Today I took about a dozen shots with the 44 Magnum and when I went to refill the loading tube, I found that only 7 or so rounds would fit in. That wasn't normal. When I pushed the brass tube in to lock it down, it wouldn't go all the way, stopping about a case-length from the end. I quickly emptied the tube, and when I tried to cycle the lever, I discovered that the action was jammed open. It was obvious that a round had jammed under the carrier that feeds the rounds into the receiver. I called over the range officers to take a look, but they were stumped as well, not knowing how to free up the jam. I told them that the cartridge wasn't in a dangerous position, so I put the rifle back into the case. We were all surprised that it still fit in the Henry case, even though the lever was in the down position. I did a bit of shooting with my NAA min-revolvers, and when I was done, went straight of my local gunsmith.
The gunsmith loosened a couple of screws to give the cartridge a little room to move, then gave the rifle a few good shakes. The round flew out of the tube and the rifle was once again good to go. The problem was that I was now 45 minutes from the range, so my day was shot. A word of warning. DON'T USE WADCUTTERS IN A LEVER ACTION HENRY unless you plan to manually feed them. Too bad, because the wadcutters were shooting great!
4 comments:
Thanks for the tip Bob. I used wadcutters in my .44 Henry but as you mentioned loaded them manually without any issues. I was thinking about filling the tube on my next visit to the range but now am steering clear of that idea. The wadcutters do shoot great, I used linotype 240's behind Blue Dot powder. Shot 1 1/2 to 2" groups at 50 yrds. :)
That sounds like a good group to me with a 44 Mag. I don't think you'll miss your target, unless your objective is to blow up squirrels.
Ha ha ha, blow up squirrels, remember that commercial "Where's the beef"?haha Well, the loads aren't consistent due to "old age shake" Bob ;P but that's the best I've gotten with that load on a bench rest. By the way, have you tried any hard cast RN in your Henry .44, something like Oregon Trail Laser Cast using the 200gr bullet? Would like to see how these would cycle in the lever action without getting hung up. I think I shoot most of the other SWC's in my S&W 629. Now that should blow up some squirrels haha. Take care Bob!! You're a blast.(sorry for the pun)
Joe D
I recently loaded some RN that one of my buddies cast, and I'll be shooting them for the first time the next time I'm at the range. I don't believe they're hard cast. I doubt any kind of round nose will jam in the Henry unless the length is off. It appears that length is the major issue. It will jam if the rounds are too long or too short. I'm sure it will jam and I'll make a point to measure and post the OAL when that happens.
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