Why am I the only one w/ a 444 marlin?

I don't know but in this neck of the woods you always see several in the gunshops so somebody is buying them.I had one for a few years.It is a good deer killer for timber shooting.I got hot to get something else and traded mine off I don't even remember what for now.I own 2 different 45/70 rifles so I haven't found the need to replace it.Marlin keeps making them every year so someone is buying them.One of the most memrerable shots I ever made was with a 444 with an old Redfield reciever sight. It was a running shot at about 30yds.It was the first day of the season that year.That buck was really moving flat out I missed it the first 3 shots In my mind I decided I was shooting high so I held lower for the 4th shot and hit it in the top of the back, the buck did a flip in the air as his horns caught the ground,I was shooting so fast that I hit him again in mid flip with my 5th shot.He was killed instantly.His rack wasn't much but he was one of the biggest bodied deer I ever killed.And If I remember right he was the only deer I shot at that year.I don't think I could dream up a better gun for that kind of shooting than that Marlin 444 I had that day.That 444 destroyed quit a bit of tenderloin for me that day but there was still a lot of good eating on that animal and as a bonus I got a memory that will last a life time.I kind of wish I had kept that old rifle.
 
I'm going whitetail hunting tomorrow with my 444 Marlin butt I quess I should be in the Handgun forum. I'm using a TC Conteder which started out as a 44 Mag. and had JD Jones shop rechamber to 444. It's a real boomer topped off with a Leupold 2X scope. With this set up I'll take a 125 yard shot rested.

It's not a fun gun to shot! 20 rounds (top end plus) and your hand is hurting and thats with Pachmayr grips and a shooting glove.

I usally pratice with lower loading and finally rezero with the top end one. I shoot a 265gr. FP Hornady backed by 00 grains of IMR 4198. This load took out a wild boar a few years back in GA with one shot.

I'm quite sure its really good round in a rifle.

My nieces husband went to AK a few years ago and his hunting partner used a 444 Marlin and took a Moose and a small Griz with it. Wouldn't been my choice of calibers spending that kind of money for the trip. But then again he brought home what he went after.

Turk
 
why?

About this time last year I was at a gunshow with $$$ in my pocket looking for a lever rifle. I saw a Marlin 444 at about $495. I also saw a Marlin .375 Win for $250. The .375 sits on my gunrack. Maybe another time.

Lobo
 
The 444 marlin is MUCH larger than a 44 mag. They are not interchangeable.

Shooting 444 out of a pistol must be wild. It puts quite a thump on the shoulder w/ a lever gun.
 
Though the .44 Mag and .444 Marlin use the same bullets, the .444 case is tapered and has a slightly larger diameter at the head. So .44 cartridges can not be safely used in a .444 firearm, the danger is the unsupported case would rupture or thrust back to hard on the bolt causing what is know as "spontaneous disassembly" of the firearm. -- Kernel
 
I'm ignorant on this .444 Marlin thing

Forgive me, guys, but could you educate me? What advantage(s) does the .444 Marlin have over the .45-70? Just curious.
 
I think the 444 is a good rifle in its own right.But I don't think there is any advantage to it over the 45/70 if you handload.If you don't hand load Than the 444 might have an advantage because you can buy factory loads that are faster and flatter shooting.However you can buy factory 300grain hollow points for the 45/70 or you can buy the 405grain loads.I guess you can load just about any 44mag bullet in a 444 case if you wanted to,some people might consider that an advantage, However you can get several good bullets for 45/70 loads also.
 
Ok, I'll ask the question differently.

Given that the performance of the .444 Marlin can be duplicated or even bettered by the .45-70, and the prices are about the same, why did you all choose the .444?
 
Steve,

Almost all factory ammo for the .45-70 is loaded light in deference to all the old 19th Century rifles that are still around but were designed for blackpowder pressures. These old guns are good for maybe 18,000 psi or so, go much above that and you'd be picking pieces of metal from your forehead. The .444 Marlin is a new creation, it's factory loaded in the 50,000 psi range, and the rifles chambered in it can handle the pressures. If you're not a handloader it's a no brainier - get a .444, it ain't even close. If you do handload the .45-70 can beat the .444 by a small (but significant) margin, pressures being equal. There are companies that sell hot .45-70 but it's mail order only and very expensive, roll your own and it's no more expensive than anything else. -- Kernel
 
You can get factory 45/70 loads that beat the 444(Garrett,BigBore,Corbon) but I like 44s.

I made 15 400gr jacketed bullets to shoot out of my Winchester Timber Carbine. They shot fine except for lack of stabilization (1800fps with the 17.75 inch barrel that is ported the last 2 inchs) and i could have easily gotten hotter.


The case head of the 44 is about 12/1000ths or so smaller than the 444marlin. Well even though I have pondered having a barrel chambered in 445sm for the gun (since the 1/38 twist sucks for a big gun when over 300gr load should be the norm) so I was curious how much velocity I would get out of the gun. I decided to test the 445 in the 444. Except for ruining (just blown out like any other fireforming operation, though its not wise to shoot brass with a smaller head size than the chamber) the 445SM brass, a mild 180gr load that I have which shoots 1730fps out of an 8inch DanWesson pushed 2200fps in the 444marlin. I think that I can out perform the 444 with the smaller 445SM (normally 330s are in th 1850range in a TC, now give it more barrel) especially given the powder choices. I would also gain the ability to shot 44Mags though the feed mechanism will have to be modified a little.

This may be a good thing.



-CAL
 
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