.44 Henry

.44 Henry
.44 Henry cartridges
Type	Rifle or handgun
Place of origin	United States
Production history
Designer	New Haven Arms Company
Designed	1860
Specifications
Case type	Straight-walled, rimmed
Bullet diameter	.446 in (11.3 mm)
Neck diameter	.434 in (11.0 mm)
Base diameter	.441 in (11.2 mm)
Rim diameter	.518 in (13.2 mm)
Rim thickness	.062 in (1.6 mm)
Case length	.903 in (22.9 mm)
Overall length	1.345 in (34.2 mm)
Primer type	Rimfire
Ballistic performance
Bullet mass/type Velocity Energy 200 gr (13 g) lead 1,125 ft/s (343 m/s) 568 ft·lbf (770 J)

The .44 Henry, also known as the .44 Rimfire, the .44 Long Rimfire, or the 11x23mmR (11x23mm Rimmed) in Europe, is a rimfire rifle and handgun cartridge featuring a .875 in (22.2 mm)-long brass or copper case. The round has a total overall length of 1.345 in (34.2 mm), with a 200 or 216 gr (12.96 or 14.00 g; 0.46 or 0.49 oz) .446 in (11.3 mm)-diameter cast solid-lead heeled bullet. The original propellant load is 26 to 28 gr (1.68 to 1.81 g; 0.06 to 0.06 oz) of black powder. The round has a muzzle velocity of approximately 1,125 ft/s (343 m/s), giving a muzzle energy of 568 foot-pounds (770 joules ).

Both the cartridge and the Henry rifle are named for Benjamin Tyler Henry, the 19th-century American gunsmith who invented it. Henry designed both in his spare time while he was the foreman of the New Haven Arms Company, and was granted a US patent for his creations on October 16, 1860. While it was not the first repeating rifle, it was one of the first successful designs (alongside the Spencer rifle), and it provided the basis for the iconic Winchester rifle. Part of the Henry rifle's great success was due to the relatively novel self-contained metallic cartridge, which allowed a repeating mechanism to work. Other breechloaders of the time often relied on a simple, separate percussion cap for ignition, just like a typical muzzleloader of the era, and often used paper or linen cartridge cases, which provided no obturation, or sealing of the breech against the expanding gases (such as the Sharps rifle). Some utilized self-contained primers, but still lacked metallic cases (the Dreyse "Needle Gun"). While these one-shot breechloading weapons were great improvements over the muzzleloader, it required the adoption of the self-contained metallic case before repeaters could become viable weapons. The .44 Henry was an early self-contained metallic cartridge, and was one of the great reasons for the ultimate success of the Henry rifle.