Marlin .444

[richhodg66]

I must admit to being abit intrigued by this cartridge over the years (yes I realize a .45-70 will do most things better).

Found a pretty nice older one in a LGS yesterday. No crossbolt safety and older Walnut and good blueing. It has a recoil pad, not sure if that was original Marlin or not. Overall in real good shape.

He wants about $550 for it which seemed kinda high to me. What are these bringing nowadays?

[enoch59]

I snagged mine several months ago for $450 with a 4x scope that I sold on EB for $150. Mine has an awesome muzzle break which tames the wildest loads. The action was also worked on. I've since put on a Williams TK peeps on and am looking forward to Elk season this year. At the time of purchase $350 was the going rate and levers were tight. Since then many levers have hit the market due to the economy and I think the market has softened.
79257

[richhodg66]

I figured that was a tad high. Nice rifle. It sparked my interest because I picked up a Lyman 429650, 300 grain gas checked SWC mold to use in my inline, which it shoots pretty well in. I bet that bullet would be great in a .444 if the Microgroove would cooperate.

[bigted]

while its true that the 45-70 will do all the .444 will do plus a lot heavier ,,, those are definitely a very nice shooter tho. I have had three over the years and possess 1 now. I do have 6 45-70's in different styles but I will never be without my .444. it shoots hard and straight and it does a number on moose in the yard when they charge in the fall of the year. I dropped him with 2 very fast shots of a 265 grain hard cast boolit thru the chest area. they traveled into the boiler room thru the heavy frontal area and tipped him over around 7 yards from me on the porch.

the 45-70 woulda done it just fine ...however... it were the 444 that hung above the door and for easy grabbing it does all I ever asked it to do. from time to time I carry it into moose camp for bear surprises and feel comfy that it will do for me what needs doing. it has a very short barrel and enough umff to be a tremendous confidence builder.

plus it is great fun shooting blackpowder thru it with 325 grain lead whackers. buy it and never look back ... if you can make a deal on it.

[Shuz]

richhodg66--I suggest you visit the Marlin forum www.marlinowners.com . There are a lot of folks on there who would love to have the Marlin you described for $550.00. The fact that the gun you described does not have the cross bolt safety, would lead me to believe that it is an older Marlin. My 444SS has the cross bolt safety and was made in 1983. To determine the year that a Marlin was made, simply take the first 2 digits of the serial number and subtract it from 100 and that will be the year of mfr. This scheme works back until the late 40's or 50's as I recall, and the 444 did not exist until about 1965. Hope this helps. And, by the way, Marlin 444's in 1:38 twist in Micro-Groove, will shoot 300g boolits very accurately. At least mine does!

[9w1911]

I missed one 3 weeks ago for 390.00 :( shopping around I feel 450.00 is a great price for a well kept 444. For 550 and higher I would wait.

[enoch59]

richhodg66, the microgroove barrel measures at .431 on the .444 and the .44 if I'm not mistaken. I have been shooting the Lee 44/310 bullet which drops from the mold at .431-.4315. It has been on the dot up to 200 yds with Williams sights. Saving the extra $100 isn't worth it in the scheme of things IMO of course I'm always broke so there you go.

[helice]

The straight case and the abundance of moulds makes the 444 very interesting indeed. I lucked into a Winchester Big Bore many "moons" ago and have never been disappointed by its accuracy and power.

[Lead Fred]

In these parts $400-450 was the norm, now they are all gone, along with all the 45/70s.

Get a hold of Ranch Dogs 300 mold, your 44 will love you long time.

[cabezaverde]

Rich, where are you located?

[richhodg66]

The rifle is in a shop in Ogden, Kansas, just outside of Fort Riley. I really have too many rifles working right now and don't need to start on a new caliber I don't already load for. Wouldn't mind having a .444 someday though.

[x101airborne]

I have a 444 contender pistol barrel and love it. My Dad likes shooting round ball loads over trail boss. I shoot 265 hp's over 14 grains of 700x out to 75 yards. I have a couple 310 hard cast rounds loaded to max specs for others wanting to shoot it for grins and giggles. Since I don't have a 45-70 anymore and I can use my 44 molds for loading for it, I prefer the 444.
I would get the rifle and enjoy it. It is not an unreasonable price in my opinion.

[quilbilly]

My 444 likes both the Lee 310 gc boolit at 1900 fps mv, jacketed 240 gr. sp, at 1900, and a 260 gr pb boolit at 1150 fps mv. Before I started casting, that 444 worked just fine on Roosevelt elk out to 120 yards (an extremely long shot for that species of elk where I hunt) using a jacketed 240 gr. soft point. The reason for the lower velocity is that it is the same as my muzzleloader with sabots using the same boolits which anchor the elk extraordinarily quickly.