.444 Marlin vs. .450 Marlin
 

What is everyone's take on the two cartridges? Which would you choose and why? (come on, it could have been worse, like .17HMR vs. .50BMG, wich is the better varmint cartridge?)

Sorry if this topic has been posted before, but I cannot get the search feature to work for me.

RE: .444 Marlin vs. .450 Marlin
 

These cartridges, while they look fairly similar on the outside, are not in the same niche. The .444 Marlin is essentially a deer rifle that can be used on black bear. It uses .429 bullets (same as the .44 Mag). The .450 Marlin is like a 45-70 loaded to red line - into the lower end of the .458 Winchester power level. Good for real big stuff and most African game. Has abundant recoil, though.

Personally, I would get the .450 Marlin. Can always load it down if you don't need the horsepower. Or, for that matter, get the .45-70 if you reload. My understanding is that the .450 Marlin was developed so it could be factory loaded to high performance .45-70 levels. You could not, of course, factory load the .45-70 this hot without risking damage to many of the older firearms floating around out there that were only designed for blackpowder pressures.

RE: .444 Marlin vs. .450 Marlin
 

Well, I gotta respectfully disagree with that statement. While the 450 Marlin is definetly a more powerful cartridge the 444 certainly aint no slouch.

If all you shoot are the Remington 240 grain loads they are pitiful. However, Corbon and Buffalo Bore load some pretty stout ammo for the 444 Marlin.... along the lines of 300 grain bullets at 2100 - 2200 fps. These loads are certainly capeable of killing anything you would want to hunt with one.... up to and including dangerous game.

Hornady also loads their 265 grain bullet at over 2300 fps for the 444.

Conley precision also loads some great 444 ammo with bullets like Barnes, Nosler partition, & Swift A-frames.

RE: .444 Marlin vs. .450 Marlin
 

It depends on what and where you want to hunt with this rifle. If for deer only then a .444 is just about right. Throw a moose in then I would lean to the .450 but realize that these lightweight .450 carbines kick like a .375 H&H.

RE: .444 Marlin vs. .450 Marlin
 

Bigbulls - I guess I am remembering the .444 when all you get for it were 44 Mag pistol bullets. It's still a plateau below the .450 Marlin, but not as much as may have implied when you shoot some of the newer bullets available for this application.

RE: .444 Marlin vs. .450 Marlin
 

The .450 is above the realm of the .444,but as stated befor the .444 is no slouch either.The biggest problem the .444 was when it was introduced they loaded it with same bullets the .44 mag was loaded with.This caused the bullets to seperate or blow up,wich in turn gave the .444 a bad rap.

I like the .450 for elk and moose in close 1/4's,and would use it for grizz in a heart beat.If you load solids in it it would make a good African game gun I would supose also.

With todays bullets and ammo the .444 and the 450 can handle almost or most of N/A Biggame.
BBJ

RE: .444 Marlin vs. .450 Marlin
 

yes, it does have quite a kick. A friend of mine bought a .375 H&H and he shot my .450 one day and said he would prefer to shoot his .375. The .450 is like shooting a 12 gauge magnum shell, where hte .375 is a sharper punch.

RE: .444 Marlin vs. .450 Marlin
 

If one reloads, I think the obvious answer to the 444 Mar or 450 Mar debate is the 45-70 Govt.

RE: .444 Marlin vs. .450 Marlin
 

Those are some interesting thoughts on the subject. For me, the .444 Marlin would be more than enough 95% of the time. But I tend to lean towards the .450 Marlin in case that the extra little bit of 'oomph' were ever to be needed. As a handloader, rolling my own would be the only way I would go. My only issue might be recoil. I can stand up to fair amount of recoil, but I'm no brutus either. However if I think along the lines of the Winchester Model 94 Timber with the ported barrel and decelerator pad, it should help tame the beast to managable levels.

RE: .444 Marlin vs. .450 Marlin
 

Handloader? Recoil sensitive? Get a Marlin in 45/70.

RE: .444 Marlin vs. .450 Marlin
 

444 Marlin vs. the 450 marlin is along the same lines as com0paring the 300 Win mag to the .338 Win mag.

What you can do with one you can do with the other.

400 - 500 more foot pounds of energy going to the larger cartridge and .029 - .030 inches in bullet diameter going to the larger cartridge.

RE: .444 Marlin vs. .450 Marlin
 

I would go with the .450 Marlin. Good luck.

RE: .444 Marlin vs. .450 Marlin
 

I've been shooting and reloading my 444 for over 30 yrs. With the right load it will kill anything that the 450 marlin will.

RE: .444 Marlin vs. .450 Marlin
 

I went with the 45-70. Light loads are available anywhere (Rem, Win etc.), heavy loads (similiar to 450 Marlin) are also available to non reloaders from companies like Buffalo Bore and Garrett. Both 444 and 45-70 are very capable rounds at relatively short ranges...and you don't generally buy a lever action rifle for the bean fields... so then it comes down to how big of a hole do you want to make?? For me it was a 45 caliber hole and the history of the 45-70 with tons of available ammo...

Love the marlin 1895 BTW.

RE: .444 Marlin vs. .450 Marlin
 

To see what a hot loaded 45-70 can do, check out this link to garrett cartridges....
http://www.garrettcartridges.com/lupoindex.asp

Vince Lupo took the the big six with a Marlin 45-70 and garrett hammerheads!!!!

RE: .444 Marlin vs. .450 Marlin
 

i would choose the 450 i have read nothing but good articles on the marlin 450 magnum. the marlin is my opinion the best lever action arms producer to date i tryed a winchester in the 450 caliber but the top ejection port and cheap peep sights made the gun a bad choice. the marlin has a side port ejection system and good deep cut sights mounting a low variable scope on this rifle would be a good combo. on the other hand the 444 is a nother good choice both are excelent large game cartridges. the 450 has a devisating amount of foot punds.