New Cimarron Henry

[DaveInPA]

Last week I ordered a Cimarron (Uberti) 1860 Henry Civil War model in .44 WCF from Buffalo Arms. I picked it up from my FFL yesterday.

Uberti 1860 Henry R.jpg

Uberti 1860 Henry L.jpg

butt.jpg

front-sight.jpg

rear-sight.jpg

I have a sling on order from Dell's Leather Works.

I already load smokeless and black powder .44 WCF for my Cimarron 1873 Sporting Rifle, so I'm set to feed it.

However, I want to load up some .44 Henry Flat equivalent loads (28 grains of BP under a 219 grain bullet from an Accurate Molds 43-215C mold, plus some cornmeal filler so there's no air space). Interestingly enough, I've found Black Hills .44-40 WCF cowboy loads to give .44 Henry Flat ballistics from my 1873's 24.25" barrel, 200 grain bullet at ~1150 FPS. And Winchester X4440 200 grain JSP is loaded to similar ballistics, much less than full power black powder loads. E.g., 35 grains of Swiss 3Fg gives and the 43-215C bullet get over 1300 FPS from the 1873.

I'm hoping to shoot the Henry for the first time this Sunday and will post a range report.

[Lassiter]

Good lookin' rifle! Keep us posted...

[JerryB]

Really nice looking rifle, with your load work sounds like you are about ready for deer season.

[Griff]

Welcome to the Henry club! Enjoy!

[ollogger]

Very nice rifle & yes please show us how it shoots!


Brad

[Rusty]

Nice looking rifle!

[gamekeeper]

Very nice rifle & yes please show us how it shoots!


Brad

+1

[M. M. Wright]

Yep, those are nice rifles and you got my favorite caliber. I too have a 73 sportin' rifle and some others that i shoot black in. Those longer barrels give me trouble by needing a lot of lube to keep the fouling soft all the way to the muzzle. You need a bullet with a huge lube groove or use a grease cookie. A cookie would help fill up the space for your reduced loads. I use card wads that are about 1/8th inch thick over the powder and a grease cookie over that. I pour molten lube in a pan lined with wax paper and let it cool. Then wax paper over the top and use a rolling pin to thin it down if necessary. Powder in the case, card wad compressed 1/8th inch then you can invert the case and cut the cookie out of the sheet of lube. I buy wads from Circle Fly or Walters Wads.

[DaveInPA]

If you use a bullet that carries enough lube you don't need to mess around with lube cookies. An excellent choice is the Accurate Molds 43-215C, which was designed by the late John Kort. Here are a couple that I cast:

AM_43-215C.jpg

They are then pan lubed.

pan-lube.jpg

(Yes, my workbench is a mess.)

The lubricant is a roughly 50/50 mix of beeswax and mutton tallow. I also use this mix for lubricating felt wads for my cap and ball revolvers.

A couple weeks ago I shot my 1873 Sporting Rifle (24-1/4" barrel) in a lever action rifle match. I put 50 rounds loaded with this bullet and 35 grains of Goex 3Fg black powder in Starline brass down the pipe. To clean out the fouling from the barrel afterwards I used 12 patches wet with a mix of Ballistol and water. It took maybe 10 minutes. Cartridges loaded with Swiss 3Fg run noticeably cleaner.

I figure for Henry-spec black powder loads in .44 WCF I'll use the 43-15C with some cornmeal to fill the air space, since I already have plenty laying around.

[RIHMFIRE]

[JohndeFresno]

Great posts, and...
WOW, that is a beautiful rifle.

Talk about a Barbecue Gun!

[Stevie]

Awesome! I want one.

[DaveInPA]

I loaded up 100 .44 Henry Flat-equivalent cartridges today. In Starline brass, I loaded 28 grains of 3Fg Goex, 0.5cc of cornmeal filler, and an Accurate 43-215C bullet, 219 grains as it drops from my mold when cast of 20:1 lead:tin alloy. Primers are CCI No.300 LPPs.

Some of them are in this picture. The rounds with the bullet seated still need to go through my Lee factory crimp die. The rounds in the top three rows show the cornmeal filler, which prevents there from being any air space between the powder charge and the base of the bullet.

44WCF_Henry_Loads.jpg

I should be shooting the rifle tomorrow.

[Pete44ru]

.

FYI: The April 2018 issue of THE AMERICAN RIFLEMAN has an extensive reloading article for the .44-40/.44WCF by Layne Simpson, starting on pp.38.


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[M. M. Wright]

That's a great bullet Dave. Wish I'd bought a 6 cavity instead of 2.

[DaveInPA]

On Sunday I went over to a friend's place and we put 100 rounds through the rifle. 50 of the .44 Henry-equivalent load, and 50 of full-power .44 WCF with 35 grains of 3Fg Goex. The rifle ran smoothly and the bore did not foul out. It took only about 10 - 12 wet patches to clean it afterwards, and no fouling got back into the receiver.

My first 10 shots, taken offhand at 40 - 45 yards, using the .44 Henry-equivalent loads:

first-10-shots.jpg

Most of the time though we shot at an 8" gong. Youtube video: https://youtu.be/eGrbcYg9YjY