444 Marlin

[Brad]

Wow, that is pretty soft. These are essentially range scrap, roughly 1.75% Sb and .25 Sn. Casts well for me and i have all I want in the berms at the range.
Next time I need to put up a target and get some idea of what it can do. Probably will scope it first, the irons are good but my eyes arent what they used to be.

 

[todd]

Not a wimp, just intelligent.
I have no desire to shoot any really hotly loaded handguns anymore. Just don’t need the pain.

you got that that right!!!! i have a ruger sbh in 44 mag , that just loves to shoot 44 spl with 250gr hp/255gr keith over 7.0gr of unique. it will kill a 150-175lbs deer at 30-35 yards. it would kill further than that, but the deer wouldn't comply !!!

 

[todd]

Wow, that is pretty soft. These are essentially range scrap, roughly 1.75% Sb and .25 Sn. Casts well for me and i have all I want in the berms at the range.
Next time I need to put up a target and get some idea of what it can do. Probably will scope it first, the irons are good but my eyes arent what they used to be.

i've gotten away from really high fps to ehh, it'll get there, eventually. my speedster is a 30-40 krag with 165gr ranch dog(12+/-bhn) that goes 1930fps. my slowest load(rifle) is a 500 linebaugh with 450gr lfn gc(22bhn/ i bought them from MBW) that goes 1235fps. i've done 15bhn too, but i always go back to 12+/-bhn. the low velocity and the rate of expansion is great for deer. black bear should do as well. every deer i have killed has a exit wound. doesn't matter if the shoulder was hit or not, the boolit exits.

my eyes aren't the greatest, but i like peep sights. i could use irons, but 50 or so yards, the target becomes a blur. by using peep sight, i can see the target. i forgot about peep sights about the time i got out the US Army. when my grandpa died, he gave his 30-40 krag(sporterized). i had a hard time using irons and i got a redfield 102k peep sight. i put it on and wa la, i could shoot the krag!!! i would, with irons, group 3 - 4" at 100 yards and with peep sights, 1 1/2 - 2 1/2" at 100 yards. (i did a 3/4" at 100 yards 5 shots/benched, only once)

 

[RBHarter]

Question ?
The 444 as I understand it is a super mag 44 mag and by association the 44 special ......
Does it share the 38/357/357 max or 45 Colts/454/460 sharing ?

 

[Brad]

Way more.
A 444 in a rifle will hit 2200 plus with a 240 gr bullet. It will go well over 2 K with a 265.

Think of a 44 case the length of a 308.

 

[Brad]

Looking at Hodgkin data it can approach 2500 FPS with a 240. Bullet is gonna blow up at that speed but it will hustle down range.

 

[RBHarter]

I was actually wondering more about , in say a Contender , being able to shoot the shorter in the longer chamber ?

I'm all about utility , not much in to the 44s , 4-5 45s keep me busy enough . I can only imagine me starting to buy 44 cal moulds I must have 10+ in 45 and only 4 for the rifles .

 

[Brad]

I suppose you could but it would have some hella long freebore. Almost a full inch difference in case length.

I prefer a 45 in most cases but since I have the rifle I may as well shoot it some. Biggest advantage to a 45/70 in my opinion is the ability to push bullet weight up.

 

[RBHarter]

1.110 , 1.285 , and 1.8 for the S&W , Colts , and 460 S&W . Not much different than the Judge or Governor . There aren't , as far as I know any 460 rifles . I always thought it would have been an apex in 336 .

Enough of my derailment . Carry on .

 

[Ian]

Well....what's a .45 Raptor but a .460 rimless?

 

[creosote]

Big horn armory makes a 1886 copy in 460.
Kinda spendy though.

 

[todd]

Looking at Hodgkin data it can approach 2500 FPS with a 240. Bullet is gonna blow up at that speed but it will hustle down range.

with my tc encore, i could do 2300fps with a 265gr hornady fn or a 275gr ranch dog and h4198. recoil is stout, to say the least!!!!!

 

[RBHarter]

Well....what's a .45 Raptor but a .460 rimless?

It fits a 95 Mauser nicely , and removes the rim stacking bug .....
If the 444 had been "advertised as compatible with " 44 mag , special , Russian , etc , I might have done that instead of the 45s . I've seen probably 10-1 44 mags to 45 Colts or 454s but they want a mint for the 444s .......

Ford/Chevy/Dodge I guess .

 

[Brad]

Like all guns no longer made they are “vintage” so they are obviously worth at least double retail.

The 444 would be a good deer, elk, bear gun at 200 or less. Need to go with a 300 gr bullet to get the downrange ballistics I would want.

It is a skinny 45/70 with a very short throat.

 

[CZ93X62]

Like all guns no longer made they are “vintage” so they are obviously worth at least double retail.

This is among the many scams afoot in Used Rifle Land. There are many reasons why a make/model goes out-of-print, and among the more likely ones is that not enough people could see the point of the combination when it was on the market--and stayed away. Such variants go out of print--then all of a sudden, their intrinsic worth doubles? That sounds a lot like the fraud perps selling bricks of 1960s-vintage Monkey Wards 22 LR for $100-$125 during the recent Ammo Drought. That ammo couldn't be given away prior to the Drought's onset. NEVER EVER FEED THOSE ROTTEN AVARICIOUS (EXPLETIVES DELETED). Especially so, once the Drought is over with.

No need for me to rave on about why 444 Marlins never took up space in my gun safe.

 

[todd]

this is for all you of guys/girls that wants a cheap bonded bullets.

FrankenMauser's 40 S&W 444 reloads ....

www.marlinowners.com

 

[todd]

Like all guns no longer made they are “vintage” so they are obviously worth at least double retail.

The 444 would be a good deer, elk, bear gun at 200 or less. Need to go with a 300 gr bullet to get the downrange ballistics I would want.

It is a skinny 45/70 with a very short throat.

there is always a 450gr.....

INTRODUCING: The HAMFIST 450gr bullet for 444 Marlin

www.marlinowners.com

since i'm only hunting deer/black bear up close (and i am disabled), i use a 300gr fn gc(saeco) with 24.0gr of 2400/tuft of dacron and it goes 1624fps avg. the furthest i ever got with 2400 was 25.5gr with tuft of dacron. the lowest load was 16.0gr of 2400/tuft of dacon. it made the cases stooty and the barrel was burned pieces of powder until i got them around 22.0gr of 2400.

 

[CZ93X62]

i use a 10-11 pure lead and 1 tin. thats about a 12+/-bhn.

bullshop says
"A very basic rule of thumb I use to determine if an alloy hardness can be expected to expand is this, BHN X 100 = impact velocity.
If your impact velocity (not muzzle velocity) stays higher than BHN x 100 then your bullets should show some expansion. The higher the impact velocity over the BHN x 100 the greater degree of expansion can be expected."

I think this element is the key reason why old BP cartridges all seem to "Punch above their weight-class" so well. The alloys used in those low starting velocities (and resulting low impact velocities) expand readily at relaxed impact speeds. I use Bruce B Soft Points in higher-speed loadings to get The Best Of Both Worlds.

A lot of the earlier 444 Marlins used 1-38" twist rates. THAT was my principal objection to the caliber. Newer variants supposedly use a more modern twist in the 1-20" ballpark. That might have come along with the change to Ballard rifling form--and both of these points are only what I have read, not seen first-hand. So I don't know how well a 450 grain 44 caliber bullet would get along with a 1-38" twist--but a 450 grain bullet would do a lot of things right for the caliber, as would 300--350--and 400 grain bullets, if the twist could support them.

 

[todd]

the older versions (1 in 38") is about 325-350gr boolits. the newer version, such as mine, is 1 in 20" twist. it should go around 450+gr boolits. i've only gone up to 300gr but a 350gr ranch dog is around the bend.

i was thinking the same thing too!!!!! i like bruce b soft points!!!! but i don't use them right now.

i like the fact that i can shoot with heavy calibers all day long and twicet on sundays. i even let my young nephew(11yo) shoot my 444 with 300grs. right now, i have a 500 linebaugh(tc encore with a 23" MGM barrel) with 450gr lfn gc(16.5gr of hs-6) that goes 1235fps avg. a 50-70 gov with 425gr fn boolit(blackpowder) goes roughly the same. i haven't shot a deer with the 500L...yet!!!! but i bet that a .512" hole will be in put in and out of deer's lungs.

 

[MW65]

Picking up a marlin triple 4 soon... I have a handful of moulds for .432... Any recommendations for sizing/moulds to take a look at??

Thanks!
-Andy