Q&A New "Original" Henry 44-40 Loading

January 1, 2000

by C.E. “Ed” Harris

New "original" Henry 44-40 loading

Q.- Yesterday my father in law decided he had to have one of the new Henrys, a brass-framed .44-40 cowboy gun.  Ammo is hard to find, but there's plenty of brass out there. What should I load for this gun specifically?  I understand that its “toggle-link” action is not as strong as the ’92 Winchester or Marlin. I want to make up a few hundred Cowboy loads for him as Christmas gifts. That means I won't have access to the gun for slugging or test feeding.... not ideal by any means. So, what would be suggested bullet profiles and seating depth.  I just want a light, fun and safe load.

   A.- Proven recipes which are safe and work, are to use 200-grain .429" bullets in Starline brass, which will chamber in most guns.  Bullets should be seated to as not to exceed 1.59" overall cartridge length.  If using smokeless powder be sure to choose a bullet which has a crimp groove.  A crimp groove is not needed for black powder because the compressed powder charge supports the bullet base against compression of the magazine spring.  When using hard-cast commercial bullets it is important to use a larger diameter than the often recommended .427" because you cannot depend on getting any bullet upset with light cowboy loads.  If you cannot find .429” bullets in the 200-grain Cowboy style, get .428”

  Ideally bullets should be plainbased, designed for the .44-40 cartridge and be cast no harder than wheelweights.  Softer is better.  I use 50-50 wheelweights and plumbers lead with no more tin added than is necessary to get good castings. A BHN of 6-10 usually gives best results with mild Cowboy loads.  For plinking or Cowboy shooting at close range steel targets subsonic rifle loads around 950-1050 fps and 750-800 fps in a revolver are pleasant to shoot and accurate.  Seat bullets and crimp in separate operations.  The Lee Die set with the factory crimp die is what you want. 

   Once you have the rifle to slug bores and test-fit rounds, use the largest bullet diameter which chambers freely and extracts loaded rounds without resistance.  In most MODERN .44-40 rifles the correct bullet diameter will probably be closer to .429-.430" than to the usually recommended .427-.428," which, in my experience, is a sure recipe to lead the bore when loading commercial hard-cast bullets in a modern barrel of nominal ".44 Magnum" dimensions, shooting powder puff loads which won’t upset the bullet.

   If his rifle is afflicted with the common curse of groove diameter greater than .429" combined with a tight minimum SAAMI chamber neck, which won’t permit loading common bullets of sufficient diameter to shoot accurately,  when selecting a mold to cast bullets you should consider the Accurate 43-200Q or 43-200QL designs, which have an enlarged forepart and smaller shank, to ensure safe neck clearance for bullet release.  The enlarged forepart is then sized to as large a diameter as needed to fit modern oversized bores or worn throats of older rifles.  The reduced diameter shank is unaffected by the sizing. 

   The 43-200Q has a small lube groove which is adequate for smokeless powder cowboy loads and hunting loads which do not exceed blackpowder velocity. The "QL" has a larger lube groove intended for blackpowder application.

   In toggle-link actions such as the Original Henry, do not exceed the loads listed for "Group 1" rifles in the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook, 4th Edition, (2010) p. 208.  Good choices are 5.0 to 6.0 grains of TiteGroup or 700-X,  5.5 to 6.5 grains of Bullseye or Red Dot, 6.5 to 8.0 grains of Unique, or PB, 7.0 to 8.0 grains of Green Dot, 8.0 to 9.0 grains of Herco or SR4756, or 22-24 grains of RL7, the latter being intended for rifle use only, because RL7 while permits loading compressed smokeless charges as if you were loading black powder, without exceeding SAAMI pressure limits, it does NOT burn well in revolvers.

  These loads are all proven and "work." Work up cautiously from the starting loads as accuracy indicates.

  High velocity hunting loads intended for the Winchester 92 and Ruger Vaquero revolvers for are a different breed of cat and should be avoided in your Original Henry.  Factory .44-40 loads do dot exceed 13,700 psi and you should heed that advice. - CEH