.44 mag rifle?

[briankk]

I know a fella who had a .44 mag flattop, eventually got a lot of ammo for it, but developed a sore hand from the revolver, which he sold, and bought a Marlin (?) .44 carbine. All his pistol ammo is too small for the rifle bore, he sold the rifle and now has a lot of .44 rounds and nothing to shoot them in.

Does anybody know of a .44 carbine with a bore diameter compatible with .429 bullets? It seems SAMMI specs for .44 revolver barrel diameter is different from the rifle diameter, pretty much shuts down the one kind of ammo for both guns thing...Which, IMHO is stump stupid, but there it is.

 

[TexasPatriot.308]

I don't know the exact specs of my Ruger m77/44 but I know I can shoot really tight groups at 100 yards with 240 grain Winchester ammo...love this little bolt action carbine.

 

[garyhan]

I am aware of no .44 mag firearm, rifle or handgun, that is not compatible with .429 bullets. Your friend sounds a bit mixed up, or perhaps his individual rifle was simply inaccurate.

gary

 

[zerobarrier]

I have 2 44mag rifles and a S&W m69 in 44mag, all shoot the same ammo. I shoot 1" groups at 75yards with the rossi 44mag lever action. I never heard of 44mag bullets being to small for a 44 mag rifle. You sure the rifle he had wasn't a marlin 444? and when he said small he meant in terms of length?

 

[Eb1]

My Ruger 77/44 stainless/camo likes Winchester Soft Points. At 50 yards I can hit every diamond on a shoot and see, and 100 yards it is around an inch group. That is with a cheap Banner scope as well. I like this rifle.

 

[JSH1]

I have a H&R Handi Rifles chambered in .44 Magnum and .444 Marlin. It really sounds like he tried to shoot .44 Magnum in a rifle chambered for .444 Marlin. The .44 Magnum case is quite a bit shorter but only .017" smaller in diameter than the .444 Marlin.

My .44 Mag rifle shoots factory ammo just fine.

 

[mnrivrat]

It seems SAMMI specs for .44 revolver barrel diameter is different from the rifle diameter,

There is no seperate dia. specs for the rifle vs the pistol.

I think perhaps those mentioning the .444 Marlin are likely to be correct , and your person can use the cartridges in any gun that is chambered for the .44 magnum cartridge.

 

[Schwing]

He is not mixed up. Marlins are notorious for this problem. I own a Marlin 1894 in 44 mag with the same problem. My barrel is .432 in diameter. The cylinders on my SuperBlackhawk revolver are not even that big so I cannot use the same ammo for both.

It isn't unheard of for barrels to vary some in diameter. Bullet casters know this and usually slug their barrels before casting and sizing so they can get the bullets at least .001 larger than the bore for accuracy. Unfortunately, having a .432 barrel makes that difficult since you have to, minimally, get a custom bullet sizing die. In my case, I am also in the process of getting a new mold to lap because my current mold won't even drop bullets that big.

If you don't cast your own bullets, you are going to be really hard pressed to buy them that large. Your only other option is to buy jacketed bullets.

That sad part is that Marlin really has cleaned up their new production stuff over the last couple of years. The fit, finish and action are superb. With Montana Gold 240 grain JSPs, it shoots very tight groups. Since lever actions are most often coveted by lead shooters, it makes the Marlin a not so great choice.

 

[Salmoneye]

There is no seperate dia. specs for the rifle vs the pistol.

Yes...

Yes there are...

Marlins are notorious for this problem.

It is only a 'problem' if one is unaware of the issue...

Marlin makes barrels to SAAMI spec, which for rifle is .431" groove, and .424" bore...

The SAAMI spec for pistol/revolver is .429" groove, and .417" bore...

Chapter and verse at this current thread:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=783829

 

[GBExpat]

He is not mixed up. Marlins are notorious for this problem. I own a Marlin 1894 in 44 mag with the same problem. ...

Hmmm ... good to know, thanks.

I have an 1894 that I bought, used, about 30 years ago <pauses until the feeling of O.L.D. passes> and it is a very (surprisingly so) accurate rifle with generic 240gr jacketed SP ammo.

I will now add an 1894 CerroSafe session to my project list, out of curiosity ... something to do prior to shooting any of the lead-topped handloads that I use in my 29.

 

[Hookeye]

Was the pistol ammo "left over" from the flattop sale of a hot load or reduced due to previous sore hand experience?

I've never had problems in rifle or handgun, jacket or lead.......in .44 magnum as far as accuracy goes. But then, I run every round cranked to the max.

 

[CraigC]

I know that 'some' people report larger bores in Marlins but both of mine shoot wonderfully with standard bullets. The 1894S model shoots under an inch at 100yds with the 270gr Gold Dot. The Cowboy does as well at 50yds with standard .430" cast SWC's.

There is no seperate dia. specs for the rifle vs the pistol.

Yes, there is.

 

[Malamute]

There seems to be some misconceptions about rifle bores. The questions about "which model have X bore size" and the individual examples mentioned dont really give much useful info. 50 guys guns of any model may shoot great with smallish cast bullets, but 300 others may not. There isnt any exact groove diameter used by any particular manufacturer. Any two guns off the line with consecutive serial numbers may have very different groove diameters.

Jacketed bullets will generally will be more forgiving of varying bore sizes.

 

[Salmoneye]

My experience is exactly 180º from CraigC's...

1990 Marlin 1894S that I could never get to shoot jacketed...I'm talking 5" at 50 yards with .429" jacketed factory or handloads...Tried .4295" Sierras...A little better...Then I tried the .430" Hornady 265gr FP and the gun came into it's own...

Back then I could never get cast to shoot...

Jump ahead 20 years and I found that this was 'known' on the interwebs...

I went to Penn cast bullets at .432" instead of the .431" that I had tried in the 90's, and voila...

 

[Hookeye]

What types of rifling has Marlin offered over the years?
Heard of some grumbling with regard to the Ballard.

Did hear of H&R having a run of bad .44 mag bbls a while back.

 

[Schwing]

What types of rifling has Marlin offered over the years?
Heard of some grumbling with regard to the Ballard.

Did hear of H&R having a run of bad .44 mag bbls a while back.

As far as I know, they still produce both Ballard and micro-groove barrels. Where that is concerned, a lot of cast shooters claim that the micro-groove barrels are no good for cast bullets. I have never noticed much difference in accuracy between the two types of rifling as long as the bullets are sized properly.