New Marlin 1894 44mag is on it's way!

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  • Last Post 06 August 2011
1kshooter posted this 09 July 2011

man I am bit bad with this casting bug!

I ordered a 1894 Marlin 44mag today and it will be here Monday or Tuesday...well Six point Sika ...and Mr. Harris.....I am going to be on you for more load info:P as well as mold info powder and on & on lol thanks guys for all your help....you too Michael you know I will be ordering a mold from you for this bad boy lol

now the funny part ...I am getting this gun for ......are you ready for it ...ground hogs lol :jawdrop:  I am having so much fun shooting them with the 45-70 I thought I would get something that was a little bit soffter on me ...and them lol and also a bit cheaper to load ...oh shit who am I kidding I just wanted it ...your not my wife I don't have to make stuff up:nawnawnaw:  

I can't wait to get it out to the range and let some lead fly!

anyone have any fav loads,powder, mold or bullet thay would like to share?

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6pt-sika posted this 09 July 2011

About all I shot in the last Marlin 44 MAG's I had was the Ranch Dog 432-265GC with 23 grains of H-110 and the Ranch Dog 432-300GC with 21 grains of H-110 .

 

These are max loads .

 

I had started with 2400 because I had a supply on hand . But after Ranch Dog told me the success he was having with these two loads in his rifles I changed over and of course I started below this and came up !

I shot both these loads in a crca 1967 Marlin 336-44 Micro Groove , a Marlin 1894CB 24” ballard rifled  and a Marlin 1894P 16 1/2” also ballard rifled and they all did well with these two loads !

 

BUT AGAIN work up to this as max !

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6pt-sika posted this 09 July 2011

Incidently both those molds mentioned work equally well in the 44 Maximum ( aka the 444 Marlin) .>

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1kshooter posted this 09 July 2011

LOL, Idid not know the 444 Marlin was ever called a 44 Maximum! ..very cool ....guess you don'twant to sell the mold then huh lol the 432-265GC is still on back order and I dont think I could swing the price of a new Ranch dog right now and stay married lol new gun new Ranch dog 45-70 mold on it's way as of last week ..new 44mag dies man I am honey do list for like months hee hee

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1kshooter posted this 09 July 2011

I am going to get a 444 Marlin in the future so i am glade to hear that the Ranch dog molds will work for both guns as that will be a huge savings for me in the long run!....if you have any used 44 molds that cast .431-.432 and want to part with them let me know brother!

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hunterspistol posted this 09 July 2011

:coffee      You just wanted it? You aren't the only one.  I have a 44 Special Flattop revolver, that levergun is one of my dream rifles.  I'll be watching this adventure.

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1kshooter posted this 09 July 2011

Hunterspistol, i would have more then a few Ar's and hunting handguns if it were legal to use them for such here in Ontario Canada that is not possable as they are considered restricted firearms and can only be used for papper punching!

I will be posting a lot of picks with this bad boy and might even get a few g-hog hunts on video and figure out how best to share that with the masses.....got to addmit it is a bit of a change for me after training and shooting extreme long range and extreme uber accuracy firearms and ammunittion....like this

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delmarskid1 posted this 09 July 2011

it's good to try new things. It keeps the juices flowing. I enjoy anything that sends things through the air.

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1kshooter posted this 09 July 2011

delmarskid1 wrote: it's good to try new things. It keeps the juices flowing. I enjoy anything that sends things through the air. that for sure!....I am going to make a cannon one day just for fun...and maybe the odd ground hog .> lol

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6pt-sika posted this 09 July 2011

1kshooter wrote: LOL, Idid not know the 444 Marlin was ever called a 44 Maximum!  

 

I'm not sure it was just sort of a joke on my part !

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6pt-sika posted this 09 July 2011

1kshooter wrote: I am going to get a 444 Marlin in the future so i am glade to hear that the Ranch dog molds will work for both guns as that will be a huge savings for me in the long run!....if you have any used 44 molds that cast .431-.432 and want to part with them let me know brother!

Just a hint !

When I started with the 44/444's I cast and sized at .430” because I thought that was the only sizing die I could get . Later RCBS started selling the .431” die and I got one and it improved my group size a bit !

About 1 1/2 years ago now I called Buffalo Arms and ordered a .432” and .433” dies from them . Since recieving them I've used the .432” die exclusively and if accuracy issues should start to crop with a load that worked in other rifles I still have the unused .433” die to fall back on in case the bore is a hair large .

Incidently after the success I had with the .432” die I called Buffalo Arms and got a .461” die for my 45-70 . And as you may imagine that seemd to tighten my 45-70 groups up a touch as well !

 

All of the latest custom molds I've order drop at .432” or better ! I'd prefer they drop no more then .4345” but one cannot have everything they want all the time . But one things for sure , if the molds a touch large you can remove lead but if it's a touch small you're SOL !

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6pt-sika posted this 09 July 2011

1kshooter wrote: I am going to get a 444 Marlin in the future so i am glade to hear that the Ranch dog molds will work for both guns as that will be a huge savings for me in the long run!

It was my understanding that the original Ranch Dog idea was botht he 265 and 300 grainer were built specifically for the 444 and later he found they worked nicely in the 44 MAG as well !

 

When he does a mold he usually takes chamber casts from specific rifles and sends them to his layout buddy . Matter of fact when he decided he wanted to do one for the 338 Marlin Express I sent chamber cast from one of the 338 Marlin Express rifles I had at that time because Michael had not decided whether he wanted a rifle in that cartridge or not . When he did the molds for the 25-20 and 32-30 I helped with some fired cases from different generation Marlin's in both calibers as well as chamber casts from most of the guns I sent fired cases from !

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1kshooter posted this 09 July 2011

6pt-Sitka as always my friend you are a welth of information ....man I wish you lived closer I would love to feed you some fine bourbon or beer and sit down on the porch with a note pad...and a poket full of pens!! does this Buffalo arms have a web site? can you recomend anywhere that I can buy a good used mold for my new toy as I would like to get one for a little less then new so the wife does not pack my bags lol

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6pt-sika posted this 09 July 2011

Here's a link to Buffalo Arms ,

http://www.buffaloarms.com/Default.aspx>http://www.buffaloarms.com/Default.aspx

 

And here's a link to a place you “may” be able to pick up a used mold or two .

  http://castboolits.gunloads.com/>http://castboolits.gunloads.com/

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6pt-sika posted this 09 July 2011

1kshooter wrote: LOL, Idid not know the 444 Marlin was ever called a 44 Maximum! ..  

Out of my “accumulation” of old 444 Marlin's I have one that was made in 1964 . Supposedly production was started in 1965 but I'm sure they started their production run in 1964 . However the gun that seriel numbers to 1964 thats in my possesion , has a rather unique rollstamp for the cartridge designation !

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1kshooter posted this 09 July 2011

great you are the only one in the world that has the 444 magnum!....lol

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1kshooter posted this 09 July 2011

I am a member of that fine site as well and I just posted a WTB add and will do the same here! thanks again for the insight! Jonathan

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6pt-sika posted this 09 July 2011

1kshooter wrote: great you are the only one in the world that has the 444 magnum!....lol

I'm pretty sure more then just this one were made in 1964 and rollstamped the same .

I would think atleast 20 or so . Possibly a good many more .

 

I got that one off Gunbroker this past February while I was in the Philippines !

 

This internet email thing works wonders !

I bid on it at the buy it now price , then sent my gunsmith buddy an email telling him what I did as I bid thru his call name . And told him either call my dad and he would bring a check or if he wanted take care of it and I would cover it when I got back in a week or so !

Think I paid $450 for that rifle with a period Marlin 4x scope and the rings and bases Marlin used to offer in their package deals when you got the scope as well !

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1kshooter posted this 09 July 2011

wow! what a deal bro...I think that gun could be worth a fortune with the thought of only 20 or so being in the market place! I have heard of some crazy stuff with low # guns like 1911A1 built by singer sewing mechine company ...in the millions brother!!!

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6pt-sika posted this 09 July 2011

1kshooter wrote: wow! what a deal bro...I think that gun could be worth a fortune with the thought of only 20 or so being in the market place! I have heard of some crazy stuff with low # guns like 1911A1 built by singer sewing mechine company ...in the millions brother!!!

Supposedly this model 444 was made from 1965 to 1971 and I have atleast one rifle from each of those years to prove it !

However I also have the aformentioned 1964 rifle as well as another that seriel numbers to 1972 . As for the 1972 rifle I know of one other that dates to that year and I've tried half sarcastickly to buy that one a couple times as it belongs to a friend in Texas .

So If I had to trim down the 16 first model 444's I have I think I'll keep three . The 1964 rifle , the 1972 rifle and the 1966 rifle I made a retro 444P out of !

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1kshooter posted this 10 July 2011

he who dies with the most toys ...wins lol if you sell it it's gone for ever...now if you can get enough to buy lots of new toys,well then it is tottaly worth it lol

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