New lever gun... Henry .357 ... Time to test some loads

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stavman11

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FINALY scored my New Toy.... been looking for months..

cabela's got one in on Friday and LUCKILY it was still there this AM

SO excited....

Now I currently Load for my S&W .357...... any reall differences i should plan for with a Rifle in .357

H110 and 158gr of various Types at 15gr is my Current Mag Load
W231 same Bullets at 4.5 to 6gr is my Plinking Loads

Am sooooo happy ta finaly get this... appreciate any feedback on Rifle loads vs handgun loads for this baby..

isnt she Purty

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If the 158s are jacketed, the H110/W296 load should work just fine. I use the same combo in my 20'' Rossi Lever .357. I don't have info on the 231 in .357 brass handy, but one needs to be careful when using low volumes of fast powder in carbines for fear of a stuck bullet, this is especially true with jacketed bullets. I always make sure the load will produce 850 fps outta a revolver or 1000 fps outta the carbine to avoid a stuck bullet when using that load in the carbine. Same goes for .44 mag. Other than that, FME, loads that shoot well outta the revolvers shoot well outta the carbines. I've found my carbines like IMR4227 and jacketed bullets.
 
buck460XVR said:
If the 158s are jacketed, the H110/W296 load should work just fine. I use the same combo in my 20'' Rossi Lever .357. I don't have info on the 231 in .357 brass handy, but one needs to be careful when using low volumes of fast powder in carbines for fear of a stuck bullet, this is especially true with jacketed bullets. I always make sure the load will produce 850 fps outta a revolver or 1000 fps outta the carbine to avoid a stuck bullet when using that load in the carbine. Same goes for .44 mag. Other than that, FME, loads that shoot well outta the revolvers shoot well outta the carbines. I've found my carbines like IMR4227 and jacketed bullets.
Click to expand...
was wondering about Lighter Powder Loads in the Henry

I really like my 158gr Mag loads in my Pistol... so will start with those

And I will be Chronoing a bunch of Loads Tomorrow so will keep the 850fps in the back of my Head

the W231 with 5gr was a bit too tame.... so hoping the 6.2gr will liven it up a bit..... if Not I may try some H110 at about 14gr and see how it works.... I know I dont wanna go too Light with H110 so the 13.5-14 may be at the lower limits

SOOOOOOO excited for tomorrow


Sorry for yer Loss grandpawJ that sucks...... can under stand yer loss... this thing is so pretty and the Action is Flawlessly Smooth

LOVE IT
 
I shoot the same load in my revolvers and my .357 Magnum Marlin rifle. Both rifle and pistols all shoot 158 gr, Hornady XTP's very well. For my loads I prefer Accurate #9 powder and standard CCI small pistol primers. Accurate now uses magnum primers with their load data which is available on-line. Either Accurate #9, H110, Win 296, or 2400 for magnum loads. Keep it simple and shoot the same loads in rifle and pistol. "PURTY" rifle!
 
I have the same rifle. I love it, it'll shoot anything you put in it and shoot it well.

.357 Rounds
It really likes a 150 Grain Cast Semi Wad Cutter
14 grains of Alliant 2400
Mag Primer

Same Bullet and primer with 15.7 grains Win296

I also have some 145 grain cast Hollow Points
over 15.3 gr H-110 (haven't shot them yet)

.38 Special
Cast 125 Grain Fn
Universal @ 4.7 gr
or Titegroup @ 4.3

It'll shoot the 38's all day long. I never thought I'd refer to a 38 Special as a plinking round, but 22LR is hard to find, a man has to do something.
 
I also shoot the same .357 magnum loads in my revolvers and levergun. (I have a Marlin 1894C) Well, all but the 180gr loads I shoot in the levergun only. I don't like shooting heavy bullets in my revolvers because I feel they beat up the revolver for no good reason.

As for middle .357 Magnum loads, I use HS-6 especially with lead bullets. You can download HS-6 better than W296 and it delivers more push than W231.
 
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I have drooled over my Henry at LEAST 20x Tonight


AND buffed the Brass probobly 30x


LOL

cant WAIT ta shoot it Tomorrow:D
 
Some lever action rifles are sensitive to bullet shape and overall length. I have a friend who could not get his Brazilian '92 to feed .38 Specials reliably despite much tweaking, but found that it feeds .357 loads just fine. One of our new shooters bought the same brand rifle; we tried some of "Friend One's" .357 loads in it but it would not feed them.

If you find that your rifle won't feed the LSWC's reliably, I'd recommend a TCFP (truncated cone flat point) bullet. I find that they feed better in my rifles than a round nose flat point which is what some folks swear by.

Avoid pointed tipped bullets in a tubular magazine, of course. Some folks avoid round nose bullets for the same reason.

Some handloaders use heavy crimp only for heavy loads and a light crimp on a light load. For use in a tubular magazine, make sure to use plenty of crimp. Otherwise you might have a bullet get pushed down into the case, causing a major malfunction.
 
Man I have to find a different site.

Now I am going to be researching a Henry in 357 Mag.

Congrats (and thanks a lot)
 
Sweet I'm Jealous

That's the one I want, gotta wait until spring, keep telling myself. That's when the Car payments go bye bye and my gun money comes in. Let us know how you like it once you try it out for a while. If you decide you don't like it let me know. I will gladly take it off of your hands. :D
 
Time ta get Up... get Packed and Get going

testing day Today.......

Cant WAIT!!!
 
WOW!!!! what a GREAT Day, Most Fun I have had in a long Time... man did the Time Fly....... woke up at 5:30 when wife was getting ready for work..... was 54deg out and just Beautiful....
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Set up a target at 25yds, 50yds and 100yds... and Chrono is Ready to Roll and a balmy 63deg.... NICE!!!!

So 1st up the NEW Henry in .357... Tossed in some H110 Mag Loads..... and sent 6 down range at 25yds all free hand standing
THING IS SWEET!!! The Mag Loads have a Nice pop.. .... Seems I am Pulling to the Right
IMG_20131016_083251_787_zpsa209dee6.jpg
2nd Group was some Factory Rounds... Figured i'd need more Brass now :mrgreen:
I focused better but still pulling to the Right
IMG_20131016_084757_796_zpse482d508.jpg

Then i started to Chrono some Loads...... after a bunch thru the S&W .357 I did a Bench rest, arms Only, and managed a Pretty good Group..
5 rounds, notice the double Hole :p factory Rounds
1343fps Avg...1395fps high.... 1273fps Low
IMG_20131016_092948_776_zps6672fd23.jpg
Next up we had H110 15gr.... 3-158gr SWC and 3-158gr RN.....
SWC... 1747fps Avg... 1764fps High... 1728fps low
Same Round in S&W .357 was Avg 1182fps
RN....1714fps Avg.... 1728fps high.... 1689fps low
Same Round in S&W .357 was Avg 1023fps
Not sure which is which... but pretty good, another double hole:D
IMG_20131016_100449_748_zpsced3f9d7.jpg
Last for the henry is 10 Factory Rounds at 50yds, Free hand Standing
Still looks like i favor to the right.... didnt have a small flat head screwdriver... so will try adjusting the site next trip out
Not Bad Though..
IMG_20131016_104319_775_zps9d491f23.jpg

Did some more Chron on W231 loads in the Henry
W231 6.1gr .. 158gr SWC Avg 1317fps.... great load... Nice pop and seemed pretty accurate
Same Round in S&W .357 was Avg 1063fps
W231 6.1gr .. 158gr RN Avg 1208fps... another nice load....
Same Round in S&W .357 was Avg 976fps

Ill check accuracy on these next Range trip... and try a bit lighter load of H110, mainly for the Pistol, but see how they do in the Henry as well...
never did test the 125gr in the henry.... Ill do that Next trip as well


Thing is UBBER Fun.... popped off 10rds at 3 cans at 25yds... only missed 2x.... thing is real accurate... just need ta work on my EYES and The Sites... Gunna Paint the Front tip either White or Orange ta see if it Stands out More...

Now ta prepare my testing of H335 and WC844 for the .223....:D
 
Looks like you have all the toys to have a good time. I cant wait till spring when I can get mine. Thanks for the load data. I think you helped me with my decision. could not decide if I wanted a bolt 223 for target shooting or the cowboy 357. That did it the cowboy 357 is the one.
 
A .357 lever gun has been on my list for a long time. I shot a carbine length lever in .45 Colt and it was a blast. I load for both but 45 Colt has some inconsistency in rim dimensions and it ties up my progressive more often than not, so .357 it is.

You know not how badly I wished I had some load data to share! Nice rifle!
 
Now for some STUPID Fun Times….

Loaded up some W296 for the .357….. 14.2gr dropping from the 15gr… really Liked it… still a NICE POP but not too excessive

W296 14.2gr .357 158gr RN…
1023fps…. Shot real Nice
W296 14.2gr .357 158gr SWC…
1030fps…. Shot very nice as well

W296 14.2gr Henry Rifle .357 158gr RN…
1580fps…. Really Nice Load…..

The Henry Rifle is soooooo Much Fun….. This is at 30yds Free Hand… There is 5 rounds There… SAWEEEEETTTT
Made a HUGE Difference painting the front sight Orange….. increased my Accuracy 10x….
Need more Practice at 50yds and 100yds… so will be fun working on those


IMG_20131022_100115_780_zpsb2aecb76.jpg
 
If you like peep sights look up Skinner sights. Helped my accuracy due to my aged eyes couldn't see the factory sights worth a durn.
 
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