Spring has sprung. Get out and shoot your Henry

Henry Single Shot

Henry's new single shots
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North Country Gal
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Re: Henry Single Shot

Post by North Country Gal » Sat Mar 18, 2017 10:53 am

Very much in a traditional single shot mood, these days. I will be buying one of the Henrys, for sure. Just haven't decided which one.
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JNG3
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Re: Henry Single Shot

Post by JNG3 » Tue May 09, 2017 6:51 am

If these actually make it to the distributers and LGS, I am buying a steel framed 12 guage.
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DAVIDF
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Re: Henry Single Shot

Post by DAVIDF » Tue May 09, 2017 7:35 am

North Country Gal wrote:Very much in a traditional single shot mood, these days. I will be buying one of the Henrys, for sure. Just haven't decided which one.
For everyone's benefit on this forum, I think you need one of each and regularly give us your wonderful range reports ;)

I need one of the steel frames in .44 with the recoil pad. My bony shoulder is getting bruised from my Big Boy even with lite loads. Of course, shooting 100 to 300 rounds in a session on the bench doesn't help.
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North Country Gal
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Re: Henry Single Shot

Post by North Country Gal » Tue May 09, 2017 12:54 pm

Thanks, David. I somehow always find a way to squeeze one more gun in the house.

I hear you about shooting that much from the bench with the 44. Don't like shooting at the bench with any hard kicker. One of the reasons I prefer to shoot, offhand, so much. :)
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ditto1958
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Re: Henry Single Shot

Post by ditto1958 » Tue May 16, 2017 7:26 pm

A .44 single shot rifle will have a lot of recoil? I'm thinking it might, IF a person insists on shooting ammo that's "loaded for bear." But I don't think that's mandatory. Also, I'm assuming the rifle will also shoot .44 specials.

Whatever the case, I'm saving my nickels and pennies for when they come out. NCG, recently you had me sold on getting a .223, but the more I think about it, the more likely I think I will want a .45-70.
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Yornoc3
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Re: Henry Single Shot

Post by Yornoc3 » Wed May 17, 2017 9:41 am

I've done some playing with recoil calculators, along with looking at some printed tables (while waiting for arrival). A 45-70 Henry singleshot, assuming a low power scope and mounts add 3/4 lb, will weigh a bit more than 7.6 lbs. Shooting standard factory 300 gr loads, recoil shouldn't any more than a 12 ga. trap load from a 7 lb fixed breach gun. I think nothing of shooting a box of 3" 1 1/5 oz steel #3's at 1550 fps from a 7 lb Franchi inertia SA while duck hunting (disappointed if I don't :) ), so a few shots with the good ol' 45-70 should be a picnic ;) . I'm seriously considering the Hornady Leverevolution Monoflex 250 gr loads; I think they'll recoil less, and provide a little flatter trajectory. The 325 gr FTX will kick a bit more, but I'll try them, too. If I want to plink with it, I'll find some cheaper ammo - or take up reloading.
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North Country Gal
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Re: Henry Single Shot

Post by North Country Gal » Wed May 17, 2017 10:04 am

Gun weight and also stock design has a lot to do with recoil on a 44 mag. At the weight listed for the Henry 44 mag, no problem, I'm sure.

On the other hand, my experience with the 45-70, even in a couple heavy rifle was so-so. Mid range factory hunting loads with bullets over 300 grains at 1600 fpsnwere just doable for me. Shot some loads up around 1800 to 2000 fps with those bullets and those were not fun. If I do get another 45-70, I'm thinking it will need to be ported. Way too expensive a cartridge for plinking, anyway. :)
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Re: Henry Single Shot

Post by JEBar » Wed May 17, 2017 10:31 am

North Country Gal wrote:my experience with the 45-70, even in a couple heavy rifle was so-so. Mid range factory hunting loads with bullets over 300 grains at 1600 fps were just doable for me. Shot some loads up around 1800 to 2000 fps with those bullets and those were not fun. If I do get another 45-70, I'm thinking it will need to be ported. Way too expensive a cartridge for plinking, anyway. :)
my only experience with a 45-70 has been with our Henry .... from that, I couldn't agree more .... its heavy, to heavy for me to spend much time shooting offhand .... out of the box with Cowboy Action ammo, I've found it to be fun to shoot .... with heavily loaded dangerous game loads, not so much .... because it is a rifle I fully intend to shoot often, we have executed a series of mods which have drastically reduced felt recoil .... as a person who has to take blood thinning medication, that reduction is most welcome .... now that I can sit at a bench where I can fire and enjoy heavy loads, I probably won't do so very often .... my plan is to build our own mild (Cowboy Action) loads, which with the mods should be even more fun to shoot, and to take it out as often as possible
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Re: Henry Single Shot

Post by Squatch » Thu May 18, 2017 2:23 pm

Yornoc3 wrote:I've done some playing with recoil calculators, along with looking at some printed tables (while waiting for arrival). A 45-70 Henry singleshot, assuming a low power scope and mounts add 3/4 lb, will weigh a bit more than 7.6 lbs. Shooting standard factory 300 gr loads, recoil shouldn't any more than a 12 ga. trap load from a 7 lb fixed breach gun. I think nothing of shooting a box of 3" 1 1/5 oz steel #3's at 1550 fps from a 7 lb Franchi inertia SA while duck hunting (disappointed if I don't :) ), so a few shots with the good ol' 45-70 should be a picnic ;) . I'm seriously considering the Hornady Leverevolution Monoflex 250 gr loads; I think they'll recoil less, and provide a little flatter trajectory. The 325 gr FTX will kick a bit more, but I'll try them, too. If I want to plink with it, I'll find some cheaper ammo - or take up reloading.
I have shot the 325 FTX in my Henry 45/70. I don't much care for them. it's not the amount of recoil it's the type. It's very sharp like getting kicked. Very noticable compared to 300 gr Winchester. Those have similar recoil but it's slower more like getting shoved.

I plan to chrono both loads soon.

The FTX also doesn't feed well in my lever action Henry.

I thought I wanted Both a 44 mag and a 45/70. But at the moment I'm just looking for the 44 mag. After my latest range testing I really want to see the difference between the twist rates using the same loads.
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Yornoc3
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Re: Henry Single Shot

Post by Yornoc3 » Thu May 18, 2017 4:49 pm

Thanks, Squatch, that's good to know. I expect the increased performance claimed by Hornady has some effect, you don't get something for nothing when your talking increased velocity and energy. Using 300 grain standard loads, I found recoil in my Marlin 45 - 70 - at about the same weight - to be tolerable. I think the Henry will have a better recoil pad, too :) .
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