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[5shot]

I bought an X-model in .44 magnum just before Wisconsins deer season with hopes of using it for the hunt. I've handloaded the .44 for a half a century and was confident that something already loaded would probably be just fine. Didn't happen. 50 yard groups were in the in the 3" to 5" range. Often two or three shots close together and then a flyer or two several inches away. I got my whitetail with a Big Boy steel .45 Colt but also hunted with a SS Henry H015 in .44 mag that shoots very well.

Since then I've slugged the barrel and it measures a little over .431". No wonder the lot of Nosler 240 gr. HP's did so badly on paper. They measure at just under .428". Hornady XTP's mic at .429" and were slightly better but still not good. A buddy and I took a little tour of the innards with a
his bore scope and we found no obvious flaws. I tried two different optics with similar results. I even sent in an UltraDot II with 2 minute dot and they sent it back with a sort of indignant note that there was nothing wrong with it. They were right...

Then I got to thinking ....I'm a bullet caster so since it's got a fat bore so I'll feed it some fat bullets. I powder coated several different styles of bullets and then ran them through a .432" Star sizing die. Some were loaded over proven loads in magnum cases and since this gun will NOT funtion at over the 1.600" SAMMI spec OAL some were loaded in .44 Spl brass. This collection of shotgun patterns was the result....will be phoning Henry tomorrow.

Patterns.jpg

After having all I could stand with the .44 I pulled out my X-Model .357. I was running out of daylight but had a box of ammo with 9 rounds left in it. It was the Lyman cast bullet #358665 which drop with my alloy at 166 gr. They were loaded over Blue Dot powder with the Garmin chrono reading at 1408 fps average. This was at 50 yards with a Leupold 2.5X scope. There's nine bullets in there but I think a couple of them used an already existing bullet hole.

.357.jpg

So....I own 10 Henry's and nine of them are really good. Stay tuned.

[rickhem]

I've been in your situation, and eventually sent mine back. Mine was a .357, but very similar results with groups.
Henry changed the barrel, bolt, and some other parts, and returned the rifle to me. I called and asked what they found to be the issue, but it seems that info isn't available to the public. The rifle will now shoot about an inch at 50 yards, and about 3 inches at 100 with ammo it likes, and that is all I really expected from it originally. I really haven't made a very deep dive working a load up for it yet, so better groups could still be possible, but for woods deer hunting, it'll do just fine.

Hope they get yours sorted out the way you want it.

[BigAl52]

Im sure they will make it right 5shot but this seems to be a repetitive issue with 44 mag and Henry. I have a 41 that shoots as well as your 357 so no need for a 44 at my house

[BigAl52]

I've been in your situation, and eventually sent mine back. Mine was a .357, but very similar results with groups.
Henry changed the barrel, bolt, and some other parts, and returned the rifle to me. I called and asked what they found to be the issue, but it seems that info isn't available to the public. The rifle will now shoot about an inch at 50 yards, and about 3 inches at 100 with ammo it likes, and that is all I really expected from it originally. I really haven't made a very deep dive working a load up for it yet, so better groups could still be possible, but for woods deer hunting, it'll do just fine.

Hope they get yours sorted out the way you want it.

Give 2400 somewhere around 14.5 to 15 gr a try with a 158 gr bullet. You might be surprised

[North Country Gal]

Yeah, it begins and ends with the barrel. For sure, you can tweak all sorts of things to make a gun shoot better, but you can only do so much with a mediocre barrel.

Does Henry make their own barrels?

[BigAl52]

Yeah, it begins and ends with the barrel. For sure, you can tweak all sorts of things to make a gun shoot better, but you can only do so much with a mediocre barrel.

Does Henry make their own barrels?

According to what I read they do make there own barrels.

[CT_Shooter]

Yeah, it begins and ends with the barrel. For sure, you can tweak all sorts of things to make a gun shoot better, but you can only do so much with a mediocre barrel.

Does Henry make their own barrels?

Henry does make its own barrels. Jump to 2:58 in this YouTube video Titled "HOW ARE HENRY RIFLES MADE? EXCLUSIVE PLANT TOUR"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMNLa5wAsXM

[Mags]

Yeah, it begins and ends with the barrel. For sure, you can tweak all sorts of things to make a gun shoot better, but you can only do so much with a mediocre barrel.

Does Henry make their own barrels?

Henry does make its own barrels. Jump to 2:58 in this YouTube video Titled "HOW ARE HENRY RIFLES MADE? EXCLUSIVE PLANT TOUR"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMNLa5wAsXM

The video shows them boring the rods for barrels. It doesn't show them forging or otherwise forming the raw rods.

[CT_Shooter]

It doesn't show them forging or otherwise forming the raw rods.

It doesn't show them mining the iron ore or processing it into steel, either. Thanks for the correction.

[Mags]

It doesn't show them forging or otherwise forming the raw rods.

It doesn't show them mining the iron ore or processing it into steel, either. Thanks for the correction.

Part of 'making their own barrels', includes whether or not they roll the steel stock they get from someone else, not the mining and processing ore.