Henry Rifle Forums

Picked up a new HO15-44 from Buds' today. It was in perfect condition with fine fit and finish. I grabbed up some odd 44 magnum and 44 special reloads I had handy and went to the range. Open sights are a challenge for me but I managed ten 44 specials a 1 1/4" group and five 240gr magnum loads in a 1 1/2" group, both at 25 yards. I expect a red dot or a scope will improve things. I'm satisfied this rifle works well and is plenty accurate enough to make loading for it a fun project.

Recoil with full magnum loads was not bad at all. The guy in the lane next to me commented on how quiet it was for a 44 magnum. I noticed it also. I think most of the noise from a magnum revolver comes from the residual gas pressure as the bullet leaves the barrel, easily still at 3,000+ psi. The long tube of a rifle has to drop that pressure way down. Light 44 spc loads were really quiet. The trigger is a heavy pull, but it's so crisp that it's not really a problem. My Henry BBS 357 carbine has a similar trigger and it's not a problem either. I fired some lead bullets to see about leading and there was none. I inspected the barrel with a Lyman borescope and it's very smooth with a clean leade.

I have the Henry pic rail and hammer extender to install. I'll need to remove the rear sight for the rail. Does anybody know which direction to drift the sight out?

Robert --- There are quite a few discussions about removing/installing Henry iron sights. Most threads are posted under the "Sights and Scopes" forum. Here is one of the early-on discussions.

http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=589

Answer to your Q: drift the sight out from left to right as your looking toward the muzzle.

robert1408 wrote:I have the Henry pic rail and hammer extender to install. I'll need to remove the rear sight for the rail. Does anybody know which direction to drift the sight out?

I drifted the rear sight out and put the Henry rail on. Found a cheap 1-5X scope on and headed to the range. Tried some plated, cast and jacketed loads. A 240 XTP over 9.5 BE86 was highly accurate as was a Missouri 240 TCFP over 5.7 Red Dot. Plated bullets, and lighter 180-215's were not as good. At the 25 yard limited range the vertical POI hardly changed with the different loads. I want to get this rifle properly rested at an outdoor range for some 50 and 100 yard fun.

I think this rifle favors larger diameter/heavier bullets. Some .429" jacketed loads were poor. Apparently the SAAMI bore specs for 44 Mag rifle are slightly larger than a revolvers'. I don't cast so will look into finding some .431-432 cast and some .431 jacketed to try. It only took a little shooting to get used to a single shot. Having the brass extracted rather than ejected is handy. I really like its the simplicity and ease of cleaning.

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Interesting results. Pictures are always good and welcome.

robert1408 wrote:I drifted the rear sight out and put the Henry rail on. Found a cheap 1-5X scope on and headed to the range. Tried some plated, cast and jacketed loads. A 240 XTP over 9.5 BE86 was highly accurate as was a Missouri 240 TCFP over 5.7 Red Dot. Plated bullets, and lighter 180-215's were not as good. At the 25 yard limited range the vertical POI hardly changed with the different loads. I want to get this rifle properly rested at an outdoor range for some 50 and 100 yard fun.

I think this rifle favors larger diameter/heavier bullets. Some .429" jacketed loads were poor. Apparently the SAAMI bore specs for 44 Mag rifle are slightly larger than a revolvers'. I don't cast so will look into finding some .431-432 cast and some .431 jacketed to try. It only took a little shooting to get used to a single shot. Having the brass extracted rather than ejected is handy. I really like its the simplicity and ease of cleaning.