Marlin Model 444
BY Herschel Smith
1 year, 6 months ago
The .444 Marlin was a brainchild of Marlin employees Thomas Robinson and Arthur Burns. They made the first cases from unfinished .30-06 Sprg. brass before it was necked down and the rim turned to its final diameter. Burns presented prototype ammunition and a rifle chambered for it to Earl Larson at Remington, and since an official name for the cartridge had yet to be decided on, the first test ammunition loaded by Remington was head-stamped “.44 Mag”, because that bunter was on hand. It was later changed to “444 Marlin.” The ammunition featured the same 240-grain bullet being loaded by Remington in the .44 Mag.
Advertised velocity was 2,400 f.p.s., reduced to 2,350 f.p.s. soon after the barrel of the Model 444 rifle was shortened to 22”. The 240-grain bullet proved to be sudden death on deer, but elk and moose hunters desired more penetration on quartering shots, so in 1982, a 265-grain soft point at 2,120 f.p.s. was added. It was discontinued around 2010, but has returned to the Remington Express ammunition lineup with an average velocity of 2,239 f.p.s. from my rifles. Demand for the .444 Marlin increased when several shotgun-only states legalized the use of certain straight-wall centerfire cartridges.
The .444 Marlin is often incorrectly described as a lengthened version of the .44 Mag. The two cartridges do share the same rim and bullet diameters, but body diameter just forward of the extraction groove of factory ammo usually measures 0.464” to 0.467” for the .444 Marlin and 0.451” to 0.453” for the .44 Mag. SAAMI maximum chamber diameter for the .444 Marlin is 0.4747” so firing the .44 Mag. in a .444 Marlin rifle could result in a ruptured case and should not be done.
It would be interesting if Marlin came out with a new Model 444, but given the similarity of this cartridge with the 45-70, it may not happen.
See also Chuck Hawks, and American Hunter.
On June 6, 2023 at 4:10 pm, Paul B said:
My brother has one of those. Talk about hard to find ammo. That and most gun clerks do not know what it is.
On June 7, 2023 at 6:08 am, jrg said:
Long ago, I owned a .444 Marlin lever gun. I considered it a .44 calibered 30-30, having similar bullet trajectories. It was also about a pound and a half heavier than the Marlin 336 30-30 I already had. I refused to scope the .444, instead mounting a Lyman (I think – been a few years) receiver mounted aperture. I liked the barrel heavy balance, it seemed to help steady it when shooting offhand. It was meant to be a short range stalking rifle in deep cover.
But Real Life intervened and I had to come up with money to pay for our home building. A few rifles were put on the chopping block to help. The Marlin was sold and though I do miss it some, others are here to console me. I’m sure I still have a box or two from it somewhere. Still have fond memories of that – I hope it is a valued firearm by the new owner.
Finding ammunition for it now in 2023 would be difficult. A hand loader would definitely be easier to acquire ammunition.
On June 7, 2023 at 8:06 pm, Latigo Morgan said:
Jerry “Mad Dog” Shriver had a Marlin .444 in Vietnam.
https://majorjohnplaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/The-Untold-True-Story-of-Mad-Dog-Shriver.pdf
On June 9, 2023 at 8:04 pm, Steve Miller said:
I have a Marlin 444S. Nice rifle. Fun to shoot.