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Practically Shooting

Hickok45 shooting his Marlin in 44 Mag


G-MAN

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Believe him about the recoil. I don't have a .44 Marlin, but do have a Ruger 77/44 (.44 Mag bolt action) and the heavier stuff will shove me around. Even if you've shot one loaded with the usual 240 grain ammo, don't base everything on that, because you can really feel the difference going to a little heavier bullet.

I shoot a lot of cast bullets in mine that weigh 277 grains, and when they get to around 1600-1650 fps they start to thump you. I have a mould from SSK that is supposed to make a 310 TC bullet, but that weight was figured with linotype. Using heavier wheelweight alloy, they average 338 grains. Get those to about 1400 fps, and you feel it.

My Marlin 45-70 has less recoil using 300 grain factory ammo (around 1800 fps) but it's a heavier rifle. My 77/44 is 5.25 lbs, so it's like a .22 shooting .44 Magnums. My Marlin .41 Mag weighs almost two lbs more than the 77/44 and is a pussycat in comparison.

Of course I don't have to shoot the heavies. I have some .44 bullets as light as 120 grains. One of my favorites is a 135 grain bullet from an ancient Ideal mould with enough Titegroup to go just under 1000 fps. It's like shooting a .22, but makes a bigger hole.

And that is the neat thing about .44 Mag rifles: The range of bullets and loads they will shoot. I've shot everything from round balls to those heavy SSKs in mine. You can load a wide range in a lot of guns, but the .44 allows an awful big spread.

I wonder what diameter his cast bullets are? The Marlins I've had tend to like cast bullets on the big side. But they were Micro-Groove, and the Cowboy is not, so I wonder what it's bore dimensions are. My Ruger likes big bullets too (.431-.432).

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