Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Anyone hunting with the .444 Marlin?

Good stuff

The only reason I don't have a .444 is I found a .45-70 first.


I saw above where someone suggested 150 yards for the .444. Have not run any ballistics and have not shot one, but my .45-70 punched through a mulie buck at 197 lasered and the following morning dropped a 6x6 bull elk at 213 lasered. At 600 meters (NRA Whittington Center) I was able to topple the steel rams 4 out of 5 in a heavy xwind and am pretty sure any game animal hit would have been in big trouble.

A good hardcast out of a .444 isn't something I'd want to be hit by at any range.

Ive yet to recover a hard cast gas check bullet in the 400-450 grain range fired from a 45/70 or a 450 marlin rifle so far theres been an exit wound every time
even the 355 grain versions generally exit elk



https://www.midwayusa.com/product/6...8-diameter-405-grain-flat-nose-gas-check


https://thebiggamehuntingblog.com/hunting-cape-buffalo-with-the-45-70-government/

https://forty5seventy.wordpress.com/
generally load those bullets to a 1800-1900 fps range

One of my favorite .45-70 loads is a 300-350g hardcast at 1167 fps and 1097 fps respectively, using only 13.5g HS-6. Recoil is about half that of a standard .30-30 load and they are very inexpensive. Cost of lead has gone up, but at one point I figured about $2.50 per box of 20. Very accurate with a trajectory similar to a .22. Great plinker for the kids and very destructive to whatever they hit. They consistently drill through 11-12 water jugs.

Wouldn't choose them for elk as I have many loads better suited for that, but they are a lot of fun. Softball-sized rocks shatter when they meet.

That sounds like a fun load. I've been looking for a plinker load. Thanks for the info.

Look at gmdr.com for more loads like this.
http://www.gmdr.com/lever/lowveldata.htm

Is it hunting season yet?