Henry Rifle Forums

Will Henry ever chamber the Big Boy in .500 S&W, .460 S&W, .454 Casull, or .480 Ruger

460 would really be interesting .... one of our sons has a 460 Bone Collector .... in addition to 460 it can fire 45 Colt and 454 Casull .... in a Henry that would offer a fire breather that could handle rounds that would be fun to shoot

I bet if you email Anthony he woud give you an idea if they have it in the works. Al

BDINPGH wrote:Will Henry ever chamber the Big Boy in .500 S&W, .460 S&W, .454 Casull, or .480 Ruger

Welcome to the forum from CT.

Those are a few questions for the good folks at HRAC. You can contact them through their website (https://www.henryusa.com/).

Do you own a Henry in any other caliber, yet?

Hi .... welcome to the Forums from Runcorn, UK!

You pose an interesting question. Henry has recently introduced the 327 Fed and 41 Mag, so it is always possible that they might start producing rifles in some of the calibers you've mentioned.

Those are some pretty high pressure rounds. I would think the action would need to be changed.

I vote for the .460 also. For the same reasons.

The 454, 460 and 500 are MUCH higher pressure rounds than any of the current Big Boy chamberings, as in 60,000, which is on a par with what a 300 Win mag produces. I think those would be more appropriate for the Long Ranger or similar actions.

The 480 runs at a lower pressure, though, so that one may be doable. Another possibility is the 444, which is also a more modest pressure round and it has been a great round in the similar Marlin 336. In fact, it was made, specifically, for the Marlin 336 as a cartridge with a flatter trajectory than the 45-70. Would love to see it make a comeback in the Henry. Great lever gun cartridge.

Other possibilities are the older Winchester Big Bore cartridges such as the 375 Winchester, another excellent cartridge which just never caught on.

This interesting. I'll tell what I'd be interested in.

A lot of my cartridge choices are dictated by the logistics of reloading them. I reload so I can go shoot and am notoriously lazy about my reloading...I combine as many steps into single steps as I can, and automate as much as I can afford. I've long thought about getting either a 45-70 or a 50 Beowulf AR as a pig hunting gun, but the rate those cartridges use powder make them costly. Also, I hate dealing with case lubricant and even though 45-70 is not a bottleneck case, it's not really straight wall either. So you still have to deal with case lube. There's also the issues with correct trimming to length for uniform crimp.

44 Magnum was always an alternative in that you could run it through carbide dies without case lube, and like most pistol cartridges, it generally doesn't grown in length, so you avoid the trimming. While it works well in terms of ballistic performance, it still comes up a bit short for wild hogs. IMO.

480 Ruger could be an interesting levergun chambering here. Carbide dies can size it without messing with case lube. There are molds available for casting. According to Hodgdon's website, 325gr handloads with Hornady XTPs top out at around 1500 fps for max loads in a 7.5" barrel. I figure 1400 fps is more realistic in real world firearms. I expect it gains significant velocity in a carbine barrel, but i can't find any solid info on that, but given that the case is proportionally similar to 357 and 44 magnum, and uses most of the same powders, it's likely that it does gain significant velocity. The pressure limit is lower, so it's more likely that round could be chambered in the Big Boy.

Basically, it's likely you could come close to duplicating 300 to 350 grain loads in the 45-70 at 1873 Trap Door levels. While the Trap Door is bottom of the barrel on 45-70, you're still slinging a 325gr bullet to around 1800 to 1900 fps. The 480 Ruger in a Henry would probably achieve similar velocities for similar bullet weights with easier reloading. Plus there are several revolvers that chamber it, if you like ammo commonality.

This would interest me a great deal if it were to be done.

I've been contemplating a 480 in a single action for some time. Have shot quite a bit of 454 and even though the recoil was manageable, the one thing I did not like was the concussion from that high pressure round. Same with the 460. Recoil for me wasn't so much an issue as the blast and concussion on these rounds. Pretty nasty out of a handgun. What people have reported on the 480 is that the 480 is no marshmallow to shoot, either, but it has a more traditional thump than the sharp crack of the 454 or 460.

North Country Gal wrote:I've been contemplating a 480 in a single action for some time. Have shot quite a bit of 454 and even though the recoil was manageable, the one thing I did not like was the concussion from that high pressure round. Same with the 460. Recoil for me wasn't so much an issue as the blast and concussion on these rounds. Pretty nasty out of a handgun. What people have reported on the 480 is that the 480 is no marshmallow to shoot, either, but it has a more traditional thump than the sharp crack of the 454 or 460.

I must be a wuss...I find that the real crackenboomer 357 loads have a nasty pressure wave out of a 4" barrel. I call my 4" GP100 my "headache gun" I'm used to it and I just deal with it. I can see how the 454 could be rough in that respect.

I briefly considered a Rossi Puma in .480, as a companion to my SRH Alaskan, until I got a good look at a Rossi in person... ;(

I would be interested in a Big Boy in this caliber. The .480R is a very versatile round and it doesn't beat you up like the really high pressure super magnums....

That sure is a big hole in the business end of the Rossi, but notice the canted sight.



http://www.gunblast.com/Puma480.htm

John Davies
Spokane WA

John E Davies wrote:I briefly considered a Rossi Puma in .480, as a companion to my SRH Alaskan, until I got a good look at a Rossi in person... ;(

I would be interested in a Big Boy in this caliber. The .480R is a very versatile round and it doesn't beat you up like the really high pressure super magnums....

That sure is a big hole in the business end of the Rossi, but notice the canted sight.



http://www.gunblast.com/Puma480.htm

John Davies
Spokane WA

I agree about Rossi. I had a 357 Rossi once and its sights were canted as well. The barrel was indexed incorrectly and it was otherwise was the most shoddily assembled firearm I'd ever seen. My Hi Point 9mm carbine was better made. My Chinese SKS was better made. My Soviet Mosin Nagant looks like a mechanical masterpiece compared to the Rossi.

I'll never have another.