Can the Henry Big Boy shoot hot Buffalo Bore .45 Colt?

T

TruthTellers

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Been batting around either a Rossi or a Henry in .45 Colt. Intend to shoot higher pressure ammo in it (i.e. Buffalo Bore) and 300 grain XTP handloads using published data.

Basically what I'm asking is can the Henry's take Ruger/TC only .45 Colt loads?

I know the Rossi can, that's why I've been leaning towards that rifle, but I also know the Henry's are more accurate and IMO makes them more worth the higher price tag.

Also, that new Big Boy X is exciting to see Henry making a side gate in a revolver caliber.
 
The Big Boy is already chambered in .44 Magnum which gives a big clue as to the strength of that modern firearm.

On the other hand, my Rossi said .454 Casull on the barrel and I never had to wonder. Let me take that back- I wondered if there was really any difference other than running the chamber reamer deeper and the roll mark on the barrel between that rifle and their .45 Colt.. they say ‘special metallurgy and alloy’ but they cost the same and how many of these thing did they sell? Skeptical.

My observation is that shooting Casull loads out of that light lever gun was brutally unpleasant and got worse as the weight of the ammunition was diminished (or my shoulder and face got tenderized, not sure which or what combination.) Don’t let light weight be a positive factor in your decision, those stout 300 grain loads kick really hard. I immediately loaded down to Ruger Only .45 LC and recoil was still a bit much.
 
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I called Henry once and tried to get a pressure tested rating out of them--they wouldn't take the bait, but what they did tell me is if a modern marlin can take it--so can their's.
 
I’d suppose a Henry and a Marlin to be generally comparable, strength-wise. That said, Henry does chamber a carbine in 327 Federal Magnum. That’s a high pressure round.

Either way, the action isn’t in the same league as a Ruger No. 1 for strength.
 
MZ5 said:
I’d suppose a Henry and a Marlin to be generally comparable, strength-wise. That said, Henry does chamber a carbine in 327 Federal Magnum. That’s a high pressure round.

Either way, the action isn’t in the same league as a Ruger No. 1 for strength.
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Gee whiz, I can't imagine ANY lever action that is as strong as a Ruger No. 1 is, but I'm not looking for Ruger No. 1 levels of strength.
 
I looked at Buffalo Bore's website and they say that some of their ammo is safe to shoot in the Big Boy, but any of the 300 grain or heavier loads won't cycle properly due to their length.

So, I think I'm going to contact them and ask them if they'd be safe to shoot in the Henry single loaded or if the Henry isn't capable of shooting them at all. I'm inclined to believe that the Henry can shoot them since they didn't explicitly say they weren't safe to shoot them, but assuming is never a smart thing to do when it comes to things like this.

Also, the length issue wasn't one I was thinking of and if the Henry can't cycle 300 grain bullets like the XTP, it's not much good to me given that's one load I was specifically planning to shoot in it.

Anybody know if the Rossi's can cycle 300 or 325 grain bullets?
 
I have a few handloads in my .454 Casull-chambered Rossi R92 that are over 2000ft/lbs of energy with 300 grain slugs.

I think the Rossi .45 Colt R92 are very strong actions, only lead dimension different from the .454 Casull as far as I know.

It's the only lever-action I possess, but I think it is plenty accurate with certain loads.

Blue1
 
I've been doing some thinking the past week on what I want in a .45 Colt rifle. I do still want a lever action for the purposes of power and capacity, thus if I want to shoot heavy bullets, I may be stuck getting the .454 Rossi even tho I may not be able to shoot standard 200 or 250 gr bullets from that.

So, if I do still want a .45 Colt rifle to shoot 250 or 200 grain or lighter stuff, I figure that may be one good reason to get one of the Rossi Circuit Judge rifles or maybe get a Pietta Buffalo and figure out a way to attach a pistol brace to it.

Thinking outside the box!
 
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