NOE Cast Bullets in Henry .44 Mag Rifles

Bearded Phil

Bearded Phil

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Joined
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Arizona
Well, I thought I'd never do it, but when Sportsman's had Henry H012GCC's available to ship to store for $1069 ($1179 after tax out the door), I couldn't pass it up.

So now I have a .44 mag lever gun, and .44 mag is a new cartridge to me. I'll be shooting cast exclusively and casting my own.

What I want to know from the group is this:

Does anybody have any experience with these specific NOE moulds and Henry .44 mag rifles?

432-240-WFN-CF5 4 cavity PB | NOE Bullet Moulds

noebulletmolds.com noebulletmolds.com

SC432-267-RF-Z4 4 Cavity PB | NOE Bullet Moulds

noebulletmolds.com noebulletmolds.com

My concern lays in the OAL required for feeding from the lifter to the chamber without issue. I've found that for .357 Mag my wide flat nose casts need to be at 1.575" or shorter to not get caught up on the way into the chamber. Those .357 bullets have a nose length of .300" and a .280" wide meplat.

If the same holds true for feeding .44 mag, the NOE mould 432-240-WFN-CF5 with a .305" long nose and .340" meplat (meplat a tad over 78% of body diameter, close to the .357 bullets) seating to 1.575" would require brass trimmed to 1.270".

With the SC432-267-RF-Z4 the nose is .275" long and the meplat is only .312" wide, so that leaves more room for case trim length and seating depth. A case trimmed to 1.28" could be seated to 1.555" and still line up the mouth with the crimp groove.

So what do you all think? Anyone used either of these moulds in their Henry? What OAL do you seat to? If you have a similarly shaped bullet you use I'd be interested in experience with those too.

I'm sure folks will have a lot of suggestions of other manufacturer's moulds, but for the record I'm going to get an NOE mould. I like supporting Al and I think his moulds are the best around.

Oh, and course...




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The Noe 240 wfn feeds from my Rossi 92 perfect. I have not needed to trim brass .It’s a really nice bullet . It shoots well for me . I’m planning to do accuracy test soon.It shoots very well in my super Blackhawk also.
 
Shooterbob said:
The Noe 240 wfn feeds from my Rossi 92 perfect. I have not needed to trim brass .It’s a really nice bullet . It shoots well for me . I’m planning to do accuracy test soon.It shoots very well in my super Blackhawk also.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing, Shooterbob.

Any chance you'd sell me some raw casts of that 240gr? DM me if you think you can swing it, I'd only want 6lbs.
 
Starting out on a new caliber I look at the Lyman cast book and buy their mold till I got it down. Then branch out and spring for a noe or Arsenal. Best of luck
 
Not a direct answer to your question but My Henry is finicky on feeding if action cycled slowly. Cycle in a vigorous motion all is well. Take that into account while evaluating your own ammo selection.
 
ctdair1 said:
Not a direct answer to your question but My Henry is finicky on feeding if action cycled slowly. Cycle in a vigorous motion all is well. Take that into account while evaluating your own ammo selection.
Click to expand...

Always good advice!
 
Bearded Phil said:
Well, I thought I'd never do it, but when Sportsman's had Henry H012GCC's available to ship to store for $1069 ($1179 after tax out the door), I couldn't pass it up.

So now I have a .44 mag lever gun, and .44 mag is a new cartridge to me. I'll be shooting cast exclusively and casting my own.

What I want to know from the group is this:

Does anybody have any experience with these specific NOE moulds and Henry .44 mag rifles?

432-240-WFN-CF5 4 cavity PB | NOE Bullet Moulds

noebulletmolds.com noebulletmolds.com

SC432-267-RF-Z4 4 Cavity PB | NOE Bullet Moulds

noebulletmolds.com noebulletmolds.com

My concern lays in the OAL required for feeding from the lifter to the chamber without issue. I've found that for .357 Mag my wide flat nose casts need to be at 1.575" or shorter to not get caught up on the way into the chamber. Those .357 bullets have a nose length of .300" and a .280" wide meplat.

If the same holds true for feeding .44 mag, the NOE mould 432-240-WFN-CF5 with a .305" long nose and .340" meplat (meplat a tad over 78% of body diameter, close to the .357 bullets) seating to 1.575" would require brass trimmed to 1.270".

With the SC432-267-RF-Z4 the nose is .275" long and the meplat is only .312" wide, so that leaves more room for case trim length and seating depth. A case trimmed to 1.28" could be seated to 1.555" and still line up the mouth with the crimp groove.

So what do you all think? Anyone used either of these moulds in their Henry? What OAL do you seat to? If you have a similarly shaped bullet you use I'd be interested in experience with those too.

I'm sure folks will have a lot of suggestions of other manufacturer's moulds, but for the record I'm going to get an NOE mould. I like supporting Al and I think his moulds are the best around.

Oh, and course...




H012GCC-1

H012GCC-1


H012GCC-2

H012GCC-2


H012GCC-3

H012GCC-3


H012GCC-4

H012GCC-4

Click to expand...
Here's where I stand, grab a small sample pack and try them before you order the mould, or collect moulds like me because they don't fit. My 45c can feed cartridges far beyond Sammi length with the noe 454 wide meplat boolit. I jump before I test, wich isn't the smart or cheap way....
 
I can't imagine anything less than 300gr being an issue. Even the Ruger 77/44 will feed the Cast Performance 320gr.
 
Weight isn't the concern, mostly just the wide flat nose getting jammed up on the mag tube well when feeding.
 
Not trying to scare ya off cast, but I have only found one so far that will function through the action on my Henry. It's the Lee 429-240. I have two hundred PC'ED and GCed ready to load, just haven't had time to set up for testing. The dummy round feeds just fine though.

Believe me, I have around a dozen different molds between Lee, Lyman/Ideal, H&G, and MP. REALLY wanted the MP hollow points to work.

There is also the Accurate 43-240A was recommended by Tom as well as several other folks. I haven't acquired that one (yet).

Due to that issue I have been using mostly the Sierra 240gr. It does well on hogs and deer.
 
41 Mag said:
Not trying to scare ya off cast, but I have only found one so far that will function through the action on my Henry. It's the Lee 429-240. I have two hundred PC'ED and GCed ready to load, just haven't had time to set up for testing. The dummy round feeds just fine though.

Believe me, I have around a dozen different molds between Lee, Lyman/Ideal, H&G, and MP. REALLY wanted the MP hollow points to work.

There is also the Accurate 43-240A was recommended by Tom as well as several other folks. I haven't acquired that one (yet).

Due to that issue I have been using mostly the Sierra 240gr. It does well on hogs and deer.
Click to expand...

No worries there, nothing is scaring me off of cast bullets, haha. There's always a solution.

Shooterbob is sending me some samples of the NOE 240gr WFN which will go a long way in seeing if it's a mould that will work for the rifle.
 
Bearded Phil said:
No worries there, nothing is scaring me off of cast bullets, haha. There's always a solution.

Shooterbob is sending me some samples of the NOE 240gr WFN which will go a long way in seeing if it's a mould that will work for the rifle.
Click to expand...
A standard rnfp is booring but always works. I test .430 to start and .431 is probably the best...
 
Can't wait to see your results. I am going to get the MP-Mold 432 Hammer HP plain base. Its 250 grains and can be a solid, deep hollow point or a shallow hollow point. It's going to get the test treatment in my brothers Henry 44 mag and his SAA revolver. Hope things work out for you.
 
Bearded Phil said:
Weight isn't the concern, mostly just the wide flat nose getting jammed up on the mag tube well when feeding.
Click to expand...

CraigC said:
It isn't the weight so much as the length. As I said, I never met a ~240gr bullet that wouldn't feed through a levergun.
Click to expand...

Phil
Can you clarify this for me(and I’m assuming others)…
I read your statement as jamming on the well when loading thru the gate, and not while running the lever…?
My 1894 Marlin needed a tad of caressing on the mag well/tube with a Dremel to rectify a loading situation……
 
Every bullet I have made a test round for has run through the side gate and into the mag tube just fine. The issue is with the length from nose to crimp groove, as well as the diameter of the the meplat.

Above where I posted having a dozen different molds, that is only for the 44mag, it doesn't include the others. This in about half of what I cast for that can be seen, the top shelf is mostly, 4, and 6 cavity H&G,
20240420_094427.jpg


Here is the issue with the MP Hammer seated in the crimp groove,
20240420_093203.jpg

As can be seen the lip of the meplat hits squarely on the bottom of the chamber not allowing it to feed into it. This is due to the length and it CAN be seated deeper to allow it to, but I'm not sure it would hold up in the magazine without being in the groove.

This is the Lee 429-240 next to it for comparison,
20240420_093350.jpg
 
41 Mag said:
Every bullet I have made a test round for has run through the side gate and into the mag tube just fine. The issue is with the length from nose to crimp groove, as well as the diameter of the the meplat.

Above where I posted having a dozen different molds, that is only for the 44mag, it doesn't include the others. This in about half of what I cast for that can be seen, the top shelf is mostly, 4, and 6 cavity H&G,
View attachment 1205739


Here is the issue with the MP Hammer seated in the crimp groove,
View attachment 1205741

As can be seen the lip of the meplat hits squarely on the bottom of the chamber not allowing it to feed into it. This is due to the length and it CAN be seated deeper to allow it to, but I'm not sure it would hold up in the magazine without being in the groove.

This is the Lee 429-240 next to it for comparison,
View attachment 1205744
Click to expand...
Looks like a little more lift would help you feed better. Is there any slop in the linkages. Tuning lever guns is a black art like folding fitted sheets. I try and look for wear items to fix problems not get crafty with grinding on feed ramps.
 
Unlike SAAMI specs for .44 magnum handgun at .429" groove diameter, specs for .44 magnum rifle groove is .431". If you go cast in a .44 carbine, you'll probably have to go fat.
 
Other than the copper smear on the load gate it is still pretty new. Probably doesn't have 75rds through it yet, but does have a buck and hog to it's credit.

Like I mentioned above I initially wanted to run cast through it, but haven't found anything but the Lee bullet that will function through. We happened to run some Sierra's through it when we got it and they shot plenty good enough to hunt with. We loaded up a hundred of them and haven't shot them all yet.

If the Lee shoots well, I will probably use the rest of the Sierra's in my Redhawk or Contender.
 
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