Henry 1860 . 45 or 44-40 ?

[mr phil]

     Howdy ! I am new here. I am planning on getting a 1860. I already have a .45 cal ruger single six. So I would like to use the same caliber.  But my question is would there be any reason that a 44-40 would be a better choice. I see alot of you all have them in the 44-40. Also a friend of mine has a 44-40 1860 that he might sell. I have been shooting IDPA and am outfitting myself to start reloading. I want to shoot SASS and already have the ruger vaq. in 45cal.   So what do you think ? 
I guess it also depends on what my friend will sell his 44-40 for.

[Will Ketchum]

If your ever going to shoot black powder in the rifle I would go with the 44-40 since the thinner wall helps seal the breech better and this helps prevent blowbye which fouls the breech block.

If your not going to shoot BP then having the same caliber as your revolver makes sense...then again a brace of 44-40 revolvers might be down the road .  If you get into reloading the 45 is slightly easier to reload since the case is thicker and you can buy carbide dies for it.  The 44-40 being a slight bottle necked case there isn't carbide dies and so you need to lube the cases.  In actual practice I put the cases I'm going to load in a zip lock and give a short spritz with an aerosol case lube and tumble them in my hands for a bit.  I then put them on a sheet of paper towel and roll them around on it.  You don't need much lube with this round.  I know some who lube only about every 5th case but I would probably forget and get a stuck one in the die .  Anyway I load hundreds of each and probably ruin 1 44-40 case out of a couple hundred which is probably twice as many as I would with the 45.  I really don't think it's an issue.

If you can get a good price on the 44-40 that might be the way to go.

hope this helps.

Will Ketchum

[mr phil]

   Thanks Will . I will look into what the 44-40 might go for.  Any thought which is more accurate. 

[Fingers McGee]

If your ever going to shoot black powder in the rifle I would go with the 44-40 since the thinner wall helps seal the breech better and this helps prevent blowbye which fouls the breech block.

If your not going to shoot BP then having the same caliber as your revolver makes sense...then again a brace of 44-40 revolvers might be down the road .  If you get into reloading the 45 is slightly easier to reload since the case is thicker and you can buy carbide dies for it.  The 44-40 being a slight bottle necked case there isn't carbide dies and so you need to lube the cases.  In actual practice I put the cases I'm going to load in a zip lock and give a short spritz with an aerosol case lube and tumble them in my hands for a bit.  I then put them on a sheet of paper towel and roll them around on it.  You don't need much lube with this round.  I know some who lube only about every 5th case but I would probably forget and get a stuck one in the die .  Anyway I load hundreds of each and probably ruin 1 44-40 case out of a couple hundred which is probably twice as many as I would with the 45.  I really don't think it's an issue.

If you can get a good price on the 44-40 that might be the way to go.

hope this helps.

Will Ketchum

+1.  My Henry, '66 Carbine, '73 Short Rifle, and Lightning are all 44-40 and shoot BP or subs. I only take the sideplates off once a year to clean the dust out.  And, one caliber isn't inheritantly more accurate than the other IMHO.

Fingers (Shlw Me MO smoke) McGee

[sharps50/70]

The people who shoot Henry's in N-SSA skirmishes feel that the 44-40 is more accurate then the 45.  We all shoot only black powder in the Henry's, no substitutes allowed.

Rich

[Fox Creek Kid]

Almost every person I've known who bought a lever action Win. clone in .45 Colt & shot real BP regretted that they'd not bought a 44-40. Sure, there are ways to make one shoot .45 Colt w/o "blowback" but they are a pain in the rear & extra work. The 44-40 seals up at the case mouth like the proverbial duck's butt on a pond. 

[Bristow Kid]

My Henry is a .44-40.  Not because I wanted that caliber but I couldn't pass up the deal I got on it.  My 92' clone is 45 Colt and I have shot real BP and subs in it.  and I HAVE NO REGRETS If I could have found a Menry in 45 Colt for the same deal I got my .44-40 for I would have taken it cause all my other guns are 45 Colt.  At CAS distances I doubt there is much difference with accuracy between the 2 calibers.