Coverting .45LC to .44 Henry Flat, photos

[Halfway Creek Charlie]

I just ordered (along with some other stuff)a few of Buffalo Arms 44 Henry Flat C.F brass. 2 of the R &D type and 2 of the original Chamber type, so I can compare them to the 44 Russian brass and to see if the original Chamber ones will be able to be used it the Conversion Sleeve. basically I want to see what Cartridge brass they are made of. Also I want to see if the Old West Moulds 248 Grn bullet will fit in the original Chamber type Brass.

I'm still waiting on Clymer's for my cutting tools. I know the 44 Colt was a 5 week wait, but the ones I ordered that were on hand should have been shipped last week and weren't.

So with the wait, my conversion of my Henry is on hold.

[Ottawa Creek Bill]

Halfway....
When you get the Henry  cases....can you measure them and print the specs here? I'd like to know how close they are to the Russian and .44 colt.

Bill

[Halfway Creek Charlie]

OCB,
Sure Will!
That's the main reason I bought a couple of each. To check them out. It's worth a couple bucks just to check them out.

I think the Original Chamber 44 Henry Flat CF is made from .220 Swift Brass, but I don't know for sure. That's what the Handloader's manual of Cartridge Conversions (John J. Donnelly) book I have says to use. I don't think the OWM 248 Grn bullet heel will fit this case without Modification. The original Heel of the 44 Flat C.F. was .423 Dia., OWM bullet heel is .429 Dia.

The R &D 44 Henry is anyone's guess but I'm betting 44 Russian. Cuz you only have to take .072 off the length to approximate the 44 Henry Flat C.F. and the OWM bullet will work.

BTW the R &D 44 Henry C.F. brass are a lot cheaper($.32)than the Original Chamber Brass($1.20). So I burned 3 bucks so we all could find out for sure.

I should have my order here by weeks end, it was shipped Monday.

[Tuolumne Lawman]

I think Venturino says to use .41 Rem Mag brass cut down.

[Halfway Creek Charlie]

I got my order in from Buffalo Arms today and i have the info on the Henry C.F.brass they sell.
Two kinds. one for R & D  and one for original cartridge chambers.

44 Henry C.F. for R &D
41 Rem Mag Case
Rim Dia. .486
OAL .9775
Rim Thk. .056
O.D. at Mouth .430
i.D. at Mouth .405
Base O.D.(at Rim) .432
Cost $.32 each

44 Henry for original chambers
44 Spcl Brass
Rim Dia. .510
OAL .88
Rim Thk. .053
O.D. at Mouth .443
I.D. at Mouth .411
O.D. at base(at rim) .447
Cost $1.10 ea.

Neither of these will accept the Old West Mould 248 Grn (modified Nose bullet). As I suspected the 44 Russian is the closest we can come to the origina 44 Henry Flat C.F. today without a lot of cost and more modification to the bullet heeled base. Both of these cases have considerable play in the 44 Henry conversion sleeve that OCB sent me. I'm gonig to go with the 44 Russian case. I'll figure out later if I want to trim it .o72" to match the .88 dim of the original Henry Case.

[Halfway Creek Charlie]

Here's a picture of the 44 Henry for Original chambers along with the 44 Russian cased 44 Henry Flat that I'm looking at.
the big difference is the Case Dia of the HFOC. You have to take the dia of the heel down to get it in the case and then the drive bands are larger dia .451 than the case .443-.447 whereas the 44 Russian is the same as the drive bands on the bullet.



                                    44 Henry Flat (OC)                     44 Henry Flat (Russian Brass)
                                          with OWM                                   With OWM
                                    Modified nose bullet                      Modified nose bullet

[Halfway Creek Charlie]

Waiting for tools to arrive from Clymer is making me bored! I need the one cutter to finish Tubac's Whitney that is here for work. I put everything on hold until I could finish his work......that is until yesterday when the boredom overtook me and I tore my Henry down, took the bbl off and did the conversion.

The conversion went really well and straight forward.
Drill out the chamber. Ream the chamber. Silver solder in the Sleeve that OCB(Thanks Bill) sent me. Cut off the excess and draw file to match the breech. Cut in the extractor notches. Just a hint of chamfering the chamber mouth to get rid if the sharp edge. and I'm ready to reassemble the rifle.

Before I re assembled, I defarbed the bbl. Since it was "antiqued" with something to take most the blue of in places I de blued what was left and reblued with Birchwood -Casey's Super Blue. It'll look well used in a hurry.

I re-assembled the rifle this afternoon and she cycles the 44 Remington/Colt C.F. like it was made for them. It extracted them great too. I tried the 44 Henry Flats(44 Russian Brass Old West Mould bullet(modified Nose) that I have made up. It did great with everything but the carrier did hang up twice(out of 6) because of the short cartridge length.
So to Shoot the Russian brass and the OWM bullets I'll need to revamp the carrier. I'm thinking a cross screw in the carrier. or perhaps another carrier made up for that cartridge.