444 Marlin bullet question

[Kcoyboy]

Just ordered a new Marlin 444 with ballard rifling . Will sizing them to .429 be ok. thats what I use in my 44 mags. I hear the Marlin ballard is cut shallow similar to micro groove. Is that the case? shouldIsize to 431? Hey I know about slugging the barrell but isnt the quality control good enough that most new 444 marlins will be the same? Any help from a Marlin caster would be appreciated thanks KC

[missionary5155]

Greetings and WELCOME !
Ya know you may be setting a record with 1 post in 7 months.
Personally I would wait until the .444 arrives and then slug the bore and throat area. Then sise my boolits .002 over throat size IF they will chamber. I personally like fat boolits. Especially soft , plain base fat boolits. My marlin 41 and my marlin 38-40 and my Marlin 38-55 and my Marlins 45-70 all shoot them nicely. One day I will maybe get a .444 ( the origonal 44 Super mag) and do as I just suggested to you. This is how I treat all my rifles... and revolvers ....
Mike God Bless you !

[Leadforbrains]

I have a .444P outfitter. I got a lyman .44 devastator hollowpoint mold for Christmas to mold some bullets for my Ruger SBH. It is the only .44 cal mold I have right now. I sized these to .431 for that pistol and thought I would try them in my Marlin as well. They did chamber even if the OAL was a bit long for the rifle. They would not cycle in the action properly. I single loaded them and they did O.k. at 50 yds with the open sights. I had no leading for the twenty rounds I fired. I am still in the experimental stage with this rifle, and I probably should have slugged my barrel to make sure of my work, and that is probably what you should do also.
I hope this helps.

Edited to add:
There is a Gentleman here that goes by the handle of 6pnt Sika that has a crap load of .444 marlin rifles. He has alot of posts over in the Leveraction part of the forum. He probably would be more Knowledgeable than I about where would be a good base line to start with molds and sizers and such for your rifle.


Welcome to the Forum!

[hunter64]

Most .44 mag molds are made for revolvers as far as the crimp groove placement is concerned. There are some molds that have the crimp groove in the correct location so that the over all length is not to long and will cycle and shoot normally. I have been in on a couple of group buys and they both work excellent but the cheapest and easiest way to get started is to jump over to http://www.ranchdogmolds.com/ I have the 265 and the 300 grn versions of his Lee tumble lube bullets, he also offers a .432 push thru lee sizer and you cant go wrong. As far as other bullets are concerned I have sized them at .432 and I have had no leading and good accuracy. I opened a .431 die to .432 so I could use the Lyman sizer to lube the bullet, I hate the lee mule snot stuff but if you have to use the LLA then I dilute the alox with mineral spirits about 50/50 and dip each bullet into the mix up to just about the crimp groove and place them on some wax paper to dry. One coat will do you and you don't have to worry about the crap on the nose of the bullet transferring to the bullet seating die and giving you headaches. Some people have good results with Johnson's Paste wax also.
Either method of lubing the bullet is up to you but by far the most accurate groups have been sized to .432 with either the older microgroove or the newer Ballard barrels. I have both and the newer barrels will stabilize the heaver bullets, the older microgroove ones I can get Lee 310 grn bullets to work but I have to beagle the mold to get it to .432 and they have to be driven hard to stabilize correctly. With the newer .444 I can load them down a bit and get good results.

[Kcoyboy]

Thanks for the replys appreciate it . yea its funny that I havent used this great forum more. havent been casting lately. I really forgot about it if you want the truth. Im on the kentucky hunting forum a lot as I live in kentucky. You guys might want to check it out . we talk about guns and hunting also. You know Ive been getting a lot of good vibes about the Lee Factory crimp ! Along with the pictures to prove it in the Accurate Reloading Forums. Then you dont have to worry about crimp groves. Ive used this with my 308 and it works good with jacketed bullets.

[Firebricker]

Dont know if this will help or not but i size mine 429 same as for my revolver and get pretty good accuracy. I ve roll crimped and used the lee fcd both work good. I think your gonna love that rifle. Good luck

[Kcoyboy]

Thanks Firebricker! wheres Marengo Ohio? I live 5 miles from Cincinnati. I get my rifle in the next couple of days. Hey I used to have a 44 Rossi lever which didnt have enough umph for me. So I figured a 444 would fit the bill. Particularly since it shoots the same bullets I cast for my blackhawk and Smith pistols. Is your Marlin ballard rifling or microgroove? Wonder why no one makes a carbide sizer die for this caliber?

[Firebricker]

Im about 2hrs straight north I use to go through that area a lot when still lived in Knoxville. 444 is straight walled but its tapered to much for carbide. Thats what I like abought 444 you can put a 250gr over some unique for plinkers or load full power. if you get the chance try a 300 gr hornady xtp over 52grains of h-322 i got good results i found that load in handloader no.206 but my rifle is micro groove. i shoot mainly cast boolits in most everything but if i buy jacketed its usally xtp s. just flat out fun gun to shoot !

[Kcoyboy]

Thanks Firebricker!! appreciate the info. I used to live in Ohio but found a Kentucky girl. I like Kentucky as its a gun loving state too. Shotgun and pistol only for deer in Ohio. Ill bet you dont like that if you hunt! Can you hunt coyotes at night up there? cant in this state. I used to hunt foxes at night when I was a kid and it was legal and fun. If you like to hunt get on Kentucky hunting forum its a great forum. thanks again and good shootin KC it also has gun forums too and lots of pictures of coyotes in the varmint forum

[leadeye]

Pick up a Wild West trigger for your Marlin. I have three and that was the best investment I ever made for them.

[Kcoyboy]

Hey leadeye where in Indiana? thanks does that help the trigger pull? hear Indiana now allows handgun cartriges such as 44 mag for deer hunting! good shootin from Ky