Henry Big Boy or Winchester 1892 in 45 Colt

If you're gonna buy a .45 Colt rifle, you may as well get the 1892 action for the strength to shoot the hot loads. I don't believe the Henry is able to do this, so I would go with the Winchester. Loading gate=WINNING.

Henry makes good rifles and I love the company, they made a .327 rifle and I'll forever be thankful for that.
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I love the company, too. Made in the USA.

If the Henry can handle the pressures of the 44 Mag, 357 Mag, etc, then they can well handle any "hot" load of a 45 Colt.
 
The Winchester if for no other reason than it has a loading gate. I have Winchesters and I have Henrys. The Henry has an exceptionally smooth action and I like it, but I'd really like it if I didn't have to load it through the tube.
 
I've seen mutliple comments about weight, but i don't think I saw anything about fit. I'd condsidered a '92 clone in .357, but when I was actually able to shoulder one, the stock felt too short (length of pull is around 13" or a little less). Also, the angle of the stock was wrong for me, and, in order to get the correct eye-to-sight alingment, the toe of the crescent-shaped butt plate poked uncomfortably into my shoulder.

Obviously, many people don't have that problem, but it is something to consider. I ended up with a JM Marlin instead.

I later bought a basic Henry .22 (not the Golden Boy type) and that fit me very well.
 
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All good feedback... I'm on the short side, and tend to fit "shorter" rifles better than some bigger guys. Again, in a day or so will be at a range with a buddy that is bringing his 92, so will see how it fits me. I also am leaning towards the Win because I also would prefer a gate rather than tube loading. As silly as it may sound, the "cool" factor loading a gate on the side of the rifle appeals to me more than loading a tube. As for the 1873... didn't even know of that rifle, will look into that.

BTW, as much as I often long for simpler days before all the electronic gadgets, I'm still a sucker for using them. As we speak I'm rolling down I-75 in Georgia (as a PASSENGER!) with laptop in front of me fed from a WiFi hotspot on my iPhone that's grabbing cell tower signal. Life is good!
 
I have two Miroku Winchesters, an 1892 Deluxe in .357 and an 1886 Extra Light in .45-70. Both are beautiful, well-made rifles that have never given me a bit of trouble.

While I don’t own a Henry Big Boy, I have shot a friend’s in .45 Colt many times, and while it also is 100% reliable, it feels about twice as heavy as either of my Winchesters. Subjective, yes, but there it is.
 
and an 1886 Extra Light in .45-70.
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I have more than a couple of lever-action rifles but my Miroku 1886 Extra Light Weight is my favorite. My Savage Model 99, chambered in .358 Winchester, is a close second.
 
DPris said:
Both the brass and steel Henry will handle hot .45 Colt loads every bit as well as the 92 action.
I could mention testing done, but I won't, because some idiot would go too far. :)
Denis
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Does Henry explicitly state that somewhere? I would imagine if they don't and the "Ruger/Thompson Center Only" loads were shot in it and something broke that Henry wouldn't cover it under warranty.

Doubt 1892 lever rifle manufacturers would either, but that action has had many decades to establish itself as being able to handle said .45 Colt loads.
 
I'll tell you this & you can accept or doubt-
Testing has been done in a brass .45 Colt Big Boy that far exceeded any hot .45 Colt load you'll find in any manual or offered by any commercial maker.
The receiver held.

I will not give you specifics.
Henry will not publicly recommend or condone exceeding SAAMI pressures in the caliber, but neither will any other maker I'm aware of, including Winchester or Marlin.

As we all know, both of those actions are strong enough to exceed SAAMI pressures.

If you do something VERY stupid & manage to blow an action with reloads, I'm again not aware of any maker that'll cover your stupidity under warrantee.

The Henry is a strong action, at the very least as strong as a Winoku 92.
Denis
 
Denis, you know the capabilities of Henry's more than I do, so I believe you. I'll have to look into how hot others have run .45 Colt in their Henry's to see what's what.
 
I own a Big Boy 44mag with the brass receiver and 20" barrel. I dont really care for loading gates and Im not ever going to be in a situation where I will need to do a quick reload so it doesnt matter to me. Sure my Henry is heavy but Im a big boy just like my rifle so that doesnt matter either. Its nice when you are shooting hot loads and the recoil is light. I just like the design of the Henry better so thats what I bought. BTW if my Henry can handle hot 44mag loads it can handle anything a 45 colt can throw at it.
 
Henry's not going to give any official statements re specific strengths because of liability issues.
Neither is any other maker.

Internal testing goes on across the industry, but if you want precise limits you'll have to buy a sample & send it to somebody like the White Laboratories for them to test to destruction.

The .45 Colt can safely exceed standard SAAMI pressures for the caliber, IN THE RIGHT GUN, with lower pressures than the same bullet weight in a .44 Mag.

The bigger case capacity can safely produce a hotter load that exceeds the .44 Magnum in ballistic performance.

Both brass & steel Henrys can handle them.

I DO NOT SAY THIS TO ENCOURAGE ANYBODY TO SEE HOW FAR THEY CAN GO BEYOND HANDLOADING MANUALS AT HOME!

Merely to address the earlier comment about the Henry not being as strong as the Winoku.
There are no worries there.
Denis
 
Winchester for me. My buddy has the big boy and it has feeding problems every now and then. Don’t like the tube thing
 
The rifle sights on an 870, especially using the Ameriglo tritium version, looks just like pistol sights. So for someone like me, who spends 90% of my shooting time shooting pistols, it is a very natural sight picture that, for me, has no downsides in terms of speed, even at close range, and some advantages in terms of accuracy at distance.
 
The Winchester 1873 was called “the Gun That Won the West”. It was Winchester’s first centerfire lever action rifle (its predecessor the Winchester 1866 was derived from the 1860 Henry and fired a .44 Rimfire Cartridge). The 1873 was designed around the .44 Winchester Centerfire Cartridge (also called the .44-40). The 1892 was intended to replace the 1873 and has a stronger more compact receiver but the mechanically simpler 1873 can be made to run very smoothly so the ‘73 is very popular with cowboy action shooters.

As an aside, there were no .45 Colt rifles in the 1800s; .45 Colt was strictly a revolver cartridge. If you are going for something that is historically accurate, you would choose a .44-40, .38-40 or .32-20 for a pistol caliber rifle. You also would not choose a Henry Big Boy which is not a replica of any 19th Century Rifle.

At the end of the day, choose the rifle and cartridge that you like, and have fun.
 
There are two features that would be important to me as a hand loader. How tight or loose are the chambers and what is the barrel twist?

It is common for some lever action guns to have twist rates that are inappropriate for the caliber. For an example, a 1/32 twist is just wrong in 357 and 45.
 
I would love to have a Winchester, but around my area, Henry and Marlin are the only show in town, although a Rossi or two may show up every now and then.

That said, I'm very satisfied with my .44 Henry carbine. It never fails to turn heads each time I take it to the range.

Henrysling.jpg
 
At the end of the day, choose the rifle and cartridge that you like, and have fun.
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I got to shoot the Winchester 92 in 45 Colt today at the range and fell in love with it. For my smaller frame and size it fit me perfectly. It was balanced and felt good, light, easy to shoot. Was able to put 6 rounds in a nice 5" group at 50 yards without really knowing the rifle yet, and I'm just not that great a shot to begin with. I do prefer the gate over the tube, but that wouldn't have been something that absolutely precluded the Henry. After reading these posts I think either rifle would have been a good choice. Anyway, I just ordered the Win 1892 in 45 Colt, should have it in 3-4 days. I appreciate all the feedback and info from everybody, it helped me make the decision, and putting lead downrange today convinced me even more.
 
Either one would have been a good decision. Thinking you'll like that '92.
Someone mentioned a 1/32 twist as not very good in .357/.38 and .45 Colt. The Henry's have a 1/16 twist in both. Not sure of the '92, but, it's probably the same. Enjoy.
Edit: the Win '92's are 1/26 twist. Ought to work just fine.
 
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