M14 Forum

Night Stalker · August 5th, 2009, 09:55 PM

I came acrossed this calliber on the marlin lever action site, does anyone have any knowlege about this cartridge?

jasonj · August 6th, 2009, 06:20 AM

It is pretty much a factory loading of what the 45/70 is capable of in handloads. My marlin is in 45/70, I hand load and have a nice load that is right in the middle of the range for the 45/70 loads.

If you reload the 45/70 is the way to go, brass is cheaper, greater range of factory ammo, and you can find it most any where.

jasonj

Night Stalker · August 6th, 2009, 06:53 AM

So its a hotter 45/70?

Bravo 26 · August 6th, 2009, 08:22 AM

it can be. I have this one:

18.5bbl marlin guide gun with a nice set of Williams sights. took a 170lb boar with it last year, lots of smaller ones, and dozens of coyotes. Coyotes are big problem here in North GA and last year were actually attacking small children, etc.

this rifle puts a stop to that nonsense!

I use Hornady factory 350gr FP for serious hunting, and reload some 400gr LRN with 44gr of #7 powder in the factory hornady cases.

recoil on the 400gr is not as bad as the factory hornady loads..after 10 rounds you are ready to stop shooting this puppy.

you can load up 45-70 lots hotter if you want, but the 450 is a happy medium imo...plenty of power, lower cost, plenty accurate out to 100yds and it all fits in one handy little guide gun sized package. I love it!

Night Stalker · August 6th, 2009, 09:01 AM

ya thats pretty sweet and what Im looking for, just havent decided on the caliber

Bravo 26 · August 6th, 2009, 05:51 PM

I wanted the guide gun mostly, caliber was secondary. I couldn't find one in 45-70, and didn't even know the 450 marlin cartridge existed until the clerk brought the rifle out and showed me a box of ammo.

i had a choice between .444, and .450marlin...got this one used for 400$ out the door, and they sold me a case of 200rnds of hornady factory 350gr for 200 as well...paid with cash, so a few minutes later i was out the door with rifle and ammo in hand.

ultra reliable, accurate, strong as an ox, and with enough power to stop literally anything on earth with 1 shot...I am a fan.

Night Stalker · August 6th, 2009, 08:33 PM

it sure sounds like what I want. How hard is it to find ammo and reload componets?

Bravo 26 · August 7th, 2009, 02:50 PM

Not hard

I ordered the projectiles from Midway, the primers i got from a local guy here on the IPSC circuit. Brass I actually got from gunbroker.com and even ebay ( back in the day)

my wife got me another case of 350gr hornady factory ammo for last Christmas ( she is awesome) so i have an ample supply to last me a while. I maybe got thru 50 rounds per year so i will be able to last for a while :)

Night Stalker · August 7th, 2009, 03:14 PM

but it kicks bad enough to stop after 10 rnds huh. my 7mm mag i was hurting after 5 shots so its about half that in punishment

redlegagent · August 13th, 2009, 08:01 AM

It offers larger bullets than the .444 marlin with some added power. As was said, it's an expanded 45-70. It comes with a price, heavy recoil and cost of ammo. You'll want to reload this one. Keep in mind, it hasn't really "taken off" popularity wise. The .444 has been around since the 1960's (I have one) and the 45-70 has been around forever and still out sells both the .444 and .450 marlin. Not to say it won't survive, just to point out it's relatively new on the block. I like my .444 and with LeverEvolution ammo, it's dead on at 100yds accuracy wise. Just with the .444, 300gr or so is upper end of ammo where as .450 and 45-70 can go to 400gr+ ammo.

Nazgul · August 13th, 2009, 07:47 PM

I have a 450 Marlin on my Encore. The barrel is ported, 15" long, with a 2X scope. It shoots well, I use cast 405 gr slugs. The recoil is tolerable until they are pushed past 1500 fps.

Don

Night Stalker · August 20th, 2009, 10:48 AM

Sounds like a heck of a round

Surveillancemike · August 20th, 2009, 07:50 PM

Ok well, i didnt want to start a new thread, so i will start here: i have read all teh post, and have been looking for a good "brush" round that i can take down a large animal at a reasonable distance, 100 to 200 yrds. I had a 45-70 and like it, but it was a Sharpe's type gun, so not a good hunter. I want something w/ more power, and better ballistics, so i was looking at teh 444 and noticed it had better ballistic in a book, but didnt have heavy bullet loads in terms of grainage. The 450 has about teh same interms of power, but has heavier bullets. Now i am wondering how the two kick?

Its not really that big of a deal considering that i have shot bigger guns, but NO ONE likes to shoot a gun that makes hamburger out of their shoulder. The book i was reading gave a scale of 1-10 on the kicks that the rounds produce. the 444 is 2.54, the 45-70 is 2.43 and the 450 Marlin is 3.27. To give you something to reflect this off of, a 30-06 kick level is 2.19, and a 300 Win Mag kick 2.39. So will it destroy my arm, the 450 marlin?

brianinca · August 24th, 2009, 10:23 PM

surveillancemike, not sure I understood your post completely, but the 450 Marlin in the Guide Gun isn't any problem at all to shoot. My Dad got one for his birthday awhile back, it was the gun he'd have liked to have in '70 on the North Slope when he was flying helicopters there. I worked up hunting loads for it twice, once with 350 gr Hornady bullets and last summer with Barnes - you can't shoot California Condors with lead bullets any longer, they have to be non-lead only.

Point being, I was running test loads through 270 WSM, 300 WM, 450 Marlin, 3006, 308, 762x39 and 30-30. For the me, the WORST were the early 1900's 30-30's with curved metal buttstocks, very unpleasant.

In comparison, the Marlin 1895 Guide Gun (no magna porting on the later guns, thank goodness) is a piece of cake. You'll feel it on the bench after a box or two, but shooting offhand is no problem.

You can get some SERIOUS power out of the 450 Marlin, the case is thicker than the 45-70 so it has less powder capacity (but much higher pressures), and even with a short barrel a slower powder like Varget gets some serious velocity in the 350 and 405 gr bullets. I wound up going with IMR4198 but H322 was another good choice for the lighter Barnes.

I've got friends with 375 H&H and 416 Rigby "toys", and the 450 is cake compared to a 375 H&H in a Ruger No 1. I wouldn't worry at all about excessive recoil. I found the Marlin to be SURPRISINGLY accurate with the factory iron sights at 100 yards, as well.

Regards,
Brian in CA

Surveillancemike · August 25th, 2009, 06:42 AM

thanks for the reply, ya i have been looking for a good brush gun, and i have made the choice! Thanks for the info, i am going w/ the 450 marlin!