I bought a 444 Marlin around 83, pre-hammer block. It was accurate with both factory Rem offerings (240gr & 265gr iirc). Grouped about an inch at 100 yds, trigger was excellent. Mounted a small Bushnell and killed a buck with it. Kicked pretty hard or maybe I was too young?
![[Linked Image from i.ibb.co]](https://i.ibb.co/YDJwV4S/20210106-224754-1-1.jpg)
Later I sold it due to my brother telling me it's a rifle shooting pistol bullets and that's not good???
That 1980s hair cut is certainly a blast from the past.....if nothing else....takes one back to happier times...
Several times I've let kids, up to the age of 20 use my 444 when we took them hunting for their first time...
have used them loaded to just a 1000 fps, with 180, 200 and 225 gr XTP bullets, when hunting just south of International Falls MN...
Swamp hunting, in real cold temps... recoil was literally minimum.... but within 100 yds, which was long distance in those Northern Swamps, those "pistol" bullets
always worked without a hiccup.... bang / flop....equal to a 44 Rem Mag load...
redlining those pistol XTP bullets or Remington and Hornady's 240 and 265 grain bullets, were just the same.... drop the velocity down to 1800 FPS or so,
ya reduced recoil 40 % or more... those bullets were like shooting parachute laden pingpong balls...no aerodynamics... you gave up 10 to 15 yds of point blank range and improved the accuracy for most shooters...
after shooting those lighter loads, and their results of bang/flop, each one instantly wanted to go buy a 444.... the ones that figure a 45/70 would be even better, with my buddy Keith's recommendation, and bought one... sold them because they thought it kicked too much... not so with the ones who bought the 444...
