444 Marlin loads

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Onesock

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Just wondering what you 444 shooters are loading for your best loads. I have found 45 gr of IMR 4198 behind a 265 gr hornady to give me about 2230 ft/sec. and is deadly accurate.
 
i use 48 grns of hodgedon 4198 with fed 215 primer. very accurate. velocity about the same as your getting. practice loads with 240 grn i use reloader 7. works very good but seens a little quick to use with 260 or 300 grn bullets. my marlin has a 22 inch barrel. recoil isn't that heavy even with the 300 grn.
 
don't recall my load data, but 4198 is deadly in the 444. 322 is impressive too, recall getting a 3/4 " group once with 300 gr xtps, routinely get 1" groups. fantastic rifle and caliber. had a 45-70 once, still got the 444.
 
my hunting load is 55 gr of H335 under a 300 Gr barnes original ( can't get them anymore ) lit with a win primer. getting 2050 FPS 15 ' from the muzzle groups 5 into 2" at 100 yards and has put more venison in my freezer than anything else I shoot . yes you could say that I am a big fan of the .444:)
 
Onesock said:
Just wondering what you 444 shooters are loading for your best loads. I have found 45 gr of IMR 4198 behind a 265 gr hornady to give me about 2230 ft/sec. and is deadly accurate.
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Sounds like you've got something that works.:) I don't see it listed in the Hornady sixth edition manual but the load I've used with good results I got from their third edition manual. 52.8gr of IMR 3031 & CCI 200 primer for about the same velocity and good accuracy.:D I'm just getting into testing some cast bullet loads. Not sure how well they'll do with the Micro groove rifling. I have a 250gr. cast with gas check and a load from Beartooth Bullets is 49.0 gr. of IMR 3031, 1803 f/sec. The other cast load up for testing is a 325gr. cast with gas check, 46gr. IMR 3031, 1950 f/sec.:)
 
how hard are your cast bullets and how are they working . I hope to get a load working with 315 gr cast bullets from heat treated wheelweights once my barnes run out . I forget what the bhn number of heat treated wheel weight metal is but it is up there.
 
dnepr said:
how hard are your cast bullets and how are they working . I hope to get a load working with 315 gr cast bullets from heat treated wheelweights once my barnes run out . I forget what the bhn number of heat treated wheel weight metal is but it is up there.
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I'm not sure of exactly how hard they are but compared to cast bullets of various wheel weight, type metal and mixtures I have used in the past, they are of a pretty hard mix. I don't cast any longer but I'll see if I can find out from the guy who makes them for me. I believe he heat treats / quenches the bullets in water. I'll do some testing and get back to you on the performance. I've used his cast bullets in my 500 S&W, 45-70, 44 Mag and 357 with excellant results :D so I'm sure they will work out fine in the 444. My only question is the micro groove rifling but as hard as the bullets seem, I'm sure they will be OK.:)
 
I was hoping the hard cast would work well with the micro groove barrel . I have heard varing reports about how well cast bullets work with the micro groove, from better than normal rifling to terrible . I have heard lots of good stuff about how well hard cast flatpoints work on game . good hitting power and fantastic penetration.
 
Hard cast is the only way to go with the 444. The thing to remember is to get them sized to .432 or .433 and put a gas check on them. My 444S (microgroove) will consistantly shoot 1 - 1.5" @ 100 with these.
You may also want to check Beartooths website on firelapping as the Marlins tend to have a couple of restrictions you will want to get rid of to eliminate leading.
The biggest problem with the 444 is the specified OAL. at this length the bullets load smoothly but the real potential of this round is lost. This is easliy overcome by a few modifications to the loading port, extractor and loading ramp. Once done you can increase the OAL to 2.64" which opens you up to a whole different bullet selection and pressure regime. I am currently shooting a custom 340grn WLN slug @ 2200fps using H335 (2.64 OAL) the combination is at the upper limits of the pressure curve but in no way dangerous. This round is simply devistating on anything out to 300 yrds (yes I did say 300 yrds!!!) It will pass completely through a railway tie and bust a couple of 1" poplar trees on the way out. I have yet to see a 45/70 do this even with the hottest loads.
 
Tucker 05 opening up a 444 to accept a longer shell has to be the best idea I have heard in a long time. A 300GR at 2050 fps is impressive but a 340 GR at 2200fps that would be fantastic !! Time to start doing some research .
 
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