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Henry rifle twist rates

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Sir Henry
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Re: Henry rifle twist rates

Post by Sir Henry » Sun Jan 15, 2017 9:35 am

Joanie if you contact Henry Repeating Arms you will get the correct answer and I bet a hat.

https://www.henryrifles.com/contact-henry-repeating/
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DAVIDF
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Re: Henry rifle twist rates

Post by DAVIDF » Thu Jan 19, 2017 1:58 pm

North Country Gal wrote:Not sure what to think, now. A lot of conflicting info floating, around.

On the subject of twist rate, been around long enough to know that there is nothing automatic about what one twist rate will or won't handle. Always a gun and load combo that is the exception. Still, odds are better of being able to shoot the same ammo with the same relative performance if the twist rates between the revolvers and rifles are in the same ballpark, at least. What I want to avoid are the super slow 1 in 38s. Again, not an absolute deal breaker, but not crazy about slow twists. The rifle will be very much be second fiddle to the handguns, anyway.
I was looking for .44's with the same twist rate as my Super Blackhawks. I think the Chiappa/Taylors company 1892's in .44 & .45 have a 1/20 twist rate. I was just on their site and did not see the twist rates. Can't remember where I found them.

I think the bigger issue with getting the same accuracy from both revolvers and rifles will be groove diameter. Henry says the groove diameter in the .44 Big Boy is .431" which matches with what I measured on my own rifle. To get the best accuracy with cast bullets, I would have to use .432 which from what others have reported, will work well in the Super Blackhawks as well. You may find the same with the .45 having to go with a bigger diameter bullet if shooting cast. Sometimes, that makes it hard to find, more expensive, or impossible with factory ammo.

A number of people have reported great results with Hornady XTP loads (240gr and 300gr), both their hand loads and factory loads. They seem to work very well in both revolvers and rifles. This may be due to their sizing which tends to be .01 bigger than other factory jacketed/plated bullets in .44 and I think it also applies to their .45 bullets.

I haven't had success with .431 sized 240gr cast in my Big Boy with heavy to medium powder charges/velocities. I seem to get decent accuracy with light fast burning powder charges with velocities somewhere between 1000 to 1100fps. Plated bullets measuring .429 work excellent with the same powder charges in both rifle and revolvers.
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