Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 444 Marlin & Elk

Yes Swampy, I have a point. Read the two post above this... got that part? Now read your posts about using the 444 for elk. What is the main difference?

There are multiple reports on Marlinowners.com ref the FTX not penetrating as well as it might. These observations were submitted to Hornady. Hornady is now bringing out the Monoflex bullets, which should provide better penetration. Yes, the pointy tip provides better ballistics and stretches the useful range, but I, personally, would not be inclined to use the FTX for elk. The Monoflex, probably, depending on how field reports come back.

I would be more inclined to use the 265 Hornady flat point or a 300 Speer. A gas-checked hardcast would also be applicable.

And yes, I live in Florida, and yes, I have seen elk, including one herd of probably 80-100 animals, including several fine herd bulls. That was in 1990 in Colorado. Unfortunately, I was deer hunting, not elk hunting. This was not on private land, not on a ranch.

Outstanding. That is precisely what I was looking for. Thank you. If I may, were you running the Barnes 225 XPB hot? Any chance at a chronograph? I never even considered looking at those lower weight "HP solid" Barnes bullets but you have piqued my curiosity now.

Pretty funny that a poster that has only seen Elk in a petting zoo would even make any commentary on this subject.

Great hunting story on the Sambar. Your friend sounds like "the guy to know" on hunting the game, I wish I knew him. Those Sambar look to share a lot of similarities. I don't know how "tough" they are to go down but they look to be a young cow or spike bull in size.

I completely agree on the Swift bullets. I used to load their 30 cal Scirocco for the magnum but they just became way too expensive. I switched to the Partition or even a Hot-Cor in a heavier pill. But those Scirocco bullets sure did shoot great.

Thanks for the input.

(BTW, is the hostility in this thread typical of the forum?)

I'm not running it hot, but it is a max load. No chrony data, but it should be just shy of 2200 fps. They aren't solids - they are the pistol version of the X bullet.

Then why are you commenting?

FIxed it for you Swampy... Please don't comment on anything ELk related you have not hunted them and you surely have never used a 444 on one so why bother or are you psychotic?

I've hunted them, and you haven't hunted at all.

I think somewhere you said you killed hundreds of them. I will post my pics if you post yours... Go ahead. I am sure you have some nice petting zoo photos Azzhole.

We shouldt prompt him, he might have a fit and carry his 444 to the zoo......

pdk...If you are looking to get into a battle of wits with Swampy...

Be aware that he is unarmed...

Akin to teasing the mentally challenged?

Nice PC way to put it.....

Poor guy, he can't figure out that the helmets keepin him from lickin the window.....

I tried to be nice to that azzhole and it got me nowhere Now some kids won't be able to pet Elkie because Swampy is going to kilt him.

I've only personally seen one deer killed with the 444. A friend of mine shot a little doe last year with the leverevolution from about 100 yards. I carried it out on my atv. There were two exit holes where the bullet broke apart. But she dropped right there.

I�m still running 350g North Forks through the .45-70 � no change there. Can�t get a premium for the .375 Winchester so I�m running 225g Hornady . Started playing with the .30-30 and FTX last year and was amazed at the results on paper � by far the tightest groups I�ve had, including .5� during load development. Took it to the range two weeks running and fired one shot each week. Too bad I used different targets as the holes would have been touching or darn near so.

I suspect I�ll give the MonoFlex a try later this year, after hunting seasons are over. If they work out like the FTX, I�ll probably use them for hunting and the FTX for play and most of my practice. The 170g Partitions and Speer FP I have loaded and have hunted with in the past are now plinking loads. Never could get good consistency with the Partitions anyway and kept reverting to the Speer.

Yeah, the levers are an exception. Especially the Browning .44 Mag � I�m happy with C&Cs at 1881fps at the muzzle. The bolts all get North Fork, Barnes MRX or TTSX, Swift Scirocco II or Nosler AccuBond. Still not sold on the last two but will likely try them again this year. I still have a box of Federal 160g Partitions for the 7mm RM from the days when I took them as back-up ammo fro my Grand Slam loads. Just checked out of curiosity, 17 loaded rounds in the box. The lot number is 350158Z239. Not sure how old they are but I�m guessing they are from the last century.