44 Henry Centerfire

[treebeard]

After reading an interesting discussion in Madis's book on Winchesters about the factory conversions of the 1866 to the
centerfire versions of the 44 Henry round i was curious to ask this forum if anyone had made up shells in the original
Henry format for use in original or reproduction Henry's or Model 1866's? I know from reading some of the past posts
that various individuals have tried duplicating the Ballistics of the original Henry round with more modern shells.
One of the opinions expressed by Mr. Madis was his belief that a number of 1866 conversions to centerfire were made
in addition to the 1,020 that went to Brazil.I think if I owned one of these centerfire 1866's it would be hard to resist
shooting one.

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

The .44cf Henry cartridge was the same as the .44 S&W American, arrived at from a different direction for the same purpose. I have read that cases can be made by shortening .41 Rem Mag cases. The bullet was heeled, which adds another twist.

[treebeard]

The .44cf Henry cartridge was the same as the .44 S&W American, arrived at from a different direction for the same purpose. I have read that cases can be made by shortening .41 Rem Mag cases. The bullet was heeled, which adds another twist.

So a repro Henry  or 1866 would virtually duplicate the original Henry round if in 44S&W American and loaded with 28gr of
Real BP over a 200 gr bullet.  Thanks for the input Sir Charles.

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[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

So a repro Henry  or 1866 would virtually duplicate the original Henry round if in 44S&W American and loaded with 28gr of
Real BP over a 200 gr bullet.  Thanks for the input Sir Charles.

The .44 Henry cf case has a thicker web than an rf case, for the primer pocket, so perhaps a bit less room for powder. Never tried it personally, I just read a lot. About 10 years ago I bought a pair of British/Canadian issue cavalry spurs from a guy who claimed to own an 1866 in .44H cf.

[Coffinmaker]

Not too long ago, one of our esteemed partners in crime Driftwood Johnson" had an opportunity to fondle an original 1866 chambered and built for .44 Henry Central Fire cartridges.  There were no more than a handful of those guns retained in this country.  A very few have been imported back here.  Now ......
Just for grins and giggles, I put a modified Carrier Block in my .44 Special '66 so it would cycle .44 Russian cases.  Pretty close match for the .44 Henry round.  Shoot it with a pair of '72 Open Tops, chambered for .44 Colt.  Wicked fun to shoot Rifle/pistol combo so close tn what was.
I've also modified 4 of my Henry rifles (.45 Colt) to run Cowboy 45 Special cases which are also fairly close to original Henry cartridge ballistics.
I think you can still get a '66/'73 carrier block from "The Smith Shop" in Rhode Island.

Coffinmaker

[yahoody]

Coffinmaker  sez:  "I've also modified 4 of my Henry rifles (.45 Colt) to run Cowboy 45 Special cases which are also fairly close to original Henry cartridge ballistics.   I think you can still get a '66/'73 carrier block from "The Smith Shop" in Rhode Island."

Did the same on a Henry (just modify the carrier) , a 66 and a short a mag tube '73 with the Smith Shop's C45S carrier block.  Easy to do and suspect the 200g ,45 bullet ahead of a full case of black is as close as most of use will ever get to an "original"  Henry or 66 load.   Works mighty fine with .45acp smokeless loads in that case as well.

Gives you lots of ammo in the guns as Mr Henry and Winchester intended and really fun to shoot!  Guns run cleaner as the added bonus of the smaller more efficient case. 

[kurt1486]

i have a 44 spl henry 1860 rifle i mod to shoot 44 russian with that replacement block. shoots fine and reloads with no trouble. you get a lot of blow back due to the shorter 44 case. i ve tried to get unchamberd 44 /40 barrel so i could have it chambered for 44 russian . but nobody will sell me one. kurt1486

[w44wcf]

Note the primer size in the .44 Henry CF shown

w44wcf

[tommy4toes]

Way cool!!!!


Tommy4toes

[matt45]

I believe Buck Stinson has a 1866 in centerfire.

[Buck Stinson]

My 1866  carbine in .44 Henry Center Fire is shown on the bottom.

Buck

[Arizona Trooper]

One of 'em showed up here in Charleston last winter. It was a bit of a strange bird, 2nd model rifle built back to a carbine. It had a rifle buttstock and rear sight, carbine fore stock with the barrel recontoured, which removed the patent dates, and no saddle ring. Bolt appeared original and was CF, big as life.   

[yahoody]

Believe it or not Navy Arms actually did a small run of US made,  rim fire Henry rifles.

50 made, by Navy Arms in the 1980's. Navy Arms is the only reproduction company that made a 1860 Henry reproduction labeled 44RF (rimfire) on barrel by factory.   Barrel how ever is chambered as a 44/40 how ever with a rim fire bolt.

Was told Navy Arms actually had 44-40 rim fire ammo made as well bitd.

more here:
http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php?topic=50637.0

[Buck Stinson]

Rick Hacker wrote an article in the February, 1981 issue of Guns & Ammo magazine about the Navy Arms Henry in .44 Rimfire.  The title of the article is "The Iron Horse Rifle".  Cutting to the chase, the article was essentially the story of one of the Henry Rifles that had been issued to U.P.R.R. surveyor by the name of Lathrop Hills.  In 1867, he was killed by Indians in Wyoming and his Henry was lost in the sage brush.  After a search that lasted 25 years, a man by the name of Peter Keenan (in 1917) found Hills Henry Rifle, which was engraved on the receiver forward of the side plates, with the letters U.P.R.R.  In late 1981, Navy Arms decided to put out their own version of the famous U.P.R.R. marked Henry Rifles, limited to 100 guns total.  These U.P.R.R. commemoratives were available and chambered in two calibers; .44-40 and .44 Henry Rim Fire.  The article says, and I quote "Chamberings may be ordered in the historically correct .44 Rimfire (for which no commercial ammunition exists) or in .44-40".  Today, these guns are rare.  I saw one on an auction site several years ago, but it sold before I could place a bid.  That gun was new in the box.

[yahoody]

Great story Buck.  Thank you.  I only know about the Navy RF because a buddy has one he bought NIB recently.  Thought the 44-40 chamber odd with the rim fire bolt.  Easy enough (or so he thought) to change the bolt how ever with a Uberti center fire bolt.

[Fox Creek Kid]

I had a buddy in MO that had 4 or 5 of the Navy Arms rifles. I still remember the day in Spring 1982 when I showed him my new Allen Arms Uberti Henry in 44-40 and he damn near cried as the Navy Arms rifles had a '66 screw through the sideplate  

[Major 2]

Like thus

[Fox Creek Kid]

And there you have it.

[Dusty Morningwood]

I have had both a Henry and 66 set up to shoot .44 Russian.  I can only get about 20 gr FFG in case, though.  Henry had carrier face modified to cycle .44 Russian, Special and Colt, even as a mixed magazine load. Rifle was originally .44-40.  Had chamber sleeved for .44 Special to match my Open Tops.  The 66, which came in .44 Special, had a modified .45 Cowboy carrier. 

I know you have seen it before, but below is a video of me shooting 16 .44 Russians out of the Henry.

 http://s89.photobucket.com/user/rudybolla/media/sass/videos/16inHenry.mp4.html?sort=3&o=3

[Fox Creek Kid]

... http://s89.photobucket.com/user/rudybolla/media/sass/videos/16inHenry.mp4.html?sort=3&o=3

That's a great vid.