wildcatting my 444. marlin

yellowstone · Jan 1, 2011

my 444 Marlin fits like a glove, and i'm surgical with it out to 100yrs......worked good in northern Mich........now I'm in western Wyoming........
The thought of necking down the case to to 338 and trying to create a 200 yrd
shooter is my motivation......love this gun.......action is strong....proven thumper
holding a pile of brass........am I nuts?

MMCSRET · Jan 1, 2011

Take a look at Marlins newer offerings before you modify your 444. Marlin offers a 338 cartridge now, on the same 336 action that your 444 is based on. Keep your 444 "Thumper" for when the big guy in the heavy timber needs to be "Thumped". I've hunted Western Wyo. and Eastern Idaho and I own a Marlin 444. They work well out to 200 yards with good hand loads and good bullets on elk, moose and those furry, lovable, teddy critters around Yellowstone and out into the Wind Rivers.

leper65 · Jan 1, 2011

I believe that has been done for the Contender Pistols by SSK Industries and others. I don't know if it's been done for a rifle might be too much pressure for 336 action...after a quick googling I came up with these...

.338 PREDATOR

.338X444

.338 JDJ #2

stanger04 · Jan 1, 2011

It can be done but honestly, buy another rifle, you'll be happier.

yellowstone · Jan 2, 2011

sound wisdom from each reply........to many campfires to think about a new rifle......have a a lot of memories wrapped around that piece of steel and wood.....have worked hard for a long time, guess I have now reached the "more money than brains" stage of life, and it is turning out to be a fun project to sort through the history and data circulating......has opened up my eyes to a lot of what ifs..... Will go forward and continue to turn over stones

1. any thoughts on where I could find dimensional drawings of some of the SSK and JDJ's
2. you guys got any favorites I should consider for the barrel and chamber work?
am wanting to stay in the rockies or west coast....

leper65 · Jan 2, 2011

Here's a link about the 338 JDJ and JDJ#2. The first one was based on the .303 case and the #2 was based on the 444.

http://www.go2gbo.com/forums/index.php?action=printpage;topic=3842.0

I'd contact SSK about the cartride drawing and any conversion.

http://www.sskindustries.com

Grumulkin · Jan 2, 2011

The .338/444 and the 338 JDJ are essentially the same cartridge. As I understand it, J. D. Jones copyrighted or trademarked the JDJ series of cartridges so no one can call their chambering that without his permission.

That said, if I were doing this project, I would contact J. D. Jones of SSK Industries. I presume you're going to be mailing your rifle to whoever does the work and via Priority Mail it won't take more than a day longer to get to Ohio than if you stay on the West Coast. If he does the work, it will be done well and in a reasonable length of time. He, by the way, is quite good at answering e-mails.

rcmodel · Jan 2, 2011

The big problem I see is, there are no .338" bullets available with flat points suitable for a lever-actions tube magazine.

Without spitzer bullets, it just isn't going to be a long range rifle.

So you are going to be confined to the Hornady 200 grain nerf-ball point FTX bullet they use in the .338 Marlin Express.

In that case, you might as well just get a new .338 Marlin Express lever-gun and save yourself the expense & hassle of trying to get a .338 wildcat to work in the action.

rc

osprey176 · Jan 19, 2011

save your 444 for elk in the timber,as i have.mine was the wackin,stackin machine when i lived in fla,but i moved to nebraska,and it stares at me from the back of safe when i pull out the new weatherby.i am working on some 300 grain loads,but i am not there yet.will post results when i find a winner.

CraigC · Jan 19, 2011

The easiest answer is the most obvious, there is nothing wrong with taking your .444 to 200yds. Hell, a good .44Mag levergun is good to 150yds. Push either the 270gr Gold Dot or 300gr Unicor to 2200fps. Sight it in 2" high at 100yds and you're dead on at 150yds, 5" low at 200yds.

greyling22 · Jan 19, 2011

could you use one of those new flextip bullet from hornady to get a little more reach? http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/default.aspx?productNumber=894347

(edit, a saw RC beat me to it, I had just overlooked his post. never overlook an RC post.....)

wild west guns in alaska does a lot of marlin work. They might be able to help you out. Technically they're both on the west coast and in the rockies.

wildcatting my 444. marlin

yellowstone

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MMCSRET

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leper65

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stanger04

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yellowstone

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leper65

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Grumulkin

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rcmodel

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osprey176

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CraigC

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greyling22

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