Henery 44-40 or 45Colt

[hundy]

I have always wanted a Original style Henry Repeating Rifle. The last few years I have saved and spent my money on firearms either falling of DOJ list or "Evil Assault Weapons". Now I pretty much have most of what I want. I wish I could have purchased most later, but the changing laws, had forced my hand and changed my plans.
Now I am at a point where I am saving for a Henry. I have been looking at 4 different dealers (Henry, Cimarron, Umberti, and Taylors & Co.) I am leaning towards Henry.
Although I know I want the original Henry Rifle, I am not sure about what caliber to get. From what I have read the 44-40 is more original than the more common 45Colt. It seems 45Colt is more available and cheaper than 44-40. I do reload and already reload 45Colt.
So, I was looking to see if anyone has 44-40 and how you like it. Do you purchase or reload?

Thank you
Jay

[Garand Hunter]

44 Henry rimfire was the original Henry cartridge. 44-40 came later, as also the 45 Colt, 45 Colt is much more available in our modern times. If you get one of the more modern Henry rifles you can shoot 44 Special out of a 44 Mag with the choice of two easy to come by calibers. Which one grabs you where its feels better ?

Psalm 1

[M1NM]

I'm going to buy the Big Boy Carbine in 44 mag. It will match my Super Blackhawk caliber.
Get the 45 Colt and follow it up with an older Ruger. You'll enjoy having rifle/pistol combo in same caliber.
The Henry isn't 100% historical - it has a tube you load similar to a 22 rather than a side gate. It is USA made and best of the lot.
I do reload and had a Ruger 44 Carbine. I worked up a load that worked in both. It took a very hot pistol load to reliably cycle the action of the little semi auto.

[Mike0904]

A Henry in 44/40 and some true powder(black powder) is the only way to shoot it.

[smle-man]

.44-40 is a great cartridge but the cases are easy to crush when reloading at the crimping stage. For some reason the cases are very thin. I'd prefer the .44-40 over the Colt myself.

[take two]

I went with the 45 Colt big boy and it pairs well with my 45 Blackhawk . Unfortunately I have yet to start reloading and it's hurting the wallet every time I go to the range. But 45 Colt is available just about everywhere Locally.

[NapalmCheese]

You want an original looking Henry rifle instead of something more modern. Seems to me that's enough reason to get it in the more original chambering of .44-40 instead of .45 Colt.

Then get a SAA in .44-40

[4DSJW]

Hundy, all of my cowboy guns are 44-40 and I like the caliber, but then I don't shoot them a ton any more so I don't have to provide piles of ammo for them, LOL. One difference you will see between the .45LC and the 44-40 is that the 44-40 case will expand more at the case mouth and your chamber will stay cleaner.

The 44-40 is a little delicate to reload, as someone already pointed out the case can be crushed when sizing because of the thin brass. Once you get things set it all goes pretty smoothly. To get a good crimp without bulging the case further down, use a Lee Factory Crimp die, they work great.

If you go with the 44-40 you should slug your barrel. Most modern firearms chambered in 44-40 seem to have oversized barrels and shoot better with .429/.430 bullets, as opposed to the original .425/.427 diameter. If that is the case you will also have to replace your expander with one for a .44 mag/spl.

If you get the Henry you will find out quickly why the 1866 had a hand guard, and you will have to learn to move your forward hand as the follower moves to the rear.

[MongooseV8]

45 Colt. Very versatile round!

[Darto]

Cheapest Henry I know of:

https://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/2084_2108/products_id/718003160/UBERTI+342880+1860+HENRY+45COLT+24.25

The next gun in the series, the yellowboy '66:

https://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/2084_2108/products_id/411534056/A.+Uberti+66+Sport+Rifle+Octagon+barrel+24%22+.45C

[SamGoldstein]

44-40 or 45 colt are not original. There's no 44 Henry Rimfire ammo anymore. So no matter what you choose it will not be authentic. I would get one in 45 colt simply because my single actions are in 45 colt.

[OC_Gunner]

I'm going to buy the Big Boy Carbine in 44 mag. It will match my Super Blackhawk caliber.
Get the 45 Colt and follow it up with an older Ruger. You'll enjoy having rifle/pistol combo in same caliber.
The Henry isn't 100% historical - it has a tube you load similar to a 22 rather than a side gate. It is USA made and best of the lot.
I do reload and had a Ruger 44 Carbine. I worked up a load that worked in both. It took a very hot pistol load to reliably cycle the action of the little semi auto.

The Henry Original is very authentic as the 1860 Henry was also tube fed with a follower. Not loaded through the side gate. The HRA Henry Original is a fantastic reproduction and stays true to the 1860 except for caliber. As others have noted the 44 rim fire is long obsolete. I also vote for the 45 Colt for availability and handgun use.

Enjoy!

[dfletcher]

I have always wanted a Original style Henry Repeating Rifle. The last few years I have saved and spent my money on firearms either falling of DOJ list or "Evil Assault Weapons". Now I pretty much have most of what I want. I wish I could have purchased most later, but the changing laws, had forced my hand and changed my plans.
Now I am at a point where I am saving for a Henry. I have been looking at 4 different dealers (Henry, Cimarron, Umberti, and Taylors & Co.) I am leaning towards Henry.

Although I know I want the original Henry Rifle, I am not sure about what caliber to get. From what I have read the 44-40 is more original than the more common 45Colt. It seems 45Colt is more available and cheaper than 44-40. I do reload and already reload 45Colt.
So, I was looking to see if anyone has 44-40 and how you like it. Do you purchase or reload?

Thank you
Jay

Never pass up the opportunity to add another cartridge to your hand-loading inventory.

[Sutcliffe]

Somewhat agreed

.44-40 is a great cartridge but the cases are easy to crush when reloading at the crimping stage. For some reason the cases are very thin. I'd prefer the .44-40 over the Colt myself.

Get either and your best bet is to load your own. Case life and ease of reloading would cause me to vote for the .45 Colt. Besides, you can load up that large capacity case into some beastly loads that will equal the .454 Casull