Henry Rifle Forums

After selling a Leupold 6-18 scope to my neighbor I had some money in my pocket that I though it "needed" spent at a LGS. I hit the used rack first like always and got clear to the end with nothing exciting then there was a Marlin at the last slot. Picked it up thinking maybe 45/70 but was a 444. 444 works better for me as I can load cheaper 44 cal. jacketed bullets for practice loads and occasional terrorizing the ground hogs along the fence rows in the area. This gun is a nice example with only slight bluing wear on the left edge of the muzzle from a case or a pickup floorboard but no other marks on wood or metal and looks to be very little fired. It was priced at $419 and I am weak when it comes to a nice Marlin priced well so it came home with me. I will peep sight this one as I have a scoped 2001 444. Here they are together. Pretty nice pair.

Congratulations, sounds like a good price for a great rifle.

I love your Marlin big bore rifles .. The 444 is a great caliber , but remember MOST 444 rifles DON"T like heavy bullets because of barrel twist is set up for pistol bullet where the 45-70 twist like heavier bullets . If it come down to cheap shooting I prefer cast bullets in a pistol caliber lever gun and keep it below 1000 fps and the gun should NEVER lead in a 1000 plus rounds shot . Remember cast and jacket bullet should NEVER be shot in same gun . Lead sticks to jacket fouling and causing a gun to lead up fast and accuratcy drop when it leads up . My health keeps me from hunting anymore so the pistol calibers lever gun are best for me .

Good looking pair. Congrats
I love my '97 444, at that price I would have a pair also.
Got a 320gr lead load that works great at 100 yds easily.
Never had anything walk away after being hit by one.
I'd like to find an outfitter one day.

RP

Looks like a great find. Enjoy.

P.S. it's funny to read 'so it came home with me' because when I find something I like here in CA it comes home with me 10 days later!

tx gunrunner wrote:I love your Marlin big bore rifles .. The 444 is a great caliber , but remember MOST 444 rifles DON"T like heavy bullets because of barrel twist is set up for pistol bullet where the 45-70 twist like heavier bullets . If it come down to cheap shooting I prefer cast bullets in a pistol caliber lever gun and keep it below 1000 fps and the gun should NEVER lead in a 1000 plus rounds shot . Remember cast and jacket bullet should NEVER be shot in same gun . Lead sticks to jacket fouling and causing a gun to lead up fast and accuratcy drop when it leads up . My health keeps me from hunting anymore so the pistol calibers lever gun are best for me .

The twist rate was changed to 1:20" from 1:38 when Marlin went from Micro-groove back to Ballard type 6 groove rifling. Some of the guys over on Marlin owners are shooting their own bullets up around 400-420grs. A guy called Flat Top? has modified the feeding mechanism to feed very long heavy hard cast bullets that he has loaded to get some amazing energy and penetration out of the 444. If I remember right he is well in to the 4000 ft/lbs. range with the heavy weights. I believe he has named his 444 SG meaning Safari Grade. He has some very interesting reading over there on Marlin Owners.

thanks for bringing up the 444 .... it is a caliber that I'd heard of but knew next to nothing or even less about .... easy reading ====> http://military.wikia.com/wiki/.444_Marlin <==== I found its connection to the 45-70 to be interesting

Bandit ........... I knew Marlin changed the twist . Putting the ballard rifling is a big plus in my book since I'm a cast bullet shooter . The 444 brass was hard to find there for awhile and bullet selection and choices was narrow . In my old age I no longer like thumper guns . A 444 or 45-70 in a lever gun is a thumper Below is as thumpest [ not a word ] as I get is 44-40 HV is 200 gr / 1800 fps it is not for Colt pistols or Winc 73 lever guns . Ruger pistol and Winc 92 is ok .

tx gunrunner wrote:I prefer cast bullets in a pistol caliber lever gun and keep it below 1000 fps and the gun should NEVER lead in a 1000 plus rounds shot . Remember cast and jacket bullet should NEVER be shot in same gun . Lead sticks to jacket fouling and causing a gun to lead up fast and accuratcy drop when it leads up

I'm new to the world of using lead bullets so there is much I freely admit I don't understand .... I've seen a range speeds given as being OK to fire lead bullets without causing a barrel to develop a lead problem .... for lead bullets in 45-70, our Lyman 49th Edition all of the speeds given for the range of lead bullets they cover fall just over/just under 1,600 fps .... HMS quotes a Muzzle Velocity of 1,781 fps for their 430 gr Bear Loads and a Muzzle Velocity of 1200 fps for their 405 gr Cowboy Action Loads .... I've fired hundreds of them and haven't had any detectable lead buildup .... the first few rounds I fired through ours were the jacked Lever Revolutions (only 45-70 shells I could find at that time) and didn't care for them .... as noted, I've always used jacketed bullets (mostly Nosler) and admit to having a problem getting my head wrapped around the concept of not firing both through the same rifle

I've done it with all with cast bullet . Without gas check you need to shoot your cast bullets below 1400 fps so it don't your lead barrel . I cast all my target bullets [ 25 to 1 ] . I make most of my bullet mold here one below . Below is my target rifle I built to shoot lead only . The target below is the best target I shot in a match and stood for over 20 yrs and there is a perfect target in the pic of rifle I shot .