texasbilly
12-13-2015, 10:55 AM
After I acquired my 444 Marlin (Marlin 336) I asked our members for samples of cast boolits to try in the new rifle. Thanks to many of our friends, I received a variety of shapes and weights to try. Now after trying all of them, I would like to offer some observations and lessons learned.
1. Not all 44 caliber cast boolits work well in the rifle. Some were too long in the nose to feed properly (or at all). Care must be made to insure that any 44 caliber cast boolit is short enough in the nose to feed through the magazine. If it fits through the magazine, it will feed through the action. If it doesn't feed through the magazine, it will not feed through the action.
2. Cast boolits must be very hard (high bhn) to work with the microgroove rifling in this rifle. Soft boolits will strip through the rifling, and become wild lumps of airborne lead. A gas check will help even with hard cast boolits. Cleaning the bore of rifle in which soft boolits have been fired can be a chore.
3. Though the 444 Marlin is capable of driving bullets at considerable speed, keep cast boolits at something less than 1800fps. Above that, all cast boolits will start to strip from the rifling. When this happens, you might have better accuracy if you simply threw the bullets down range.
4. If you plan to shoot cast boolits in a 444 Marlin, look for one in which the rifling is cut for these boolits. They are rare, but can be found.
Best wishes for happy shooting.
1. Not all 44 caliber cast boolits work well in the rifle. Some were too long in the nose to feed properly (or at all). Care must be made to insure that any 44 caliber cast boolit is short enough in the nose to feed through the magazine. If it fits through the magazine, it will feed through the action. If it doesn't feed through the magazine, it will not feed through the action.
2. Cast boolits must be very hard (high bhn) to work with the microgroove rifling in this rifle. Soft boolits will strip through the rifling, and become wild lumps of airborne lead. A gas check will help even with hard cast boolits. Cleaning the bore of rifle in which soft boolits have been fired can be a chore.
3. Though the 444 Marlin is capable of driving bullets at considerable speed, keep cast boolits at something less than 1800fps. Above that, all cast boolits will start to strip from the rifling. When this happens, you might have better accuracy if you simply threw the bullets down range.
4. If you plan to shoot cast boolits in a 444 Marlin, look for one in which the rifling is cut for these boolits. They are rare, but can be found.
Best wishes for happy shooting.