anyone here shoot 444 Marlin out of a Contender pistol ???

M

Magnum Wheel Man

New member
I know pressures are just a bit over the top, but I have seen some barrels out there ( I'm assuming the owners loaded lighter handloads, or punished their guns more than what is good )

I'm in the middle of building a unique truck gun... It's primary purpose is as a shot gun for skunks & such around the farm... I found a 44 Hotshot barrel older octagon, likely unfired, as it had a defective locking lug, which my local builder easily fixed... the barrel has now been chambered for 444 cases, because I'll be loading brass shot shells equal to the .410 ( I shoot alot of .410 & am getting sick of paying twice what I pay for 12 ga, & I don't have room right now to set up a shotshell station in my loading area )

this Hotshot barrel has very shallow riflng, compared to a normal 44 barrel, plus has the straight rifled choke tube used for shot, that can be threaded on the end...

so, since it'll be chambered for 444, I'm going to do some light "bullet" loads up in cases with the headstamp obliterated ( nickel cases for bullet loads, brass cases for shot loads, loaded to .410 standards ) with the shallow rifling, my builder thinks I will likely only get good accuracy out of jacketed bullets... any of the starting loads in the manuals should be safe in the Contender... my barrel is only 10", so faster powders would be better than slower ones ( I'll likely use Lil Gun for the shot loads ) my barrel is ported,& my builder will be making a screw in thread protector for bullet use, when the choke is unscrewed... the thread protector, will be made in such a way, that it acts as an expansion chamber for the ports, making them more effective for use with the 444

anyone shoot 444 in Contender... if so, what works for you ???
 
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Never tried it. You'd have a hard time talking me into it using factory ammo, too. I'd imagine that you could ease off with your handloads and make it more manageable. Maybe even shorten the cases to get closer to .44mag capacity and work up a similar load that way?
 
the barrel will actually fire 44 mag ammo... just that with that much bullet jump, starting loads of 444 Marlin will likely be more accurate so I think I'm better off developing loads with full length cases
 
Had a 44 MAG 10 IN OCTAGON barrel.Loaded up some pretty hot ammo & blue off the forend .Note one of the earlier TC back in the 1970'S With the first production grips made by HERRET.OUCH:eek:
 
since this is going to be a truck gun, I have a composite grip & fore end on this gun... the fore end has been altered so a weaver base could be added under the barrel ( which is actually only 8" without the straight rifled choke tube screwed on ) for a tactical under barrel light, the weaver base screws on with 2 screws instead of the single screw that would normally hold the "tooth pick" fore ends on... to allow room to turn on the rotary light switch, the plastic fore end has roughly the front 1/3 cut off ( down to a solid molding block "in" the fore end ) the weaver rail is machined down under the fore end which is now glass bedded to the machined block under it... I've taken recoil into account when designing the "fixtures"

I expect it'll recoil similarly to my 45-70 barrel, with the 444 Marlin bullet loads ( the 45-70 barrel I used to use regularly to deer hunt with, so I'm very familiar with how that handles )
 
the machine work is being done at my local builder buddy's, & that part is nearly done... I'll post some pics then ( I'm not shy about posting those ) BTW... it also has a custom built fiber optic sight set, the rear sight base also will hold a custom built see through mount for a pistol laser... I'm not much of a laser guy, but my buddy convinced me it would be so much easier to shoot skunks at night, with the laser... it was pretty cheap, so I'll try it... both the light & the laser are made to pull on & off easy, with the laser mount similar to the removeable scope mounts that are supposed to hold zero on & off ??? with a 10" shot gun, I should only have to get close anyway...

"gadgets" pull off easy, in case I wanted to actually hunt with the pistol...

my next thought is where to send everything for Duracoat ( I'm going to have one of my actions, & a couple barrels Duracoated, as I hunt pretty regularly with them, & one deer seaon, it sleeted the whole week, & I was fighting the brown fuzzies on the engraved sides before the season was over... I have 4 actions, & plan to leave my others stock, as they just normally see sunny day range use )
 
MWM Think about sending a email to SSK INDUSTRYS to JD JONES .I think he has done everything to a TC .Pick his BRAIN.:rolleyes:
 
I actually have one of his custom barrels, along with 4-5 barrels that have never been "officially" made, from "other" sources, along with alot of classic TC barrels... not saying I'm a know it all, but I have been around the block a couple times...

I wish they had come out with the Encores, before I started collecting... I've been dragging my feet as far as getting one, as I'm so vested into the Contenders, but I want at least one action, & a couple of barrels in calibers bigger than capable in the Contender platform... I've been wanting a Pro Hunter in 416 Rigby, & might have to make that plunge sometime this year ???
 
ya.. I'll be using just the starting loads in the manuals for reciepes we've looked at those & projected pressures, & they should be fine / safe in the gun, but factory loads are pushing it, & hot loads are a definate no-no

we are machining off the 44 mag lettering off the barrel & replacing it as a "58 gauge", all 444 case for the gun will have the headstamps obliterated as a precaution it will not say 444 Marlin, just as a precaution, for future owners down the road... my reloads will be labeled as 58 gauge
 
Loaded up some pretty hot ammo & blue off the forend
Click to expand...
Did that the first time with my .45-70 Contender with factory Remington 300 gr loads. Unpleasant as hell. SSK made .444 Marlin barrels for it but I was never interested after the pain of .45-70.
 
I have shot both a ported 444 super 14 and with an unported barrel. I couldn't tell the difference between the two. recoil is really heavy and not fun at all.
 
Oh yeah. I had my .44 magnum Contender converted to .444 Marlin back in the mid-80's. The plan was to use for deer handgun hunting. I never took it hunting, but did fire about 20 round through it. In all honesty it was pretty brutal. One time I didn't grip it tight enough and the barrel recoiled back and struck my shoulder. I sold it.
 
Extreme accuracy and MUZZEL BLAST......

I have an original (g1??) 14 inch 44 Mag TC reamed out to 444 Marlin built for me in the early 90's. My gunsmith that built it also built a 358 Winchester barrel for me. The barrels were fitted with 2X LER scope. They both had an extra steel rectangular rod brazed beneath the barrel to add weight to help reduce the flip of the barrel when fired. The rods also acted as a Pachmayr Forend Adaptor. This allowed the fitting of a Pachmayr Forend The 444 was loaded with IMR4198 Max plus. Used Hornady 265 grain pointed soft points. The 350 Winchester rounds used were loaded with pointed soft point 200 grain bullets. Both barrels were extremely accurate. Muzzle blast was also extreme.

Lemmon
 
saw my nearly completed "Buck Rodgers" gun yesterday ( it really looks like a sci fi movie gun, with the laser & the tac light mounted )... now the only things left to complete before I pick it up to pattern the shot, & try a few loads of 444 is to order & install the correct height front fiber optic sight, & to make the thread protector ( screws in to protect the screw in choke theads when shooting bullets ) the thread protector will protrude about 1/2" & be the same round diameter that the ported end of the barrel is, & will be machined to form an expansion chamber to increase the efficiency of the stock barrel ports when shooting bullet loads in 444

after the gun is patterned, & shot enough of the 444 bullet loads, to prove everything solid & final, I'll send it & my other deer hunting barrel ( a custom 45 Colt barrel ) out for Dura Coating

interestingly, we are looking at a bigger buck shot load as well... & the perfect diameter ( for the choke tube ) would be 36 caliber round balls, which I happen to stock in my loading inventory for light loads for antique 38 S&W reloading... will have to look & see if I can get 4 or maybe even 5 36 caliber round balls in a "buck shot" load...

so right now I'm looking at a load with like #6 shot ( what ever works for a normal 2.5" - 3" 4.10 load with Lil Gun ), the 36 caliber "buck shot" load, & probably a load using these bullets

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/default.aspx?productNumber=1601407088
 
the gun has not been Dura Coated yet but looks like this...

attachment.php


more on loads & shooting it here...

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=440335
 
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