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Posted By: dgr416 Winchester 444 carbine - 01/11/21
Dang I hate to sell this thing but I have no use for it at all .Its the timber carbine xtr big bore 94 in excellent shape .It has the straight grip walnut stock with full length magazine .I bought it to take to Ohio to hunt with .I shot it 5 times and put it away .I use a 260 rem these days my torn rotator cuff is getting worse and even my 338 win mag is no fun to shoot any more . It has the 20 inch barrel full magazine and higher stock and is angle eject . Its 99 percent like new bluing and wood . Its funny everyone thinks it's a little 3030 it's so small .I think it's worth at least $1200 to 1600 was asking here to see what y'all say .I shouldn't nor have been bought it but I wanted to go to Ohio never went .I got a 357 rem max rifle finally to hunt in Ohio if I ever go but I dought I will ever .I really liked my 375 win 94 big bores they were fun to shoot and light this is a little beast !
Posted By: Sherwood Re: Winchester 444 carbine - 01/13/21
A person hardly ever receives full retail value for a used rifle selling it on your own, In contrast, gun stores have more shoppers and they accept credit cards for payment. Any cash offer over $975.00 should be considered, in my opinion.

Sherwood
I really enjoy discussing the Winchester .444 Marlin Rifles. I have no idea what their value might be.
If you are going to purchase a Winchester in .444 Marlin, check the twist rate. Some of the early rifles had a slow twist. My 17.5” Timber rifle has a 1 in 12” twist and I believe all of the 20” carbines have this twist also.
There are a few little things about the .444 Winchesters to bear in mind.
With wide meplat bullets they require deeper bullet seating. This is not a feeding issue but due to th inability of the cartridge to make the turn from the loading gate into the magazine. The Winchester does not have the cutout in the left side of the receiver as in the Marlin rifle.
For example the 310 grain Lee bullet requires a COL of 2.490” for smooth and easy loading. I am able to push the 310 grain bullet to 2,020 fps and a little faster using Hodgdon 4198.
I like my Weaver K2 on my Winchester and shoot deer in motion in the thick brush. I have a 5 minute Lee Dot on this scope and it is quick.
[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]
Posted By: Dogslife57 Re: Winchester 444 carbine - 01/13/21
I think Sherwood is correct. Unfired ones might go 1200+, or even 1500. I've bought and sold a couple of these and think I got about 900-1000 for ones I fired a few times just a few years ago.
Posted By: dgr416 Re: Winchester 444 carbine - 01/13/21
There is a unfired model 94 444 just like mine on gunbroker for $2800 .I am very under priced according to that price .I have a bunch of 416 rem mag rifles and they are way funner to shoot than this 444 . Its an awesome gun but I will never use it .
Posted By: Dogslife57 Re: Winchester 444 carbine - 01/13/21
Do an advanced search on GB of that model and you can see what they actually sold for recently, asking price doesn't mean much..
Last year I sold an unfired one with the 20 inch barrel on GB for about 1500.
Posted By: Region6 Re: Winchester 444 carbine - 01/13/21
Originally Posted by dgr416
There is a unfired model 94 444 just like mine on gunbroker for $2800 .I am very under priced according to that price .I have a bunch of 416 rem mag rifles and they are way funner to shoot than this 444 . Its an awesome gun but I will never use it .


Sounds like you should quit wasting time here and put it on Gunbroker.
Posted By: Rossimp Re: Winchester 444 carbine - 01/14/21
Anyone who knows firearms could buy a nice Winchester 86 or a half way decent 71 for that kind of money, or choose from several Browning 86 or 71s. No offense but your chances of obtaining $2,800 for an 94 AE XTR are slim to none. BTW your 20” full length magazine is not a Timber Carbine Model. The last of the 94 AE BBs made in 444 Marlin were not classified as XTR models they were the 20” half magazine Black Shadow and the 18” half magazine ported barrel Timber Carbine. A select number of those models have a 1-12 twist. Bottom line, the most sought after 94 AE XTR is the 7-30 Waters at around $1,700, next would be the 307 Win at around $1,400.
Posted By: Hesp Re: Winchester 444 carbine - 01/16/21
I sold my Win 94 444 some years back for the same reason you mentioned. Horrific recoil. I like you also shoot a 260 Rem. Takes mature muley's to elk , no problem. I do have a Win 94 24" Bbl in 44 mag. All I shoot in it is my own home cast bullets. I can control recoil bu adjusting my load.
As to the price of your Win 444 , I would think you need to look at whatt they are actually selling for. What folks are will to actually pay. I see a lot of firearms on GB just setting there with no bids. That tells the real story of value.
Posted By: Yoder409 Re: Winchester 444 carbine - 01/16/21
The prices on these more recent, non-30/30 Model 94's are pretty ridiculous, I think. That being said............it's all in what you want. They ain't making them anymore. And they probably never will again. Some of these guns are approaching 45 years old. Some of them............the OP's .444 Marlin included......were only a limited-time offering and, thus, fairly rare. I should have sold all of mine during the "Winchester going out of business" bubble of 2006-2007. But prices seem to be inching back up toward those levels for very nice examples. Mine will probably all go one of these days.
I hope you sell it. I bought one when they first came out and shot it a lot. The forend slid forward like a pump gun. The dovetails under the barrel came loose. The stock split and it started snapping on live rounds. It's too light of an action for prolonged shooting with big bore rounds. Upon Winchester replacing it. I immediately sold it and purchased a Marlin 444P in .444. I've shot it thousands of times and it's still solid and functional as when new............There is a reason John Browning didn't chamber 94 in big bore cartridges and instead used his STRONGER 1886 action. Apparently Winchester thought they could and failed. If you only shoot a few rounds each year through your BB94 it may last. But 50 or so rounds weekly will cause it spontaniously disassemble itself. BTW I bought a second Marlin 444P as a backup in 1999. It sleeps as it's never been needed.
Happy, too many of those 310 grain Lee's at full power!
I sill shoot them in my Winchester but just for hunting.
I have shot many of the 270 Speers with no trouble.

I still put deer on the ground quicker with the 240 grain bullets. I shoot close.

You may remember Ranch Dog and a few others suffered the traveling magazine tube in their .444 Marlin rifles.

I atill appreciate the help back in 2001 or so with the COL issues for the Lee and LBT bullets. The Winchester will not let the wide meplat bullets make the turn through the loading gate.

I still would like to play with the .450 Marlin in the Winchester BB rifle but the price of admission holds me back.
Posted By: jgt Re: Winchester 444 carbine - 12/29/21
I have a Timber Carbine BB94. I have always wanted a Marlin 1894 44 magnum with a faster twist rate. Marlin has had many chances to do that, but so far refuses to do it. The Timber Carbine is light to carry and has a short barrel. I bought it when I could not find a Marlin short barreled 444. I have since acquired two Marlins. Rather than sell a rifle like that, I just load it down to shoot a little hotter than a 44 magnum, but less than a full snort 444. It is very handy. Already has ghost ring sights so it was a no brainer for me. Hopefully it will last me a long time in that role and still not be hard on the rifle. It doesn't use the same ammo as my revolver, but I do have a marlin 44 magnum with the slow twist if that is what is called for.
Posted By: AKA_Spook Re: Winchester 444 carbine - 12/31/21
Originally Posted by dgr416
Dang I hate to sell this thing but I have no use for it at all .Its the timber carbine xtr big bore 94 in excellent shape .It has the straight grip walnut stock with full length magazine .I bought it to take to Ohio to hunt with .I shot it 5 times and put it away .I use a 260 rem these days my torn rotator cuff is getting worse and even my 338 win mag is no fun to shoot any more . It has the 20 inch barrel full magazine and higher stock and is angle eject . Its 99 percent like new bluing and wood . Its funny everyone thinks it's a little 3030 it's so small .I think it's worth at least $1200 to 1600 was asking here to see what y'all say .I shouldn't nor have been bought it but I wanted to go to Ohio never went .I got a 357 rem max rifle finally to hunt in Ohio if I ever go but I dought I will ever .I really liked my 375 win 94 big bores they were fun to shoot and light this is a little beast !



In the same boat. Took 11 rounds to realize how much fun I wasnt having shooting full power 444.
I've been advised to load it to 44 mag levels and have fun , but I'm kinda over it.

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]
I had the Timber carbine years ago. It spontaniosly cracked the stock and disassembled itself from much shooting. The 94 action is not designed to or for big bore cartridges. John B designed it and a bigger 1886 action for bigger cartridges. My friend has one that he may fire it twice a year. IF you do that yours many last. Mine I was shooting 25-30 rounds a week through it and it fell apart. So I went Marlin 444's and they have run flawlessly.
Not flaming your post. Just passing along my expirence with 444's.
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