Henry Rifle Forums

Have a Taurus judge to carry for snakes, coyotes and hogs, and thinking of getting a Henry 45 colt for deer hunting up to 150 max. Most shots would be in the 75-100 yds
So tell me please what is the heaviest bullet you have shot accurately in the Henry at 100 yds
What bullet, lead, jacketed, weight, velocity general 100 yd accuracy
Or should I just go 44 mag and why
PS I prefer to go heavy instead of fast and have be told that the twist on the 44 mag is 1-38.. too slow for 300 gr
bullets
Also this would be mostly shot with powdercoated lead

Welcome to the forum from Ct. I'm sure you've started an interesting conversation with your first post.

Dad always said go big or go home.
I have a Rossi SS 357 carbine, a Remlin 1895sbl SS and a Marlin 1895g both 45-70 . They all shoot great and all have killed deer none have gone more that 10 Ft
Want a Henry so looking at either a 45 colt or 44 to fill the caliber hole

Welcome to the forum. With my 45 Colt Big Boy, I've shot the following factory loads;
Hornady 255 gr lead flat nose
Winchester Super X 250 gr lead flat nose
American Eagle 225 gr flat nose jacketed soft point

The Winchester is the most consistent and accurate 50 to 100 yards. I shoot open factory sights off hand standing, so I'm not reaching out beyond 100 yds with these old eyes. I attached a recent 50 yd target shooting the Winchester 250 gr LFN. It's a formidable chunk of lead that always sends splinters flying out the backboard even at 100 yards. I also attached one of the lead slugs after it exited the wood and hit the dirt pile. No doubt it is capable of some damage. I've never checked velocity in my Big Boy but I'm guessing around 1100 fps. I don't load my own (yet) but I'm sure custom loads would be higher performers. Hope this helps. It is a very fun caliber to shoot. Who doesn't like great big lead cowboy bullets?

Ranchroper thanks for the post.
Target and your shooting look fine.
Also believe that you are correct on the bullet performance.that would be nasty to a deers motor

Ranchroper thanks for the post.
Target and your shooting look fine.
Also believe that you are correct on the bullet performance. That would be nasty to a deers motor

Most of what I'm shooting i guess are considered "cowboy loads" so if you are doing your own, I'm sure you'd have a very capable 45 Colt rifle for what you are looking for. I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that slug.

Also the recoil is very manageable.

since you mentioned 44 Mag, I do recommend it to be a caliber worth considering .... we shoot mostly 240 grain bullets through ours but have used both 200 and 300 grainers as well .... below are two targets using 240 grain, one at 25 yards and one at 80 yards .... both were shot while sighting in the scope .... much of the spread can be attributed to my shooting .... there is on question that 45 is a good caliber and I looked at with great interest .... I went with 44 mage because it can do everything a 45 can do plus some .... in addition, for reloading I found more options with 44 caliber, for example Hornady produces a 300 grain bullet .... don't know if there is a 300 grainer available in 45 ... you can't go wrong with either of them

Yes really hoping it will handle a 300 and or a 350 gr
I have a NOE 460-350 HP I can size down to 452-454 as needed. Since I powdercoat lube grooves don't matter
That bullet killed 4 deer this year .. 2 with a muzzleloader
And 1 each with a 1895g and a 1895sbl both 45-70

JEBar looks like you have a keeper there
Thanks for the post

looking forward to hearing what you decide .... you can't make a bad choice

Looks like you have a decision to make....and the good news is, either way you win!

Yes figured already have a lever action in Rossi 357 (mine the fit and finish was real good) just needed some smoothing of the action and lightening the load gate spring .. its all good shoots great
plus a 45-70 Remlin and a JM Marlin with ballard rifling both that shoot great
a 43 Spanish rolling block that was rechambered in 45-70, totally reworked and rehardened
what I am missing in a HENRY .. always loved the brass look just never bit the bullet and ordered one
getting ready to rectify that soon
The hunt is on
can anyone tell me what the normal/common groove dia is on the Henry 45 colt
Rossi the chamber is usually large and caused cases to have short life plus groove is usually runs 454 to 456

Well the 16" 45 colt was ordered today.
Should have it Monday or Tuesday

Congratulations, I think that's a great choice and you will really enjoy shooting that rifle. Photos when you get it!

First thing will be a Skinner express ghost ring rear sight. the one that mounts in the rear scope mount screws for a longer sight radius

I shoot 452 in mine and they shoot great. I use the Missouri cast 250gr rnfp coated bullets. I have never had the desire to use monster bullets in a 44 mag or the 45 colt. I have a 45-70 if I want monster bullets. 10 grs of unique powder and a 240 or 250 swc will bring down anything I need to shoot with it. Al

250 gr lead hits with a THUMP.

RanchRoper wrote:250 gr lead hits with a THUMP.

Ya and you should here the boom it makes when you touch one of in front of some HS-6 powder. Its impressive. Al

the main reason I asked the question was to see what was the heaviest bullet that would reliably feed in the henry and back up some from that.
I like heavy and slow 1000 FPS would be just fine and if the RCBS will feed I can do that easily .. then when I want to go faster or super quick kills on yotes the 265 HP PC'ed 50/50 will do the trick

Well I just ordered a NOE 265 gr Mold .. with the HP pins its 250 gr, cup points about 260 and WFP its 265..
Already have a RCBS 45-300 so I should be all good