Henry 1860 replicas

[Cpt Dan Blodgett, SASS #75655]

I scored a Uberti Henry 45 Colt from a Pard that Medically retired from shooting.  It is fun.  I did make the dowel to keep the mag follower from hitting my hand.  They are both fun and heavy.  If one actually looks at that funny bump on the top of the barrel near the muzzle they are quite accurate.

[Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283]

Howdy

 

I have been shooting an Uberti replica Iron Frame Henry as my main match rifle for about ten years now.

 

 

 

 

 

Mine is chambered for 44-40 and it has never had a round loaded with Smokeless powder fired through it. At least not since it left the factory.

 

I made a spacer stick so I do not have to worry about the Henry Hop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We normally only load our rifles with ten rounds. Once I have ten rounds in the magazine I place the spacer stick on top of the ammo and close the front end of the magazine.

 

 

 

 

 

I hold the rifle very close to the frame. This way, the follower never reaches my hand and I do not have to do the Henry Hop.

 

 

 

 

 

Notice how I hold the rifle all the way back at the frame.

 

 

 

 

 

Hickok 45 made some very good points in his video.

 

NEVER drop ammo straight down the magazine. Hold the rifle at a slight angle and allow the ammo to gently trickle down the magazine.

 

NEVER allow the follower to slam down onto a column of ammo. NEVER! Always keep a good grasp on the follower tab and lower it gently onto the ammo in the magazine. By the way, with my spacer stick, even if the follower slipped out of my grip, it would not travel far enough to build up enough speed to cause a problem.

 

 

One last thing. The Henry rifle has the barrel and magazine formed from one integral bar of steel. That is why they are so heavy. My Henry weighs a full pound more than my 1873 Winchester with the same length barrel because after the Henry, magazines were made from a thin walled tube, reducing the weight of the rifle.

[Nickel City Dude]

The only detonation I ever saw with a tubular magazine happened at an N-SSA national many years ago.  I was working provost and a call came in for the ambulance to go to the firing line.  When I got there, there was a man sitting on the ground with blood all over his right hand.  The magazine of the 1860 Uberti Henry that he had been loading had, had a magazine discharge.  He had to go to the hospital but I heard that he only had minor injuries.

Here is what we think happened.  First he is a left handed shooter so he was holding the gun in his right hand with the magazine fowler up and the end of the gun that swivels turned to the left.  We figure that he had already loaded several cartridges using his left hand and when he went to load some more he hit the end of the gun that was turned to the left with his hand enough that it moved the end of the gun that was turned to the left enough to the right that the spring then centered on the magazine tube and the spring loaded fowler snapped down onto the stack of cartridges already in the gun.  There was probably a high primer in the bunch and that set off a chain reaction and at least 3 cartridges went off.

This is the only time I have ever seen a tubular magazine going off.   That is why I always used RNFP in my 1860 Henry and now I use the same bullet in my 73 carbine.

[Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283]

19 hours ago, Nickel City Dude said:

The only detonation I ever saw with a tubular magazine happened at an N-SSA national many years ago.  I was working provost and a call came in for the ambulance to go to the firing line.  When I got there, there was a man sitting on the ground with blood all over his right hand.  The magazine of the 1860 Uberti Henry that he had been loading had, had a magazine discharge.  He had to go to the hospital but I heard that he only had minor injuries.

Here is what we think happened.  First he is a left handed shooter so he was holding the gun in his right hand with the magazine fowler up and the end of the gun that swivels turned to the left.  We figure that he had already loaded several cartridges using his left hand and when he went to load some more he hit the end of the gun that was turned to the left with his hand enough that it moved the end of the gun that was turned to the left enough to the right that the spring then centered on the magazine tube and the spring loaded fowler snapped down onto the stack of cartridges already in the gun.  There was probably a high primer in the bunch and that set off a chain reaction and at least 3 cartridges went off.

This is the only time I have ever seen a tubular magazine going off.   That is why I always used RNFP in my 1860 Henry and now I use the same bullet in my 73 carbine.

 

Thanks for the reply. I have never witnessed a magazine detonation in a Henry, I have read of a few.

 

I am always extremely careful when loading my Henry. As stated, I never drop rounds vertically down the barrel.

 

I ALWAYS lay it horizontally on the loading table, facing the berm, with the the muzzle end raised up just a few degrees, so the rounds will slowly trickle down the magazine by gravity.

 

The other thing I do is I wrap my left hand around the magazine, all the way near the top, and I load my ammo with my right hand. This way, in case the follower is accidentally bumped, and is free to slide rapidly down the magazine powered by its spring, the tab will slam into my hand and the follower will not go any farther. Yes, it will hurt as the tab slams into my hand, I have practiced this. But it is better than the follower slamming into a column of cartridges and setting one or more off.

[A Boy Named Sue]

If you're a gamer, pass on the Henry. If you're a 'Spirit of the Game' shooter, the Henry is the rifle for you. Btw, Spirit of the Game shooters are the ones that once they park their vehicles, they step out of the 21st Century and mentally into the 19th century. You'll know them when you see them as they have no cell phones or wrist watches. Our sport needs the gamers to survive but it needs the SoG shooters to preserve the mystic and magic of the old west. Love this game and all my pards and yes, I am a 'Spirit of the Game' shooter. Steel 1860 Henry 44-40 and an original 1887 Winchester 12ga. And my saddle partner, Texas Bob, and I shoot BP.  Happy trails, A Boy Named Sue.