My new Henry UPDATE: Range Report AND Match Results

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy Boys & Girls

I finally picked up my Henry yesterday. It has been languishing at my very understanding dealer's shop for a long time, and I finally picked it up yesterday, unfortunately too late to be of much use this season.

Here are some photots:









Ain't she pretty?

Here are the specs: Steel Frame, from Dixie Gunworks. 44-40 caliber. Changed out the factory lifter and lever spring for Whisper Springs, other than that everything is still stock. I can see I'm going to want to lighten the hammer spring a whole lot too.

I slugged the barrel last night and it is right about .429. Really right around .4288. Guess I'm going to have to come up with a separate load than my .427 load for my '73. The '73 needs an over long round, and they wouldn't even run through the Henry. Perhaps down the road I will be able to come up with a load that will be compatible for both rifles, but for now I need to make up some .428 and .429 normal length loads and run them through it. The last match of the season is on Sunday and I want to show off my new acquisition.

[Major 2]

One day  maybe , I'll have a Steel frame too...
Congrats , it's a looker

[Cannon Fodder]

DJ

I got one just like it  about 4 years old (45lc from Taylors) and I love it!  It has been used in several reenactments and now has some "character marks " on the stock.  I used it twice here in Ga in the last month. At Jonesboro, I tried to keep up with my old unit that were portraying federal dismounted cavalry. I found out that this old man  just  couldnt keep up with them.  I did a rear guard action  firing 14 rounds  until I took a  "hit" (gun was empty )  and the "johnies" ran over me. What a Blast!
The second event was a reenactment of the Battle Of Chickamauga where I got to be the personal bodyguard of a major general.
CF

[Tuolumne Lawman]

Howdy,

Try a .428 dia. 200 grain (Meister or Lasercast) bullet over about 32 grains (volume) of 777.  That's what I use.  My Heavy load is 35 grains of 777. Shoots like a dream.  An absolute tack driver! Also the same bullet over  HP-38 or WW-231, though I will check and see how many grains of these smokeless powders I used to use.

Some 44-40 Ubertis slug about .429.  If you use Winchester brass, which is thin, it works OK. If you use thick brass  like Remington or 3D, they stick.  I found .428s work with all brass in the UBerti's I have.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy Tuolumne Lawman

This Henry will never see any Smokeless powder, and hopefull never see any subs either. Nothing but Goex, or whatever else I can lay my hands on for me, as long as I can still lay my hands on it.

Bullets aren't a problem either. I cast my own Mav-Dutchmans and can size them to whatever size I want.

[Tuolumne Lawman]

Howdy,

Try .428s and 35 grains volume of Goex FFFG with CCI magnum pistol primers in Starline brass.  As I did not cast for the 44 WCF, For bullets I used Meister SPG lubed .428/200s over a card wad. That's the load I used before I started with 777. 

Now BP is hard to get in PRK (Peoples Rebublic of Kalifornia), and expensive, so I just save the Goex for blanks in my 1860 Colt and Sharps 1863 carbine for my Civil War re-enacting.  I am also making some BP blanks for the Henry using 38-40 brass and a modified lifter.  Rolling the mouth on the 38-40 with a .45 caliber round nose bullet seating die deletes the necessity of a star crimp die, and makes it easier to re-use them.  I put green crumble foam in before I roll the case mouth.

I tried FFG with the .38 WCF and the .44 WCF, but did not get the consistancy that I got with FFFG.  Also, if you don't already have one, get a LEE factory crimp die.  It will give you consistent crimps on the 44-40 and help with consistancy and group size with the Goex. Using the factory crimp die with and original 1873 carbine I had cut my group size in half over what it was using a roll crimp. I realize I am probably not telling you anything new, but just though I would summarize the end result of 10 years shooting black powder cartridge in SASS.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Tuolumne Lawman

My normal load for the 44-40 is 2.2CC of FFg, no matter what the brand is. 2.2CC of Goex FFg weighs about 34.5 grains, 2.2CC of Elephant FFg weighs about 37.5 grains. And if I get ahold of some Schuetzen this year, I will weigh out 2.2CC and find out how much it weighs. The key is, 2.2CC gives me the compression I want with my favorite bullet, the Mav-Dutchman. As far as the Lee Factory Crimp is concerned, yes I have one, but I never use it. I am one of the few people left on the planet who believes that if a standard seating/crimp die is properly set up, there is no reason in the world why perfectly satisfactory crimps cannot be produced the old fashioned way, with a conventional seating/crimping die, all in one step.

I usually use Winchester Brass and Winchester Large Pistol primers. I really don't see any need for Magnum primers with Black Powder.

But thanks for your advice. I will try both .428 and .429 bullets in my .429 bore to see which works best. I may even try some .430 if I can locate a sizing die of that diameter.

[Silver Creek Slim]

Great looking gun, pard.

Slim

[litl rooster]

   Mr. Driftwood,


                    It'sSweet....Nice wood and metal.................
  Going to put whisper springs in mine tonight or tomorrow night so I can test it this weekend.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Seth

My good pard Happy Trails, who ought to know about these things, says the steel does indeed have a thin, harder layer at the surface with softer steel down inside. So in that sense, it is case hardened. However he suspects the colors are induced by a chemical process, rather than by the heat treatment. It is not a bone type of case hardening. Perhaps a Casenite, or similar type of process. So, yes it is case hardened, but not in the same fashion as the time consuming and expensive processes used by Colt and others.

Rugers, on the other hand, are heat treated so that the steel has a consistant hardness completely through the metal, and the colors are simply applied through the use of chemicals.

[stepnmud]

 Driftwood Johnson, Very nice Henry. know yer gonna just love shooting the Henry and rightly so with blackpowder loads.
I couldn't tell from your pic, but I was looking at the brass cresent butt plate and it seemed more rounded on the top end point, more than my brass frame Henry and after viewing a couple originals here in Houston at a big gun store, I notice that these original Henries had more of a rounded top point on the cresent plate, so I had to get out a file and round off mine just a bit. those original Henries were listed as 1st and second models and know the iron frame was the first of the Henries, maybe four hundred produced beforegoing to the brass frame.
I had not used a Lee crimp die until this year when I purchased a pair of Uberti Model P's in the 44WCF to go with my older Henry and a '73 Uberti. Never needed the Lee crimp in the rifles, but them revolvers were more finicky. Any way I cast my own 210 gr. and pan lube and have wonderful accuracy, but lately I have been shooting more and casting less and been using the Desperado bullets  in .430 200 gr., the Desperado bullet has a slight angle below the crimp groove and really don't need the Lee crimp for the Desperado's , but do on my home cast bullets. I also use the Winchester brass and RCBS dies and with the .430 bullets I use a Lee flair die from a 44Mag/special set cause the RCBS won't quite flair enough. I'd like to put the Henry on a 200&300 yrd. range and see what it can do on paper targets with blackpowder.

[Driftwood Johnson]

stepnmud

You are correct, the crescent buttplate on my Henry is more rounded on top than most. According to Happy Trails, who is a good friend, and just happened to the dealer who ordered the Henry for me, the first few hundred iron framed Henries had a more rounded top point on the butt plate than the later brass framed versions. One of the comments Hap made to me when he first saw the gun was that he was inpressed that Uberti had indeed gone to the trouble to include that detail in my steel framed version. Hap is the gunsmith who does the conversions of Henries to the transitional model with the side loading gate. He always has a few Henries in his shop, and he was kind enouogh to supply me with this photo of my Henry along side a brass framed version:



You can see that the blued steel buttplate on my Henry is indeed more rounded over on top than the brass buttplate on the brass framed version.

To be completely truthful, I do not think it is historically accurate that Uberti did a color case job on the action of my Henry. All the photos I have been able to find of the few iron framed Henries that were made had blued frames, not case hardened. At first I was considering removing the colors from mine and having the frame blued, to make it more authentic. But after seeing how nice the colors are, I will probably leave it alone, despite the fact that it is historically innaccurate.

[stepnmud]

Like that picture alot, thanks. Can also see the diff., in the comb on the wood as per originals.
Have seen a few of the original brass frames up close and personel, but never an iron frame. Would like to hear from someone on the lenght of finger lever throw on an original compared to the Uberti's.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy Boys

Here's the range report. I spent the best part of Saturday at the range. Of course, I had a ball. I had loaded up ammo with 3 different diameter bullets, .427, .428, and .429. The .427 bullets were the same Mav-Dutchmans, lubed with SPG that I always use in my '73, and were stuffed with FFg Goex. I had made up these loads some time ago. The .428 and .429 were some Mid-Kansas BP bullets that a friend gave me a few years ago. These were stuffed with FFg Elephant, the last that I had laying around. I made up a spacer stick for the magazine from a piece of 1/2" dowel and a little bit of brass rod I had laying around.

I set up a bunch of targets at 40 feet. Then I started methodically trying all 3 loads with 5 shot groups. I had brought along my '73 too, for some comparisons. To tell you the truth, I haven't really gotten the micrometer out yet to compare the groups made with the different diameters. They are all pretty good. Anyone of the bullets would be completely acceptable for CAS. I did notice one thing though. I suddenly had a flyer with the Mid-Kansas bullets, and took a look at my bore. I had put maybe 20 rounds of Elephant FFg through the bore at this point. It was completely crudded up! Those Mid-Kansas loads with 2 little lube grooves just don't keep the fouling soft like the Big Lubes do when shooting dirty BP like Elephant or Goex. I completely cleaned the bore, and the accuracy came right back. After that, I cleaned the bore after every 10 shots, and went back and reshot some of the earlier groups.

At the end of the 40 ft stuff, I walked the targets out to 50 yards and fired one 5 slot group with each diameter bullet. With bright sun glinting off the front sight of the 'crude' Henry factory sights, and my own myopic vision, I was completely satisfied with the performance of all 3 diameters at 50 yards. I didn't bother walking the targets out any farther, I can't see that far.

I saved the best part for last. With maybe 40 rounds left of the .427 Mav-Dutchmans, I set up some paper plates at about 25 feet, a pretty good approximation of CAS distance. Then I loaded up 10 rounds, put in my spacer stick, stood up on my hind legs, and unloaded the gun, CAS style! This was mostly to get a little practice operating the gun the way it is supposed to be operated, but also to impress the other shooters at the range. There were plenty of ooohs & ahhhs! The Henry performed like a champ, making one big ragged hole in the paper plate. I repeated this 3 more times until I was out of Mav-Dutchmans. It was a relatively cool day, but at the end of this, the barrel was a little bit warm. I still have to work out exactly where I am going to place my hand to avoid my hand while levering, but still not interfere with the follower. The heel of my hand in the hollow of the receiver seems about right for now.

So. I have to study the targets in a little bit more detail to see if it really matters what diameter bullets would be best for my .429 groove diameter, but I have a lot of confidence in that Henry's heavy barrel.

I made a mistake about the last match of the year being on Sunday. Turns out the last 2 matches of the year are next weekend, Saturday and Sunday. I'm hoping for good weather for me and the Henry. Instead on Sunday I cast up 600 more Mav-Dutchmans. I can see I really need to get a Star lubrisizer now, my RCBS is just too slow and tedious.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy Pards

Just wanted to fill you all in on how the new Henry is performing.

I have had the opportunity to shoot it in 3 matches now. It works like a charm, and I am getting more confident in loading it safely and shooting it. I can't fault its accuracy either.

I used up some more of those skimpy 2 groove bullets last week. They definitely foul out the bore much more quickly. I have gone back to my tried and true Mav Dutchman's and the accuracy lasts far longer. I sized some up at .428 and loaded up 3 boxes worth for the matches. I would have sized them to .429, but I only had a dies for .427 and .428. Unfortunately, I have a few boxes of 44-40 loaded up 'extra long' the way my '73 likes them, and they are too long to run through the Henry. I will be working this winter on coming up with one confuguration of 44-40 that both the Henry and the '73 like.

Yesterday was truly the last match of the season. We shot an 'Iron Cowboy' match at Candia in New Hampshire. Each stage required 2 rifles, 4 handguns, and one shotgun. The perfect opportunithy to shoot my '73 and the new Henry. Each stage required 20 rounds of pistol ammo and 20 rounds of rifle ammo. The shotgun requirement was from 6 to 10 rounds per stage. I made up a special new loading block just for the match, with space for 20 rounds of 45 Colt pistol ammo and 20 rounds of 44-40 rifle ammo. I was using up as much of the 'long length' 44-40 in the '73 as possible, so I had to keep my '73 44-40 ammo separate from my Henry 44-40 ammo.

The match organizers were optomistic about how many stages we would shoot that day. They planned on 6. What with a lot more shooters than they planned on, and much bigger posses, we only got through half of the match by 2 PM, and the match director called it a match and we all went for lunch. But everybody had a good time.

With 3 matches under my belt with the Henry, I've pretty much decided I need to do something about the sights. I'm really used to the brass bead and semi-buckhorn on my '73. That 'silver' front sight completely dissapeared on some light colored targets, and I had some trouble finding the tiny notch in the rear sight. I may just file the rear notch larger, or I may install one of those semi-buckhorns that track of the Wolf sells. I haven't decided yet. I hate to remove the factory sight, I may need to shoot a buffalo at long range, but I'll have to see if practicallity wins out over style.

Sure have had a lot of fun with the Henry so far. I have gotten a couple of scratches in the butt now, but I was carefull to place a hanky on the ground so it didn't have to sit in the mud when staged vertically.

[Ransom Gaer]

Driftwood,

Which one of Tracks sights are you talking about?  I was lookin' at a Henry here recently and since I am going to get one after Christmas I was thinking I need to replace that rear sight.  That is one thing I don't like about that rifle.

That iron frame looks really good.  I still haven't decided whether to go the regular brass or iron receiver.  Gonna have to make a decision here quick.

Thanks,

Ransom Gaer

[Driftwood Johnson]

Ransom Gaer

This is the sight I am talking about:

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/(S(1qglmc55zpf4id45mzfu1f45))/categories/PARTDETAIL.ASPX?CATID=14&SUBID=167&STYLEID=764&PARTNUM=RS-PM-1

Unfortunately, it will probably have to be mounted backwards if I get one. There is very little space between the dovetail and the frame on my Henry:



A friend of mine mounted this sight on his Henry. He had to mount it backwards because there was not enough space to mount it normally. I suspect I may have to do the same.

There is a long range silhouette match coming up this weekend. I normally bring my Sharps. But I may bring the Henry this time. There is a pistol caliber lever gun category, and the targets are set out at 100 and 200 yards for the leverguns. I would probably need the original sight flipped up to ring the steel at 200 yards. I won't change out anything until I get a chance to play at long range.

[Ottawa Creek Bill]

Driftwood,
A lot of the original and replacment sights were mounted on the receiver. You see a lot of them in old photos with the dovetail in the barrel left there. thats an option.

Bill

[Ransom Gaer]

Driftwood,

I was on Tracks website last night and saw two different sights than the one you're thinking of.  That's why I was asking.  That one you're looking at may well have to be mounted backwards.  Anyway that looks like another option for me.  Thanks.

Ransom Gaer

[Will Ketchum]

Driftwood, like I think I mentioned before I have that very sight on both my 66 SRC and my Henry.  I didn't have to mount them backwards on either gun.  My Henry measures 1" from the front of the frame to the back of the dovetail.  The sight measures 3/4" from the back of the sight to the rear of the dovetail.

As OCB mentioned many of the early original Henries had their rear sights mounted on the receiver.  I had a dovetail cut in my receiver but my old eyes just couldn't use them.  If you look in the Madis book you will see guns with more than one dovetail cut in them.   If I recall correctly this was quite common to find on original longrifles.  As the owner's eyes became more farsighted they had the sights moved further down the barrel.  I would have a new dovetail cut before I would mount a sight backwards.  I hope this is of some help.

Will Ketchum