Henry Rifle Forums

5shot wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 27, 2024 1:13 am

Have you ever slugged the barrel? I'd really like to know what the groove diameter is on your rifle.


.45 Colt. Ten shots at 50 yards.

What is involved in “slugging” the barrel?

I’d be overjoyed if my .44 could achieve that!

Redthies wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 27, 2024 10:34 am

5shot wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 27, 2024 1:13 am

Have you ever slugged the barrel? I'd really like to know what the groove diameter is on your rifle.


.45 Colt. Ten shots at 50 yards.

What is involved in “slugging” the barrel?

I’d be overjoyed if my .44 could achieve that!

Use pure lead a round ball of 45 cal Black Powder should work. Lube up the barrel with a oil patch and force that ball thru the barrel using a protected rod or wooden dowel. You can also use a lead bullet as long as it isnt very hard. Then measure it with your calipers

Redthies wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 27, 2024 10:31 am

If you don’t have a factory load to recommend, what bullet weight does best in your .44?

Redthies wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 27, 2024 12:13 am

so I’m going to try some 240 Federals,

I haven't bought a single hunting bullet for any of our rifles and/or handguns since the mid to late 1960's .... what I can say is the only hunting bullets I fire are made by Nosler .... in 44 Mag I've been shooting their 240 gr JHP's for decades .... my hunting loads using them is the is the same for our Henry BBS and Ruger Redhawk .... I've taken black bear, boar, and whitetail deer with them .... I can't remember where but I do recall reading that 240's are the preferred weight for 44 Mag

JEBar wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 26, 2024 7:58 pm

just wondering .... what do you consider to be acceptable accuracy ..?.. I fired both of the targets shown below with our BBS 44Mag with a 3X9 Nikon scope from a sandbag bench rest shooting our hunting level Nosler 240 gr JHP handloads .... the first one 50 rounds at 50 yards, the second 100 rounds at 100 yards .... both show roughly 3X3" groups .... realizing our Henry is a lever action hunting rifle, I consider they to sow pretty fair shooting .... its most certainly capable of putting them all in the same hole but but I'm happy with it

I consider 3moa acceptable for a lever gun. Henry's promo vids show better than this level of accuracy- that's one reason that I made this purchase.

The gentleman that I spoke with at Henry agreed with my assessment, but I haven't achieved it with either of these rifles.

I sent Anthony an email, posted below along with the instant reply I got. Not good…





The reply:



I don’t see this as a good omen…

But at least I can get a free catalog

If Dan responds it will surprise me. He has never responded to anything I have sent him

Henry's recommended Federal 240 gr. loads, which I tried. At a dollar a pop, chasing accuracy via different factory loads would soon break my bank!

Such bullets have long been pretty much the standard. I believe that a fairly costly rifle should shoot these accurately.

I don't know if a refund is a possibility, but that is my hope at this point.

Redthies wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 27, 2024 11:04 am

I sent Anthony an email, posted below along with the instant reply I got. Not good…
...

I don’t see this as a good omen…

But at least I can get a free catalog

Try messaging via LinkedIn or Gmail.

Mine had the slow twist and over sized bore at .4315 and would not shoot a cast bullet .430 mid level load worth a darn with key holes.
However it would shoot better with no key holes with hot jacketed bullets like 180 or 240 XTP. Even with a 3 inch group at 50-100 yds. a hot 44 Mag is going to kill what you hit. Don't think the Henry rifles were built for ultimate target shooting in 44 Magnum as their tolerance for bore size is hit and miss. I sold mine and invested in a hard to find but nice Uberti 1873 Winchester 44 Mag and that thing shoots very nice groups with .429 bore and a 1-20 twist.

[/quote]

What is involved in “slugging” the barrel?

I’d be overjoyed if my .44 could achieve that!
[/quote]

Big Al52 pretty well described slugging. For a .44 I use a 3/8" hardwood dowel and spin the last inch on both ends in sandpaper until a fired 9mm case can be slipped on. (40 S&W works on a .45) I slug from the breech end and with the Henry's the toughest part is getting it started because the transition from chamber to rifling is very abrupt. Make sure the bore is well oiled.