Marlin 444 Opinions

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Caravan

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For some reason I think I would like to buy a Marlin 444. I don't need one and I have no logical reason to want one, but I do.

Any thoughts or opinions on them? Is the 1-38" twist barrel on the older ones a big deal? I like the Monte Carlo stock on the 1970 version. I have a Winchester 307 with the Monte Carlo stock and for me it fits well

Any information or opinions would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
Hey!

The first rifle I ever bought was a Marlin .444 in it's 18.5" barrel version. It's purpose was Barrenlands Grizzly protection up north of the Arctic Circle in Nunavut. It did it's job extremely well and I can definitely attest to it's sub 50m knockdown power. Hit something with it and it WILL go down... I still have the rifle and I still shoot it on occasion, but not a lot. It's expensive to feed ammo to and the light 18.5" version can pack a really mean punch to those of the slender persuasion. I still pack mine with me when in the bush, though, and it's still my choice for a woods-carry rifle due to the knockdown power and size of it. A similar cartridge, the 45-70, would be another choice, but the ballistics aren't quite the same. I prefer the Hornady LeverEvolution rounds myself.

I've never scoped this rifle as it's always been a swing-and-pull-the-trigger gun for those "oh crap" moments on trails, out fishing or at work. I suppose you COULD scope it, but make sure you're getting beefy enough glass that can take the pounding. If you're thinking of getting one for plinking... get a strap on shoulder pad at the same time, lol! 20 rounds of .444 and you'll be sore. It's fun as heck though!

Not sure where you could get a blued one as I haven't seen any since Russell Sporting Goods got bought by Wholesale Sports in Calgary. I see the stainless versions sometimes, but they're a little pricier and not as nice looking imho. I think I might have paid ~$450 at the time I bought mine, but that was quite a few years ago...

Fwiw, I don't "need" mine anymore as I don't work in the far Arctic anymore. Now I mostly travel internationally and if danger exists I have guards. I still keep the rifle though. It's a great range conversation piece, has some history with me and generally raises some eyebrows at the sight of the .444 cartridge when people think it's a 30-30, lol! It's also never misfed, never FTF'd and never let me down even in -50C. I love it and can't part with it, :D

As far as the older models go... I couldn't tell you. I don't know a LOT about the history of the .444 and all it's different flavors, just that it's comparable to the 45-70's. I didn't want a Winchester at the time I needed the rifle and I'd always loved my Marlin's.

Cheers!
 
I've never owned a rifle in 444 Marlin but I have fired off a good many rounds out of two different rifles that belonged to a friend and an uncle of mine.Both rifles were purchased in the late 70's and I felt they were pretty good quality,loved the report out of them.We felt that the original 240gr bullets could be improved upon so at an early stage I worked up some loads with Hornady 265gr. flatpoints that turned out to be very good medicine for moose,especially at the close to moderately close ranges we were hunting in around the North Bay,ON area.I can't speak for the quality of any of the current batch of rifles but I feel that the older Marlin 444's were good value for the money and they carried well in the bush although heavier than say a 94 Win.As a bonus both of the Marlins also had very nice wood in them.I can tell you that if either one of these rifles comes up for sale I would have no reservations about buying them.My 2 cents on the subject.
 
Get the faster twist of 1:20 as the leverevolution bullets will not stabilize out of the longer 1:38" twist. And try to find the ballard grooving as the microgrooving doessn't take too well to cast bullets, which make this shine . A fine 270 gr hardcast will north/south any animal. I had a 444 and it was a hammer. (although I had both the slow twist, and microgrooving, so I sold it. I will buy another , but in the fast/ballard.)
Awesome blackbear smackers. I smoked 2 really nice blackies a few years ago and there was only a bit of leg wiggling with the second one I shot. The first dropped face first. Yikes.
 
Slightly less recoil than a 45/70 when max loaded. But it is a good round. I have marlins in both calibers and think they are both great guns.

There should be nothing you can't harvest with the 444. As always, shot placement is the most important thing.

As previously stated, beware of any marlin that does not have the JM stamped on the barrel at the receiver. The remington versions just aren't that good. I had to return a 336 and their gunsmith refused to fix it. He put in writing to give me my money back as there were more issues than I reported.

If you can get an older one in good shape you will have an excellent bush and short to mid range gun. I would not use mine beyond 200 yards but I rarely get 100 yards where I hunt so this is not an issue.
 
Mine shot hard cast well even though it was "micro-grooved". Worked well but bullet selection for hunting was limited. Ended up selling it off in preference for the 45/70.
 
I have 2 friends who have .444's (actually 1 guy has 2). They both love them. No deer ever run very far when hit in the chest with a .444. Mostly it is "Bang, flop".
 
bisonhd said:
Mine shot hard cast well even though it was "micro-grooved". Worked well but bullet selection for hunting was limited. Ended up selling it off in preference for the 45/70.
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Same here. Hard cast and if possible, sized to 0.001" - 0.002" over bore diameter, no problem.

Marlin444S444.jpg


Marlin1895GS45-70.jpg


I picked up a Marlin 1895GS and really like it, but, I kept my old friend the 444S as well. It's served well more than a few times over the years so I couldn't bring myself to part with it.
 
Micro-groove won't shoot hardcast or Revolution ammo????
I have had 3 Marlin 444S microgooves now and EVERY one of them handled hardcast up to 360 grn with no problem and they were VERY accurate out to 150 yrds. The same can be said for the Hornady Revolution loadings as well.
All my hardcast are sized to .432 and and gas checked. None of the rifles ever gave me any leading problems
Sad to see so may "myths" about the 444. It is truely an impressive performer in the right hands.
 
tucker05 said:
Micro-groove won't shoot hardcast or Revolution ammo????
I have had 3 Marlin 444S microgooves now and EVERY one of them handled hardcast up to 360 grn with no problem and they were VERY accurate out to 150 yrds. The same can be said for the Hornady Revolution loadings as well.
All my hardcast are sized to .432 and and gas checked. None of the rifles ever gave me any leading problems
Sad to see so may "myths" about the 444. It is truely an impressive performer in the right hands.
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I don't reload (yet) but I've been looking at the ballistics for Hornady's 444 Marlin 265 gr Interlock FP Superperformance ammunition and it looks impressive to me. I am thinking it would be a good rifle for walking in thick bush but I thought I would ask as there seems to be a lot of negative reviews around.
 
Caravan said:
I don't reload (yet) but I've been looking at the ballistics for Hornady's 444 Marlin 265 gr Interlock FP Superperformance ammunition and it looks impressive to me. I am thinking it would be a good rifle for walking in thick bush but I thought I would ask as there seems to be a lot of negative reviews around.
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With my 1st 444S, I found that the old original 240gr Remington factory loads left something to be desired, especially when used on Moose. I found that reloading, using the Hornady 265grFPs improved things considerably.
 
The Hornady 265 is a great bullet and holds together well. I have used it on bear and moose and was very happy with the performance.
I used the old 240 grn loads for deer in the past but I would agree that for moose and bear they are marginal as they essentially used bullets designed for 44 mag velocities.
These days I only use cast in both a custom 340 grn and 290 grn WFN configuration.
Enjoy your purchase the 444 will not disappoint
 
Got a older Marlin, and a Win 94 Timber Carbine...Like em both, but like the Win better..The 444 is a fine round for all big game..
 
I had an older one,Great gun, shot flat enough to make it an honest 200 yd rifle. Mine was micro groove but shot cast well as long as they were hard. It would even do ok with black if you cleaned it every 5 rnds. The 240 gr jacketed were bad however entrance holes the size of baseballs and poor penetration but with the 265 gr it was excellent.
 
sgt.rock said:
Get the faster twist of 1:20 as the leverevolution bullets will not stabilize out of the longer 1:38" twist. And try to find the ballard grooving as the microgrooving doessn't take too well to cast bullets, which make this shine . A fine 270 gr hardcast will north/south any animal. I had a 444 and it was a hammer. (although I had both the slow twist, and microgrooving, so I sold it. I will buy another , but in the fast/ballard.)
Awesome blackbear smackers. I smoked 2 really nice blackies a few years ago and there was only a bit of leg wiggling with the second one I shot. The first dropped face first. Yikes.
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I have to disagree with that statement. I've had both a 1:38 microgroove and a 1:20 Ballard and the microgroove shot the Leverevolution better (contrary to popular belief). I still have my 1:20 Ballard as it did shoot cast better but lots of guy are having great success with the microgroove if your bullet are sized properly.

The Speer 300gr UC and the Hornady 300gr XTP as well as the specifically designed for the .444 Marlin Hornady 265gr FP are also great bullets for the 444.
IMG_0572.jpg
 
The micro-Groove rifling has no problem stabilizing lever evolution bullets. If the rifling is the older 1:38" twist AND it has microgroove rifling, it may not shoot CAST bullets well. The microgroove rifling has been known to not grip the lead well enough. I got this info from the hornady techs. They said the faster twist 1:20" BALLARD rifling would solve all the problems. It would shoot lead better, and it is fast enough to stabilize the leverevolution bullets in flight. The techs said that a 1:38 twist is too slow for the leverevo's and they may keyhole. Each rifle is different, and some may shoot them, but overall, they don't do well with slow twists. Same can be said of larger cast bullets of 300 grains or more.
 
Kilo Charlie said:
My slow-twist micro-groove shot the Lee 310-grain sized to .431" very well. And 265 Hornady flats even better.
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I've only done a bit of plinking with the 250gr SWGC and the 325gr SWGC cast bullets I have access to. With the jacketed, the Hornady 265gr FP really shines for me as well, on game but also on paper. My old supply of them was running low and I had to do a bit of searching to find more but I finally did. I was somewhat suprised to see they now have two cannelure grooves so I contacted Hornady as to why. I also mentioned I'd been having difficulty locating a supply of that particular bullet and their tech department rep responded as follows;

Johnn, the second cannelure is used in production to allow the top cannelure to roll on more evenly as it islocated near the ogive of the bullet and had a tendency to drift when applied.

Thank you for the feedback and we hope to get more bullets into production soon.
 
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