Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Considering a .444 H&R

Louisiana's recent change to allow older single-shot designs for the primitive weapons season has me contemplating picking up a Handi-Rifle. They seem to be the most popular of the allowable rifle models. Regulations also call for a chambering of .38cal or larger. My three options are the 444 Marlin, 45-70 (very popular), and the 500 S&W. We are allowed to use scopes on these rifles.

At first glance, the 45-70 makes the most sense due to the availability of good bullets, but I'm not sure I want to be punished on the receiving end just to kill a little whitetail. The 500 is really cool and offers some good ballistics from a rifle, but I hear it also requires some concentration to shoot well due to the recoil. The 444 seems like it might make the most sense for me, as 240's can make 2,300fps and 270's will do nearly 2,200fps. A good 270gr Gold Dot bonded softpoint or the 265gr Flex-tip at 2,200 offers a pretty good trajectory for 200yd hunting. A 150yd zero should yield a mid-range rise of 2" and only be 5" low at 200yds, where it has slowed to the point of matching the muzzle velocity of a 44mag handgun.

Anyone have any opinions on the 444 H&R for whitetails and pigs? With two small kids and the wife and I both running the rat race, an extra couple weeks of deer season could be helpful.

Hey J,

I never hunted Weezeeanna....
What's it like..?

I ask because I am sure that you have a general idea as to how you are going to hunt this rig. Are you looking to cut big holes for heavy blood trails in thich swampy terrain, or Are ya looking to reach out over an open field and punch one at 200+ yards...?

Are you planning on handloading for it..?
What does your hunting senario look like down there..?

Jpro;

The .45-70 recoil isn't punishing, unless you want it to be.

Any of the three would do well, and I'd go for the .45-70 first, .444, and only .500 S&W, if someone gave it and a bunch of ammo to me.

I have a T/C Encore stainless 26" 444 Pro Hunter barrel on a regular Encore stainless frame. Don't have the ambidextrious hammer on regular Encore frame. Really sweet shooter with 240gr pills.

Ken

I would be handloading for it. I hunt all kinds of stuff, from swampy bottoms, to pastures, to pine plantations. I do have several short box stands that are positioned with shooting lanes of 200yds or so. I figured that they would be good spots for a mid-range type of rifle. I hunt few spots that don't let me see at least 150yds.

I would probably look for build up a win hiwall in 38-55. It would have all the punch you wanted with not a lot of recoil. They can be built up to shoot very, very well.

you want a great shooting gun, cheap look for a H$R buffalo hunter its fun gun. i like mine 45-70 not bad on recoil

Do they make a hunter in 38-55? 444 is not all that old is it?

The 444 came out in 1964 IIRC, probably based on a wildcat thought up around 1960.
444 Marlin is a great cartridge IMO. It's not as versatile as the 45-70, but it seems to shoot slightly flatter. It'll work just fine out to 250+ yds, as long as you know the range(it's dropping pretty quick by then).

I shoot both the recently discontinued Hornady light mag 265 gr. (at a claimed MV of 2350FPS) and the Boffalo bore 300gr. softpoint out of my Marlin 444S. Accuracy with the Hornady load is right around MOA.

Don't know much about the H&R, but I bought a Knight KP 1 in 444 last year. Very nice gun. Killed 5 whitetails with it last year before I brought out the old 7 mag to finish off the season. Off the hood of my truck it shot just under a 1/2 inch group at a hundred yards with a 3x9 Leupold vx II scope and Hornady LeverEvolution bullets. Two things I don't care much for are 1: the shell does not eject, you gotta pull it out by hand (not easy with gloves on)and 2: if you aim behind the shoulder so as not to put holes in your shoulder roast they almost always run at least 50 - 60 yards without much blood to follow. At least at first.

I looked at the H&Rs, but they felt kinda cheap.

The KP1 is another one on my list. I hear good things.....

the 444 is a great round as is the 500( i have the model 500 wheel gun). But, its hard for me to not suggest the 45-70. it gets overlooked so much and has so much potential. one can actually load one dang near 458wm power levels in guns like the ruger #1. that ol' thing will do a fine job on anything on the continent. plus, google the john linebaugh wet newspaper tests. it out penetrated the 500 nitro express. if your hand loading then its even better. the 500 kinda sux for handloading ,at least for me, because of bullet and brass availability and selection. but it is a mean round an i almost bought a rifle like your talking about just to have it to go with my wheel gun. i will tell you that the 45-70 in a wheel gun has less recoil that my 44 magnums. i shot a magnum BFR that was 45-70 and it was nice. with all that jibber jabber i think any of them are good but when you weigh it out the 45-70 wins (for me anyway)

Jpro, I went through this a few years ago when they changed the "primitive weapons season" law in Mississippi.

I started out with a H&R 38-55 Buffalo Classic. After playing with the rifle a while I realized I would never be able to achieve the ballistic results I wanted so I installed a .45-70 carbine barrel on the rifle and have been very happy with it.

I use that Hornady Lever-revolution 325gr ammo in mine and it shoots MOA most of the time or very close to it. I started out thinking I was going to reload for mine too but after looking at the ballistics of the Hornady ammo I didn't think I could beat it. I use less than 1 box of ammo a year. While the ammo is expensive, I don't use much of it so it's not a concern.

The recoil is stout but it's not painful. When I have my coat on and an animal in the crosshairs I don't even notice it.

I really like the rifle. There are a lot of rumors floating around that next year Mississippi is going to remove the caliber restrictions!

Here's mine, I wears a Leupold VX-II 2-7X33 these days.


Terry

I love the H&R Handi Rilfes. Mine are very very accurate. The Remington 405 grain factory load kicks about like a .30-30. I would forget the Hornady LeverEvolution ammo & bullets. The .444 is also a great cartridge. I recently rechambered my .357 Magnum to .357 Max.

the remmy 45-70 405-grain factory loads are delightful to shoot ...