Henry rechambering

[FriscoCounty]

Couple of things you need to remember when comparing cartridges.  The .44 Henry was a rimfire.  The .44 American, .44 Russian and .44 Colt were centerfire and would originally have been balloon cases.  The .44 Special (AKA .44 S&W Special) and the .44 Magnum (AKA .44 Remington Magnum) were introduced late enough that they would have started out as solid head cases.

Rimfire cases will hold more powder than the same size balloon head case which will hold more powder than the same size solid head case.  That is because in a rimfire case there is no space inside the cartridge taken up by primer and primer pocket.  In balloon head cases there is space around the primer pocket which will hold powder.  Solid head cases are solid up to the flash hole.

The old .44 S&W (AKA .44 S&W American or .44 American) would not have been called American until the introduction of the Russian version of the .44 S&W was introduced.  Until then it would most likely have been .44 for the S&W Army Revolver, or just .44 S&W.  Originally the S&W No 3 was chambered for the .44 Henry until the Army suggested a center fire cartridge would be more reliable.  The .44 S&W was developed in response to that.  Its slightly longer case was necessary to keep the powder capacity inline with the .44 Henry.

The .44 Russian was adapted from the .44 American, but used a inside lubed cartridge, that is the lube groove were protected by the case and the bullet was the same diameter as the inside diameter of the case.  The previously cartridges were outside lubed, heeled cartridges - the base of the cartridge had a shoulder that slide into the case, while the top portion was the same diameter as the case.  The .44 Russian case was basically the same as the .44 American, just slightly longer to accommodate the bullet's  lube grooves now being inside the case. 

A solid head case will hold about 10 - 15% less black powder than the same balloon head case.

Cartridge       Bullet    BP Cap  Introduced
.44 Henry      210gr    26gr     1860
.44 American 225gr    25gr     1869
.44 Russian    246gr    24gr     1871
.44 Colt        215gr    28gr     1871
.44 Special     -            -        1907
.44 Magnum   -            -        1950

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Frisco;  Thanks for filling in the details.

A trivia question.  Which of these cartridges we have listed is not in the DIRECT lineage of the .44 Henry?

2d trivia question;  What does the word "FLAT" often attached to the Henry cartridge mean?

signed;
Charlie the Hijacker

[Drydock]

1-.44 colt, developed seperatly for the Colt Richards Conversions

2-the first .44 Henry rounds used a pointed bullet.  Later a flat nosed bullet was used, called the .44 Henry Flat nose, soon shortened to ".44 Henry Flat".

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[FriscoCounty]

signed;
Charlie the Hijacker

This isn't hijacking.  It may be a little tangential, but it does help explain why some of us really like the idea of having an 1860 or 1866 in .44 Russian or .44 Special. 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Here is a photo that may help a little bit in this discussion. Left to right in the photo, the cartridges are 44-40, 44 Special, 44 Russian, 44 S&W American, 44 Henry Rimfire, 45 Schofiled, and 45 Colt.



Frankly, I can't quite understand why so many folks are so concerned about shooting a different cartridge in their rifles and their pistols. I have been shooting 45 Colt in all my pistols and 44-40 in all my rifles since day one in CAS. Almost ten years now and I ain't tried to stuff a 45 into my rifles yet. Ya just have to pay attention at the loading table. Knock wood. If I can tell a 45 Colt from a 44-40 at a glance, I can't quite see how somebody is going to mistake a 44 Special for a 44-40. Just look at the photo. Sure would be cheaper than all that work to customize a Henry.

It also helps to have a loading block like this. Keeps my ammo organized and helps prevent mistakes. Yes, all my 44-40 ammo gets a black stripe across the case head to help keep them straight.

[Long Juan]

Thanks much for all the discussion on this topic.  It has been interesting and informative.  At least for me, let me try to bring the discussion to a close.

1.  I have given up on converting a .44-40 Henry to .44 Special.  I do not own a .44-40, but was thinking of purchasing one and having it rechambered.  I do not own anything in .44-40 and do not reload .44-40.  I also asked a gunsmith about converting my .45LC Henry to .44 Special and he said, no can do. 
2.  I am familiar with all of the .44 and .45 cartridges.  The reason for wanting a .44 Special Henry was mostly to simplify my reloading and packing for a match.  I generally reload and shoot either .44 Special or .45LC in CAS matches (exception is .45-70 when I shoot GAF category).  I think it unlikely that I would try to load a .44 Special in a .45LC rifle, but it would be easier to do than if it were .44-40 versus .45LC. 
3.  Unless Uberti or someone else makes a .44 Special Henry in the future, I will simply shoot either my .44 Special 1866 or my .45LC Henry with my .44 Special Conversions/Open Tops. 

Thanks again for all the feedback.  This is a great forum.