Henry Rifle Forums

Just got my ,44 mag H006 this year, right now I'm running factory Winchester 240 grain JSP ammo. I am wondering how many rounds of .44 mag others have put through there's, and how is the receiver holding up. My brother was able to totally wear out the brass receiver on a .44-40 Uberti he had in just 1 year! He does shoot a lot, I mean a LOT!

Anyone here noticing any wear to their frames yet?

To "wear out a receiver" is just nuts, never heard of it, and in a year?

I wonder if it could have been a defect?

BTW, how many rounds did he shoot in a year?

When I read this post over the weekend, at first I was surprised at the thought of "totally wearing out the brass receiver on a .44-40 Uberti he had in just 1 year! The first thing that came to mind was that brass is not quite a strong as the steel firearms Uberti also produces...not sure why I thought that.

In light of the fact that everything we make, and have, eventually wears out or breaks down, I'd say it is possible. But the key is exactly Henry88's questions: "Was it defective?" <or> "how many rounds did he shoot in a year?" It would definitely be a large number....plus quite an expense for the ammo, too!

My brother casts and reloads his own. His shot count per year is measured in the 1,000's. He shoots competition almost every weekend everything from black powder to long range competition.

The brass in the Uberti is probably just a more standard brass than the brass alloy that Henry uses. I figure that Henry's is probably close to what they call a ship's brass. He just mentioned it when I told him I was getting a BBB but, he probably shoots more in a year than I will in a lifetime. I'm not actually worried about my BBB wearing out, just was curious if anyone here had experience with it.

I've had my brass 44 mag Big Boy "Mr Ambassador" for a few years now. It's been shot a lot by a lot of different people. 1,000's of rounds. I take care of it and keep it clean and lubed. No noticeable wear anywhere to speak of. I'd be real surprised to see one wear any faster than a steel Henry.

I have 2 brass Henry's and a Golden Boy. I intend to add to that. Premature wear is about the last thing I'd be concerned about. If you did manage to wear one out I feel you would have gotten your money's worth. I figure the rifling in the barrel will be gone as well.

There just isn't much to wear in the receiver if you keep things lubed properly.

I hope I get to shoot enough to wear out my Uberti 1860....having "Wore out his Henry" on my tombstone is ok by me.

Squatch wrote:I've had my brass 44 mag Big Boy "Mr Ambassador" for a few years now. It's been shot a lot by a lot of different people. 1,000's of rounds. I take care of it and keep it clean and lubed. No noticeable wear anywhere to speak of. I'd be real surprised to see one wear any faster than a steel Henry.

that's pretty much what I'd expect .... our BBS has literally had thousands of rounds of jacketed and thousands more of cast 240 bullets run through it .... we buy Oregon Trail cast bullets from Cabela's in bulk boxes of 500 .... long ago I lost track of how many boxes we've run through .... the same is true for our 45-70 .... after reading through this thread again, I just went and retrieved both from the vault .... when it comes to signs of wear and tear, to put it simply, there isn't any

OK, that seems to be a majority stating I was right when I told him that the Henry brass was a better material.

I wonder why they don't use bronze, maybe doesn't look as good.........

If you wear our a Henry, Anthony will give you another one on him.

Not pure brass.

The Henry is an alloy that is strong as steel. You can find videos that originate with Henry on the subject. Mr. Imperato talks a bit on the subject.

The Uberti is not.

I would expect it to out last you.

Keep in mind that the wear issue is also a function of that model's design. In guns where the receiver is actually part of the lockup mechanism, as in the the famous Winchester Model 12, the receiver will wear out, quicker. On a model where the receiver simply holds the parts and is not actively involved on the lockup of the gun, the receiver material is irrelevant, since there is little wear on the receiver. The Remington 870 or Mossberg 500 are good examples. You can keep these guns running forever by merely replacing parts. When a Model 12 receiver wears out, though, you have a serious problem.

Not familiar with the Henry design to say how it works, though.

If that's the case, I expect the brass receiver on my 1860 with a toggle link inside will outlast me.

RanchRoper wrote:If that's the case, I expect the brass receiver on my 1860 with a toggle link inside will outlast me.

I wouldn't want a firearm that couldn't outlast me .. .. whats more, I'd of said that decades ago before I turned 70 ..

I know a State Champion and his wife in SASS that shoot 1866 Win in 38 special [ Uberti copy ] for over 10 years with no problems and they are full race guns . I bet they shoot a 1000 rds a month in practice and matches . They have alum lifters or carrier in there guns .
You could ask Long Hunter how the hold up since he builts full race guns .

http://www.longhunt.com/storelh/index.p ... uct_id=249

The brass in the Uberti is probably just a more standard brass than the brass alloy that Henry uses.

The brass framed Italian repros have great 'curb appeal' but they are not 'forever' shooters. I have seen several brass framed blackpowder revolvers worn out and my own ASM Colt Navy .36 is showing a fair amount of wear at just 500 or so rounds.