2001 Vintage 444SS

[6pt-sika]

Here's a pic of a 2001 vintage 444SS I picked up about a month ago !

Bought this one strictly for 400 grain cast bullets !
Yeah that is no misprint 400 grainers . Already have a mold from Mountain Molds in 433-400GC , another on the way from LBT at 433-400GC and finally I am scraping together funds for a Ranch Dog "STYTLE" 432-400GC FN and a 432-400GC HP which should be about 380-390 . Gonna get the last ones from BRP in Michigan .

Well here's the 2001 rifle .







Now I decided before I bought this one , if it shot the 400's well I was gonna restock it with a nice piece of walnut that had a monte carlo as the later 336/444/1895 stocks do not fit me so well for some reason .

And all tests so far with the 444SS and the MM433-400GC have been good . So I ordered a stock and forend set from "Macon Gunstocks" in Missourri !

And here are pics of the set !
Sprayed a little denatyred alcohol on them to bring some of the figure out .






My friends that I sorta work with at the local gunsmith shop are doing the inletting and finishing on the house since I do most of their GB stuff .

I've also ordered a nice steel grip cap and 1" KickEezz pad to go on this rifle .
Hopefully it'll be done in time for the upcoming DCP bear hunts in late july and august !

[6pt-sika]

Here's what the Mountain Molds 433-375GC and 433-400GC look like !

The 375 grainer will shoot in the slow twist Micro barrels also if I water quench the bullets . The 400's however are a fast twist Ballard rifling only proposition and I water quench them as well !





And the two molds I got from Mountain Molds !

[Jaguarundi]

Excellent post.Sweet stock wood !What are you can to use to finish the wood

[Hobie]

You ought to write an article on your .444 loads and rifles.

[6pt-sika]

Excellent post.Sweet stock wood !What are you can to use to finish the wood

I think it's goona be clear Minwax varnish , but I may them opt for Tung Oil .

[6pt-sika]

You ought to write an article on your .444 loads and rifles.

That is a possibility !

[Jaguarundi]

A nice filled low gloss oil finish would reveal the character of the wood !Halogen lights would aid with cure'n between coats and buff.Direct sunlight works nicely otherwise.+1 with what Hobie posted.

[6pt-sika]

I also need to buy one of the little CBS replacement kits !

I think a screw will look way way better then that GD safety

[Jaguarundi]

Nice idea.A Saddle Ring would be another idea.

[6pt-sika]

Nice idea.A Saddle Ring would be another idea.

Saddle rings ain't my thing .

[TedH]

Nice pieces of walnut there. Those bullets look like some real heavy duty hitters! How fast do you think you'll be able to push those 400s?

[6pt-sika]

Nice pieces of walnut there. Those bullets look like some real heavy duty hitters! How fast do you think you'll be able to push those 400s?

Have no idea !

I was using Marshall Stanton's load data for his 405 grain bullet .

And for the 375 I kinda went half way in load weight between the 350 and 405 grainers .

Velocity with jacketed bullets in bolt actions and Ruger #1's intrests me . But in something like this I kinda take the outlook it is what it is !

I already have a load worked up in one of the old Micro 444's for the 375 grainer . Also have a NEI 429-350GC that drops about 370 grains that I have shooting well enough in another old Micro Groove 444 !

I kinda went crazy last month and ordered four LBT molds for the 444's ! Had him make me a 320 , a 340 , a 375 and a 400 . Got an email from him this AM . They are all cut and should be in my hands next week !

Now if I can scrape up enough to order from BRP !
Wanna get a 433-375GC FN , 433-375GC HP (which should be 355-360) , 433-400GC FP , 433-400GC HP (should be about 380-385) , and possibly two other molds he has in his "normal run" stuff . He has what looks to be a dandy 462-465GC bullet and has already sent me some of these to try out in my older Marlin 1895 45-70's .

[Markbo]

I have a question: Why are you going with such big/heavy bullets? No flame... I am just curious. I know my .444 is like Thor's Hammer with 240-300gr bullets already. BTW I thought the original stock looked pretty nice!

[6pt-sika]

I have a question: Why are you going with such big/heavy bullets? No flame... I am just curious. I know my .444 is like Thor's Hammer with 240-300gr bullets already. BTW I thought the original stock looked pretty nice!

Well pretty much anything I want for the short answer !

For the longer answer I just felt like seeing how far I could go and get acceptable accuracy .

The stock on that rifle is nice looking enough for a factory rifle . But I wanted one with a monte carlo and a good deal nicer figured wood .

[6pt-sika]

Well I got an email from LBT this AM !

I should have in hand sometime next week all FOUR of the molds I ordered from him !

That'll be a ,

433-320GC

433-340GC

433-375GC

433-400GC

That should be plenty to keep me at the pot for awhile next week or the week after !

[Markbo]

And I will be very interested in seeing how accurate those turn out to be.

[6pt-sika]

And I will be very interested in seeing how accurate those turn out to be.

The Mountain Molds 433-400GC bullets are already good enough for hunting with RL-7 and Varget in the 2001 rifle .

The Mountain Molds 433-375GC is already good enough with H322 in an older Micro groove 444 for hunting .