Henry Rifle Forums

Going thru my Lyman 49th again and found something interesting regarding bullet speeds and 10 and 15 inch barrel lengths with T/C Contender and Encore single shooters.

As example... the Hornady 250 gr. XTP bullet and Unique 9.3 gr. load when shot thru the 10 inch Contender gave a 1027 FPS speed and when shot thru 15inch Encore delivered a slower 966 FPS. Same trend when load was bumped up to Max of 12.2 gr.

Now when Alliant 2400 was used the results went the other way with speeds increasing with the longer 15 inch Encore. Barrel twist rate was different between the two with 1-24 for 10 inch Contender and 1-16 with 15 inch Encore. Don't know if that will affect bullet FPS but the slower burning 2400 powder was faster in the longer barrel having more time to build pressure and use it.

So does this mean the shorter Carbine sized barrel 16 inch might be the optimum length with lever rifle use when using Unique powder loads?
If I get another chrony I might test that with my Henry 45 Colt Carbine and my 24 inch barrel Uberti/Winchester.

Slower powders appear to be the better way to go with the rifles and 2400 powder is proven to be a good mix of faster bullet along with good accuracy.

Now you got me thinking. Not usually good. A brief search didn't help and Lord knows where all my notes may be. But, with my .45 Colt loads of 8.0gr Unique/250gr MB rnfp in my 20" barrel Henry, I remember it being at 1,100-1,150 fps MV.
I haven't tried 2400 with that same bullet. It isn't in my Lyman #50. I'll look at Alliant site. Interesting plan you have there forty.

Edit: barrel twist is 1:16.

If you want to take advantage of the longer rifle barrel, you definitely want to use slower powders. The pressure curve happens over a longer duration with slower powders, which means that the bullet continues to accelerate over a longer period of time (and thru a longer barrel). Personally, Accurate #9 is my favorite, so far.

bdbrown66 wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 24, 2020 2:35 pm

Accurate #9 is my favorite, so far.

I am a big fan of all the Accurate pistol powders, I like AA9 for my hot .44 Mag bear loads. These AA powders meter especially well. I have some fun low recoil gallery loads using Trail Boss, 850 fps out of my 17.2” X barrel. It is a max load and very consistent. Here is my Lehigh XP 220 gr final results.




I like chronographing, it is fun and informative. At least now..... I used to have a CED Millenium chrono with skyscreens, cables, tripod and what a royal PITA that was to set up and operate! I now have a Magnetospeed V3. It is very versatile, compact, easy to operate and an absolute delight to use, I love it and highly recommend it. It works on a Henry, no worries.




It is really hard to take pics of this X rifle, it seems to suck up ambient light like a black hole....

John Davies
Spokane WA

Yeah I need to get me a new chrono and have looked at the Magneto unit. Nice .44 Mag load you have too!
I like the 180 gr. XTP for .44 Mag loaded with 24.5 gr. of 2400. 1990 FPS and a real target blaster out the Henry Carbine!

My son just got a BBX 45C and I was wondering how to strap on my Magnetospeed on a lever gun. Thanks for the image, @John E Davies very informative!

John E Davies wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 24, 2020 2:54 pm

I now have a Magnetospeed V3. It is very versatile, compact, easy to operate and an absolute delight to use, I love it and highly recommend it. It works on a Henry, no worries.



1924D79C-79B3-49C1-A97F-B4D0A987D03F.jpeg



It is really hard to take pics of this X rifle, it seems to suck up ambient light like a black hole....

John Davies
Spokane WA

Well I have the Henry 45 Colt Carbine with octagonal barrel and have enough gap between mag tube and barrel to run the strap thru and secure it on the side of barrel. So far the Magneto Speed works really well. Think I have a picture of it on here someplace.

Love to see it 40 cause I have the same Henry and the strap is too damn thick. Take a close up for me if you would.

runnin n gunnin wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 19, 2021 10:08 pm

Love to see it 40 cause I have the same Henry and the strap is too damn thick. Take a close up for me if you would.

I will do that for you r-n-g tomorrow!

Here you go r-n-g ! Unit installed on my 45 Colt carbine. You need .060 gap between mag tube and barrel.