Henry Rifle Forums

This group was shot bench-rested at 30 yards with my fresh-out-of-the-box All-Weather .44 Magnum. The ammo was Federal Hammerdown 270 grain. This was shot with the factory sights unadjusted, just to get an idea of how this load would group and the mechanical accuracy of the gun.

That's four rounds, the flier on the left is just me. I'm very happy about the three rounds on the right all touching. I recently ordered and received a Skinner Express peep sight that I plan to install this weekend and possibly re-test to see if I need to get a taller front sight. (It's the receiver-mounted sight model, I've heard it's fairly common to find that the factory front sight doesn't play nicely with receiver-mounted peeps.)

Where I live in east-central Wisconsin, Hornady Leverevolution and Federal Hammerdown seem to be the more "affordable" options for readily-available hunting ammo. If any of you fine folks have other recommendations, I am open to suggestions. (I do want to load my own eventually, but I need more space for a relaoding bench.)

I've been happy with Hornady Leverevolution in .30-30. Maybe that carries over to .44mag.
Don't know anything about the performance of Federal Hammerdown. But I [edit] wouldn't use their Nickle plated brass for reloading.
I also haven't been all that happy with Federal CoreLokt.

Mags wrote: ↑

Sat May 10, 2025 9:18 pm

I've been happy with Hornady Leverevolution in .30-30. Maybe that carries over to .44mag.
Don't know anything about the performance of Federal Hammerdown. But I would use their Nickle plated brass for reloading.
I also haven't been all that happy with Federal CoreLokt.

I shot a doe last year at about 20 yards with the .44 Leverevolution out of a Ruger Deerfield carbine. It punched a quarter-sized hole in the ribs where it entered and dropped her on the spot. I can't complain about that load at all, but I have heard one or two people complain that it didn't cycle well in their particular rifles.

Nice grouping. I'd be REALLY happy with that myself.

Frank84 wrote: ↑

Sat May 10, 2025 9:36 pm

Mags wrote: ↑

Sat May 10, 2025 9:18 pm

I've been happy with Hornady Leverevolution in .30-30. Maybe that carries over to .44mag.
Don't know anything about the performance of Federal Hammerdown. But I wouldn't use their Nickle plated brass for reloading.
I also haven't been all that happy with Federal CoreLokt.

I shot a doe last year at about 20 yards with the .44 Leverevolution out of a Ruger Deerfield carbine. It punched a quarter-sized hole in the ribs where it entered and dropped her on the spot. I can't complain about that load at all, but I have heard one or two people complain that it didn't cycle well in their particular rifles.

The sometimes cycling issue I've seen with Hornady FTX in .45 Colt in my Henry 45 Colt Rifle. A bullet really meant for a revolver.

Nice group there, I can't help much on the ammo as I don't remember the last time I shot any factory 44 mag. ammo.
I've shot some of the Hammer down ammo in one of the 444's and it shoots well, I haven't been able to better it in a cast bullet, but I have with some jacketed stuff. The Hdy LVR ammo in 35 Rem. has been a great performer.
If you like hard cast, years ago I bought a box of Cor bon 250gr in 44 mag. and out of my Big Boy it shot one ragged hole at 40 yds.
I have no idea how expensive it may be today though.

Mags wrote: ↑

Sat May 10, 2025 9:18 pm

I But I [edit] wouldn't use their Nickle plated brass for reloading.
I also haven't been all that happy with Federal CoreLokt.

Why?? I've loaded several different caliber nickel brass without issue.
Now they usually don't get as many reloads as reg. brass, but they load fine for me.
I have some Winchester 357 nickle brass that I don't have any idea how many times it's been reloaded.
I do checked them well when resizing, but they've held up well enough.

As to the Cor loc, that's a Remington product.
I've shot a little of Fed. blue box ammo and it groups quite well in the 2 scoped 30-30's that I tried them in and have been quite consistent.
That said, I've never used them on deer. My own hand load is just a tick more accurate and downs deer well.
Those are loaded with either Speer or Sierra bullets.

RP

Nice shooting and that flier looks all too familiar.

I use Hornady Leverevolution in .44 Rem. Mag. with good results in both accuracy and power. To me, it is a proven deer round. It is certainly worth a try.

I most often shoot reloaded ammunition in .30-30 Win. but I have found that Leverevolution is a good choice for that caliber as well.

I bought a 50 round box of Sellier & Bellot 240 gr. SP .44 Mag. ammo to zero my Marlin 1894 and found it to be inaccurate in that carbine. I still have 25 rounds remaining. I can't recommend S&B .44. Mag. ammo but it may be the case that my carbine simply doesn't like that brand/loading. Others may have experienced different results.

Vaquero wrote: ↑

Sun May 11, 2025 8:18 am

Mags wrote: ↑

Sat May 10, 2025 9:18 pm

I But I [edit] wouldn't use their Nickle plated brass for reloading.
I also haven't been all that happy with Federal CoreLokt.

Why?? I've loaded several different caliber nickel brass without issue.
Now they usually don't get as many reloads as reg. brass, but they load fine for me.
I have some Winchester 357 nickle brass that I don't have any idea how many times it's been reloaded.
I do checked them well when resizing, but they've held up well enough.

As to the Cor loc, that's a Remington product.
...

RP

"Why?" You sorta answered that indirectly. Nickel-plated brass is more brittle and prone to splitting during resizing. Good that you check them.
The few nickel plate I have are in .380 and about 1/2 of them split on the first reload attempt.

Remington core-lokt. I sometimes get my R ammo types crossed. Remington vs Federal (Rem vs Ral) Thanks for the catch.

Mags wrote: ↑

Sun May 11, 2025 11:47 am

Vaquero wrote: ↑

Sun May 11, 2025 8:18 am

Mags wrote: ↑

Sat May 10, 2025 9:18 pm

....But I wouldn't use their Nickle plated brass for reloading.

Why?? I've loaded several different caliber nickel brass without issue.

Nickel-plated brass is more brittle and prone to splitting during resizing. Good that you check them.
The few nickel plate I have are in .380 and about 1/2 of them split on the first reload attempt.

I agree with Mags about this. I've had so many nickel plated cases split that, awhile ago, I deliberately loaded up all that I had left just to get them out of rotation. I'll never use them again.

Frank84 wrote:This was shot with the factory sights unadjusted, just to get an idea of how this load would group and the mechanical accuracy of the gun.

Great shooting, Frank.

CT_Shooter wrote: ↑

Sun May 11, 2025 3:57 pm

I agree with Mags about this. I've had so many nickel plated cases split that, awhile ago, I deliberately loaded up all that I had left just to get them out of rotation. I'll never use them again.

I just have a hard time throwing away good brass. To each their own though.
And, as I said above that Win. 357 brass has been loaded numerous times.
I lose more 45 colt and 25-20 brass than I have of those 357's.
And those are brass cases.
I bought a box of Underwood 444 ammo, I haven't shot them all yet, I need to try a few of those in the new Rossi Trapper.
I will reload those and keep a good record of how many loadings I get. I believe they are Starline made.

RP

Mr. Frank, I want to apologize for the thread drift.
Good luck with the new Henry and let us know what it likes.

RP

Looks like the rifle and shooter very well tuned in! Shoots better than my Henry 44 carbine I used to have few years ago.

Vaquero wrote: ↑

Sun May 11, 2025 6:15 pm

Mr. Frank, I want to apologize for the thread drift.
Good luck with the new Henry and let us know what it likes.

RP

No need to apologize, sir. I did save the nickel-plated brass from this excursion, and I have some other nickel-plated .327 brass that I'm saving for when I can get a reloading setup put together. I was uncertain whether you could reload the nickel-plated cases, and it was useful to me to read the discussion here about the fact that they can be brittle and prone to splitting.

More information from other shooters and reloaders will always be welcome in my book.

Love the all weather rifles. I wish there was a threaded version for shooting suppressed.

It looks like 44 mag is going to be my next lever gun/revolver purchase.