First deer with my new Henry 44 Carbine

[Hank44]

I've been hunting for over 20 years and have taken quite a few deer and a moose with my bolt rifles. I've been on a 7 year drought, so I wanted to try something new. This is my first hunt with the Henry 44 Carbine.

Quartering shot from 50 yards took out both lungs. The blood exited mostly from the entry wound (back pressure?). The 240 gr XTP jacket separated. I did not recover the lead portion. I did not find a significant exit wound.

The deer ran about 75 yards downhill before expiring.

[Stray Cat]

Congrats on the nice buck! The drought is over!

[Sir Henry]

Nice buck. Congratulations.

[JEBar]

really nice buck taken with a very capable carbine .... do you load your own ammo

[Vaquero]

Looks like a nice one, Congrats.
Curious like Jim, factory ammo or homemade?

RP

[Hank44]

Thanks!

I loaded these myself. My previous attempt to hunt with a 44 was with a Ruger semi auto carbine, but somehow tromping through the woods, I found that the safety had been bumped off safe three times. Ended that.
I had these rounds loaded up for a few years until I finally found a Henry side gate carbine locally.

I load all my hunting ammo myself. 308, 30-06, 7mm08 and more 44 to come.

[daytime dave]

Congratulations on a fine buck. Seems it worked well.

[Hatchdog]

Congrats on a nice looking buck and some great shooting.

[~BumeRod~]

Very Nice and Congrats!!!!

[Hank44]

Update:

Processed the deer and did a little more forensics. The deer was quartering away at about 50 yards. The bullet broke through 3 ribs and took out the lungs. The gut, heart and liver were all intact.

The bullet had separated from the jacket and both recovered from inside the body cavity. There was a small bone fragment that had exited.

Not an excessive amount of collateral meat damage.

I'm very happy with the bullet performance.

[JEBar]

Update:

I'm very happy with the bullet performance.

my Grandfather taught me to hunt and shoot .... he bear hunted with a Model 94 30-30 .... I well remember the time when 30-06's and 7mm mags were taking the rifle hunting market by storm .... they both were highly prized for pass through performance .... he had no time for bullets designed to pass all the way through bear/deer with enough power to continue on for untold distances .... he wanted his bullets to do exactly what yours did .... that being to penetrate deep into the game animal and expend its power there

[Hank44]

Yeah, I first hunted with 7mm08 with ballistic tip bullets. They blew everything up inside. Very impressive, but a ton of blood shoot meat wasted.

I had moved on to lower power 30-06 and 308 handloads with Sierra 168 gr Gameking hollow point bullets. Very happy with the performance.

But I'm a bit older and hunt from a tent blind now and the Henry carbine is easier to handle. The 44 did its job. The vast majority of my kills had been in the 30 yard range. It is completely adequate for my needs.

[JEBar]

if you are interested, it might pay you to check out Nosler's 44 Caliber 240gr JHP Sporting Handgun (100ct) bullets .... we've purchase them for many years from Shooter's Pro Shop ====> https://www.shootersproshop.com/44-cali ... -blem.html .... right now they are out of stock buy you can get on their list to be notified when they have more .... they mushroom as advertised and I've not had one to come apart .... we've taken black bear, boar and whitetail deer with them

[Hank44]

if you are interested, it might pay you to check out Nosler's 44 Caliber 240gr JHP Sporting Handgun (100ct) bullets .... we've purchase them for many years from Shooter's Pro Shop ====> https://www.shootersproshop.com/44-cali ... -blem.html .... right now they are out of stock buy you can get on their list to be notified when they have more .... they mushroom as advertised and I've not had one to come apart .... we've taken black bear, boar and whitetail deer with them

Thanks. I'll keep my eyes open. I need to load a bunch of new rounds. One of my sons is thinking about picking up a 44 lever as well. He likes "Dad's new toy"

[Mags]

....Thanks. I'll keep my eyes open. ....

Apparently Sportsmans has them for 'ship to home'
https://www.sportsmans.com/shooting-gea ... s/p/304053

[JEBar]

Shooter's Pro Shop has the contract to market Nosler's BLEMS .... these are bullets that have some type of cosmetic flaw that in no way has any impact on their performance .... historically the sell for around 25 cents each .... the ones from Sportsman's Warehouse have flawless finishes and perform identically .... the are priced around 50 cents each .... if I had an urgent needed to load hunting level 44 Mag ammo, I have so much confidence in them, I'd order from Sportsman's Warehouse if I couldn't get them cheaper elsewhere ..... thankfully, we have a large number on hand

[Rifletom]

Hank, congrats on that buck. Always good to end a drought like that. Darn nice buck and good choice of rifle/caliber. Nice way to spend the day.

[Hank44]

Thanks guys. I'm still at hunting camp. One more tag for my younger son to fill. I'll need to do a component inventory when I get home. I have plenty of primers and brass. I think I have some more XTP's as well.

[Greyhawk]

Thanks guys. I'm still at hunting camp. One more tag for my younger son to fill. I'll need to do a component inventory when I get home. I have plenty of primers and brass. I think I have some more XTP's as well.

Hank- Great job! We had an outstanding deer season this year and although I own many rifles in various calibers, I just can't get away from my little Henry. This year I had a buck coming directly toward me. At 50 yards he paused to take a drink out of the water hole, as he bent down, I shot him in the neck and he just tipped over, end of story. My Henry is in 45 Colt (It is the rifle in my picture) and I handload 250 grain XTP's. That little Henry has taken a lot of deer, (more than any other of my rifles) and I just know when I press that trigger exactly where that bullet is going to go. It is a fun little rifle! Happy Hunting Everyone!!!!!!

[Hank44]

Hank- Great job! We had an outstanding deer season this year and although I own many rifles in various calibers, I just can't get away from my little Henry. This year I had a buck coming directly toward me. At 50 yards he paused to take a drink out of the water hole, as he bent down, I shot him in the neck and he just tipped over, end of story. My Henry is in 45 Colt (It is the rifle in my picture) and I handload 250 grain XTP's. That little Henry has taken a lot of deer, (more than any other of my rifles) and I just know when I press that trigger exactly where that bullet is going to go. It is a fun little rifle! Happy Hunting Everyone!!!!!!
[/quote]

Thanks Greyhawk.

I've been hunting for over 30 years now. When I first started, I sighted my bolt gun in. Several old timers were sighting in their lever actions. I thought to myself "Why are they using that old crap?"

Fast forward to this year. I found the Henry two weeks before season. I had a scope hanging around along with some 44 rounds I had handloaded for a Ruger carbine. I'm now retired, so I sighted in on a Monday, opening day Saturday. Now I'm that old timer with that antiquated lever gun. It easy to carry. Handles well within the confines of my tent blind. The 44 mag had very little collateral blood shot meat damage. The Henry will be my choice again next season. I wish I had found one years ago.