS & Henry Rifle .44-40


Mountain George

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Measure it against three cartridges lined up nose to tail!!  A little over three inches is what my .45 Colt was!!

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Do you have a brass pin or something similar to stop it before it goes into the lifter? Mine were just a smidgen bigger around than the rim. It should look similar to this:

 

20200309_145724.jpg.590ee0b387e1ab630f92

 

 

I put a brass pin on both ends so I didn't matter which end went in first.

 

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5 minutes ago, Tyrel Cody said:

Do you have a brass pin or something similar to stop it before it goes into the lifter? Mine were just a smidgen bigger around than the rim. It should look similar to this:

I put a brass pin on both ends so I didn't matter which end went in first.

 

TX, that is the solution!!!!!!!!

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I never had a problem with my Navy Arms (Uberti) M1860 Henry.  The ONLY reason I quit shooting it in favor of the Rossi M92 carbines was the muzzle-heavy balance was causing strain on my old aching back.  Those Rossi's with 20" barrels can almost be shot one-handed lick a pistol!  Wouldn't hesitate to shoot the Henry for safety reasons.  Never had a problem with the "Henry hop".  Just learned to shift my hand around the follower thumb piece. 

Stay well, Pards!

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3 hours ago, Trailrider #896 said:

Just learned to shift my hand around the follower thumb piece.

a typical microsoft answer:
correct but bypassing the actual problem and in no way helpful ........

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From a post by Driftwood Johnson over on CAS City:

Dunno exactly how long it is. I made it to fit. I started with a length of 1/2" dowel. I drilled a hole and positioned a piece of brass tubing to function as a stop. Without a stop, the magazine spring will shove the stick all the way into the carrier after the last round is chambered and you won't be able to eject the empty. Don't recall the diameter of the tubing off hand, it is just wide enough to glide through the slot comfortably. I only used brass tubing because that's what I had laying around. A friend used a copper nail. You want the stop positioned so that the rod does not poke too far into the carrier when the last round is on the carrier. Other wise the gun will jam on the spacer stick. You need to have enough poking through to completely shove the last round onto the carrier, but not enough to prevent the carrier from gliding by. I put one round down the magazine so that it slid onto the carrier, then slid the stick down. With the follower holding the stick jammed against the round on the carrier I made a pencil mark on the stick marking the end of the slot in the frame. I drilled a hole for the tubing right at the mark, pressed in the tubing, then chamfered the stick just a bit on the end to help the carrier slide by.

To cut the stick to length, after I had installed the stop, I loaded 10 rounds into the magazine, then loaded the stick on top. I then made a mark about 1/4" shy of the end of the magazine and cut the stick off there. That's it. With 10 rounds in the magazine the follower is only about 1/4" from the end of the magazine.

Later on, I took a Sharpie and put some arrows on the stick to remind me that the stick always goes in with the stop towards the bullets.

Don't ask.

By the way, I have left the stop a little bit longer than it needs to be. I can actually feel it sliding by my hand as the follower shoves the stick above my hand. But there is not enough sticking out to impede the motion of the follower. If you look carefully at the photos you can see I could file down the stop a bit more and it would still do its job. I just haven't gotten a round tuit.

***********

The bottom right image shows how Coffinmaker makes 'em -- Note Brass case at each end.

--Dawg

 

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I have said this many times the gun was not designed with a stick in it  .I have two HENRYS one in 45 and one in 44/40 never use a stick and the 44/40 only shoot B/P in it just saying man up boys 

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1 minute ago, J.C. Smoke, SASS #22300 said:

I have said this many times the gun was not designed with a stick in it  .I have two HENRYS one in 45 and one in 44/40 never use a stick and the 44/40 only shoot B/P in it just saying man up boys 

Oh please...

 

<_<

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4 hours ago, J.C. Smoke, SASS #22300 said:

just saying man up boys 

Man Up?

 

Sorry I am not man enough in your eyes.

 

I have been shooting my Uberti 1860 'Iron Frame' Henry as my main match rifle for about ten years now. Yes, 44-40 and only loaded with Black Powder.

 

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Yup. those are photos of my spacer stick.

 

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It is made from a piece of 1/2" hardwood dowel, available at any well stocked hardware store.

 

 

Funny, just yesterday somebody on another forum asked me about how to make one.

 

Here is what I wrote:

 
 
 
I made it from a piece of 1/2" hardwood dowel. The dowel is actually about .450 diameter, but it is just standard 1/2" hardwood dowel you can buy in any hardware store.
 
It is a tad more than 4 1/2" long.
 
I don't know if you shoot cowboy, but we don't load more than 10 rounds in the magazine as a rule. My Henry will actually hold about 13 rounds, I think, I have not tried in a long time.
 
Anyway, to get the exact length I wanted I loaded 10 rounds into the magazine, and then put the dowel into the magazine. This will vary a little bit with how long your rounds are. I load all my BP 44-40 rounds, so they are all the same length. I marked the dowel and cut it off so the follower had a little bit of free play, not much more than 3/8", when the magazine was loaded with 10 rounds and the stick was in place. That allows the follower to move down far enough to latch the magazine closed.
 
There has to be a stop on the stick or it will slide into the carrier when the last round is chambered and jam the carrier. The stop has to prevent the stick from sliding all the way onto the carrier. I used a piece of 5/32" (.156) diameter brass tubing that I had laying around, but you can use anything that will slide down the slot in the magazine. The slot is a bit under 3/16"(.187) wide. To mark the spot for the stop, I put one round into the magazine, so it would be resting in the carrier. Then I slid the stick down and lowered the follower onto it so the follower was holding the stick firmly in place. I used a pencil to mark the spot on the stick at the end of the slot, making the mark just a tad up from the end of the slot, so when the stop was in that position it would stop the stick from protruding any further onto the carrier. I drilled a hole a little bit undersized in the stick at that spot and drove the piece of tubing in.
 
That's it. I put a slant on the end of the stick so the carrier would ride by it easily.
 
I have been using this stick for a long time, you can see how one end is stained. With the spacer stick in place on top of a column of rounds, and my hand holding the magazine near the frame, the follower never quite reaches my hand. I filed the stop down enough so that it is not protruding out of the slot by much, so I can feel it as it slides by my hand, but my hand, or my glove, does not impede its motion.
 
My spacer stick can be used with any quantity of rounds in the magazine, but we usually load ten. The other thing about the spacer stick is it functions as a bit of a safety device. I have heard too many horror stories of Henry followers slamming down onto the column of cartridges in the magazine and setting them off. Yes, it can happen. When I load my Henry I NEVER drop rounds straight down the magazine. I lay the rifle on the loading table at a slight angle so the rounds will trickle down the tube. I wrap one hand around the magazine so if somehow the follower got away from me it will slam into my hand, not the cartridges. Yes, it will hurt, but it is better than an accidental discharge in the magazine. What I like about the stick is once the magazine has ten rounds in it, and the stick is in place, if the follower were to get away from me it can only travel about 3/8" or so. Not far enough for the spring to get in going full speed.
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7 hours ago, J.C. Smoke, SASS #22300 said:

I have said this many times the gun was not designed with a stick in it  .I have two HENRYS one in 45 and one in 44/40 never use a stick and the 44/40 only shoot B/P in it just saying man up boys 

The Henry wasn't designed in those calibers either.

Nor was it designed for use in a game.

 

So if you're going to play the "only as designed" card - you'd probably need to be shooting 44 rimfire.

And be firing those shots in anger at an enemy during the battle between the states.  Or at minimum during the Indian wars.

 

So with the above in mind - perhaps "as designed" or how it was used in 1860 is not really germane to todays discussion of a tool being adapted and used in a make believe game.

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@Creeker, SASS #43022

 

Dear sir,

that is your opinion and I accept it.
But you also have to accept it when others have a different opinion.
I am not interested in whether I am 10 seconds slower or faster with this Rifle.
CAS is for nothing where I really want to win!
I shoot CAS because I want to have fun and meet nice people.
I have enough stress and tension during the day at work that I don't want in my free time ......
that's the point, at least for me

with that in mind, all the best to you and EOD

 

89989928_MountainGeorgeShotgun_1.thumb.jpg.db986ca3b95db8a6149d9eef3ede1d29.jpg

 

1254975069_MGPIP19.thumb.jpg.75ccdb10d7092c1f98b9be09563bcf3d.jpg

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"Measure it against three cartridges lined up nose to tail!!  A little over three inches is what my .45 Colt was!! "

---------------------------------------

Measure again.

Your "little over 3 inches" is for 2 cartridges. = 3.2"

- - - - - -

3 empty cases 45 Colt  = 3.885".

3 loaded cases 45 Colt = 4.8" (spec maximum length of 1.60")

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It allows you all 10 shots without having the tab run into your hand and make the magazine stop feeding rounds.

Otherwise, you have to hop over the tab in the middle of a string (the Henry Hop).

Addresses the problem without any external modifications to the rifle.

--Dawg

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On 8/18/2020 at 10:20 AM, Mountain George said:


does somebody shoot a Henry in .44-40 and solved the Henry Gap with a spacer? what dimensions must the spacer have?

TX

 

Mountain George, good to see you pop up on the Wire.  Hope all is well with you and yours in Germany.  Hopefully you'll make it back Stateside somebody to whip up some smoke and flame.  Remember to load 'em hot n heavy.  Now you got me wanting a Henry 1860, and now I can't find my wallet......

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4 hours ago, Mountain George said:

Hi Cemetery,

everything is fine and i'm ok.

Hopefully i can come next year to NJ.

here are some pictures of my Henry

it is a Uberti replica

Henry_1.thumb.jpg.10d2d252bb5c4ce27842c7915cc6415e.jpg

 

Henry_2.thumb.jpg.69929ed9c97391c27960c69b00047f6e.jpg

 

Henry_3.thumb.jpg.2ecad8351ae53405071ca690d1e9b760.jpg

 

Henry_4.thumb.jpg.6813320668715caee2c23aa4ffb65e7f.jpg

 

Classic gun there;)

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