Still fighting the accuracy issue

[Johnnyjr]

My Henry big boy is a piece of junk. I slugged the bore .429. tried .430 and .432 lead bullets. 200 gr to 245 gr. I makes beautiful key holes at 25 yards. Guess I am going to find some xtp bullets for it and see how they work. It's a 1/20 twist. Tried all kinds of powder in it as will. At around 13/1400 is when it starts. Even under 900 fps the accuracy is about 4 inch's.. Maybe powder coating will help...

[JEBar]

try any brand of standard commercial ammo .... if it still keyholes at 25 yards, send it and the target back to Henry .... its best to not mention using hand loads .... if it shoots the factory ammo well, about all I know you can do is to try and pattern your handloads after the factory loads

[North Country Gal]

You may also want to go heavier than 240 grains, which has always been the standard 44 mag load. Some 44mags I've had loved the 300 grain stuff.

[Kissmybrass]

ooh I hate hearing about bad Henry's. I feel I could blow a spitwad through my .357 and still hit anything. Eats .38s, lead, HPs, anything! Gotta be some terminal barrel thing IMO

[NHshtr]

You didn't mention if this is a new rifle or one that just started tumbling bullets. Check for muzzle nicks or damage of any kind.
If it's new, I agree with JE Bar, try commercial ammo. At least you'll see if it's your loads or the rifle. If it still shoots tumblers, it has to go back.

[leverjc]

NHshtr, is the bore leading up? What is it like to clean?

[Johnnyjr]

Bought this new a few months ago
Seems to shoot commercial ammo pretty decent
I haven't been going past 50 yards.
Wanting to shoot cast bullets if possible,also commercial. Tried any from 200 gr up to 255 swc's
Which are too long for the action. So I tried them in the 44 special. Been chronograghing them as well.
Anywhere between 700 to 1200 fps.. Barrel slugs at .429.. The bullets I have on hand are .430 to .431.

[Johnnyjr]

Well,fwiw,I send my bullets to a guy at Cornell university and they checked the hardness for me. Well,the report came back at 90 to 95. Does this tell you anything?. Appreciate any replies. Maybe the rifeling is just to shallow. Any ideas?? Johnny.

[leverjc]

I had the same problem on one of the barrels I had on a Big Boy it would shoot jacketed ammo fairly good for a few rounds then accuracy would quickly diminish. Lead rounds would shoot patterns from the start. The barrel had so much chatter that I believe it was distorting the lead bullets with build up vary fast. Not having a whole lot of experience with loading lead bullets I can not help you with the hardness. Have you had a chance to look at the bore with a scope?

[fortyshooter]

If you do have a .429 bore .430-431 cast bullets should shoot fine. Use a 18 Bhn cast bullet like the Missouri Bullets Hy Tec coated and run them around 1400-1500 FPS and should be good to go.

[Johnnyjr]

The bore checks out good according to the smith that checked it. Jacketed shoot fine,course I haven't past 50 yards. I just can't believe the commercial bullets are that hard. I have some soft lead cowboy bullets to try. I know the velocity has to be slow,but I just want to see how they shoot. They are .430 dia.

[Johnnyjr]

The bore checks out good according to the smith that checked it. Jacketed shoot fine,course I haven't past 50 yards. I just can't believe the commercial bullets are that hard. I have some soft lead cowboy bullets to try. I know the velocity has to be slow,but I just want to see how they shoot. They are .430 dia.

[NHshtr]

I agree it's hard to believe that cast bullets you bought are 95 Bhn. But if that's so, those bullets are probably not following the rifling and would cause an unstable bullet out the muzzle. So maybe.....
I'd question your contact that tested them to be sure.
The next step would be to get a hold of cast that are advertised at 18Bhn and load those to 1400-1500 fps (as 40shooter suggested).

[Headhog]

Something is not right here. A Bhn of 90-95 would make those bullets somewhere between aluminum and mild steel. Not possible with lead. Almost any alloy of lead will top out at about Bhn of 25.

Paul

[Johnnyjr]

Had them checked by another guy with a very extensive background in shooting,etc. He said he thinks they are almost pure linotype. Oh well. Never deal with that company again. Or possibly zinc..

[Johnnyjr]

Well,I think l have if figured out. Those 245 gr 44 bullets
hard cast can not be pushed over 1000 fps in the rifle. I loaded them in 44 special and at 978 fps they worked great at 50 yards. Anything faster and they will start to spread out again. These I powder coated.

IMG_20211114_160141.jpg (93.56 KiB) Viewed 1310 times

[JEBar]

good to hear you've isolated resolved the issue .... they sure are pretty

[NHshtr]

Congrats. Nice group!

[Johnnyjr]

Thanks. 400 and some shots later,it's coming together..

[Pitchman1968]

Hi JohnnyJr, For the last few weeks, I have been reading your posts and responses, and I can sympathize with your accuracy problems. In 2015 I bought a new Henry, .44 Mag BBB. It took me about 3 years to be able to shoot 3" groups at 75 yds. I had no success with hand loaded FMJ .240 gr bullets I had used for years in my S&W Model 29. After discussions with the people at Henry's HQ, I switched to Bear Tooth 250 gr FN hard cast lead bullets. These bullets come with gas checks already installed. After that, I installed a Skinner Express rear sight and Skinner front sight and increased my AA #9 powder charge from 16 to 19 grs. Nowadays I consistently 3 - 4" groups at 75 yrs. These rounds cycle perfectly. If you continue to have cycling issues, try some tinkering with your COAL. Also, after bullet seating and crimping, try using extremely fine steel wool to polish-up the bullet's side and nose to remove any nicks or other imperfections that will cause the bullet wobble as it goes down range.