Henry Rifle Forums

back in the mid '60's when I started loading my own ammo, I did so based on the premise that I needed to practice with the same ammo I hunted with .... back then, big game hunting -- black bear, deer, and boar -- were my major focus .... being younger and probably even dumber recoil big booming rifles, shotguns and revolvers simply wasn't an issue .... well, those days are gone .... every since 1992 my favorite hand cannon has been a Ruger 44 Mag Redhawk .... my arthritic right hand no longer tolerates the pounding from the recoil from hunting level loads so for the last few years I've fired it less and less .... those same loads are outstanding performers in our BBS 44Mag which is a fun rifle to fire .... even with the extensive recoil reduction upgrades, the same can't be said for my ability to absorb the recoil from dangerous game loads out of our CCH 45-70 .... consequently, I spent most of today working up a light load to fire in our Redhawk ..... over the next couple of days I hope to do the same for our 45-70 .... after considerable research I chose to base or 44 range load on using a Nosler 240 gr JHP (our long time hunting bullet) pushed by Unique powder in search of a muzzle velocity of +/- 1,000 fps .... note : the Unique powder was from a can purchased in November of 1997

Loaded 5 rounds with 6.2 gr --- average Muzzle Velocity 772 fps --- nice to shoot, no recoil, but way to weak

Loaded 6 rounds with 7.0 gr --- average Muzzle Velocity 849 fps --- much stronger load, light recoil

Loaded 6 rounds with 7.5 gr --- average Muzzle Velocity 899 fps --- noticeable louder bark, bit more but still light recoil

Loaded 6 rounds with 7.7 gr --- average Muzzle Velocity 919 fps --- no detectable difference in bark, couldn't tell any difference in recoil

for the next load switched to Unique that was purchased late last year

Loaded 12 rounds with 7.7 gr --- average Muzzle Velocity 947 fps --- again, no detectable difference in bark, couldn't tell any difference in recoil ....it is comfortable to fire .... fired 6 through our chrony ... light rain as I put up a paper target at 20 yards .... I didn't care where the bullets hit because the red dot on our Redhawk is sighted in for hunting load with a 75 yard zero .... what I was interested in was how they would group .... first shot did not hit paper so I raised my point of aim, second shot still not on paper .... lowered point of aim, impact at the single hole on the bottom left .... took my time and fired my remaining 3 rounds .... I believe the resulting group is one I can work with .... per a Ballistics program, -0.6"at 10 yards will zero @ 25 yards, -1.1" @ 50 yards, -4.8" @ 75 yards, -11.7" @ 100 yards .... as noted this is going to be a range load and I project the vast majority of my shooting will be at 50 or less yards

Good work Jim. It is always amazing how a load develops. I always watch your work, knowing it will give me good results. Thanks.

This is pretty much what I do with my .357 an .45 Colt loads. No need for high end loads, as I don't hunt with these. Something middle of the road for accuracy and easy shooting, whether out of a lever gun or handgun. Makes it more pleasurable for my purposes, which would be empty cans, steel gongs or paper targets.

Mike (The Wiz) and I spent a while this morning on a family range .... the only firearm I took is our Redhawk 44 Mag with 50 rounds of the new 7.7 gr of Unique powder .... on the down side, it took me more rounds than usual to readjust the AimPoint red dot .... finally had to move our shooting bench to less than 10 yards .... from there moved back to about 25 yards where fine tuning was quickly accomplished .... with 4 rounds left we moved back to a little over 40 yards from a bank where we had placed 4 skeet .... Mike and I took turns shooting offhand and broke all 4 .... I'm extremely pleased with this range load and now plan to go into production of them

Good to read of your successful adjustment. Nice looking revolver setup too.

as already noted several times, my standard practice since I started hand loading our ammo, every round meets my hunting specs .... consequently, when I'd go hunting all I needed to do was find a box of bullets for whatever firearm(s) I was carrying ... with the development of a range load for our 44 Mag Redhawk, I've had to make some changes .... if/when I should ever get another chance to hut bear or boar, I'd sure hate to load up shortly before daylight and realize I'd brought range level ammo by mistake .. .. from the business end or the side of our 44 Mag hunting ammo cannot be distinguished from our newly minted 44 Mag range ammo .... however, a minor modification makes it easy to distinguish the 200 rounds we put together earlier today from our hunting ammo, that being to change the color of the primers used in making our Redhawk range ammo

we now have 500 light 44 Mag loads and 500 of our hunting level loads packed to take along with us to Texas .... to ensure there will not be a mix up, the primers for the Redhawk (light loads) have been colored red .... no coloring of the hunting loads for our Henry .... 100 of each shown below .... this is the first time I've loaded two very different strength ammo for a single caliber .... it took me a while to figure out such a simple way to make sure I don't mix them up

Great idea Jim! Good 'ol Sharpie marker I'm guessing. ?

500 plinky loads. Time you and Jake get together you will need more.

markiver54 wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 26, 2019 4:43 pm

Great idea Jim! Good 'ol Sharpie marker I'm guessing. ?

the one I have is an off brand .... for my use, any fine point permanent marker should do OK .... I tested a few and found that any red on a shell casing was cleaned off in our tumbler

BigAl52 wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 26, 2019 5:52 pm

500 plinky loads. Time you and Jake get together you will need more.

I sure hope that proves to be the case .... my hope is to spend some time with both the Henry and Redhawk which will blend in an additional 500 rounds

Have you tried using a Past strap on recoil shoulder pad that goes under your shirt?

Travlin wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 26, 2019 11:37 pm

Have you tried using a Past strap on recoil shoulder pad that goes under your shirt?

recoil from firing full power 44 Mag loads isn't an issue .... in fact, its fun to fire .... with an arthritic right hand firing full power loads isn't fun .... in fact, its painful .... using light loads removes the pain and brings back the fun

JEBar, I've had very good success with Hodgon HS-6 (11.8gr.in the 41mag. 1250 fps.) powder in both my Ruger SBH's in 41 and 44 mags. Half the powder/recoil with basically the same velocity with excellent accuracy. 1" groups at 25yds. (6 shots) off a bag/bench with my Ultradoted 41mag. The recoil is about that of a 357mag. Try it - you'll like it !