44 MAGNUM IN A 94 WINCHESTER .444 BIGBORE.

[tman]

Was looking at YOUTUBE today. Saw a kid shooting 44 magnums out of a model 94 .444 bigbore. Shot and fed and ejected flawlessly. Anybody else tried this? Looks like a cheap alternative and dual purpose ammo.

[TMair]

I may be wrong, but I think the base of the 444 is a little larger then the 44 mag, not sure if the brass would be any good after shooting it in the 444.
I had a Thompson contender 44 barrel that had been rechamberd for the 444, that was a handfull, but in the chamber of the 44 mag on the contender there is a little ring just ahead of where the brass ends, that little ring would make the 444 brass stick in the durn thing, not that this has anything to do with what your talking about.
Terry

[COSteve]

While the rim dia. of both measure .514", the base dia. of the cases aren't. The 444 Marlin is .470" while the 44 mag is .457" so you'd be stretching out the 44 mag case a ton.

[Sixgun]

He's playing with fire. It would be a lot simpler to handload .444 brass to any velocity you want.

The only difference in price is the cost of the .444 brass. Everything else would be about the same.------------------------------Sixgun

[AJMD429]

Even though the .444 Marlin looks barely tapered, it is. According to my Lyman Manual, the base of the .444 Marlin cartridge case is 0.013" larger* than that of the .44 Magnum, although the rim diameters are the same, and the money you'd "save" by using .44 Mag in one would be quickly lost by rupturing or at least ruining the cases, not to mention eventually an E.R. trip for whatever eventually failed to contain the gas/powder.

I'm surprised they fed through the action, as well; I wish my .44 Mag Marlin was that tolerant of cartridge overall length..!

Too bad it isn't like the .45 Colt in .454 Casull in .460 S&W compatability...! You have the .44 Special in .44 Magnum, but there it stops, unless you 'wildcat'.

At least the .44 Mag and .444 Marlin both use the same bullet diameter, unlike the .45 Colt and .45-70 cartridges.

The other problem is the "bathtub ring" effect that shorter-than-chamber cartridges cause, so other than in a 'survival' emergency, It's really better to use the full length case even when the shorter ones will fire safely. Plus, it helps keep loads separate, and usually the gun with the longer chambering is the stronger one.

[ edited ] * - Although that reminds me...

• Aren't many of the .45 Colt (...I know, lower pressure rounds...) chambers WAY larger than the cases...?

I've noticed some major case bulges in that round.

Maybe firing the .44 Mag in the .444 Marlin isn't all that different than firing factory .45 Colt in a factory .45 Colt chamber - only with lots of 'freebore'...

[Old Time Hunter]

Interesting, I always thought that the .444 would handle the .44 Mag in a pinch, actually read that somewhere. Might be a tad bit rough on the throat. Surely wouldn't recommend it as a daily user though.

[Griff]

I'm wonderin' if he knows the difference? Define; some of us feel 35 is still a "kid", my wife thinks 60 is still a "kid", at least as far as I'm concerned!

Was looking at YOUTUBE today. Saw a kid shooting 44 magnums out of a model 94 .444 bigbore. Shot and fed and ejected flawlessly. Anybody else tried this? Looks like a cheap alternative and dual purpose ammo.

[win92]

well I have to admit that back in the late seventies I did exactly the same thing 10 or 15 times on a hunting trip .
As I remember I started out with some shot loads (the ones Speer made in those days ) then progressed to some 240gr hot loaded Hornadys. I don`t recall that I had any problems at the time but looking back it seems like a really stupid thing to do. Its a Miracle some of us survive our youth!!!

[TMair]

well I have to admit that back in the late seventies I did exactly the same thing 10 or 15 times on a hunting trip .
As I remember I started out with some shot loads (the ones Speer made in those days ) then progressed to some 240gr hot loaded Hornadys. I don`t recall that I had any problems at the time but looking back it seems like a really stupid thing to do. Its a Miracle some of us survive our youth!!!

Well as long as we are confessin, one time, on accident I shot some 44 mag rounds through my 94 trapper 45LC, I wondered why I couldn't hit anything, and velocity was way low, you could see the bullets fly down rainge, it wasn't until I picked up a case to find it split and swollen out of shape, then I looked at the head stamp, bothered me almost as bad as when I shot the last 10 inches off of the end of my 10 gauge double.
Terry

[AJMD429]

Well as long as we are confessin, one time, on accident I shot some 44 mag rounds through my 94 trapper 45LC, I wondered why I couldn't hit anything, and velocity was way low, you could see the bullets fly down rainge, it wasn't until I picked up a case to find it split and swollen out of shape, then I looked at the head stamp, bothered me almost as bad as when I shot the last 10 inches off of the end of my 10 gauge double.

I couldn't figure out why my durned Guide Gun in .45-70 was not feeding smoothly, but this cartridge case was a clue:

[Old Savage]

Paco wrote of using 44-40 rounds in the 444 and if you look at the measurements of the base of the case you can see why. The 444 and the 44-40 are very close.

[Sarge]

Paco wrote of using 44-40 rounds in the 444 and if you look at the measurements of the base of the case you can see why. The 444 and the 44-40 are very close.

Beat me to it, OS

[buckeyeshooter]

great logic, ruin a very limited production winchester in 444 by being stupid! They mark the chambering on the barrel for a reason!

[Sarge]

great logic, ruin a very limited production winchester in 444 by being stupid! They mark the chambering on the barrel for a reason!

The conversation is about what will work in a .444 chamber, and what won't. I for one find it quite interesting. If you're disturbed by it to the point that you'd like to buy these .444's all up--to prevent their further denigration at the hands of us ruffians--start making offers.

[JB]

great logic, ruin a very limited production winchester in 444 by being stupid! They mark the chambering on the barrel for a reason!

The conversation is about what will work in a .444 chamber, and what won't. I for one find it quite interesting. If you're disturbed by it to the point that you'd like to buy these .444's all up--to prevent their further denigration at the hands of us ruffians--start making offers.

It's not something I'd want to do either. I see it making a mess that's harder to clean with extended use. I'm not even a big fan of shooting 38's in my 357's. Especially with lead bullets.

[piller]

It is interesting as to what will fit and shoot in the wrong chamber. I once loaded some .45 Colt in a .480 Ruger. 1 shot and I wondered what was wrong, so I checked. It fired but actually got stuck in the chamber and I had to use a dowel rod to tap the ruined case out. Nope, I wouldn't deliberately try something like that again. Too much stress when you are expecting a pretty big boom and you get a fwoosh.