Handloading The .444 Marlin

Guns Magazine, Jan, 2001 by John Taffin

For our purposes, reloading the .444 Marlin starts with the Hornady 265 gr. JFP and ends with Cast Performance Bullet Company's 320 gr. hard cast LBT flat-nosed gas check. The latter is chosen as the ultimate heavyweight bullet simply due to the fact that even it must be seated so deep as to allow it to enter the loading gate and work through the action. A bullet of any greater length would simply not be practical. In between these two bullet selections are several options, both cast and jacketed in weight ranges from 275 to 310 grs.

Handloading heavyweight bullets for the .444 Marlin was simply a process of trial and error, backed up by a whole lot of experience. Things are much less complicated now with heavyweight factory loads from Buffalo Bore and Cor-Bon. Not only are these excellent loads for the non-reloader who is looking for a tough big-game bullet, they also give us guidelines for our own reloading ventures. While we have no way of reading pressures, Cor-Bon and Buffalo Bore do. It is best to stay at or bellow their muzzle velocities with identical bullet weights.

Here are those parameters with all loads clocked in an 18 1/2" custom .444 over Oehler's Model 35P sky screens. From Buffalo Bore, the 270 gr. JFN does 2,210 fps; the 300 gr. JFN, 2,095 fps; and the 325 gr. LBT LFN hard cast, 2,009 fps. With Cor-Bon's two loadings, we find the 280 gr. Bonded Core at 2,248 fps and the 305 gr. JFP at 2,070 fps.

For most of us whose big game hunting is restricted to whitetail deer and maybe, if we are fortunate, a chance at a black bear, the 265 Hornady remains a fine choice. It gives superb long-range accuracy in .44 Mag. sixguns; we used it for years for long-range silhouetting, as well as for hunting big game.

In The Footsteps Of The Magnum

When it comes to cast bullets, we once again use the same bullets that have been so successful in .44 Mag. sixguns. Both the BRP 295 gr. gas-checked semi-wadcutter and RCBS' 300 gr. versions of the same bullet are traditional Keith designs with flat points and wide front driving bands. They are not recognizable as such when loaded in the .444 Marlin, as they must be crimped over the front shoulder to allow feeding.

For top accuracy, these bullets, as well as the jacketed counterparts, should be driven to a minimum velocity of 1,900 fps in the original 24" barrel. A 300 gr. bullet at 1,900 fps or more and the .444 Marlin, even with MicroGroove rifling, will perform. One can only dream of what could be done with these in a longer action.

The slightly heavier bullets from the old SSK #310.430 mold and Cast Performance Bullet Co.'s 320 gr. LBT gas check are both flat nosed for maximum energy transfer when they hit. These are probably the best choice in cast bullets for using the .444 Marlin on really big, tough critters. They break big bones and penetrate heavy muscles.

The .444 Marlin fills an important shooting niche. It does with a 300 gr. bullet what the .45-70 accomplishes with a 400 gr. bullet. Accompanying recoil is, of course, significantly less. Hornady, Sierra and Speer all now offer 300 gr. bullets suitable for use in the .444 Marlin. Accuracy with them is superb.