444 Marlin with Blackpowder

[218bee]

Anyone ever try this?? After shooting Boommers various BP cartridge rifles I've been bit by the BP bug. Looking at my guns I have a Marlin 45/70 Cowboy that I could and will try black in and next to it is a 444 and was thinking why not.Looking through "Cartridges of the World" the closest similar case would be a 44 Ballard which is a strait case of 2 1/4 or 2 1/2 inches ( not alot of info although that doesn't matter). So I thought I,d post here and see if anyone has played around with it and how it worked. Obviously not looking for a magnum, just a fun shooter.

[montana_charlie]

The standard .444 chamber may not be configured as you might like it, in the throat/leade area, so your choice of bullets could be somewhat limited.
Otherwise, the cartridge (itself) should be a good candidate for BP loads.

3F may work better than 2F. But, no matter which you use, I doubt if you can stuff enough in to hurt the gun.
CM

[Don McDowell]

If your 444 will shoot cast with smokeless, then changing over to black shouldn't be much of a problem. Just be sure to lube those bullets with a good bp lube, and might want to add a .030 fiber wad under the bullet. Fill the case with bp until the fully seated bullet and wad will compress the powder about a tenth of an inch and work from there.

[Buckshot]

.............There is a member here who campaignes the 444 Marlin with BP. He doesn't post very often. I think he calls it the 44-63 or some such.

...............Buckshot

[NickSS]

I have had the same thought of course I have also thought of the 405 Win and the 40 73 Win as well. They should work with black powder and the only question is the rifling twist and the length of the boolit it will shoot. One reason I have stayed away from the 444 marlin is the relatively light weight boolits for that caliber. I shoot a 40-65 in both a Sharps and a high wall and like that caliber a lot. But the thought of a dual purpose 444 marlin has come to mind on a lot of occasions. Give it a try and post the results I would be interested in the results.

[Boz330]

Basically you have a 44 express, which is what most of those 86s were in the 40-82, 38-56, 38-72 calibers. Light boolit at a faster speed for flatter trajectory. Longer point blank range.

Bob