Found a demo H&R in .444 Marlin for $190 locally this weekend and decided I needed one. Anybody locally have any practical reloading advice? Factory ammo seems to be rather limited (250 and 265gr). I'm not sure what I'll ever use it for, but it would make a handy hog gun. For the price I figured it was worth it to have an extra H&R receiver around.
I had a Marlin but never did any reloading for it. Ammo is kinda hard to come by and pricey, hence me selling mine. I'd say get a different barrel (.308, .270, .30-06, etc) and sell the .444 barrel to make up some of the difference. Almost any other mainstream caliber will be better on your wallet and offer the same if not improved performance over the .444. Not saying that I didn't like the round, it's just not very cost efficient.
I've got .223 and .308 also right now, I really liked the furniture on this frame and needed an extra frame. I figured I would play around with .444 while I was at it. I had been looking at the 45-70 barrels for a while, but you can never find a good deal on one.
Hi,
While I've never loaded 444, I used to shoot one way back when. It is a straight case so it is easy to reload and you can use standard 44mag (.429) bullets for it. Right now wideners has 1K of 240gr jacketed solid points for $169 shipped. My Lee manual shows bullet weights from 200 to 300 grains and my Speer manual shows load data for 240 to 300 grains. If you are looking for real slow cowboy shooting type loads, go to gmdr.com and choose Oregon trail load data. They have developed loads with pistol powders for lead bullets. Just make sure if you use one of their loads that you don't double charge - a tiny amount of pistol powder in a large case like the 444 isn't easy to verify by sight.
Good luck,
Alan
While I've never loaded 444, I used to shoot one way back when. It is a straight case so it is easy to reload and you can use standard 44mag (.429) bullets for it. Right now wideners has 1K of 240gr jacketed solid points for $169 shipped. My Lee manual shows bullet weights from 200 to 300 grains and my Speer manual shows load data for 240 to 300 grains. If you are looking for real slow cowboy shooting type loads, go to gmdr.com and choose Oregon trail load data. They have developed loads with pistol powders for lead bullets. Just make sure if you use one of their loads that you don't double charge - a tiny amount of pistol powder in a large case like the 444 isn't easy to verify by sight.
Good luck,
Alan
For real fun, put enough FFg in so it is lightly compressed when you seat the bullet, and make some SMOKE!
I had considered this as well!
