need help with h&r 444 marlin mould!

[glassman1549]

newbie here! im wanting to know what mould to get for a single shot 444 marlin? looking to probably get 240 gr. and do I need .430 diameter or....? all I can find that lee makes are for pistol! thanks and any help would be appreciated!

[longbow]

Can't speak to .444 Marlin except to say that Marlins have notoriously oversize bores... at least compared to most commercial boolit moulds.

I have an 1894 Marlin in .44 mag and find I have 0.4315" groove diameter so any boolit that casts under 0.432" shoots poorly. I started out with the classic Keith 429421 that cast at 0.429" with wheelweights and might cast 0.430" to maybe 0.431" with #2 alloy. It leaded badly and gave poor accuracy.

I now have several group buy moulds that cast to 0.434"+ and an Accurate Molds mould that casts 0.433". All shoot well from my gun.

I recommend that you slug the bore and measure groove diameter then buy a mould that will cast at least 0.001" over groove diameter. 0.002" to 0.003" would be even better.

You will probably want a gas check design as well for .444 Marlin if you want to load it up any. PB boolits, except maybe in heavyweights, will likely lead at .444 velocities.

As for weight, it depends on what you want to do with it. Nothing wrong with 240 gr. to 300 gr. but the .444 will handle much heavier boolits too... depending on twist. What twist is your barrel? If 1:38" then you might not get real heavyweights to stabilize.

Good sources of "fat" boolits:

- NOE: http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/index.php?cPath=37&osCsid=52vn8ujmugcqc9lr60fr6l1sa2
they have some 265 gr. and 310 gr. moulds in stock
- Mihec: http://www.mp-molds.com/
It is hard to tell what he has in stock but you can e-mail him. He has made a variety of .44 moulds that suit "fat" marlin barrels
- Accurate Molds: http://www.accuratemolds.com/
Tom will make whatever you want ~ you can order from his catalogue, tweak one of his catalogue designs or design your own then he will cut it to whatever diameter suits your gun. Some of his .44's http://www.accuratemolds.com/catalog.php?page=5

Good luck!

Longbow

[longbow]

Here's a group buy for a Mihec mould that might suit your needs:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?141808-Mihec-429244-Cramer-HP

and here is another:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?217607-Mihec-305gr-44mag-444marlin-2-cav-brass-cramer

the buy is closed but he makes extras so you could get on the list.

If you want a mould quickly then try NOE or Mihec "in stock" or Accurate Molds ~ Tom is quick and terrific quality too.

[leadman]

I had a Contender barrel in 444 Marlin. My heavy boolit load was the Lee 310gr. RFN GC with a healthy load of IMR4198. Very accurate and around 1,900 out of a 14" barrel. Had to hang one to it as it had a bit of recoil.
My other boolit was an RCBS 225gr SWC GC with a light load of Unique.
Even though the 444 is a rifle cartridge it uses pistol bullets or boolits. Slugging the bore is important as well as checking the twist rate as mentioned.
The Hornady 265gr SP jacketed bullet was very accurate.

[glassman1549]

Hey thanks very much much for the info! Very much appreciated! I will look into all of the above.