As usual Drifty, nice pics. Yeah, I understand the reason for chambering the repro Henry's in .45 Colt and .44-40, but these aren't exactly rifles that I feel people are relying solely on factory ammo to shoot, so why they didn't bother with shorter rimmed cases like .45 Schofield or .44 Russian as those would have kept the carrier as short as possible. Like, maybe they'd get more sales, but at least make it an option that people could own something even closer to the originals.
It's an issue that's rampant with the lever action manufacturers in that they are not even trying to support the market in providing lever action rifles that can feed and cycle shorter cartridges.
Which leads me to a question for you Drift. How popular do you think lever action rifles would be in CAS if they held an extra 4 to 7 rounds in the tube magazine? Or is there some rule in CAS that lever action rifles can only hold a certain amount of ammunition?
Howdy Again
I can only speculate that Uberti and HRAC chose to limit chambering their reproductions of the 1860 Henry to 45 Colt and 44-40 because of the relative ease of finding those cartridges in local gun stores. Yes, there are shooters who do not reload, and they have to rely on what they can find on store shelves. Yes, 45 Colt is a lot easier to find than 44-40, but I can only assume that was the reasoning. I think a long time ago Uberti made some that were chambered for 44 Special, but those have not been available for a long time.
Over the years there have been calls to chamber the Henry for the much more easily available 38 Special, but that would result in a really heavy gun. My 44-40 Henry with its 24" barrel weighs 9 pounds 15 ounces unloaded. It weighs a full pound more than a Model 1873 Winchester with a 24" barrel. If chambered for 38 Special, with a smaller hole down the barrel, it would weigh even more. That is why the Henry has never been chambered for 38 Special.
Yes, there is some interest in CAS in shooting shorter cartridges in the Henry. In addition to 45 Schofield and 44 Russian, there is the 45 Cowboy Special, which has the same case head configuration as the 45 Colt, but is the same length and has the same interior capacity as 45 ACP.
Here is a photo of five 45 caliber cartridges. Left to right they are 45 Colt, 45 Schofield, 45 Cowboy Special (45CS), 45 Auto Rim, and 45 ACP. The 45CS was developed because so many shooters try to download the 45 Colt with ridiculously light powder charges. Light powder charges that do not do well in a cartridge with an much interior capacity as the 45 Colt. So by coming up with a rimmed cartridge the same length and interior capacity as 45 ACP, but with the same rim configuration as 45 Colt, shooters could load it extra light and not worry about the problems of loading the cavernous 45 Colt case with light loads. Because of its rim configuration, the 45CS can be chambered and fired in any single action revolver chambered for 45 Colt. In addition, when loaded with Black Powder they can load it with far less powder than 45 Colt or 45 Schofield, to save powder and cut down on recoil. (Wimps). When loading Smokeless, the same recipes can be used for 45CS as are used in 45ACP or 45AR.
Anyway, one of our cowboy gunsmiths came up with a special carrier specifically adapted for the 45CS round a number of years ago. It is a standard carrier modified with a spring loaded stop that allows the shorter rounds to be used. He says it can also be used for 44 Russian, if anybody could find a Henry chambered for 44 Special. He also states he has another version that can be used in the 1866 and 1873 models.
https://www.thesmithshop.com/cbs45.html
Frankly, I have always been very happy with my 44-40 Henry, as well as my 38-40 and 44-40 Winchesters. I have never had any desire to stuff in more shorter cartridges. But there are those who feel a little bit closer to history with a shorter cartridge.
How popular would a lever gun be that held more rounds? First off, you would have to convince the manufacturers it would be worth their while. Nobody has done that yet. Frankly, you don't see a whole lot of Henry rifles at a CAS match in the first place, maybe one of two at most. The most popular rifle is still an Uberti replica of the 1873 Winchester. I do not think there would be a whole lot of interest in a Henry chambered for a shorter round such as 45 Schofield or 45 CS. And I doubt if there would be any interest at all in one chambered for 44 Russian. I load 44 Russian with Black Powder for my antique S&W Top Breaks, but I do not know anybody else who loads 44 Russian.
No, there is no limit as to how many rounds a CAS Main Match rifle can hold. Those of us with rifles with 24" barrels can usually stuff 13 44-40s or 45 Colts into one.
However there is a stage convention in CAS that rifles are almost always loaded with only 10 rounds. Years ago we used to have stages where we could load 12 or more, but that put those guys with short rifles or carbines at a disadvantage, so even though there is no hard fast rule, by convention most stages call for 10 rounds in the rifle. Which causes a problem for some guys. We used to have a shooter who had a trapper model of the 1894 Winchester chambered for 45 Colt and he could only stuff 9 rounds in the magazine. He always had to load one round on the clock, which slowed him down. He passed away a few years ago.
Then there is the Henry Hop. There is a finger tab on the bottom of the follower of a Henry rifle. There is an open slot running the full length of bottom of the magazine. The tab extends through the slot. Because there is no loading gate on a Henry, in order to load it you grab the tab and pull it all the way forward, compressing the spring. Then you swivel the false muzzle out of the way to feed cartridges into the front of the magazine.
This photo shows the false muzzle swiveled out of the way. The brass tab is the tab on the bottom of the follower. The magazine spring is inside the false muzzle and is completely compressed.
After loading one GENTLY lowers the follower onto the stack of cartridges. Yes, there have been accidental discharges of cartridges in the magazine resulting from the follower being allowed to slam down with its full spring force on a column of cartridges in the magazine. Yes, it can and has happened. It is also not recommended to hold the rifle vertically when loading and drop rounds down the magazine. I always hold mine at a slight angle on the loading table and allow the rounds to slowly trickle down the tube. Don't ask me how this can happen with center fire ammunition with flat point bullets, I can only tell you that it has happened more than once. I have even heard of one club that has banned Henry rifles because of this.
Anyway, when firing a Henry, every time the carrier strips a round out of the magazine, the follower moves back, no different than any other lever gun with a tubular magazine. Except in the case of the Henry, eventually the tab will contact the shooter's forward hand, which will block the follower from moving back, and prevent the rifle from feeding another round. So most Henry shooters do the Henry Hop. When they feel the carrier tab touch their hand, or if they have enough presence of mind to count their shots, they will regrip the barrel further forward and allow the follower to keep moving backwards. That is called the Henry Hop.
I do not do the Henry Hop. I have a spacer stick that I put in the magazine after I have loaded 10 rounds. The follower shoves the spacer stick which shoves the rounds in the magazine back. I keep my left hand all the way back near the frame, so the carrier tab never quite reaches my hand.
Here is the spacer stick between a column of rounds and the follower.
Here is the spacer stick all the way back, after having shoved the last round onto the carrier. The piece of brass prevents the stick from entering the carrier and jamming it from moving. I hold the barrel just in front of the frame, so the follower tab never quite reaches my hand.
My spacer stick is the same length as 3 rounds. So I am automatically only loading 10 rounds into my Henry every time. In addition, the spacer stick serves as a bit of a safety device. If the hand slips off the follower tab when loading, the spring will propel it faster and faster the further it travels. It follows that the follower will slam into a stack of rounds with much more force, the further it has been allowed to travel. One photo above shows that with my stick in place, the follower has very little distance to move, only about 1/2" or so, if It should slip out of my sweaty hand's grip. I like to think that would not allow the follower to build up enough speed to set off any rounds.
Before you ask, yes, Uberti Henry rifles have a piece of rubber in the end of the follower. I have no idea if it would really help if the follower slipped out of my hand. I do not know if HRAC puts a piece of rubber in their follower or not. I'm pretty sure the original Henry rifles did not have this feature.
I think it's a good caliber for this rifle (24" barrel) but, oh yeah, it is heavy. Later I bought a Miroku 1873 in .45 Colt, a "long rifle" with a 26" barrel but half magazine. It is lighter than the 1866! Probably no surprise. The .38 hole in the 1866's barrel does add weight ... but I wonder if the brass does too. 
