I'm looking for some .444 Marlin loads for a double rifle to use on pigs and possibly water buffalo in Australia.

The companies I'm looking at for now are Beartooth and Castperformance with the;

Castperformance 320gr. WLNGC/DC .430 dia

All the slugs between the; Beartooth 325gn LCMN .429 dia - Beartooth 405gn WLN DCG .429 dia

Any reccomendations?
Also, how do these cast slugs stack up against say a 300gn Uni-core or other jacketed pistol bullet?
Thanks.

Both are different weight versions of the LBT boolits and both are great. It depends on your bore size. I don't remember offhand if Beartooth offers different diameters. I tend to go with the larger .430.
I don't think you can compare them to a jacketed bullet because they are so much better. If you want penetration, use the hard cast.

they both water drop bullets and for something as big and dangerous as what your hunting id be skeptical about them being to brittle. id get ahold of frank at mt baldy bullets and talk to him about what your wanting. he will custom cast out of an appropriate alloy that will be optimal for your velocity and the animal your hunting. No time for a generic bullet in the case of dangerous game. Id also think hard on using kelly Shlepps brass punch bullets if it were me.

Thanks Lloyd, I've been looking for someone who makes solid copper bullets for the .444 in a heavy weight. Barnes and a German guy only make them in 200gn wieghts. Brass would be fine too.
Do you have a website or contact for kelly Shlepps? I couldn't find him with google.

Mt. Baldy makes some great bullets and would be worth looking into.

http://bullshop.gunloads.com/
The Bull shop also does custom casting.

http://www.lsstuff.com/ranger-rick/
Ranger Rick makes some huge bullets for the larger bores, he might have something for the 444 also.

check with Kelly Shlepp of Belt Mountain base pins. He makes the punch bullet. Its a lathe turned brass lfn that is has a lead filled core and a pin prick sized hp. the lead core and the small hollow point are to make it leagal as a sold copper handgun bullet is not. Ive got some prototype 44s sitting right here and there cute little things. We were buffalo hunting saturday and my buddy had some loaded in a 3 inch 629 and they punched through a cow buffalo. I think these ones weight about 280 grain. We done alot of testing on these bullets in differnt calibers and NOTHING penetrates like these bullets. I wouldnt be afraid to hunt any animal on the planet with a 280 punch in a 444. Only problem is there expensive there about 3 bucks a pop but if a guy bought 20 or so and sighted his gun in with cast and then took a couple shots to make small ajustments in poa and used the rest for shooting game it would be pretty cheap in the long run.

quote:

Originally posted by Lloyd Smale:
they both water drop bullets and for something as big and dangerous as what your hunting id be skeptical about them being to brittle. id get ahold of frank at mt baldy bullets and talk to him about what your wanting. he will custom cast out of an appropriate alloy that will be optimal for your velocity and the animal your hunting. No time for a generic bullet in the case of dangerous game. Id also think hard on using kelly Shlepps brass punch bullets if it were me.

this is his website but i couldnt get it to open today www.beltmountain.com

heres an article on them http://www.gunblast.com/BeltMtn_PunchBullet.htm

444 article my buddy wrote http://www.leverguns.com/articles/anderson/444Outfitter.htm

some more punch bullet testing. http://www.leverguns.com/articles/beltmountain.htm

Thanks very much Lloyd.
The Beltmountain site must have shifted domain, since it's not there anymore. But it looks like they are all still very light weight.
I might try turning some of my own.
Cheers!

dont know if id call a 44 280 lightweight. I know it will shoot through more then any 340 grain cast 44 will. Nice thing is in the 444 too is that weve tested them at high velocity in the 50 ak and its about the only bullet that seems to just keep penetrating deaper when you keep kicking up the velocity. Id about bet that 280 at speed out of a 444 would hit someone in china if you shot between your feet.

Thanks Lloyd, I have got an order in with Beartooth for five hundred 325gn bullets, and I'm woking on getting some solid copper bullets made up that will probably end up being a similar weight.
For my application, in the double firle shooting with iron sights only, the 325 is fine, though I'd like the solids to be heavier.
I'm not worried about long distances and bullet drop, which is why I am after such heavy bullets.