Henry Rifle Forums

Decided to spend some of my stimulus check on a new rifle. After lots of research I decided on the Big Boy Steel in 357. Placed online order with Academy and should have it by the 14th. I like the idea pf pistol caliber rifles as I already have a Ruger PC in 9mm. I needed something to go with my Ruger Blackhawk 357 and RIA M200 in 38sp. I have CZ455 combo (22/17hmr) and a Marlin 60.

I have read in the manual that to ensure reliability that if you load the BIg Boy with 38sp it should be 158 grain bullet. Whats others experience with other 38sp rounds. And since I am new to forum where is the best place to ask this question or to find out where it already has been asked.

Thanks

Welcome, there is a forum Henry Lever Action Centerfire Rifles might be a good way to start.

Welcome from Western North Carolina George. Glad to have you here!
I too have a BBS 357 and love it. I have only shot 357 ammo through mine, so I cannot answer your question from any experience.
Another thread you might check is the ' Ammunition ' topic.
I would be willing to bet you won't have to search around though. Someone will jump in here and help.
LOTS of 357 owners here. Enjoy the forum; lots of members in your neck of the woods as well.

Welcome to the forum from CT and congratulations on your new Henry.

Though I now only shoot .357s in my BBB, when I first got it, I did shoot .38s, too.
I went through a one hundred round box of 130gr .38 FMJs, sometimes mixing them with .357s in the magazine tube. All of them fed and fired without incident. Let us know what you find out with yours.

It's important to note that I've since learned that Henry does not advise shooting FMJs of any caliber because of the hard bullet surface and the remote possibility that one might detonate in the mag tube during recoil. That said, before I learned of that concern, I fired many hundreds of 130gr FMJ .357s without incident.

GtownGeorge wrote: ↑

Sat May 09, 2020 11:06 am

I have read in the manual that to ensure reliability that if you load the BIg Boy with 38sp it should be 158 grain bullet. Whats others experience with other 38sp rounds. And since I am new to forum where is the best place to ask this question or to find out where it already has been asked.

welcome indeed, delighted to have your join us .... our Henry 357 has proven to be an excellent rifle that's fun to fire .... ours hasn't proven to be about ammo, we load all of our own and choose to only use 357 brass ... our full power hunting load uses 14.8 gr of W296 pushing a 158 gr Nosler JHP .... Nosler load data ===> https://load-data.nosler.com/load-data/357-magnum/ ... for practice we substitute much cheaper 158 bullets from Rose Distribution ===> http://www.rozedist.com/mm5/merchant.mv ... de=ZBJ-38S .... please feel free to jump into ongoing threads and to start others of your own .... as already noted, we have a large and growing number of 357 owners ... ask any questions you may have .... be sure to follow the link below and add your Henry to our community's total

http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.p ... 06#p134706

Welcome!

Welcome to the forum. The 357 is an excellent choice for a levergun in a pistol caliber. I do also reload and I choose to use 357 brass all the time. I see you have a 38 special as do I. I just keep my 38 special brass and loads and use them in my pistol. If I choose a 38 special type load I just load it in the 357 brass and shoot it that way.

Welcome from Alberta, enjoy the forum and your new rifle.

Welcome from Ca! Oh, you'll enjoy that BB steel .357. I haven't shot a lot of .38 spl's thru my Henry, but, all have worked well.
All with 158gr type bullets. BigAl mentions using .357 brass for .38 loads. This is for easier feeding and eliminates any carbon build up in your chamber(or cylinder in revolver) with the .38 cases. Good old fashion cleaning, no build up. Don't be overly concerned about .38's thru your Henry. Questions? Ask away! We'll do what we can. Again, welcome.

I agree with using only 357 brass in firearms chambered for 357 .... you can certainly load them to 38 Special specs .... I only use 38 brass in firearms specifically chambered for 38 Special

Welcome from france, GtownGeorge
have fun with your riffle ...
BruniX

Welcome to the forum. I purchased BBS a few months ago and it shoots nice. I don't have any experience with 38's as almost every thing I shoot these days I reload. I did have a feeding problem with mine that was easily fixed. The ejector was to collapsed and the bullet was being pushed to the side of the action and not feeding. I just bent it out a little and everything has worked fine since.

Morning George, hello and welcome from another W. Tennessean.

RP

Welcome to the club, from Mid Tn. You'll love your Henry.

Howdy from Kentucky.