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Ok it's done! I over paid a bit but I wanted this one
1976 pre safety JM Marlin .444 in excellent condition

Have one myself, great fun to shoot. Got a buck in Ohio with it this past season.

Beautiful! Fun one.

You'll love it, decent timber looks like as well..

I my dealer is holding 2 boxes of the 265 gr Hornady FP's and 3 lbs of RL7 for me am I on the right track for loading?

For me you are dead on I'm not going to take or post a pick but at present I have 200 rds of 265's loaded..However 4198 is my powder of choice..43.5 grs to be exact...kills deer like Thor's hammer.

Thanks I may have a part jug of H4198 here and I'll see if my dealer has some as well

That will be a very good combo, and you might want to experiment some with H4198 or H322.

270 grain Speers are a good bullet, too.

Edited to add: I see you're already thinking of H4198.

Getting my ducks in a row!

Beautiful rifle, sir. I bought a new Marlin 444 in 1976. It was my first deer rifle. I traded it away in the early 1980s. I have wanted another one for years.

"This little piggy went to Marlin"....

Cute...I like it.

Doc

If I had to pick a rifle for timber hunting or surviving in the bush...the .444 would be it. Excellent condition .444 you have there.

Seafire has a practice loading using the Hornady 300 gr XTP and IMR 4756 at about 1800 FPS that "John says" kills like the hammer of Thor and a lighter recoiling load I suspect.

Doc

Have a 1973 model and agree. 4198 and 365 hornadys r a perfect match. Shoots under an inch all day long.


Roy

I'd be working up a load with 3 round balls for grouse.

Anyone have any feed back on the Hornady Superformance 265 FP factory ammo....

270gr Speer and H322 does wonderful things.

And I will say I'm not a 'hammer' guy when talking about how something works for deer but the 444 does hammer deer.

Hey Dan, nice rifle, congrats, saw your thread and ran out to the shop and grabbed an old load manual of mine.

I loaded the 444 Marlin for a Bud of mine, he and his son went on all game lever action hunts in the U.S and Canada several years ago, he successfully killed everything with the load below I worked up for his 444, most all instances according to him and his son were complete pass throughs with quick kills.

444 Marlin

R-P brass
265 gr Hornady rnfp
49 gr RL-7
WLR primer
COL crimp in groove
Vel 2220 fps

A very safe and effective load Dan, you may wanna give it a try.

Scott and Jerry thanks!

Nice score dvdgeorge. I've already posted these links on another 444 thread today, but here they are again. Marshall Stanton has a three part tech note series at Beartooth Bullets and he does extensive load work for them with a broad range of powders and bullet weights. Of course, these loads are with hard cast bullets, but still great info and background on the 444.

Links to 444 tech notes (Part III covers heavy loads):

444 Marlin - Part I

444 Marlin - Part II

444 Marlin - Part III

DVD, Ive had good luck with both H322 & H4198 in my sons Marlin 444p. Has yours got the microgroove rifling ?

Yes 1:38 microgroove

Nice rifle I picked up a1976 444 last week the wood is not as nice as what you have there, I got some dies in the mail two days ago and a box of core locks can't wait to hit the range

Very nice rifle! You are definitely on the right track with the Hornady 265g & H4198 or RL7. You're gonna like that rifle!

Congratulations!
Dan

Thanks Dan and Welcome to the campfire!

Finally got the .444 Marlin today.
As soon as I got it home I had it full disassembled for a once over and cleaning,it was pretty spotless but I went over it completely and stoned the trigger to lighten it up some.It probably could use a little more but I'll call it ok at about 4 1/2 to 5 lbs. Leupold VX2 2x7 is mounted and bore sighted and I hope to hit the range tomorrow and see what happens!

Love this 444 Marlin ! Hit the range and this was the first 3 shots at 50 yds with Crimson Tides hand loads he forwarded me


My hand loads with 265 gr Hornady FP and H 4198 at 100 yds!


Fun to shoot recoil was a no issue was expecting much worse
Fired 42 rounds(all I had loaded) was busting clays at 100 yds with ease!

Having shot three different 444's over the years two of which were mine all were inherently accurate especially with the 265 Hornady.The one I have now has the Ballard barrel and shoots cast bullets almost to the same hole if I do my job...Great shooting Dan the fun is only beginning!

Was at the range all alone but still had an ear to ear grin

The Hornady Superperformance 265 is the most accurate load in my 444S.

I am working with 305 gr. cast from an NOE mould at the moment. 4198 is proving to be a nice balance of density and burn rate- currently getting 2040 fps with the big 305 grainer.

really need a 444 marlin...........

Alla youze guys need to stop talking about 444's!

Thats the way mine shoots, with Hornandy lever ammo, and with TAC powder and 240 grain XTPs.

Almost everyone says the 444s shoot good groups. My question is why can't their 1894 44 mags shoot half as good as the 444s. I am thinking it has to be with their barrel configuration. Lighter, and the barrel bands with full length tubes most play a huge part of their finikiness.

You could make the same statement on the Marlin 336's in .35 and 30-30.

Most .35 and 30-30 are 1 1/2 and 2 inch shooters with out doing so work to the bedding and barrel bands. As with any rifle platform there are always exceptions to this.

Doc

A buddy of mine has a Marlin .444 in the XLR configuration, which is stainless/laminated with the longer barrel. That thing shoots as well as most bolt actions and it actually came with a descent trigger. it is a blast to shoot and it is his primary hunting rifle.

I got a 444. It was ugly due to a strange custom job on the wood. Bought some used 1895 wood for Canada had Jim Brockman of Brockman rifles fit the wood work the action trigger and make a glove sized lever. Shoots as good as any rifle I own. Speer 270 grain gold dots are highly rated but hard to find. My favorite load is the 300 grain Barnes original or Hornady 300 grain xtp. Using 41 grains h 4198. It is a microgroove pre safety action. I really like the 444. Beware of some Hornady ammo as the brass is shorter as compared to most.

I helped a friend put his back in use that was sitting in the cabinet for probably 20 years. Scoped it, and made up some moderate handloads. His is also a micro grooved probably late 70's or early 80's. Tried the Barnes 200 grain XPB bullets and it hated those. Foamed the barrel and let it soak overnight, then switched to 240 XTP's and it could almost be called a tackdriver. 44.0 H4198 is the charge. Not a top book load, but plenty. I don't think the long all copper bullets do well in that slow twist and they probably weren't catching the microgrooves really well either.

Just picked up 5 boxes of the Superformance 444 ammo.My dealer had ordered it for me a few weeks back before I had worked up my load,figured it would get me started shooting and some brass. He cancelled it so we thought but it showed up yesterday. I had a couple hundred$ credit so told him I'd take it any ways. I'll see how it shoots and have another 100 pc of brass

i've used the Superformance 265 FP factory ammo was very accurate and works well on deer

Good solid rifle.........pre safety Marlins rock........

Had a 444-P.......but sold it.........now have an 1895 GS 45-70

Everybody needs a big bore Marlin........

Man this thread is making me miss my 444! It was my first big bore lever gun and got me hooked with the Marlins, thus my handle here and on other sites.

People say lever actions aren't as accurate as bolt rifles? They need to see targets like these!

I took deer with 265gr hornady, 270gr Speer Gold Dots and Marshals excellent hard cast lead. They all worked very well.

100yds 240gr Sierras....




270 Gold Dots @ 100 yds...




300 gr. Barnes...



From this..




DRT... was dead by the time his chest hit the ground, never made a sound.

nice.........thumper......pre safety.........

now get some Hornady 265's

Since Hornady brought that bullet to light, it's the ONLY bullet I shoot out of mine. I am lying if I told you what powder I use, but I'll check as soon as I get out of work. I do know that at 100 yds, mine will cloverleaf most of the time. I love it, and I know you will as well.

Oh I'm all good to go and going to try and poke a TX hog with this load this week

265 gr Hornady FP and H 4198 at 100 yds!

Can't see many critters being able to defeat a .444

Good shootin Dan, and, if any of those critters caught and kept one of those 265 Hornadys I'll eat it.

Great way to break in a new rifle Dan.That combo is what makes mine sing!

Woody, now all we gotta do is hook Dan on using good cast slugs

Yep just like a good friend of ours over on Marlin Owners recently found out!

bought mine in 1981 brand new for $219 at Mills Fleet and Farm in Minnesota...

first time I ever took it out to sight it in, was up north of Hibbing, and went out to where we hunted way before season....nailed a 'target' on a pretty decent sized pine tree, say 40 to 50 feet high...

put the first shot and it was too the left of the bullseye... adjusted the scope to the right and shot again,
Still to the left of the bullseye...adjusted again, and shot a third time, dead center bullseye...

Was using Remington 240 grain factory ammo... shooting off the top of my Volvo wagon for a rest...

after that a slight breeze blew thru... the tree that was used to hold the target was 75 yds or so away... started to wobble.. a little stronger gust of wind, and the entire tree fell over...

three shots side by side had blown a hole thru 2/3s of the tree from side to side, and all the way thru the back thru line of travel for the bullet...

I was amazed to say the least... called it my logging gun after that...

use to impress my deer hunting buddies on properly placed shots on trees, could cut them right down...

never saw the need for a 45/70, although my buddy Keith had to go one up on me, and bought one...

first deer I shot with it, was that season... at about a 100 yds, a buck came out on a drive on a snowmobile trail..
saw me and turned away.. so instead of taking the Texas heart shot.. I aimed above the tail and at the base of its neck...it had only taken a few running steps when I pulled the trigger...hit its spinal column and turned the lungs into a bowl of spaghetti...

biggest deer I ever shot was in the winter of 1984, at 30 below... a big buck kicked out of a swamp drive...he field cleaned at 265 lbs...as he circled around the tree I was shooting from ( an uprooted one, that a storm had blown over and I was sitting on the roots about 20 feet up in the air).. at a distance of 75 to 80 yards, when I fired, he had just cut behind a sapline 4 or 5 inches in diameter...

the 240 grain bullet, cut the sapling in half...hit the buck in the lungs and exited on the oft side...

the old 444 is a highly underrated and underappreciated gun and caliber...my handloads are with the 300 grain XTP....

but for off season fun etc, you can use 44 Rem Mag load data.. the kids especially have fun blowing holes in trees in the woods, with a 180 or 200 grain XTP traveling at about 1000 fps...recoil is like a pop gun...

I admit to preferring the 300 XTP over the 265 FN...

the other thing I've notice, those bullets have little aerodynamic capability.. like shooting a parachute...

but I can throttle the MV back to 1750 fps or so, instead of 2250 fps and you give up about 15 yds point blank range and that is it... while reducing recoil by half...

my most common load is 30 to 35 grains of SR 4759 and a 300 grain XTP at 1750 fps...if its within 150 yds, its toast..

Beautiful rifle, Dan. My uncles would smile on that one, were they still around to see it.

Bought one this past fall. First chance at deer was 125 yard shot at a big whitetail doe. When it came out of recoil I saw a deer stumbling towards the woods, then I saw the doe I was shooting at dead in her tracks. The other unseen doe made it about 20 yards, found the bullet jacket in the off side rib cage. Was using the Hornady 265 grain flex tip. Will be selling my 1895 45/70.