Henry H012G 44 mag lever action question

[TriggerMan]

Anyone use coated led projectiles to reload for this rifle. Experiencing horrible leading using 240g coated E. KEITH SWC from Missouri Bullet Company. I've used coated lead bullets from MBC in 9mm, 40, 10mm, and 45 ACP for years and have never experienced leading of any kind.

I contacted MBC and was told that Henry micro grooves some of their barrels. He said if that's the case I need to go up in diameter from a .430 to a .431 or possibly even a .432 diameter projectile. Anyone ever heard of such a thing? I will say that when looking down the barrel there appear to be more lands and grooves than normally found in a regular barrel. Not sure why that would have any effect on the actual bore size of the barrel itself. He wants me to slug my barrel and get back to him. I don't have any way to slug the barrel and I'm not crazy about beating a lead swc all the way through a 20" barrel so that's not happening.

Any thoughts or ideas on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Not sure if this belongs in the reloading section or not. I put it here because my main question is about micro groove rifling of the barrel and bore diameter for this specific firearm. Mods please move it if needed.

 

[HawgBonz]

It's been quite a while so this is from my sketchy memory but as I remember:
Slugging the barrel is not a big deal once ya do it one time. Lead is real soft compared to steel and has lubricating properties.
I use a pure Pb oversized boolit/slug and an aluminum or wooden dowel when the need arises.. It should shave on entry.
As far as groove/bore dimeter IIRC I ended up 2 or 3 thousandths over groove on my 45-70 before getting good accuracy and minimized leading.
The gasses going around the boolit are what causes the leading. So ya hafta fill up the whole ID of the barrel.
Make sure ya refer to the bore or groove diameter properly. They're not the same.
There's lots of info to be had at the Cast Boolits site on the subject.. There's some voo doo to it. YMMV. Best.. 🤠

 

[GymB]

Odds are good that the bullets are too small. I’d see of you can order 100 of each larger size and see which shoots better.

But also, it would not be unheard of to find that the barrel is tight where it threads into the receiver. This causes the bullet size to be reduced at that point and then lead heavily once the bore opens up. You can get a good idea about this with a tight patch on a cleaning jag, but better to slug the barrel twice, once from the chamber and back out and once from the muzzle and back out and then compare the slugs.

 

[georgel]

I don't know about Henry, but discussions about Marlin's microgroove shows they run a little over.
Slugging is the only way to be sure and it's either worth it for you to find out or not.

 

[TriggerMan]

I spoke with someone at Henry yesterday. He says that the 44 cal rifles they produce are 12 groove rifling with a 1 in 20 twist. The bore diameter is .424. I'm finding it hard to believe their bores are .424. That's more along the lines of a 44-40 barrel if I remember correctly.

This whole experience has been horrible. The Annaconda had to be sent back to Colt and now I can't shoot lead in the Henry. I should have just saved my $2500 bucks.

 

[GymB]

I spoke with someone at Henry yesterday. He says that the 44 cal rifles they produce are 12 groove rifling with a 1 in 20 twist. The bore diameter is .424. I'm finding it hard to believe their bores are .424. That's more along the lines of a 44-40 barrel if I remember correctly.

This whole experience has been horrible. The Annaconda had to be sent back to Colt and now I can't shoot lead in the Henry. I should have just saved my $2500 bucks.

You can shoot lead in the Henry, just gotta find the right size (and maybe hardness). Some of the companies that sell bullets will sell you sized slugs for slugging your barrel. Chase one of them down and try it. For pounding I like a brass hammer and a brass rod with a little tape on it to help center it, don’t use a cleaning rod or a wooden dowel.