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[BigAl52]

What powder are you using in your loads

[5shot]

The loads tried today were all with 2400 and WLP primers and none were anywhere near maximum. These were leftovers from battling with the first barrel. I'll be trying H110 for hunting loads and HS6 under the 225 gr. RCBS GC for plinking loads next.

[Redthies]

I’d be plenty happy with those groups for a close quarters hunting rifle!

[Vaquero]

Nice shooting there 5shot. What powder you using with the Lee 310?
I have that mold and last time out was using 15 grs. of 2400 and got a fairly good group at 50.
Mine just wears the factory buck horns though.Edit: I see where Al already asked and you answered.

RP

[BigAl52]

If you are using 2400 in the 240 xtp load I use that much in the 41. I know these were left over but would be curious to see what more 2400 would do with that bullet. As I think you would want to be closer to the 19 gr mark.

[GFK]

Well, the new barrel is either twice as good or half as bad as the old one. I was struggling with clearly seeing the red dot in the bright sun today so these groups would have been tighter with a scope. But at 50 yards it was shooting round sub 2" groups without the maddening flyers. With a low power scope and a little load development I think this rifle will be just fine for deepwoods deer hunting and I plan to keep it.

Top load is the 310 gr. Lee at 1440 fps, next is 260 gr. Lyman hollow point in .44 spl. brass at 1354 fps avg. and bottom is 240 XTP at 1582 fps. None of those would bounce off a whitetail inside of 100 yards and the Lee would probably shoot through two deer. The standard deviation on the 310 Lee load was 5.4 fps! With a scope and a little tinkering I think the X will prove to be a consistent 1" to 1 1/2" 50 yard performer and that is all I reasonably expect from it. I'm getting to the point of being a little too old and creaky to be climbing lofty tree stands but if I do the chance of scratching the stock won't be a concern.

New barrel.jpg

Look like you got a winner!

[Vaquero]

If you are using 2400 in the 240 xtp load I use that much in the 41. I know these were left over but would be curious to see what more 2400 would do with that bullet. As I think you would want to be closer to the 19 gr mark.

Al, with the old barrel on my 44 BBB I think 17.9 grs of 2400 of the cat's meow.
I haven't shot any jacketed stuff through this new barrel yet.
Here's the 310 Lee, I shot this a few weeks ago.

20230911_075241.jpg

RP

[5shot]

If you are using 2400 in the 240 xtp load I use that much in the 41. I know these were left over but would be curious to see what more 2400 would do with that bullet. As I think you would want to be closer to the 19 gr mark.

Al52. I use an RCBS Lil Dandy powder measure and have the powder weights thrown by each rotor recorded. The 17.8 charge under the 240 XTP has always been accurate in several different guns. I had a few loaded with a rotor 2 sizes larger that weighed right at 20 gr.of 2400. Velocity average from the heavier charge was 1699 fps as opposed to the 1562 fps from the 17.8 gr load but accuracy was not as good. I think the 240 XTP is at its best at revolver velocity and wouldn't be confident that it would stay in one piece on impact at rifle speeds. A 250 XTP out of a Henry steel .45 Colt came unglued on a broadside lung shot at a 55 yard doe last season and it was lumbering along at a leisurely 1430 fps. The bullet jacket clipped the paunch but I was able to get the plumbing out without stinking up the tenderloins.

I've been on the lookout for Speers "Deep Curl" 270 gr. jacketed which is supposed to expand easily but the bonded design stays together. Can't find them anywhere.

[5shot]

Vaquero. That's good shooting with irons! My charge with powder coated 310's was 15.6 of 2400 out of the X's 17" barrel and it clocked at 1440 fps average.

[Vaquero]

Vaquero. That's good shooting with irons! My charge with powder coated 310's was 15.6 of 2400 out of the X's 17" barrel and it clocked at 1440 fps average.

Cool, I'll bump it up a hair and see.
That was the first outing with that boolit.
I've had the mold for quite some time, but hadn't gotten around to casting with it until here just recently.
I thought it might work in the 444 but it has to be seated pretty deep as to not bump the rifling.
Might be a good use for those darned short Hornady ftx brass that I have.
But I have a Lyman mold that works great and is a tad heavier.

RP

[BigAl52]

If you are using 2400 in the 240 xtp load I use that much in the 41. I know these were left over but would be curious to see what more 2400 would do with that bullet. As I think you would want to be closer to the 19 gr mark.

Al52. I use an RCBS Lil Dandy powder measure and have the powder weights thrown by each rotor recorded. The 17.8 charge under the 240 XTP has always been accurate in several different guns. I had a few loaded with a rotor 2 sizes larger that weighed right at 20 gr.of 2400. Velocity average from the heavier charge was 1699 fps as opposed to the 1562 fps from the 17.8 gr load but accuracy was not as good. I think the 240 XTP is at its best at revolver velocity and wouldn't be confident that it would stay in one piece on impact at rifle speeds. A 250 XTP out of a Henry steel .45 Colt came unglued on a broadside lung shot at a 55 yard doe last season and it was lumbering along at a leisurely 1430 fps. The bullet jacket clipped the paunch but I was able to get the plumbing out without stinking up the tenderloins.

I've been on the lookout for Speers "Deep Curl" 270 gr. jacketed which is supposed to expand easily but the bonded design stays together. Can't find them anywhere.

Understood. Ive run into that with 2400 it has a sweet spot and at 20 grains you might be over its sweet spot. I use 18 in my 41 Henry and it shoots very well with the 210 XTP.

[5shot]

[/quote]
Understood. Ive run into that with 2400 it has a sweet spot and at 20 grains you might be over its sweet spot. I use 18 in my 41 Henry and it shoots very well with the 210 XTP.
[/quote]

While on this subject....The April edition of "Handloader" magazine has a Brian Pearce article with .44 mag loads and his data shows 21 grains of 2400 under a 240 XTP as his most accurate load. He was getting 1792 fps using standard primers and getting .90" 4 shot groups at 75 yards with a 20" Marlin rifle. Here's a situation where I wonder if someone uses that data and substitutes a magnum primer that they would possibly have a overly hot load?

I may have to give his load a road test just to see what the X will do. Need to put a scope on first though.

[BigAl52]

Understood. Ive run into that with 2400 it has a sweet spot and at 20 grains you might be over its sweet spot. I use 18 in my 41 Henry and it shoots very well with the 210 XTP.
[/quote]

While on this subject....The April edition of "Handloader" magazine has a Brian Pearce article with .44 mag loads and his data shows 21 grains of 2400 under a 240 XTP as his most accurate load. He was getting 1792 fps using standard primers and getting .90" 4 shot groups at 75 yards with a 20" Marlin rifle. Here's a situation where I wonder if someone uses that data and substitutes a magnum primer that they would possibly have a overly hot load?

I may have to give his load a road test just to see what the X will do. Need to put a scope on first though.
[/quote]

To each there own but according to Alliants load data they use a CCI 300. Personally I have not had much luck with max charges of 2400. If you try it I will be curious to see how it works for you.

[Hatchdog]

Understood. Ive run into that with 2400 it has a sweet spot and at 20 grains you might be over its sweet spot. I use 18 in my 41 Henry and it shoots very well with the 210 XTP.
[/quote]

While on this subject....The April edition of "Handloader" magazine has a Brian Pearce article with .44 mag loads and his data shows 21 grains of 2400 under a 240 XTP as his most accurate load. He was getting 1792 fps using standard primers and getting .90" 4 shot groups at 75 yards with a 20" Marlin rifle. Here's a situation where I wonder if someone uses that data and substitutes a magnum primer that they would possibly have a overly hot load?

I may have to give his load a road test just to see what the X will do. Need to put a scope on first though.
[/quote]


Back to 41 mag not 44 mag but when I switched from W296 to 2400 I also switched from magnum to standard primers. 2400 doesn’t need the hotter primer to ignite like 296 does.

[5shot]

I went out today and ran a few more loads through this rifle and can honestly say I'm satisfied with the performance. I didn't shoot paper or take any pics but the X-Model was making satisfyingly small clusters on freshly painted 50 yard swingers with hunting loads and with a couple different plinking loads. The next time I load .44's I will substitute standard primers under 2400 instead of the Win standard or mag spark plugs which obviously have to be a little hotter than standard in order to light the slow burners.

Looking back, I wish this rifle would have shot well right out of the box but Henry made it right very quickly and with minimal hassle. Kudos to HRC for outstanding customer service!

[Travlin]

I don't think that I would worry too much about magnum primers vs standard with 21 grains of 2400. Remember Elmer Keith the man most responsible for the .44 magnum used 22 grains of 2400 over a hard cast 240 slug as his standard load in a 29 S&W. Look and see if there is a lot of powder that was not completely burned after a few shots.

[5shot]

At a gunshow last weekend I related my experiences with the .44 X-Model to a person that is somewhat of a Henry insider and I was told that Henry has temporarily suspended .44 Magnum production while working out some barrel issues. Of course, I can't verify this info but am throwing it into the pot as a FWIW.

[Redthies]

At a gunshow last weekend I related my experiences with the .44 X-Model to a person that is somewhat of a Henry insider and I was told that Henry has temporarily suspended .44 Magnum production while working out some barrel issues. Of course, I can't verify this info but am throwing it into the pot as a FWIW.

Isn’t that interesting. My new barrel has supposedly arrived at the repair facility in Eastern Canada, but I have not received a reply to my email asking for confirmation that it has arrived in good shape and is ready for me to ship them my carbine. I honestly have very little faith in this repair shop. They are the warranty depot for Savage as well as Henry (and maybe more) and there are more negative reviews than positive. I will be stamping my barrel with a “code” that I better not see when it comes back. There were a couple of reviews mentioning doubts that any work was done to their warranty guns.

[Redthies]

It took a bit of time, but I got the .44 BBSC sent off the other day. It should arrive at the warranty depot tomorrow. They are saying a 7-10 day turn around. I made a mark on the underside of the barrel as many reviews of the shop that does Henrys warranty work in Canada suggest that they don’t actually do the work they say they do. I’m unimpressed that Henry uses a shop with 1 star reviews as their warranty depot here.