Henry Rifle Forums

I Love the tube feed on my Henry. I use it to do any initial loading and unloading. The sidegate is fantastic for topping off in the field, but I really like the tube feed aspect. Being that I use it primarily, I looked up speedloaders for tube feed levers. I found one product, and it was lacking in quality, in my mind. Very thin clear tube that quite a few reviews said was brittle and would crack and break. No good for me, anyway. Also, with some of the areas I hunt (have hunted), I like to carry plenty of backup ammo in case I get lost/hurt/stranded, etc. A tube feed speedlaoder gives you the ability to carry backup ammo in a thin, lightweight package. Long story short, I spent a couple weeks researching materials, costs, and case/caliber dimensions. I came up with a tube feed speedloader prototype that works very well, protects your ammo, and is very user friendly. Just calling it the "Speed Feed" for the moment. My only Henry is a .45 Colt, so that was where I started, but this will work for .44 Rem Mag, also. I have tried it repeatedly and can load my Big Boy X tube in just seconds. The triangle cut out at the top is to index the barrel as you put the speedloader over the mag tube. Makes things very easy. I will make a video, or two, to post hear over the weekend, if anyone is interested. I will say, I have a Suppressor I am waiting on for my Henry that will not allow mag tube loading with the suppressor attached. Luckily, it is 5/8"x24, so it will direct thread and I will take the suppressor off to load, if I am not just topping off via the load gate. Anyway, I guess I am just wondering if anyone else would be interested in a product like this??? I know I am excited that I can carry 4-5 of these in my backpack and know that even if I get lost, or injured, out hunting, I will not run out of ammo. Just know, I know they are ugly, freaky looking, and everything else. But boy, do they work. Utility over looks has always been something I believe in....

I agree with your thinking. Thanks for sharing.

That is very creative , however I can think of one minor addition if one has more than one caliber centerfire rifle. On the tube label the caliber because a mix up in the field, .44 vs .45 could be trouble. The end user could take care of that. Also some small holes along the length of the tube so a glance would tell how many rounds are left in the loader sort of like my Glock magazines.

I use PEX tubing.

Just wondering what you guys think might happen if you were to drop one of those fully loaded tubes on the primer end? nothing? or catastrophe?

If the bullets are all flat pointed like most anyone would use in a rifle with a tubular magazine, I would think that nothing of any consequence would happen as long as the end caps weren't damaged. If you dropped your fully loaded rifle on the magazine end what would happen?

After a little research it seems that Pex does not like outdoors aka UV rays so one would want to be careful about sun exposure.

Travlin wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 25, 2022 9:27 pm

If the bullets are all flat pointed like most anyone would use in a rifle with a tubular magazine, I would think that nothing of any consequence would happen as long as the end caps weren't damaged. If you dropped your fully loaded rifle on the magazine end what would happen?

Good point.

Actually, I don't anticipate the need to speed load my tubular magazine...but that's just me.
Ease of loading...yes maybe, but speed, not so much.

I made several of them couple years back using clear flexible tubing and they worked okay.

Travlin wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 25, 2022 9:37 pm

After a little research it seems that Pex does not like outdoors aka UV rays so one would want to be careful about sun exposure.

Without water pressure in them they work just fine for tube feeding.

markiver54 wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 25, 2022 10:52 am

Just wondering what you guys think might happen if you were to drop one of those fully loaded tubes on the primer end? nothing? or catastrophe?

In the end cap, I used 2 layers of thick felt pad (like the kind you put on the bottom of couch legs to not scratch flooring) and then the cork/stopper is made of a semi dense rubber. Twisting the rubber stopper in pushes the bullet end of the rounds into the felt in the end cap. Everything stays in place and doesn't rattle. I don't think a drop would cause a catastrophe, IMO.

~BumeRod~ wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 26, 2022 5:37 pm

markiver54 wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 25, 2022 10:52 am

Just wondering what you guys think might happen if you were to drop one of those fully loaded tubes on the primer end? nothing? or catastrophe?

In the end cap, I used 2 layers of thick felt pad (like the kind you put on the bottom of couch legs to not scratch flooring) and then the cork/stopper is made of a semi dense rubber. Twisting the rubber stopper in pushes the bullet end of the rounds into the felt in the end cap. Everything stays in place and doesn't rattle. I don't think a drop would cause a catastrophe, IMO.
IMG_20221126_152700420.jpg

Sounds like Ya got it covered BR. Smart thinking. Better safe than sorry.
BTW...those look cool!

Travlin wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 25, 2022 9:37 pm

After a little research it seems that Pex does not like outdoors aka UV rays so one would want to be careful about sun exposure.

Going take a while, it's not like it's going to be sitting out in the sun for days on end.
I'd think that with no more than an hour or so of exposure per outing that it would still last a lifetime.

RP

Vaquero wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 27, 2022 9:11 am

Travlin wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 25, 2022 9:37 pm

After a little research it seems that Pex does not like outdoors aka UV rays so one would want to be careful about sun exposure.

Going take a while, it's not like it's going to be sitting out in the sun for days on end.
I'd think that with no more than an hour or so of exposure per outing that it would still last a lifetime.

RP

Yup. And at most the red/blue ones might fade a little bit. Not seeing any signs of them even getting brittle.