Just got a 444 for my birthday and am looking for a load. I also received a box of the hornady 265 light magnums, but i have a little concern about using them in the lever gun. Need some help, please.

Roger What is the concern?? The 265 gr bullets are actually better than the 240's in the two Marlin lever actions I have experience with. I have had satisfactory results with IMR 4198 with the 240 & 265 gr bullets and IMR 3031 is also very good with the 265 gr bullets.

quote:

Originally posted by Roger Keezer:
I received a box of the hornady 265 light magnums, but i have a little concern about using them in the lever gun.

Your lever gun is totally capable of handling that load. The load is to SAAMI specs and the Marlin is designed to hold that spec and with a safety margin.

Shoot them with confidence.

I guess I didn't make myself clear enough. The concern is that the hornady bullets are already loaded to high velocity and states on the box that they should be used only in fixed breech firearms. Thanks

I would not worry in the least about using the Hornady loads you have, in your Marlin lever .444, if the rifle is in sound condition.

Just to give you an idea of how strong that action is, I know of a Marlin lever gun which fired 20 consective rounds of .45-70 ammo loaded with the VAST OVERLOAD of 53 grains of IMR 3031 and 500 gr. bullets, with no harm to action, chamber, or barrel. (Were sure rough on the shooter at the recoil end, though, and I doubt he will ever do that again.)

To put that in perspective, I consider the same 53 grains of IMR 3031 to be an absolute max load in each of the three Marlin 444s I've used it in, with 265 gr. Hornady bullets, and I advise shooters to not start there, but to begin at 49 or 50 grs, seating bullets only to the crimping cannelure.

I believe your Marlin to be exactly the kind of "fixed breech" arm Hornady had in mind, as the breech IS fixed by the locking lugs when the action is closed. I would think a "non-fixed-breech" action to be something more like some designs of semi-autos, though I can't think of any in .444 Marlin off the top of my head.

I load the 444 Marlin.. If you are going to handload this rifle, I suggest strongly looking at the trajectory charts for this round....

Take a look at the trajectory for 150 yrds for the 265 grain Hornady Magnum load...
Then take a look at the trajectory for the same bullet but at 300 fps slower....The flatnose bullets are so short on aerodynamics that 300 fps or more less MV doesn't really make you sacrifice too much on point blank range...

What I am getting at, is in handloading that case, a full straight walled case, with most of the powders that are typically recommended result in FULL straight wall cases requiring compressed loads.. It is a real pain with those bullets...

Take a look at the load data for a 44 Magnum.... in a rifle.. Most of the powders recommended in the 44 mag, when the data is used in a 444, the velocity is the same as the 44 Mag...

I have started loading my 444 with powders like Blue Dot, Unique, H 110, 2400, IMR 4227, SR 4759...Sure I get 1700 to 1800 fps for velocity instead of the usual 2200 fps.. however ity reduces recoil by about 40 % of more and I sacrifice about 10 to 15 yrds of point blank range...

Since the bullets are designed for 44 Mag velocities, there is no trouble them opening up on reduced 444 velocities....In some of the more fragile ones will penetrate even better at lower velocities...

My preferred load for the 444 utilizes the 300 grain Hornady XTP....at about 1750 fps....It is deadly accurate... the load is very shootable...and anything that gets hit by the 300 grain XTP has just enjoyed its last few moments on earth before you pulled the trigger....

So good luck with it...
cheers and good shooting
seafire

Hornady Light mags are the most accurate round I've shot out of my Marlin 444SS with the microgroove barrel. Otherwise H335 is the way to go along with the 300gr bullets. For factory stuff, I want to try Buffalo Bore and see how they work out on thick critters like Elk. For deer however, the Hornadys are the ticket. Check out Beartooth Bullets on the web, beartoothbullets.com and look around for 444 loads. Marshall is a 444 guru.