Sixteen Russians in a Henry

Dusty Morningwood · September 20, 2008, 07:10:36 PM

Here is a little video clip of me shooting sixteen .44 Russians out of my Henry. That was sixteen in the magazine. I could have slipped another in the chamber for seventeen

Fox Creek Kid · September 20, 2008, 07:48:43 PM

What was your load? By the way, neat video.

Dusty Morningwood · September 20, 2008, 08:29:34 PM

I load 20 gr volume FFG under a 200 gr Big Lube bullet. Rounds are only 1.190 long and cycle well with the modified carrier.

Silver Creek Slim · September 20, 2008, 09:07:24 PM

Those trailers looks familiar.

. Nice video.
Nice shooting with ya today, pard.

Slim

kurt250 · September 20, 2008, 09:19:59 PM

great video. what modifications did you do to your henry? was there much blow back?how did it effect your marksmenship? please let me know, i have a 44spl. henry and would love to be able to shoot 44 russ. out of it.thanks for any help, gotzguns

ABOYNAMED SUE · September 21, 2008, 01:46:02 AM

I'm impressed. So other than a new follower what else did it take for the 44 russians to function/cycle?

Long Johns Wolf · September 21, 2008, 02:17:20 AM

Congrats, nice smoke. I like your Henry hold. Can load only 15 rounds of .44 Colt in the tube of my modified (carrier only) .44 Special Henry.
Long Johns Wolf

Dusty Morningwood · September 21, 2008, 07:57:45 AM

Oops! Had a typo. Meant to read "Rounds are only 1.190 long and cycle well with the modified carrier." ALso, the carrier has been modified in such a way as to allow it to feed all of the straight wall .44s (Russ., Colt & Spl.).

Dusty Morningwood · September 22, 2008, 10:07:09 AM

Quote from: Silver Creek Slim on September 20, 2008, 09:07:24 PM
Those trailers looks familiar. . Nice video.
Nice shooting with ya today, pard.

Slim

We had a blast, too. It was nice of Dirty Deeds to leave the stage up so we could practice after the match. Will use the Henry as main match at Oconomowoc this coming weekend.

Silver Creek Slim · September 22, 2008, 08:31:13 PM

Quote from: Dusty Morningwood on September 22, 2008, 10:07:09 AM
We had a blast, too. It was nice of Dirty Deeds to leave the stage up so we could practice after the match. Will use the Henry as main match at Oconomowoc this coming weekend.

That is great.

Slim

major · September 22, 2008, 09:34:03 PM

Dusty
Did the accuracy suffer any because of the smaller shell size? I ask because I shoot a 44-40 Henry in competition and we have to hit a 4 inch target at 50 yards. I was thinking of converting my gun to shoot 44 Russian cartridges so I could get more cartridges in the magazine, but if accuracy suffers then there isn't any gain.
Terry

Henry4440 · September 23, 2008, 02:16:52 AM

Great clip.Man, what a big smile at the end.

Dusty Morningwood · September 24, 2008, 06:05:29 PM

Quote from: major on September 22, 2008, 09:34:03 PM
Dusty
Did the accuracy suffer any because of the smaller shell size? I ask because I shoot a 44-40 Henry in competition and we have to hit a 4 inch target at 50 yards. I was thinking of converting my gun to shoot 44 Russian cartridges so I could get more cartridges in the magazine, but if accuracy suffers then there isn't any gain.
Terry

This is the first time I have shot the Russians in it and the targets were typical CAS size and distance. I have not shot for accuracy, but do not see why you could not get it to shoot that well at 50yds.

Coffinmaker · September 25, 2008, 01:25:45 PM

OK, Some additional information.

Dusty's rifle has had the chamber sleeved to .44 Special. The nominal bore diameter, new build guns, .44-40 is .428 +/- .001 without any real consistency. Any one gun may run from .427 to .430 and still be considered "OK." After slugging the bore, select your bullet diameter. The jump from the case mouth to the rifling has little if any effect on down range ballistics when the guns re-chambered to .44 Special.
Shooting .44 Russian cases, in a 44-40 on the other hand is NOT a good idea. The .44 Russian case to too much smaller than the 44-40. The case will not center in the chamber and the bullet will really rattle around in the chamber from case mouth to bottleneck to rifling. There will also be excessive blowby of gasses and split cases which can damage the chamber.
There were only a few .44 Special Henrys built by Uberti and they are hard to come by. The 44-40 can be re-sleeved to .44 Special or .44 Colt (.44 Special is recommended).
When fired in a 44-40 chambered rifle, .44 Russian usually groups "minute of pie plate" at 20 yards. Not at all good. Dusty's rifle should group into about an inch at 50 yards.

Coffinmaker

Dusty Morningwood · September 30, 2008, 03:36:06 PM

Quote from: Coffinmaker on September 25, 2008, 01:25:45 PM
Dusty's rifle should group into about an inch at 50 yards.

In my dreams!

Books OToole · November 24, 2008, 12:44:49 PM

Quote from: Coffinmaker on September 25, 2008, 01:25:45 PM
OK, Some additional information.

Dusty's rifle has had the chamber sleeved to .44 Special. The nominal bore diameter, new build guns, .44-40 is .428 +/- .001 without any real consistency. Any one gun may run from .427 to .430 and still be considered "OK." After slugging the bore, select your bullet diameter. The jump from the case mouth to the rifling has little if any effect on down range ballistics when the guns re-chambered to .44 Special.
Shooting .44 Russian cases, in a 44-40 on the other hand is NOT a good idea. The .44 Russian case to too much smaller than the 44-40. The case will not center in the chamber and the bullet will really rattle around in the chamber from case mouth to bottleneck to rifling. There will also be excessive blowby of gasses and split cases which can damage the chamber.
There were only a few .44 Special Henrys built by Uberti and they are hard to come by. The 44-40 can be re-sleeved to .44 Special or .44 Colt (.44 Special is recommended).
When fired in a 44-40 chambered rifle, .44 Russian usually groups "minute of pie plate" at 20 yards. Not at all good. Dusty's rifle should group into about an inch at 50 yards.

Coffinmaker

Did you do the modifications? If not, who did? I have just acquired a .44-40 Henry that I would like to do the same thing to.

Books

Dusty Morningwood · November 24, 2008, 04:36:38 PM

Books:
Happy Trails in RI sleeved the chamber for mine. Another regular poster on this site (who will remain anonymous for now) modified the carrier to feed .44 Russian through .44 Spl.
Dusty

Sgt. Jake · November 24, 2008, 08:22:59 PM

Dusty When it comes to the unusual,or the difficult,Hap always seems to pull it off,Hap is the Man!! Adios Sgt. Jake

Coffinmaker · November 25, 2008, 10:00:22 AM

Books,

Happy Trails (Bill english) at "The Smith Shop" in RI sleeved the chamber for Dusty's Rifle. I re-built the carrier block to function with .44 Special or .44 Russian interchangeably. I don't sleeve chambers.

Once sleeved to .44 Special, the carrier can be modified to work with the Russian round. Or, Adarondak Jack is offering a Carrier block with a spring stop for short cartridges ($165) but the carrier with the spring stop limits you to short cartridges only. Not necessarily a bad thing, just a limit.

If you have your Henry sleeved to .44 Special, I can modify a carrier block for $30 exchange. It is a hoot to load 16 rounds in a Henry and let 'er rip!!

Additionally, the modified carrier from AJ will allow a .45 Colt Henry to function with the .45 Cowboy Special round and also load 16 - 17 in a .45 Henry. Capitol FUN!!

Coffinmaker

Dusty Morningwood · November 25, 2008, 11:21:05 AM

Quote from: Coffinmaker on November 25, 2008, 10:00:22 AMI re-built the carrier block to function with .44 Special or .44 Russian interchangeably. I don't sleeve chambers.

Once sleeved to .44 Special, the carrier can be modified to work with the Russian round. If you have your Henry sleeved to .44 Special, I can modify a carrier block for $30 exchange. It is a hoot to load 16 rounds in a Henry and let 'er rip!!

Hey Coffinmaker:
Now that I hooked 'em, you can reel 'em in!!

My next test will involve loading a mixed magazine of all three .44s and see how it works.
Dusty

Sixteen Russians in a Henry

Henry4440