winchester 94 AE 444. Help

[9point]

Can anyone tell me about this 444. I just picked one up with a Burris Fullfield 3x9 on it. for 400.00. I know nothing of this cal. Will it be a good brush gun for deer.

[AJ]

The .444 Marlin is a thumper of a round. It is a lengthened version of the .44 Rem Mag. It is similar to the .45-70 in performance. It launches a 240 gr bullet 2234 fps giving it 2660 lb/ft of energy. For comparrison, the 30-06 with 180 gr bullets has just under 2700 lb/ft of muzzle energy. The short blunt bullets in the .444 do loose their speed much quicker than the .30 caliber ones though. Ayhoo, its a very good 200 yard gun for deer sized game.

As far as a brush gun, the only thing that makes the gun a "brush gun" is its short overall length. The cartridge has nothing to do with its performance in "brush". All bullets are deflected by brush.

[Colorado Bob]

Welcome to the "Big-Bore" club. The 444 is an excellant deer/black bear round. Some even use it on elk. Check out www.marlinowners.com lots of big bore fans there.

Sounds like you got a pretty good buy on the gun & scope.

I've got a 444 Marlin & plan on using it for PA whitetails this Thanksgiving. I'm shooting factory ammo from Georgia Arms. A 300 grain bullet @2000 fps. My gun can shoot 3/4" groups with it @ 100yards. CB

[ronin]

I shoot a 45/70 Marlin lever gun for just about everything. I place the .444 in the same catagory as it is very similar in regards to terminal ballistics and wound channel. I love these guns because they are so diverse in loading possibilities. Just check out any reloading book and you'll see. Great pig and deer gun. You'll love it but beware the recoil.

Jeff