Henry Big Boy Steel 44mag or 45colt

sprink · Sep 16, 2015

I just got the itch to buy a lever gun. Have always wanted one but now that my oldest son wants me to take him deer hunting next year I want a brush type lever gun to take just in case a black bear or cougar ever gets to close (it's also an excuse to give the wife for needing it)

Which ever one I go with I'll be reloading for it and I don't have a pistol in either caliber and don't plan on getting one. My question is, is either caliber reliably capable of taking SW WA black bears within let's say 25-100yds or should I be looking at a 45-70? I like the idea of the pistol calibers just because they'd be fun at the range too without beating me up.

edslhead · Sep 16, 2015

Might check out the Rossi R92. 454 casull has plenty a stopping power and you can shoot 45colt in it also.

blackadder · Sep 16, 2015

454 is an outstanding round. However, both 44mag and 45colt will do the trick with anything in WA except for maybe a moose. I have a brass big boy in 45colt and Henry stated in an email reply to me that their brass frame will handle any 45colt loads even those for Ruger Blackhawk and TC Contender. Personally I'm comfortable with defending myself with that round on anything in the state.

Bon Sauvage · Sep 17, 2015

You will be well served with this rifle in .44 Rem Mag. I plan on getting one myself as a companion to my .44 Special open top revolver.

oremike · Sep 20, 2015

While I believe the Henry is a fine firearm for the around the same price point you could get a Browning BLR in 358 Winchester. As a reloader you could plink with .357 pistol bullets and hunt with heavy brush busting rifle bullets.

mjbskwim · Sep 20, 2015

I traded for a Vaquero in 45 colt cause thats what the gun shop had coming. And I think it is a good caliber. I bought 454 brass to load some heavy rounds for the occasion I do run into a bad seed in the woods.*** Yes I will be trimming the brass to 45colt length***
And I will get the Henry,mostly cause I hate the side loading of most lever guns,in 45 colt to match the Vaquero.
That said,if I didn't already have the 45 colt,I wold buy the 44mag cause it is almost cheaper to load than the 45colt. And more stuff is available for that caliber

edslhead said:
Might check out the Rossi R92. 454 casull has plenty a stopping power and you can shoot 45colt in it also.

Problem with the Rossi is inconsistency. Sure the one 'you' (whoever) have is golden.
And I had a 45colt before that was golden.
But I have seen about 5-6 different 357s that were from a send back to 'smooth as butter' from the factory. If you buy one you just have to understand you may be sending it back.

mjbskwim · Sep 20, 2015

As far as the calibers being worthy at 100 yards,the longer barrel really changes both to a nice rifle caliber.
I would say with the right bullets 100 yards would be doable.

blackadder · Sep 20, 2015

mjbskwim said:
As far as the calibers being worthy at 100 yards,the longer barrel really changes both to a nice rifle caliber.
I would say with the right bullets 100 yards would be doable.

Depending on the load I'd be happy to go for deer or similar size game at 150m with the 45colt. On smaller game like coyotes I'd push 200m. However, while the velocity is consistent, the bullet really drops off between 150-200m when sighted at 100m.

RVTECH · Sep 20, 2015

I really like my Henry in .357. While I won't debate calibers I WILL say if a steel version would have been available I would have bought it over the brass - but for no real reason other than it looking more 'conventional' but I wasn't going to pass on the brass because it was their and most likely wouldn't have lasted long. If I were going to hunt regularly with it I MIGHT have got a .44 Mag but the .357 is no slouch and loaded properly is very capable of taking deer. Also I already have plenty of .357 components on hand so the .357 was a 'natural' for me.

sprink · Sep 20, 2015

Hey, mjbskwim have you tried any heavy bullets thru your 45colt? I read that Henry doesn't recommend using bullets heavier than 270gr and that was confirmed in a email response I got from Henry. Just curious because I really want to try the 300gr or greater hardcast bullets. Does Henry recommend 270gr or less bullets because of COAL issues or is the twist rate to slow to stabilize the heavier bullets?

Member 5605 · Sep 21, 2015

My next lever will be another 44Mag Big Boy Henry.

You can't go wrong with either of the listed rounds.

I personally do like the thought of 454 in a carbine R92 though. I have one in .357 and had one in .44Mag

Can't go wrong no matter how you slice the bread

mjbskwim · Sep 21, 2015

sprink said:
Hey, mjbskwim have you tried any heavy bullets thru your 45colt? I read that Henry doesn't recommend using bullets heavier than 270gr and that was confirmed in a email response I got from Henry. Just curious because I really want to try the 300gr or greater hardcast bullets. Does Henry recommend 270gr or less bullets because of COAL issues or is the twist rate to slow to stabilize the heavier bullets?

Haven't got one yet,just next on my list

Classic · Sep 21, 2015

You'll quickly be disappointed with the 45LC... Was in Montana at a range with a friend who just got one. He added glass to it (because the stock sights wouldn't hit paper at 50 years they were so far off )so we sited it. Started at 50 yard with a 2 foot splatter target. 5 rounds and had it dead nuts so we moved the target out to 100. The 45LC has so much drop to it the 1st 3 shots were off the paper - low 13" from the bull

I swear I could see the lead travel the last 20 yards without using the spotting scope...
Go mag or go home!

blackadder · Sep 21, 2015

Shoot, that's the best part, seeing the golden streak that is your bullet flying down range. Ok, maybe not the BEST part. But fun, definitely fun.

mjbskwim · Sep 21, 2015

Classic said:
You'll quickly be disappointed with the 45LC... Was in Montana at a range with a friend who just got one. He added glass to it (because the stock sights wouldn't hit paper at 50 years they were so far off )so we sited it. Started at 50 yard with a 2 foot splatter target. 5 rounds and had it dead nuts so we moved the target out to 100. The 45LC has so much drop to it the 1st 3 shots were off the paper - low 13" from the bull I swear I could see the lead travel the last 20 yards without using the spotting scope...
Go mag or go home!

My 45colt rossi with a 24" barrel was perfect at 100 yards.Used Hornady Leverevolution ammo to test the gun. Did excellent
If you use cowboy loads then the rifle length is probably too long