Uberti Henry 44-40 Conversion to 44 Special/Colt

Daniel Dodge · July 13, 2016, 04:35:02 PM

Howdy Gents,

I had the pleasure of meeting Colorado Coffinmaker over the weekend at a shoot and we talked guns a little. I asked about converting my Henry to 44 special and he said it could be done with a chamber sleeve.

I have a 66 in 44 Special that runs 44 colts like a champ with no modification. I was wondering who out there could do a conversion to my Henry to sleeve it down to a 44 Special/Colt. I talked to Gary Barnes and he is too swamped right now to take it one.

Anyone know someone who has done this before or a good smith who has done it. What kind of funds would I be looking at?

Thanks for yer comments,
DD

major · July 13, 2016, 04:38:45 PM

What size bullet is you 44 Spl.? If it is .429 to .430 you might only need to modify the carrier block.

Daniel Dodge · July 13, 2016, 04:42:12 PM

I load and shoot .428 to .430s in my 44-40, so the barrel is the same as the modern 44 special or modern 44 colt.

major · July 13, 2016, 04:46:55 PM

Looks to me like all you have to do to your Henry is modify the carrier block to cycle a shorter shell. I have been known to do this modification to a Henry when we modify them for blanks. Send me an email and we can discuss it further.
t.schultz5@roadrunner.com Or check out this article http://www.9thnycavalry.webeditor.com/publications/henry_article.html

Terry

Coffinmaker · July 13, 2016, 09:35:20 PM

Ah not quite there Major. The 44-40 and the 44 Special are just a mite different. 44 Special case is much smaller in diameter than 44-40
and considerably shorter as well. Simply changing out the Carrier Block will NOT get it done. There will be NO gas seal at all resulting
in very erratic burn of propellant, HUGE amounts of Blow-By, and very little velocity. Not a championship idea.

44-40 to 44 Special requires a chamber sleeve be inserted. Then the chamber cut for 44 Special. THEN you can add the Carrier Block
for a short round such as the 44 Russian. (A dandy choice for the Henry Rifle).

Coffinmaker

Abilene · July 13, 2016, 10:03:07 PM

And while you would need a modified carrier for 44 Russian, the 44 Colt is long enough to run in the stock carrier.

major · July 13, 2016, 10:20:04 PM

Quote from: Coffinmaker on July 13, 2016, 09:35:20 PM
Ah not quite there Major. The 44-40 and the 44 Special are just a mite different. 44 Special case is much smaller in diameter than 44-40
and considerably shorter as well. Simply changing out the Carrier Block will NOT get it done. There will be NO gas seal at all resulting
in very erratic burn of propellant, HUGE amounts of Blow-By, and very little velocity. Not a championship idea.

44-40 to 44 Special requires a chamber sleeve be inserted. Then the chamber cut for 44 Special. THEN you can add the Carrier Block
for a short round such as the 44 Russian. (A dandy choice for the Henry Rifle).

Coffinmaker

Sorry
I wasn't aware that the 44 Spl. case was that much different than the 44-40. (aside from the bottle neck on the 44-40) I know that some have tried using a 44 Russian in a 44-40 with some success.
So if the chamber needs to be modified have you tried Bobby Hoyte for a reline?

Buck Stinson · July 14, 2016, 09:30:49 AM

A full reline is not necessary as bore size is the same for both .44 Special and .44-40. However, Coffinmaker is correct about the chamber sleeve. There is a vast difference between these two cartridges, so the chamber must be sleeved and then reamed with a .44 Special chamber reamer. I'm not sure why the carrier would need any modification, unless the carriers in the later guns has changed. I say this because I have one of the first Uberti Henrys ever imported into this country. Caliber is .44-40, serial number is 1826 and it was sold through Allen Firearms in Santa Fe, back in the early to mid 80's. Factory .44 Special ammo with feed through the tube and carrier without a hitch, I just can't chamber them. I would think that any gunsmith who works on old vintage firearms could and would sleeve the chamber on your Henry.

Pettifogger · July 14, 2016, 11:53:28 AM

Quote from: Buck Stinson on July 14, 2016, 09:30:49 AM
A full reline is not necessary as bore size is the same for both .44 Special and .44-40. However, Coffinmaker is correct about the chamber sleeve. There is a vast difference between these two cartridges, so the chamber must be sleeved and then reamed with a .44 Special chamber reamer. I'm not sure why the carrier would need any modification, unless the carriers in the later guns has changed. I say this because I have one of the first Uberti Henrys ever imported into this country. Caliber is .44-40, serial number is 1826 and it was sold through Allen Firearms in Santa Fe, back in the early to mid 80's. Factory .44 Special ammo with feed through the tube and carrier without a hitch, I just can't chamber them. I would think that any gunsmith who works on old vintage firearms could and would sleeve the chamber on your Henry.

If that is true you may want to rethink this conversion before you sink a lot of money into it. The early Uberti Henry's have a different bolt and firing pin extension than the later ones. There are no replacement parts for the early models. The firing pin extension is larger in diameter on the old ones than the new ones so, obviously, the hole in the receiver is also larger. I know because I have one in the closet that the bolt is defective and I have been mulling over how or if to try and fix the problem.

Mike · July 14, 2016, 07:02:14 PM

You say the bolt is larger so frame is bored larger than new guns, could you not sleeve the frame and use a new bolt. Dont have a very old 66 ore 60 but would like one just because.

Pettifogger · July 15, 2016, 12:26:55 AM

Quote from: Mike on July 14, 2016, 07:02:14 PM
You say the bolt is larger so frame is bored larger than new guns, could you not sleeve the frame and use a new bolt. Dont have a very old 66 ore 60 but would like one just because.

Anything can be done with enough time, money and effort. The question is, is it worth the time, money and effort? After the sleeve is inserted you would have to line bore and ream the hole to precise size.

wildman1 · July 15, 2016, 04:14:56 AM

Or start with it the proper size and use a pilot when it is inserted. wM1

Daniel Dodge · July 15, 2016, 09:49:08 AM

I've asked about half a dozen smiths and none of them want to take it on so far.

Coffinmaker · July 15, 2016, 05:55:25 PM

Well. Now I've done it. But it wasn't my fault. I don't think.. Maybe it was. I forget .... but anyway

Have you talked with Roy Bertalotto at RVP Precision?? Dandy good Machinist. I believe he can make something out of nothing. He's
that good.
Google up RVB Precision and be ready to spend the next day or so prowling around his site. If I were to ask someone to sleeve a 44-40
chamber to 44 Special, He be the one I'd ask FIRST.

You get your pistols back yet??

Coffinmaker

Daniel Dodge · July 15, 2016, 08:28:11 PM

Thanks Coffinmaker, I'll look him up. My pistols were supposed to ship yesterday. We'll see...

wildman1 · July 15, 2016, 08:53:33 PM

He is an excellent machinist but I don't believe he will work on someone else's guns. wM1

Coffinmaker · July 16, 2016, 02:31:08 PM

Daniel,
Luck. Like the famous line from "Star Trek the Movie" Let me know what you get back. "IM" is good.

Coffinmaker

Seth Hawkins · October 07, 2016, 09:00:32 AM

I did something similar to this with my old Henry. It started life as a 44 WCF. I wanted to convert it to a cartridge that more closely replicates the original. Rather than rechambering the .44-cal barrel, I replaced it with a .45-cal barrel and had a custom chamber made for it. It now shoots my version of the .44 Henry Flat CF - a .44 Colt case with a 225 grain heeled .45-cal bullet with a single large lube groove. It looks identical to the original cartridge, but is not quite identical in dimensions. At the time that I created this modification and cartridge there wasn't a readily available solution to using the shorter .44 Russian case. Had there been, I would have used that cartridge as I believe it more closely matches the specs of the original Henry cartridge.

While I was at it, I had all the Italian markings removed from the barrel and the correct barrel markings applied to the top flat. I even had "44 Henry" engraved in script between the rear sight and the frame in the position where the originals had their SN's stamped.

My 1872 Open Top revolvers are chambered for this same cartridge - just as the originals were.

And it should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway, that they all shoot nothing but Black Powder.

Mike · October 07, 2016, 01:08:48 PM

Pictures of the finished round would be nice to see.

Seth Hawkins · October 09, 2016, 07:34:26 AM

On the left is my .452 dia. 225 gr heeled 44 Henry Flat CF in a .44 Colt case. On the right is a 165 gr heeled bullet in a .44 Colt case that I use in my Open Tops. Although the pistols are chambered for the Henry round, I shoot the lighter bullet in them as it puts less stress on the guns. I shoot the guns frequently in SASS.