Barrell for 444marlin.

[sav300]

Been thinking about rebarreling a rifle in 444marlin for a cast boolit rifle.Any ideas on twist length.
Grove and land sizes?
Thanks

[leftiye]

Some like them, but I for one would like something a little twistier than Marlin's 1 in 38. It's been forever with people complaining that their Marlins won't shoot anything much heavier than 240 grains. I think my H&R barrel is 1 in 16 twist. I could be mistaken, but if I am - I'd still guess that a 1 in 16 would be fine. I am looking for about a 400 grainer for that cartridge. Don't it just sound more like a real gun?

[sav300]

Leftiye.Hi Found a gunsmith with a 444 barrell witha 1-20 twist.This maybe the go.thanks

[Scrounger]

Leftiye.Hi Found a gunsmith with a 444 barrell witha 1-20 twist.This maybe the go.thanks

H&R is owned by Marlin and uses their 1 in 38 inch Microgroove barrels. Marlin .444s made in the last 7 or 8 years have a 1 in 20 twist Ballard rifled barrel on them.

[beagle]

I have one of the newer Marlin M1895s with the ballard 1-20 twist and it shoots everything I've put through it so far. That's the way to go./beagle

[sav300]

Scrounger and beagle.Thanks the 1-20 sounds about right and will go ahead and buy the barrel.

[Scrounger]

If it's a Marlin, they will put one of the new barrels on a lot cheaper than than a gunsmith. Seems like someone reported paying $135 to rebarrel a Marlin .444.

[MakeMineA10mm]

Someone did some experimenting once and found that a 1-24" to 1-26" was about perfect for the 444, IF you didn't shoot bullets heavier than 335grs and IF you buy into the theory that one should use the slowest twist that stabilizes the bullet you want to use.

Of course, the 1-26" would still be too fast and theoretically "over-stabilize" the lighter 240gr bullets, but I've never seen over-stabilized bullets ruin accuracy on a hunting rifle. A super-accurate benchrest competition rifle, I might concede the point, but not a big-bore hunting rifle... If I "over-stabilize" the 240s and they start shooting into 2.5" instead of the 1.5" previously, I couldn't care less! Especially if the heavies started shooting more accurately.

The 1-20" twist will work for any bullet length you can safely load in a 444. And, I personally, would not worry about any cries of "over-stabilization". (Which, if I understand it correctly, is the lessening of accuracy due to the gyroscopic effect being excessive for the length of bullet. There is a "sweet spot" for each bullet length, where it is spun at just the right rate. See the Greenhill Formula.)

I see you're looking at the 1-20" Ballard barrel from Marlin. As beagle and scrounger said, that is really the way to go for reasonable quality at a great price. If you were looking at a total custom job though, I think the right question to ask you first is: What is the longest-length bullet you intend to load? You can use the Greenhill Formula to determine the rifling twist needed.

Personally, in the 444, I like a combination of velocity and bullet weight. I like the velocity for trajectory, rather than some esoteric theory, but I also want more bullet weight and penetration than the 240gr pistol-bullet factory loads. After a lot of loading and shooting of everything from 200grs through 335grs, I've settled on 275grs-290grs being about perfect for the 444 Marlin case. Above that and you have to accept a lot lower velocities and rainbow trajectories. Below that, and you have weak bullets that are only good on medium to small deer and smaller and/or less tough game. For wild bore, large deer and all larger big game, I load 280gr Swift A-Frames for my first shot. I just got Boomer Mikey's 285gr 434640-GC group buy mould, and that will be my new follow-up round in the magazine for a penetrator load.

[calsite]

I already have a 45-70 lever and rolling block but have the chance to pick-up a nice condition 444 pretty cheap. Would you recommend it?

[leftiye]

When I ordered all of my extra barrels for my Handi last summer, I had a second of inspiration or something ( sanity maybe?), and thought I oughta ask H&R what twist their barrels had in the calibers I wanted. I had been planning on getting a .44 mag barrel and rechambering to .445 as I have a D.W. .445. They told me that the .44 mag. would have the 1 in 38 twist. That did in that idea, and I got the .444 instead as it had the faster twist.

[MakeMineA10mm]

I already have a 45-70 lever and rolling block but have the chance to pick-up a nice condition 444 pretty cheap. Would you recommend it?

calsite,
I love mine, but part of that is just a thing I have for the 44 caliber. I've got or had every 44 caliber I could lay my hands on, including 44 Bull Dog, 44 Russian, 44 Colt, 44WCF (aka 44-40), 44 Special, 44 Magnum, and 444 Marlin. Haven't gotten a 445 to play with... Maybe someday... Anyway, I can cast one caliber of boolit for all these (though admittedly, some of these calibers won't take the same weight/design as all the others) and to a degree swap designs, weights, sizing diameters to get what I want/need. I can also use J-word bullets in them to some degree of interchangeability. I just like the caliber.

The 444 is very similar to a light-bullet-only 45-70. It recoils slightly less with all loads, but a LOT less with moderate loads (lighter bullets AND less powder). It is at it's zenith as a short- to medium-range deer, black bear, and boar rifle. It will certainly do the job on bigger stuff like Elk, Moose, Sheep, as well as littler stuff like Antelope, but those all sometimes to always require longer-range shooting, where the 444 loses some of it's splendor. If you hunt in the east, especially in Moose country, or want a low-recoil version of the 45-70, it's awesome. I'm planning on taking mine to an Elk hunt this year or next. My friend who will be taking me says that he hunts a stand of timber and 125 yards is a long shot. The Marlin should be perfect for that.

I keep my Marlins set up with peep sights, so that my eyesight naturally restricts my shooting range to the usable range of the round. Also makes the gun nicer to carry and lighter in weight. It also takes me back. I like to hunt in red/black checkered flannel shirt, wool pants, and a Carhart ranch-style jacket. (I do wear modern boots and stocking cap though - I'm not THAT traditional. :mrgreen: ) A lever-action with iron sights fits into that feeling better too. (Course, I'm also pro-technology when it comes to hauling the critter out of a ravine and back to camp a few miles away! Love the four-wheelers.)

[calsite]

thanks for your thoughts

[MakeMineA10mm]

Hope they help.

I apologize for being long-winded, but when it's a topic near-and-dear to my heart, I can't help it...