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

I helped a neighbor friend of mine out a lot this year. He knows how much I like tinkering with guns and asked me to come over. He handed me an older model (pre crossbolt safety).444 Marlin and said, "Thanks for all your help, she's your's." He handed me two boxes of factory ammo and 100 pcs. of new brass as well. The rifle had a cracked stock and a little surface rust here and there, but is a real gem, especially for FREE!

First things first, because I am not a collector, I'm a shooter. I just had to get the stock fixed before touching off a round. I drilled a 1/2" hole cross wise through the stock/cracked area very carefully and glued in a hard wood dowl. I glued and clamped the crack as well. Vigorous sanding, a new coat of stain and an oil rub really made the rifle look new. You can hardly see the dowl. I completely disassembled the rifle, cleaned all the parts and oiled it up. It is cold as heck out here in Utah, but I just couldn't wait any longer. I had to get some trigger time with her. The 240 grain Remington factory load really got my attention! This is no "boys" gun. You know you are shooting something. The rifle turned out to be a one holer out to 50 yards (the farthest I could shoot). The rounds were punching through 3/16" steel plate with boring regularity. I have a couple of .44 magnums and am highly familiar with that round, but the .444 is a new one to me, for the most part. Oh, and the rifle loves shooting .44 magnums as well, they just shoot a few inches lower. I plan on hunting pigs, elk and deer with the rifle and would like to get some good loads for big game and reduced loads for fun. So let's hear it from guys in the know. Flinch

I have a .444 -- Winchester M94 made with synthetic stocks. I took it caribou hunting in '04, and killed a bull with a 270 gr Speer bullet. Through the ribs at 65 yards -- worked really well... . Mine carries a 3X Leupold, and pretty consistently shoots 270 gr bullets into an inch and a half at 100 yards.

But I don't think you're supposed to shoot .44 Mag brass in a .444 -- it's not a lengthened .44 Magnum.

Great rifles and cartridges for their purpose, I think...

Dennis

I've got a newer 22" blued Marlin.
Mine absolutely loves the Hornady tipped ammo, couldn't get the Core-lokts to shoot at all.

I carried it for a season for cow elk, never got to fire it, but sure was fun packing it around. At some point it'll get bloody.

I really like my 444 and it really likes 265gr Hornadys. Haven't stuck on through an elk but I've no doubt it'd do an excellent job.

Unless it were an emergency, I can't think of any reason why I'd ever want to run any of my 44 mag ammo in my 444.

Used to have a M94 Timber Carbine in .444 Marlin, and stoked up with full house 300 gr. hardcasts, it let you know when it went off.

Killed a couple of pigs with it - put a shotglass wide hole straight through them.

Check out the Marlin Owner's forum, marlinowners.com, for more than you ever wanted to know about the marvelous .444 Marlin and the rifles that shoot it.

Actually, a lot of guys shoot .44 mags through their .444's. The .444 has the same dimensions, just longer. I load one in the mag and one in the pipe. It won't feed more than one out of the mag. That is why I wanted some reduced load data. Thanks for the info on the Marlin forum. Flinch

You're getting no swelling at the base of the .44 Mags? They really aren't the same size, but if you're doing OK with it, then you are. You might go to LoadData or somewhere and check, though. It could be interesting...

Dennis

No, they are not the same dimension. The Marlin round in .012" larger in diameter at the web of the cartridge. You could have a case rupture. Not something you really want to happen.

They shoot the same diameter bullet, but that's about it for commonality.

The Lyman manual is a good source of reduced loads for the .444 Marlin and Cast bullets.

I used one for a few years with a case load of IMR4198 and a 240 grain Jacketed bullet. Very good, hard-hitting round for deer, and with the right bullets, just about anything that walks this continent.

I've got two .444 Marlin. One with a microgroove barrel and a newer one with the ballard rifling. Haven't shot the newer one yet but the microgroove one shoots under 1" at 100yds with the Hornady 265gr FP and 300gr XTP and the Speer 300gr UC.

I just installed a grey laminate on my newer one. Once I confirm that she shoots as well as my older one, I'll probably only keep one.

I like that laminated stock. Big bore lever guns are killers.

I have several lever guns and like em a lot. I shoot a lot of cast bullet out of the because they are much cheaper number 1 and 2 they will penetrate a lot deeper with my handloads and proper weight bullets.

I have an older .444 and the newer version (safety) model in the 1895 Marlin, big brother 45-70 too. The got a couple of smaller guns in the 30-30 and 35 Remmy.

I do like the looks of those laminated rifles I saw on the shelf at the gun store awhile back but I don't believe I will be changing stocks anytime soon.

I have a Marlin 444P Outfitter that I picked up about 10 years ago. Gun shoots cloverleaf groups with the Hornady Light Mag 265 gr ammo. I've taken 4 or 5 deer with it and it puts them down quickly and doesn'y mess up too much meat. It's a great carry gun in the thick stuff. No doubt it would put the smack on an elk.

Umm ya you're really not supposed ti shoot 44's in the 444 very dangerous. That being said the 444 was my first big bore levergun and opened a new world to me, thus my handle on here. I had great results with the 270gr speer gold dot. Try some hardcasts from Beartooth bullets if you really wanna hammer something! And as someone mentioned marlinowners.com is the place for info on marlins of any kind.

That blued/laminate look is nice! Marlin should take note.

JV

BCSteve Where did you pick up that stock, love the looks of it.
I think one would look great on my 356. Cheers Don

Here's what my .444 and .356 Winchester 94's look like...



Caribou taken with .444 at 65 yards...



Nice rifles...I had one .444 rebarreled in .356, though I haven't hunted with it...yet... .

Dennis

Instead of shooting 44 Rem Mag cases in the 444, I can tell you from experience, that if you load 444 cases using 44 Rem Mag load data, you will end up getting 44 Mag Velocities..just lower pressure.

Both SR 4756 and SR 4759 give good accurate loads for the 444. Data is either out of Lyman's Cast Bullet manual. or using 44 Rem Mag data.

that route is alot safer than using 44 Rem Mag cases in your 444.

Also for those who don't like the recoil, 44 caliber bullets are about as aerodynamic as a pingpong ball. I can drop loads down to the 1800 fps range from the 2200 fps range, and surprisingly lose about 10 to 15 yds of point blank range at most.

I almost use Hornady XTP bullets for my 444, so the lower velocity is not handicapped by the bullet design. The kids love shooting 200 grain XTPs at 800 to 1000 fps using Trail Boss powder. for hunting, I load it up with 25 to 35 grains of SR 4759 and a 300 grain XTP...

That still makes a decent 150 yd rifle, and that is pretty much the distance that is reasonable with it.

Mine is the older type, built in 1980 and bought early 1981 for $219.00 brand new out of the box!

Steve,

what was your source for that laminated stock?

my 28 year old 444's stock either needs an overhaul, or I could sure enjoy a grey laminate stock on it like you did yours!

thanks
seafire

That is damn sure easy on the eyes.

Joseph