Greetings!
If I may throw my own monkey-wrench into this discussion... Many years ago, I picked up a
F. Wesson "Two Trigger" Single Shot Rifle chambered for the .44 Long RF/CF: it has two firing
pins in the breech, and a sliding striker in the hammer-face to enable the shooting of Rimfire or
Centerfire cartridges. Not having a lathe at my disposal, I mulled over all of the existing cases
that could chamber/fireform. I decided on .41 S&W Mag brass, trimmed to .9" (?). The rim was
too small in diameter to be reliably engaged by the extractor, but I managed.
If I recall correctly, I was able to get at least 25gr. BP volume of Pyrodex-P under a Heeled
bullet dropped from an OW mould in my collection ( .431-215gr. RN/FP, .419 heel ). I used an
RCBS ".44 S&W American" Die Set. The shortened brass readily expanded to seal the chamber
with little blow-by. I believe that I saw a ".44 Henry OL Bullet" in his catalogue of Moulds, and
I was thinking of resurrecting my experiments using this bullet...
Now, I believe that M. Venturino mentioned using modified .44 S&WR brass to get an
acquaintances Win 1866 CF Carbine to shoot again, incidentally finding that the groove dimensions
were around .427".
It seems that if One was to rechamber a Henry / 1866 to shoot a cartridge that was "In The
Spirit" of the .44 Henry RF/CF, one could not go too far wrong if he was to sleeve the existing
chamber, take a ".41 S&W Mag Reamer", and modify it to cut a straight chamber, without the
leade for the Inside Lubricated bullet normally .410" in diameter.
Hmmm...
M.T.Marfield