I’ve got a Henry X in .357. I need help picking my next one. Should I go with a .45LC or .44 Magnum. It will be suppressed. Primary uses: deer hunting and target shooting. I’m an experienced  handloader but I have a small amount of 44 brass and no 45 Colt at all. So my stock of components is a wash.

The 45LC can be loaded up if one wants but has a very small rim, better to stay with the 44.

I have the 357 too and got the 44 to go with it.  Finding 45LC around here has been hit or miss.  44 and 357 are always available

I have one in .45LC and handloaded 255gr Blue Bullets over Trail Boss, Titegroup, Win 244, VV N320 are stupid quiet and fun.

And then you load something like a 250gr JHP over a max charge of 11FS and it becomes a completely different animal.

44 mag.
You have the ability of loading down to subsonic velocities and then also going full tilt.
Ammo is easier to find.

.45 LC can be loaded down to mouse fart levels or up to near .44 Mag. levels. I have killed numerous deer in MO (near Weldon Spring) with .45 LC.

It's "mostly" a wash, either one will work almost identical to the other.
Wide power range of factory ammo goes to the .44
Ultimate horsepower advantage is very slightly in favor of the 45
If you ever intend to pair a revolver with it, .44's are much more common and easy to find compared to 45's specially in S&W DA guns.

You won't go wrong with either, but .44 does have several advantages.
I think the 44 is more efficient if you have a use for light for caliber bullets ie 185's
It kind of comes down to personal preference, field results will be almost identical.

If you have other guns in either caliber pick that one.  Otherwise 44 is the way to go.  I have both and prefer 44.  44 has more factory ammo options also if you don’t reload.

I was deciding between 44 & 45LC and I just ordered the Henry Model X in 44 mag yesterday. Sportsman's Warehouse had some in stock for $939. It says it's expected to arrive by the 14th. I'm excited to get my hands on it and shoot some 44 suppressed. I think the next step will be getting into hand loading so I can make some subsonic rounds to try out.

Nothing wrong with the 45 LC but I would go for the .44 Mag. Components and factory ammo are easier to find and like others have said, you can go crazy with some different loads. Wish I still had my .44.

My Lymans 49 reloading manual says if you trying to get 44mag performance out of a 45lc. Just get the 44mag.

Always been a 44mag guy. Since I've been shooting and hunting with the S&W 629's for years. Now if you are shooting 45 colt for pistols then it makes sense to go with that, same ammo.

Plus you can run the 44 special and load that to whatever you want. Great for sub sonic loads. Also will increase your round count with the shorter length specials vs longer magnums.

Sure they appear close on paper but the 44mag/special is better. IMHO and experience.

I just went with the 45LC since I reload.

I’d go 44 as ammo is much easier to find.

The .45 Colt chamber has a .007” taper in it.  It’s an artifact of black powder fouling and extraction with the parallel wall .45 Colt case in an era where black powder cartridges had mild bottle necks and tapered case walls.  

The bottle neck helped seal the chamber faster at low black powder pressures while the tapered case walls ensured the case was fully out of contact with the chamber as soon as it started to move back.

Colt went with the straight, parallel wall case in the Colt SAA because they wanted maximum case capacity with minimum cylinder diameter.  They could get away with it and the small rim as the SAA was a rod ejector design.  Yet they still added some taper to the chamber to hedge their bets.

However the lack of a bottle neck and the lack of any taper in the case meant it was not suitable for use in a lever action rifle, at least until the smokeless powder era.  Compare the .45 Colt to the black powder pistol class rifle cartridges like the ..44-40, .38-40, .32-20 and .25-20. They all have at least a mild bottle neck and a tapered case while the .45 colt has neither.

When S&W tried to chamber the .45 Colt in the Schoefield revolver it didn’t work well with the star ejector used in the break open design. They shortened the case to get it to work and created the .45 Schoefield cartridge for it.  With both SAA and Schoefield revolvers in the inventory the US Army just adopted the shorter .45 Schoefield round as it worked in both, albeit with less velocity.   That’s actually where the “.45 Long Colt” moniker came about as the original .45 Colt was “long” compared to the .45 Schoefield.  


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Fast forward to the smokeless era, the .45 Colt got a slightly larger rim for use in revolvers with star ejectors and in some cases moon clips.  And when lever action rifles started to be chambered in more modern revolver rounds like the .38 Special, .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum the .45 Colt as an option as black powder fouling was no longer an issue.

But…the .45 Colt chamber spec still includes that vestigial .007” taper.  It’s not a big deal at SAAMI pressures.  But it starts to shorten case life at  21,000 psi pressures and it’s a big deal at 32,000 psi loads that give you .44 Magnum performance.  It’s not uncommon to get slide cracks in the case walls after just 3-4 reloads at those higher pressures.


Consequently if you want light loads the .45 Colt is a good choice.  It’s also a good choice with heavier bullets (255 grains, 300 grains and even 335 grains) at reasonable .45 Colt pressures (21,000 psi or less).  But it’s not a good choice is you want .44 Magnum velocity and performance.

Anyone have issues with 44 special feeding in their Henry X?

Another vote for 44 mag. Fun suppressed or not.

Yep on the 44 mag

I'd go with the 45colt since i've got an old model vaquero that will handle the hot 45colt loads.

I did pick up the 44 mag and it's great. It seems very accurate with the Fiocchi 240 grain JSP so far.

Had to get the Costa rail and set it up for night vision.

I would go 45 colt, more bullet choices (components) and availability. You can plink with 45 acp bullets (flat or hollow points). That is assuming you reload.

I've hunted with 230gr Speer gold dots and they work well. I wanna try some v-crowns and hst's as well. It's a nice way to test bullets that you carry as well.

If not, then 44 mag.

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My “X” is 357 but I have a Henry Classic and a Henry All Weather side gate both in 44.  I don’t have an issue with Specials in either.

I have a Henry X chambered for 44mag. I have no problem shooting 44spl out of it.

I purchased a couple hundred 44spl brass and load those to book max and the rounds are sub-sonic.

It's an absolute blast shooting subs out of my Henry X supressed. "POP", wait what seems like several seconds and hear the 240gr copper plated bullet smack the steel 75 yards out.

Suppressed, it's completely hearing safe. 44mag loads aren't very loud but I doubt it is hearing safe.

I have heard trying to load 44mag with 44spl loads can cause detonation with some powders so I am playing safe, not sorry.

ARFCOM and no get both? Slackers.