Henry Rifle Forums

Hey guys. I'm 100% decided on the Big Boy and will purchase soon. Forgive the newbie questions but what's the 45 Colt like? Ammo seems available here, and more flat point than in 44 mag it seems. I'm a little concerned about JSP or JHP in the magazine. Should I be? LFN seems safer to me but most of you have forgotten more than I'll know about ammo. Thks.

RR,
Good choice, but you might want to consider a .44mag if you're not going to reload. Lots more ammo available.
If you ARE going to reload, then you could go either way... Lots of components available for both..
No pointed bullets, except rubber tips, in any magazine tube..
One more thing, store bought .45 Colt is gonna be way more expensive than .44 mag...

Hope I've helped..
Paul

That's the strange thing. I see some cheaper ammo here in Canada in 45. Winchester 45 Colt is better priced than same brand 44 rem mag. And Cabelas stocks both. The 45 is 250 gr LFN @$62 and the 44 mag is 240 gr @$70 for qty 50 rounds. Hmmmmm....I know reloading is the way to go but for now I'm going factory. thanks for the info.

Anybody shooting Black Hills Ammo? I see it's available here.

RanchRoper wrote:Hey guys. I'm 100% decided on the Big Boy and will purchase soon. Forgive the newbie questions but what's the 45 Colt like? Ammo seems available here, and more flat point than in 44 mag it seems. I'm a little concerned about JSP or JHP in the magazine. Should I be? LFN seems safer to me but most of you have forgotten more than I'll know about ammo. Thks.

Now that you have decided on the Big Boy, I want to give my two cents about the .45 Colt, but I don't want to appear to dislike the .44 in any way. I just happen to like the .45 Colt a lot. It is a great shooter, accurate, recoil is very manageable, and did I mention it is a great shooter. I would lean towards the .45 Colt over the .44 today. Tomorrow, heck, I may lean more toward the .44. The action on both is smooth. You can't go wrong either way. Looking forward to pictures.....once you get what you want!!

45 Colt is what I'm going with. I just checked and Hornady 255 gr LRNFP ammo is in my local hardware store. Plus easy to get on line. 44 mag not so much around my area for some reason. I was surprised as heck they had lots of 45 Colt! Thanks guys.

Ps. Great photo. You look very respectable!

I have the Big Boy .44 and I shoot Hornady 240 grain XTP JHP all the time and have had no mag tube issues. I have also used the 240 grain plated round nose flat point bullets from X-Treme and had no problems.
Primers installed properly are slightly recessed and the above mentioned bullets do not contact the primer.

RanchRoper wrote:Ps. Great photo. You look very respectable!

Yeah, wrong picture. That was my son and my grand children. The correct picture is up now!

Thanks. 45 Colt is the one, Cabelas Canada has it in stock, and ammo is local! Thanks guys.

I have loaded .45 Colt ammo for almost 40 years. The only problem with .45 C. vs .44 Magnum is that the .45 was first designed for rod ejector single action revolvers. It has a not too outstanding rim. It will pull through shell holders if one is not careful. I find that some brands of brass fit more snugly in a .44 magnum shell-holder. I shoot a lot of both and I prefer the .44 in the rifle.

Thks. Appreciate the feedback.

45 Colt is an excellent choice in a Henry lever gun. Something natural about that combination as they both came out of the black powder era.
Good luck with your new rifle.

Thks Owly. The 45 seems to fit my needs best. And I really like that old timey ammo. Kinda suits me. Looking forward to putting rounds through it.

Another local store here has 255 gr Winchester LRN in 45 Colt. I looked at the tips and they are flattened off. Can I assume these will be ok in the tube similar to the Hornady LRNFP? Thks guys.

Yep I've run a lot of HP's and flat points through my 44 mag. As in getting close to 1,000 rds. No issues with either style of ammo in the tube. As far as either I would look for ammo with a wider point though. Some HP's can be small. Especially older ones.

When It comes to the Big Boys when I'm asked which one I tell folks they are all nice. Which caliber revolver do you have? Match it! If not handloading 44 is nice because like 357 you can shoot specials. But lots of folks sell 45 colt cowboy ammo.

Thks. No revolver here, or I would match them. appreciate the input.

I was just looking at a Big Boy Steel in .45 Colt yesterday. They also had a .44 mag, but by son-in-law already has one and I would like to have a different caliber. I really have a desire for one in .357 mag, but I have not been able to find one in this area plus I already have a Rossi 92 in .357 mag. That makes the second BBS in .45 Colt I have seen in the last week at two different gun stores. I think it is a sign I am supposed to buy one!

Good luck with your decision. Post up some pictures when you get one.

I think the .357 has some advantages over the bigger calibers down range. From what I've read the .357 from a rifle has very similar ballistics to the 30/30 out to 100-150 yds. Much flatter trajectory than the heavy .4's.

But then again some of us just like big bullets!

I do like that 45 Colt cartridge. Looks like it means business.