Making 44 henry rimfire?

[C96 1897]

Hey all

I am considering buying an original winchester 1866 in 44 henry, as it is an antique status, lever action rifle.

Of course ammo is a concern. I can't seem to find any information about making 44 henry, so I am curious if anybody else may know something?

My thought process is to take a 44 special case, drill out the bottom to accept a 9mm flobert case as a primer. But im not sure if that's would work like the smaller 32, 41 rimfire reloadable kits.

I would probably have to ask noe molds in the states to make me a proper heeled bullet design.

Any input on this would be greatly appreciated!

Last point to note, centerfire conversion is not an option here, as if it becomes centerfire, it will lose its antique status, which is the entire reason for owning it in the first place!

 

[wgitt13]

If you have a PAL, a centerfire conversion basically changes nothing ownership wise.

But if it were me personally, i would rather not shoot it than convert a historical piece like that into centerfire. If you go the like offset primer route, you wouldnt be able to use it as a repeater as you need to line up the primer each time, but still likely good fun to shoot.

If you could get your hands on original 44 henry casings you could likely do a similar process to how that one 22lr reloading kit works, where you scrape out the old gunk from the rim, put in a new priming compound, and seat a new bullet.

 

[C96 1897]

If you have a PAL, a centerfire conversion basically changes nothing ownership wise.

But if it were me personally, i would rather not shoot it than convert a historical piece like that into centerfire. If you go the like offset primer route, you wouldnt be able to use it as a repeater as you need to line up the primer each time, but still likely good fun to shoot.

If you could get your hands on original 44 henry casings you could likely do a similar process to how that one 22lr reloading kit works, where you scrape out the old gunk from the rim, put in a new priming compound, and seat a new bullet.

I actually learned that you can reprime rimfire with matches,.. I have done it just because. Maybe that's the best route, to try and find empty shells. But I feel that will be just as difficult as finding live rounds sadly

 

[Moe]

I've seen these rifles sell for north of 100K usd. Are you sure you want to dinker with firing one of these after you spent ludicrous money one an antique Henry 44?

Cheers
Moe

 

[struff55]

Something is missing in this post ?
if you don't have a pal and want to own a firearm ok if you could afford the rifle ammo is out there you certainly could afford the ammo
tell us the rest of the story

 

[257hunter]

If I was dead set on having an antique that I wanted to shoot I’d probably look at a sharps or rolling block in a suitable cartridge. It doesn’t have the advantage of being a repeater but would be much easier to keep fed.

 

[Pelcat]

Interesting choice of antique shooter, considering the cost and rarity of an original Henry. Why not get a Swiss Vetterli?

 

[C96 1897]

Something is missing in this post ?
if you don't have a pal and want to own a firearm ok if you could afford the rifle ammo is out there you certainly could afford the ammo
tell us the rest of the story

Try finding the ammo and get back to me.
I have a PAL , but with the way things are going, having a rifle I dont need any government involvement with for is a nice idea. For me anyways

As for the rifle, im not talking the 100k dollar henry 1860, im talking a winchester 1866, substantially cheaper, I found one for about 7k

 

[C96 1897]

Interesting choice of antique shooter, considering the cost and rarity of an original Henry. Why not get a Swiss Vetterli?

Its not an original henry, its an 1866 winchester. Its a lever action, which i prefer over the vetterli

 

[C96 1897]

I've seen these rifles sell for north of 100K usd. Are you sure you want to dinker with firing one of these after you spent ludicrous money one an antique Henry 44?

Cheers
Moe

Not the henry 1860, the winchester 1866

 

[pmatuk]

made up some last year for a Lee Arms Co in 44 rimfire (1863?),it is a single shot side opening
have to index primer to strike at top ,

 

[Valiant]

I had guys on here tell me that lever actions do not have antique status.
I've googled and could never verify it.

Also 1866 or some of them were centerfire. I'm not sure by Winchester or if aftermarket conversion?

The rimfire I've seen reloaded was with that French kit that uses 22 blank. Problem with lever action would be primer position loading through tube magazine

 

[Valiant]

Try finding the ammo and get back to me.
I have a PAL , but with the way things are going, having a rifle I dont need any government involvement with for is a nice idea. For me anyways

As for the rifle, im not talking the 100k dollar henry 1860, im talking a winchester 1866, substantially cheaper, I found one for about 7k

They will just take everything regardless. They will call it a weapon . Maybe just take it regardless of the law and make you take them to court to get it back.
If pre 98 lever action was antique status then why not buy a 95, 86 or 76?

 

[tiriaq]

No centerfire repeating rifle has antique status. Rimfire repeaters do, unless .22.
Convert a Vetterli to cf, and it becomes non-restricted.
Offset primer cartridges would be problematic in a repeating rifle.
The Ballard action single shots with rimfire chamberings turn up quite frequently. Classic rifles. Offset primers would work nicely in these.

 

[C96 1897]

.

 

[C96 1897]

made up some last year for a Lee Arms Co in 44 rimfire (1863?),it is a single shot side opening
have to index primer to strike at top ,

Im thinking if i do the same as what you did, except a centered 9mm flobert as a primer. Im hoping it would be large enough to be reached by the firing pin without having to align it. But it seems 9mm flobert isn't easy to come across either

 

[Evanguy]

Buy a 1871 Mauser in 43 mauser, buy new brass and go shoot.

That is a simples centerfire antique rifle.

It needs to be single shot, made before 1898 and bore bigger than 8.3mm to be an antique centerfire rifle

 

[Evanguy]

I had guys on here tell me that lever actions do not have antique status.
I've googled and could never verify it.

Here is the info on antique rifles

"Rifles manufactured before 1898 with the following characteristics:

• able to discharge only rim-fire cartridges, other than:
  • .22 Calibre Short
  • .22 Calibre Long
  • .22 Calibre Long Rifle cartridges
• able to discharge centre-fire cartridges (whether with a smooth or rifled bore), have a bore diameter of 8.3 mm or greater, measured from land to land in the case of a rifled bore, with the exception of a repeating firearm fed by any type of cartridge magazine"

https://rcmp.ca/en/firearms/classes-firearms/specific-types-firearms

 

[C96 1897]

Here is the info on antique rifles

"Rifles manufactured before 1898 with the following characteristics:

• able to discharge only rim-fire cartridges, other than:
  • .22 Calibre Short
  • .22 Calibre Long
  • .22 Calibre Long Rifle cartridges
• able to discharge centre-fire cartridges (whether with a smooth or rifled bore), have a bore diameter of 8.3 mm or greater, measured from land to land in the case of a rifled bore, with the exception of a repeating firearm fed by any type of cartridge magazine"

https://rcmp.ca/en/firearms/classes-firearms/specific-types-firearms

A rimfire can be magazine fed repeater. Just not centerfire
The winchester 1866 in 44 henry rimfire qualifies as antique. Check the frt if you dont believe me.

Bore size also doesnt matter if it is rimfire

 

[Evanguy]

^^ yeah that is what I posted in what you quoted.

He said he couldn't verify the info given to him, so I have him the rules around it. The info he was provided was false, but now he can read that from the RCMP website opposed to a random pm containing wrong info.