Reboring a .444 into either 45/70 or .450 marlin??

[sgt.rock]

I recently bought a .444 marlin that was made in 1965. The gun has its rifling in pretty good shape. It has the older 1:38" microgroove rifling. Anyhow, I am curious, as I actually plan on shooting out this barrel within the next few years (really!!) what would a guy have to do to rebore this oldie into a similar marlin caliber?? I like the versatility of the .45/70 but like the out of the box oomph of the .450 marlin caliber. Anyhow, what changes need to be made to the gun in order to accomodate this??
Would it be just a matter of re-boring the barrel/chamber, or do other things need to be done to the bolt/feed ramp/magazine etc ????

I also would like to know if the CFC would have to be notified of the caliber change ( I assume they would).
This is only for the future , as I am quite happy with the gun, and would like to keep the barrel it has , but I have put 400 rounds through it in the few months I have had it, and I just know it will be shot out within the next few years. Thanks for any and all answers.

 

[Pudelpointer]

I am no expert, but due to dimensional case differences, I would assume that in the least, you would have to alter the bolt face, probably the feed ramp as well. As the 444 is built on its own frame (not sure about 1965), i.e. 444s, I think this is likely more trouble then it is worth. Probably better off to buy an 1895 as well (good excuse to own another).

As for shooting out the barrel, I do not believe that the large, flat based bullets that the 444 uses will have their accuracy affected greatly for many years to come. I doubt you will notice any difference in accuracy on that rifle, no matter how long you own it, or how many rounds you run down the tube. If you do manage to "shoot out" the barrel, have it re-barreled to 444.

JMO,

Ian

 

[sbtennex]

Lost your mind Laddie? Shoot out a .444? Should be good for 3-5 thousand rounds easy. Great caliber - need different get a .45-70. Hell with the .450 - was never needed anyway. Might as well get a .458 Win and really smoke em. .444 is a great chambering.

 

[303carbine]

Way too much trouble and money into it doing your way,better off to just buy a 45-70.
I would buy some reloading components for the 444 and blast away. It is a very capable thumper and cast bullets will work very well too.

 

[trevj]

Along with any other issues that may or may not come up, I have my doubts that there is enough difference in the bore sizes to be able to ream out and re-rifle the .444 barrel to a .45.

New barrel. Easy. About the same price as a rebore, too.

Cheers
Trev

 

[mp5k]

agreed, just buy another rifle, then another & another.........

 

[guess_kto]

444 marlin is an awesome cartridge and can be even more effective than 45-70 for sure. 45-70 is not a more universe caliber, it just was reloaded a lot because commercial ammo sucks. 450 = 45-70 that doesn't suck. 444 vs 450? 444 uses bullet of .44 caliber. 450 and 45-70 uses less common bullet.

Can't see why somebody would spend a dime to rechamber 444 into 450 or 45-70 unless the barrel is dead. In many cases even if the barrel used a lot, you have to get a new muzzle crown and it would work like new again.

.450 Marlin, .45-70, .444 Marlin, .348 Winchester and .30-30.

As you can see, 444 has more powder, about the same diameter for the bullet which is a little bit lighter. It will shoot more flat than 450 or 45-70