The cartridge's original 200-grain bullet had a flat nose. A bullet with a more pointed nose was later used in order to decrease aerodynamic drag and increase range. Even so, it still achieved a ballistic coefficient of only 0.153, which reflects very poor long range capabilities; the .44 Henry is a large and slow bullet, giving poor external ballistics and a great deal of ballistic drop during its trajectory, making hitting a target past 200 yards almost impossible for the average shooter. Modern comparisons to the .44 Henry rifle's ballistics would include such large-bore handgun cartridges as the 200 gr .45 ACP, and 200 gr .44 Special. Due to the vast advances in propellant and metallurgy technology, these latter can nearly achieve the Henry Rifle's velocity from a handgun, and do not even require the long barrel of a rifle to give equivalent velocity. By modern standards, the resulting effective range for the .44 Henry fired from a rifle on military targets or small to medium game would be up to 200 yards. However, when it was introduced in 1860, standards such as "effective ranger by to ensure a humane kill and a hit in a vital area were far more lax, and most hunters were accustomed to hunting game at short ranges in any case. Such performance was not unusual or remarkable, and the idea of weapons capable of engaging a target at hundreds of yards was generally reserved for dedicated, long-barreled target rifles and trained shooters. A .44 Henry is not particularly less accurate than a muzzleloading Springfield carbine; a longer-barreled Springfield rifle musket could theoretically hit at ranges of up to , but such performance was rarely within the ability of the average soldier, and was generally achieved only by designated "sharpshooters". For a typical infantry or cavalry soldier, or hunter, a rifle accurate at  was sufficient. The ability to fire 16 rounds before reloading made the Henry's lack of long range capability even less of an issue.