.444 Marlin plinking load

[Wally]

Was thinking of loading up a batch of Lyman 429348's (180 grain WC) unsized with 8~10 grains or Red Dot & a filler just to see what it can do. Has anyone tried this before?

[longbow]

I don't think you would need a filler with Red Dot.

While I am not against fillers, they usually are not needed with fast powders.

What sort of filler are you considering ~ puffy like polyester or granular? Either way if you use filler work up loads and watch for pressure signs.

If your 429348 fits your bore I am betting it will work fine as a plinker over a light charge of any fast powder.

I was shooting 0.440" RB sized to 0.434" in my .44 Marlin with up to 10 grs. of Unique or old 452AA I had. Worked pretty well but I wanted a "boolit" so I went to Accurate Molds.

I asked Tom to scale down a TC mould he had in .45 cal. for my .44 mag Marlin. It is a 165 gr. TC with small flat point so safe for tube mag. It casts at 0.433" so perfect for my fat groove diameter of 0.4315".

I have been most impressed with it so far. If you are looking for another mold for plinking or as a lightweight screamer I think this one is a gem. The mould is beautiful and casts right to spec.

43-165B here:

http://accuratemolds.com/catalog.php?page=3

While I normally lean towards heavy for caliber boolits, I loaded this one up from light to pretty hot and had a pile of fun shooting. Recoil was very light and trajectory very flat over 50 yards anyway.

I hope yours works out for you. Lots more shooting per pound of powder and lead with no sore shoulder.

Longbow

[helice]

Wally
The closest I can come is with a 170 gr .432 LBT Ogival Wadcutter, a WLR Primer, 13gr of 700X to get 1635'/s from the Winchester BigBore 444.
I used RedDot with the 250, 280 and 300 but for some reason I changed to 700X with the 44 Special bullet.
All loads with the Red Dot were very mild. At half my charge you won't know you shot it - except for the noise.

[Wally]

Will use poly filler--the same that I use in the Marlin .45-70--I've found it helps keep the spread more consistent. I've been using in the .45 Colt for years now...


E
I don't think you would need a filler with Red Dot.

While I am not against fillers, they usually are not needed with fast powders.

What sort of filler are you considering ~ puffy like polyester or granular? Either way if you use filler work up loads and watch for pressure signs.

If your 429348 fits your bore I am betting it will work fine as a plinker over a light charge of any fast powder.

I was shooting 0.440" RB sized to 0.434" in my .44 Marlin with up to 10 grs. of Unique or old 452AA I had. Worked pretty well but I wanted a "boolit" so I went to Accurate Molds.

I asked Tom to scale down a TC mould he had in .45 cal. for my .44 mag Marlin. It is a 165 gr. TC with small flat point so safe for tube mag. It casts at 0.433" so perfect for my fat groove diameter of 0.4315".

I have been most impressed with it so far. If you are looking for another mold for plinking or as a lightweight screamer I think this one is a gem. The mould is beautiful and casts right to spec.

43-165B here:

http://accuratemolds.com/catalog.php?page=3

While I normally lean towards heavy for caliber boolits, I loaded this one up from light to pretty hot and had a pile of fun shooting. Recoil was very light and trajectory very flat over 50 yards anyway.

I hope yours works out for you. Lots more shooting per pound of powder and lead with no sore shoulder.

Longbow

[Wally]

Wally
The closest I can come is with a 170 gr .432 LBT Ogival Wadcutter, a WLR Primer, 13gr of 700X to get 1635'/s from the Winchester BigBore 444.
I used RedDot with the 250, 280 and 300 but for some reason I changed to 700X with the 44 Special bullet.
All loads with the Red Dot were very mild. At half my charge you won't know you shot it - except for the noise.

Thank you---should be fun to try----I don't see any reason to go more than 1,300 FPS MV or so as the WC would slow down very quickly anyway. I'd try 700X but I happen to have Red Dot to use...

[Canuck Bob]

This is great. I've been advised that a light weight 444 bullet would not shoot well even if it fits properly.

The savings and fun factor sure must be high. that little TC bullet seems to have a nice balance between bearing surface and light nose weight.

[44 flattop]

I use a 255gr PB and 12grs Unique for a light load and very good accuracy! And no filler.

[6pt-sika]

This is great. I've been advised that a light weight 444 bullet would not shoot well even if it fits properly.


I've gotten as light as 207 grains to shoot very well . However I'm not shooting light charges .

I would think for the bullets of 250 grains and under you can find light and heavy loads that work well for them . Provided they are large enough for the bore .

[quilbilly]

For a plinker in my 444 I used a PB 240 or 255 in front of 20 gr of 5744 for an MV of 1200. It has the same point of impact at 75 yards as my elk load, 310 gr GC boolit traveling significantly faster and kicking like a mule.

[NHlever]

I've seen some nice .444's for sale lately, but all of them had ported barrels. Does anyone here have any experience with cast boolits, and the ported Marlin's? I had a nice Winchester in that caliber years ago, but sold it like an idiot. Sorry to bust into a thread, but seems like a lot of .444 experience watching this thread.

[Wally]

I don't think you would need a filler with Red Dot.

While I am not against fillers, they usually are not needed with fast powders.

What sort of filler are you considering ~ puffy like polyester or granular? Either way if you use filler work up loads and watch for pressure signs.

If your 429348 fits your bore I am betting it will work fine as a plinker over a light charge of any fast powder.

I was shooting 0.440" RB sized to 0.434" in my .44 Marlin with up to 10 grs. of Unique or old 452AA I had. Worked pretty well but I wanted a "boolit" so I went to Accurate Molds.

I asked Tom to scale down a TC mould he had in .45 cal. for my .44 mag Marlin. It is a 165 gr. TC with small flat point so safe for tube mag. It casts at 0.433" so perfect for my fat groove diameter of 0.4315".

I have been most impressed with it so far. If you are looking for another mold for plinking or as a lightweight screamer I think this one is a gem. The mould is beautiful and casts right to spec.

43-165B here:

http://accuratemolds.com/catalog.php?page=3

While I normally lean towards heavy for caliber boolits, I loaded this one up from light to pretty hot and had a pile of fun shooting. Recoil was very light and trajectory very flat over 50 yards anyway.

I hope yours works out for you. Lots more shooting per pound of powder and lead with no sore shoulder.

Longbow

It all worked out very nicely---great load and very accurate out to 75 yards---my maximum range. The 429348 surpised me that it shot so well at that range.

[Newtire]

This is great. I've been advised that a light weight 444 bullet would not shoot well even if it fits properly.

The savings and fun factor sure must be high. that little TC bullet seems to have a nice balance between bearing surface and light nose weight.

I use a Lee 200 grain Flat Point that casts at .430 out of Wheelweights with either 12 grains of Unique or 14 grains of BlueDot. Very accurate little load. It is one of the funnest loads I have for when the kids come. Whoever told you they won't shoot has just read too much and not shot enough! That was a myth someone started long ago that somehow held on.

Speaking of myths, I am sponsoring a drive to rid the world of dangerous damascus steel barreled double shotguns by the way. Get those things out of your closets and gun safes and send them off to me. I will pay shipping even!

[Wally]

[QUOTE=Newtire;1359839]I use a Lee 200 grain Flat Point that casts at .430 out of Wheelweights with either 12 grains of Unique or 14 grains of BlueDot. Very accurate little load. It is one of the funnest loads I have for when the kids come. Whoever told you they won't shoot has just read too much and not shot enough! That was a myth someone started long ago that somehow held on.

I think you mean the Lee 208 WC bullet ..I have that mold as well...never tried it in the .444 Marlin---I have to ask myself why...?

[Newtire]

Hi Wally,
Actually, the boolit(s) I am using are the Lee 200 gr RNFP and then the 215 grain SWC made also by Lee. I also use that little RNFP in the .44 mag over 8 gr. Green Dot

[bigted]

I've seen some nice .444's for sale lately, but all of them had ported barrels. Does anyone here have any experience with cast boolits, and the ported Marlin's? I had a nice Winchester in that caliber years ago, but sold it like an idiot. Sorry to bust into a thread, but seems like a lot of .444 experience watching this thread.

ive shot some boolits from 300 down to 200 gr thru my short barreled 444 and she is ported also. no nothing to fear as the porting is reamed slightly over-bore so the bullets never touch the ported area of the barrel. ive shot black powder thru her as well and other then the small holes to clean...no fears on this either...i would continue with this caution concerning black powder tho...i clean the barrel at the range with the last shot case still inside the chamber...this keeps the majority of fouling out of the action...then when home i remove the lever//bolt///ejector and clean from the breech with a couple balistol/water patches and except for leading if any...done. couple clean patches thru and a squirt of gun oil into the action and she is ready to go another day...

so buy buy buy the 444's that others dont seem to want. they are good shooters and with a little fooling around they will shoot with most 45-70's except for a bit lighter boolits. the old 44 caliber days held some pretty good cartridges in the single shot days and the 444 comes close and many times exceeds them for needs in a lever.

[Wally]

I did it--using a Lyman 429348 unsized with 10.0 grains of Red Dot...very accurate out to 50 yards--the maxium range that I coud shoot it to. Really made cans and small rocks dance.

[44 flattop]

Congradulations! Nothing like when a plan comes togather....:D

44

[longbow]

It is fun to have a nice shooting load that doesn't beat you up just for plinking and cheap shooting.

Kinda like having a .22 on steroids. Plus you get to shoot your big guns more and at about the same cost as shooting .22. What's not to like.