357/44 bain & davis in a marlin?

[badger brown]

i'm new to thr but not new to the gun wolrd! i would like to know if anybody has had this conversion done from 44mag to 357/44 b&d? i have a ruger blackhawk and dies and wanted a carbine companion.

 

[sid]

conversion is made from .357 not .44.chamber is reamed to .44 then case is necked down to .357.originally done by baine and davis sporting goods in california.

 

[natman]

conversion is made from .357 not .44.chamber is reamed to .44 then case is necked down to .357.originally done by baine and davis sporting goods in california.

It's a two part deal; IMO the easiest way is to start with a 44 mag in order to get the correct bolt face and feeding, then add a rechambered 357 barrel.

 

[Jim Watson]

Is a single shot carbine ok?
Bullberry will make you a Contender barrel in .357-44 B&D.

But you want a Marlin.
You could do as natman says with a .44 lever action and have it rebarrelled.
I have not heard of it being done but it would be a straightforward project to change the barrel and maybe tweak the feeding for the bottleneck.
What it will NOT be is cheap.

 

[badger brown]

thanks for your help . my brother just picked up a winchester 92 in 44mag. now he wants to turn his marlin 44 into the 357/44 to go with the ruger blackhawk. this should be interesting at the least! i'm going to my neighborhood gunsmith today after work and see if he's done this before. i'll think about the tc barrel as i have one in 357mag and could have it rechambered. would it be better chambered in 357/44 or 357 maximum?

 

[Jim Watson]

If he has a .357-44 Ruger, then he has to have some ammo, right?

The first thing I would do is to carefully run some .357-44 through the action of that .44 Marlin. Not shooting it, of course, just swinging the lever to see if it fed from tube to chamber. If it does, then all that is required is to buy, fit, and rechamber a .357 barrel.

Numrich has a 19" .357 barrel for Marlin 94 for $116.25.
I wonder if it is the same outside profile as the .44 or if it will require changes to barrel bands, etc.

 

[badger brown]

you are right. i pulled my 357& 44 out of the safe and went over both and other than the length same od contour. it feeds the 357/44 just like it was made to! went to my gunsmith he said $500 for barrel change, rechamber, reblue, and fit new stocks. my brother said go with it.