.444 Marlin

G

GlenO

Member
I picked up a .444 Marlin at an estate sale. It came with a couple of boxes of factory ammo. I shot it a few times and am not sure if I any longer like the feeling of being kicked by a mule every time I pull the trigger.

I would have really preferred one chambered in .44 Rem Mag as I don't shoot very many elk or moose here in Texas. However, we do have a lot of feral hogs and I thought it would be a "fun" gun to have. I'm re-evaluating that thought.

Anyway, my question: have any of you tried loading down this cartridge, to somewhere (ballistically) approaching the .44 Rem Mag cartridge (out of a rifle)?

Thanks,

Glen
 
Why ruin a good thing? It doesn't have the light recoil of a 44 mag because it doesn't shoot a cartridge anywhere near as short as a 44 mag. The 44 mag may be a great revolver cartridge, but it isn't much different in the energy department then the anemic 30/30. To me, my Marlin 44 mag is a centerfire plinking gun.

I'm not too embarrassed to put a $15 slip-on rubber recoil pad on the butt stock of both my old 444 or 45-70 Marlin rifles. Neither have I had anybody at the range laugh at me when I have placed a folded towel on my shoulder (in back of the rubber slip-on pad) when sighting in my max charged 45-70 reloads.

Just a suggestion and opinion, but I won't knock it if what I say doesn't work for you. Just some food for thought.
 
One of the advantages of reloading is to get what you want. You can load it down to almost no recoil, but at some point you need to go to lubricated lead bullets. You can use a .410 shotgun wad over the powder on really low loads. I have a .458 I shoot casually with 300 gr bullets and only 6-10 grains of unique. Shoots like a .22, kicks like a .38.
 
Just trade it

It would cost you a bundle to convert the 444 Marlin to 44 mag, but you could trade it for a similar rifle in 44 mag with little or no money changing hands. You could download it by handloading but then you're stuck with handloding all your ammo. That's ok for some people, not for others. A downloaded 444 is not likley to be as accurate due to velocity dispersion as a 44 mag at the same velocities.

If you do choose to download use a bulky moderatly fast powder. Trailboss and XMR-5744 are good choices for downloading big straightwall cartridges. If you load cast lead at subsoinc velocities the rille not only kicks less but is noticalby quiter too. You'd still be better off with a 44 Mag (or 44 Special) for light loads.
 
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Looking to buy a marlin 444

Are you willing to sell it? I'm interested
 
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