I've been wanting a .44 Magnum lever action rifle for deer hunting for quite some time.
I had it narrowed down to a new stainless steel Ruger manufactured Marlin. But damn, they are pricy and somewhat hard to find.

I have a safe full of stainless steel/synthetic stocked old school Remington 700 scoped rifles, in various caliber choices.
Hell, I even deer hunt with my scoped Springfield M1A in .308 when the spirit moves me.
Sometimes the scoped 30-06 Thompson Center Encore pistol is my choice.
I also chase the deer around in my woods with multiple/various Magnum revolvers, SIG 10mm autoloaders, and muzzleloaders in the appropriate season.

Sometimes, after the pressure for filling the freezer is satisfied by harvesting a deer, when the weather cooperates, it's fun to go out and hunt with old school equipment like Grandpappy did.
The old blued & walnut stuff.

Two deer fills the freezer nicely, with three I can make additional jerky and give some away to friends & neighbors. We eat everything we put into the freezer.

Several days ago, I stopped at my small town sporting goods store. I like to go and browse the used rifle rack, and poke around in the used handgun case.
While there, I spotted a lever action rifle in the used rack, and the piece of masking tape on the stock said .44 Mag and I asked to fondle it.

I had never handled a Henry lever action rifle before, it just never occurred to me.
The rifle was a brass frame Henry Big Boy in .44 Magnum, and it felt & looked great, the lever operated smoothly. 20 inch heavy octagonal barrel, and internet specs say 8 pounds 11 ounces weight.
10 rounds in the tubular magazine.
Being gently used, it has just enough "usage" character marks on it that I won't feel bad for taking it out in the deer hunting woods.

Long story short, it went home with me and today the two of us did a range trip.
I was short on time today and wanted to accomplish two things.
1.) Test fire it and check for proper function. It worked great, loads, feeds, fires, extracts, cycles smoothly.
2.) Test for accuracy and establish group size with factory 240 grain JSP and my favorite reload, a 200 grain Hornady XTP with a maximum load/charge of CFE pistol powder.

I didn't even bother bringing tools today for making sight adjustments.

The factory buckhorn sights are not noted for benchrest aiming accuracy. Shooting from a shooting bag rest I was getting 2" groups at 25 yards, and 3" to 3.5" at 50 yards.
With my old eyes, 50 yards is about as far as I want to be shooting deer with open sights, especially buckhorn sights.
I have noticed a nice looking steel aftermarket red dot plate that replaces the OEM rear sight, it fits the Leupold Delta Point Pro red dot footprint.
I may set that up over the winter after the first of the year so it will be ready for deer season fall 2026.

My favorite reload above is actually right at the top of .44 Special performance, and just barely into the lower end of .44 Magnum performance.
It's pleasant & fun to shoot in .44 Magnum handguns and is miserly with powder costs.
Yup, if you break out the 2400 powder, or H110, or W296, you can seriously increase the performance. But I don't want or need it. My .44 Magnum reload does everything that I need.

I am going to drift the front sight out of the dovetail, measure the height, and order a different front sight that is taller.
With the rear sight in it's lowest adjustment position, it still hits a bit high. I would prefer to have the rifle sighted in and have the rear sight elevation adjustment centered.
Anyway, I am VERY pleased with my new to me used Henry, with the possible exception of the big cast brass butt plate.
My 200 grain Hornady reload is fairly gentle on the shoulder, the Federal 240 grain full tilt factory loading was somewhat less pleasant.

I hope I can get this Henry squared away before the season starts, I have just over one month to get it ready.
I did already buy sling attachment hardware for the rifle, I just haven't installed it yet.

PXL_20251009_185616536 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

PXL_20251009_185640344 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

Very nice looking rifle, enjoy the hunts ahead.

Pretty rifle!..
Do you have long arms, would a shoulder pad work for you?

One of my stainless/synthetic stocked Remington 700 rifles is chambered in .375 H & H Magnum.
I also have a 20" Thompson/Center Encore rifle barrel in .500 S & W Magnum.
Both of the above are recoil giants compared to the Henry rifle chambered in the "puny" .44 Magnum.
Out in the woods while hunting, I will never even notice the recoil on the Henry.
Installing a slip-on recoil pad while doing bench rest sight-in duty would be a plus, but I will tough it out and survive.

Enjoy! Mine is a Marlin and I put Skinner sights on it. A red dot on lever actions just seems wrong to me.

Full power H110 loads can smart a little, but I load mine down to where they are comfortable. I also did some figuring, and came up with decent powered loads for me in 44 mag, 45 Colt, and 45-70, that all have the same (easy to remember) drop, so no matter which one I pick up I don't have to try to remember where to aim.

Nice rifle. .44 out of a lever gun is much better than the .44 out of my Ruger RedHawks….lol.

A good black bear or hog rifle. Not something I would hunt deer with unless other things were not available. Pretty rifle.

orc,
I have many other rifle choices available for deer hunting.
Here in my upstate New York location, and particularly at my recreational property,
it's all fairly wooded. So a 100 yards shot on whitetail deer is a long shot here.

Sometimes it's just fun to use the old school hunting equipment, which is why I got the Henry.

Today, I got the sling attachment points mounted.
Drilled wood screw style for the butt stock.
Two piece clamp style around the magazine tube for the muzzle end.

I also went to the Dawson Precision website, they have a very nice app there that calculates sight height when you need to make a impact point adjustment that can't be corrected within the adjustment range on the rear adjustable sight.

I input all the numbers, and I need a front sight that is 0.100" taller than what the
Henry came with from the factory. Dawson didn't have what I needed.
But Skinner Sights did, and I got one ordered.

The front sight is in a 3/8" dovetail, and I will install the new taller front sight
when it arrives from out west in the mail.

I got the Skinner Sights replacement front sight installed today.
Skinner had two choices, 0.010" (ten thousandths) shorter than the 0.100" increased height needed, or 0.020" (twenty thousandths) taller than the 0.100" increased height needed.
I selected the second option.
We will see how the Henry .44 sights in.
I have a range trip planned in several days.

Yeah, going with the taller sight is the best option. You can always file it down to where you need it.

Sorry, NO filing please! It's a brass bead sight. A file would ruin it.
This replacement sight brass bead is about 1/16" in diameter with the bead flat face facing at the operator.
It's about half the diameter on the brass bead compared to the OEM.
When shooting at the initial range trip, the OEM brass bead has to cover about 2.5" or more of the target bullseye at 50 yards. The replacement should be more precise but may prove difficult to see in twilight hunting conditions.

The rear sight (buckhorn) has something I've never seen (or noticed) before.
It has a sliding plate in the center of the rear buckhorn. Attachment with a small screw.
Moving it up/down gives you very fine adjustment capability, above and beyond the five steps on the buckhorn elevator. At present,the sliding plate is almost bottomed in the
buckhorn blade. The manual says the sliding plate in the buckhorn is reversible as well.
It has several radius cuts (one at top, one at bottom, it's reversible end for end) that you place the bottom of the front brass bead into when aiming.
The radius cuts size are not identical.

I took photos of both front sights sitting on a table.
I will try and post them up later from the PC.

Gotcha. I put their blade front site on mine.

PXL_20251018_170108034 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

Today was a nasty vile weather day here in upstate NY.
I got in a range trip with my son.

I installed the new taller front sight on the Henry .44 lever action rifle several days ago.
Shooting the Henry today and getting it adjusted close at 25 yards, we moved the target out to 50 yards.

The first two shots at 50 yards were a bit low and right.
One more click/step up on the rear sight elevation ladder, and a quick tap to the left with a brass rod and hammer.
The upper three shots is after the rear sight adjustment at 50 yards. Good enough for woods deer hunting with a buckhorn rear sight.

On a whim, I shot four shots at a 9" x 9" diamond shaped steel plate target out at the 100 yard berm.
Four hits!

I'm exceedingly pleased with how the new taller front sight fixed the Henry rifle.
Additionally, the smaller diameter brass bead makes it easier/better for distance precision.
It remains to be seen how visible that smaller brass bead will be when lighting conditions are poor.
It appears the new to me Henry rifle is a keeper!

The Dawson Precision website has a tab on the right side/top on the home page. That tab is called SIGHT MATH.
Here is the home page for Dawson Precision: https://dawsonprecision.com/
Here is a direct link to the SIGHT MATH feature on their website: https://dawsonprecision.com/sight-calculator/

I have used that SIGHT MATH feature twice for correcting two different firearms that didn't shoot to point of aim.
Both times, the calculated sight height correction number has been right on the money and corrected the issue.

PXL_20251020_195014703 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

So I am really happy with the Henry Big Boy brass frame rifle.
It's a keeper. It looks good, shoots good, and will be great fun in the deer woods.
Except for one thing. I wear size 2x gloves, big hands and big fingers.
I tried on my winter hunting gloves and tried sticking my four fingers in the lever loop.
Nope, those four gloved fingers will not fit in the standard OEM lever loop.
It's odd to me, but rifles come with the standard small loop, and carbines have the large.

I messaged Henry earlier today with two questions.
1.) When was my rifle manufactured?
2.) What big loop lever factory parts fit my rifle?

Within several hours Henry CS responded.
My rifle was manufactured in October, 2018.
Factory drop-in part large loop levers are available in three finish configurations.
They are all the same size/shape, and the three choices are blued/black oxide, industrial hard chrome, and color case hardened.

This is my first/only lever action, so I don't really have a small loop/big loop
favorite. But I bought it as a working rifle for winter conditions.
If I can't get my four gloved fingers inside the lever loop, what's the point.

I splurged for the color case hardened large loop lever.
It was only $35 more than the blued/black oxide large loop lever.
$85 + tax/shipping for color case hardened.
$65 + tax/shipping for industrial hard chrome.
$50 + tax/shipping for blued/black oxide.

Those of you that see my posts here know that I'm a big fan of silver colored stainless.
In this case, I immediately ruled out the industrial hard chrome finish for the lever.
It would have looked hideous!

I love the color case hardened look. Congrats on that fine gun!

Something arrived in the mail today from Rice Lake, Wisconsin.
I have to say that the example photo of a color case hardened large loop lever on the Henry Outfitters website was somewhat underwhelming.
Actually, it is a terrible photo when you are trying to get the paying customer to spend about $35 more than the standard blued/black oxide part.
Here: https://henryoutfitters.com/co...riant=39291933950012

After receiving it today, I degreased it with several paper towels soaked in Brake Cleaner. It shipped sealed in a plastic bag and was liberally coated in rust preventative/heavy oil of some type.
This is "real" color case hardening, not the painted on version/type that Ruger supplied on some of their single action revolvers in the past.
Ruger's color case finish wore away and faded from usage. It was painted on the surface.

I took these four photos this afternoon outside in direct sunlight. Indoors lighting doesn't do it justice.
For "factory" color case hardening, and likely not from Doug Turnbull (Turnbull Restorations) or Bobby Tyler (Tyler Gun Works) I am highly impressed with the color case hardened surface appearance.
I just don't know whether the color case hardening was done internally by Henry, or an outside vendor. They are likely quite private with that internal corporate knowledge.

The factory says it is a drop in part, no fitting required. One screw needs to be removed for the lever swap. I have not installed it yet.

PXL_20251027_164147127 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

PXL_20251027_164422873 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

PXL_20251027_164215334 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

PXL_20251027_164205372 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

It's completed now and ready for the deer hunting woods!
New front sight, new large loop lever, and sling attachment points installed.

PXL_20251028_212938484~3 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

PXL_20251028_212607440 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

PXL_20251028_212746578~8 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

PXL_20251028_212816552 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

*** REVIVING AN OLDER THREAD***

Hunting season has been over here for about four months now. I wanted to do several things to the .44 Magnum Henry rifle for getting it ready for this fall.
First, with the brass tube style loading system without a side loading gate, if you get a dent in the brass magazine inner tube, you might end up with a single shot.
I ordered a few items from Midwest Gun Works, specifically a new spare Henry brass inner magazine tube, and some Ranger Point Precision enhancement parts.

PXL_20260503_004443248 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

If you get a cartridge jam and it's hung up inside the action above the cartridge lifter, you may end up with an inoperative rifle if you can't get the lever and bolt removed when out in the woods.
The Ranger Point Precision lever quick takedown screw installs by hand, finger tightened, with an O-ring installed on it so it doesn't back out and get lost.

Factory lever pivot screw pictured here. Note the screw slot butchery pictured on the factory screws.

PXL_20260503_004757151 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

Ranger Point Precision lever quick takedown thumbscrew pictured here.

PXL_20260503_004934876~2 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

Getting inside the action of the rifle for deep cleaning usually isn't required, but if you are at deer camp and want to remove the butt stock for deep cleaning, if you don't have a nice Brownell's gunsmithing screwdriver set at deer camp, you are going to butcher screw slots like the previous owner did when cleaning the rifle.
Factory butt stock screw pictured here. The "white" is where I erased the serial number.

PXL_20260503_005106693~2 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

Ranger Point Precision butt stock quick takedown screw pictured here. It's made for a nickel coin held in a pair of pilers for leverage.
The milled screw slot cut is semi-circular to match the nickel coin radius.

PXL_20260503_005352332 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

PXL_20260503_005357681 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

I really like this rifle when out deer hunting! It's fun at the range also.
My son liked shooting this lever action so much he just picked up a Ruger manufactured Marlin SBL lever action in .44 Magnum.

I’ve never been a big brass receiver fan but yours looks really good. I’ve got a few Henry rifles and I like them all.

I’ve been messing around with 44 special ammo looking for a good “working load” as the late great John Taffin would say. Looks like Buffalo Bore 255 Keith bullet at 1000 fps is the best. Hope to use it in my Ruger revolvers and marlin/henry lever guns too. Wish it wasn’t so expensive. I need to start reloading I guess.