back in the very early 1970s Id only been on a few trips out west to hunt ELK and my tales of the trips Id made inspired my friend at work, "MIKE" to decide he would like to go along on the next ELK hunt out west, now at the time MIKE only owned a 30/30 94 Winchester carbine, and he decided he needed a new "ELK RIFLE" Id told him that he probably should have at least one hunt completed before investing in a rifle he might never use again, and that he could borrow my 30/06 Springfield for his first hunt but , MIKE likes lever actions, so he went down to our local gun shop and started looking around, he found a old Winchester 1895 in 405 Winchester caliber but the bore looked rather old and dark as if the previous owner was not on speaking terms with a cleaning kit, and a few calls found that getting decent ammo would be a huge problem.
the gunsmith suggested the rather new 444 marlin, that looked like exactly what mike wanted so he ordered one, and bought a 4x leopold scope for the rifle.
now MIKE knew I reload so he ordered DIES, cases and bullets and two powders RL7 and IMR4198 which the reload books suggested, both produced good groups but the IMR4198 produced a bit smaller groups , surprising small at about 1.25" for 3 shots off the bench at 100 yards.
we sighted his rifle to hit 3" high at 100 yards
we later found the HORNADY 265 grain bullets could produce even tighter groups occasionally
he sighted in his rifle and we purchased the ELK and DEER licenses that year over the counter, when we reached DENVER that year, the first year MIKE only got a chance to shoot a good 4 point mule deer, but at almost 170 yards the 444 marlin did its job very effectively, dropping the deer within only a few steps from where it was hit.
later that year he dropped a nice 6 point buck here in Florida and gained a good deal of respect for his rifle after seeing how effective it was on both deer.
the next year he did get his first ELK and again the 444 did a good job , but this time the range was more like 80 yards and the ELK folded after stumbling around a few seconds.
now lots of folks think you can,t effectively hunt elk without a 7mm-300 mag super blaster, but the fact is that if you know the area you hunt well , and you realize most ELK drop down into the thicker timber as soon as the shooting starts,you seldom need more than about 250 yards in range capability an ELK rifle
Mikes continued to use the marlin most years, and we keep up a friendly banter about my 375 H&H and 340 WBY, which he is convinced are un-necessarily heavy and kick far to hard,vs his trim lever action, and as Ive gotten older Ive used my lever and slide actions more frequently and his 444 marlin is without question still a decent choice for hunting the dark timber.
MIKE recently purchased a 450 marlin caliber BLR after trying mine at the range, but he still says he likes the feel and way the 444 handles, but the 450 marlin caliber has a slight advantage in bullet weight, for any given velocity.
now Id be lying II I told you mikes not been told a hundred times or more that hes limiting his chances using a mid range lever action, and I know mikes thought about that, but hes made the trip out west to hunt ELK easily 10 times now and although hes had about half the years hes gone home without filling his tag, he will be the first guy to tell you its never been because hes been out of range or the rifles not been up to the task at hand, the fact is that we hunt some rather steep and wooded country and shots tend to be under 200 yards so hes been at no great disadvantage, using the 444 marlin or his new 450 marlin caliber BLR.
but despite how the shooting magazines make it seem, getting even a good look at a shoot-able ELK on public land is not always easy, so some years hes settled for a mule deer or not filled his tags, but its never been the equipments fault.
don,t get hung up on velocity just get the most accurate load
http://www.marlinfirearms.com/Firearms/bigbore/444.asp
http://www.leverguns.com/articles/ander ... fitter.htm
http://www.leverguns.com/articles/paco/444.htm
http://www.loaddata.com/members/search_ ... ing%20Data
http://www.browning.com/products/catalo ... 1-firearms
the gunsmith suggested the rather new 444 marlin, that looked like exactly what mike wanted so he ordered one, and bought a 4x leopold scope for the rifle.
now MIKE knew I reload so he ordered DIES, cases and bullets and two powders RL7 and IMR4198 which the reload books suggested, both produced good groups but the IMR4198 produced a bit smaller groups , surprising small at about 1.25" for 3 shots off the bench at 100 yards.
we sighted his rifle to hit 3" high at 100 yards
we later found the HORNADY 265 grain bullets could produce even tighter groups occasionally
he sighted in his rifle and we purchased the ELK and DEER licenses that year over the counter, when we reached DENVER that year, the first year MIKE only got a chance to shoot a good 4 point mule deer, but at almost 170 yards the 444 marlin did its job very effectively, dropping the deer within only a few steps from where it was hit.
later that year he dropped a nice 6 point buck here in Florida and gained a good deal of respect for his rifle after seeing how effective it was on both deer.
the next year he did get his first ELK and again the 444 did a good job , but this time the range was more like 80 yards and the ELK folded after stumbling around a few seconds.
now lots of folks think you can,t effectively hunt elk without a 7mm-300 mag super blaster, but the fact is that if you know the area you hunt well , and you realize most ELK drop down into the thicker timber as soon as the shooting starts,you seldom need more than about 250 yards in range capability an ELK rifle
Mikes continued to use the marlin most years, and we keep up a friendly banter about my 375 H&H and 340 WBY, which he is convinced are un-necessarily heavy and kick far to hard,vs his trim lever action, and as Ive gotten older Ive used my lever and slide actions more frequently and his 444 marlin is without question still a decent choice for hunting the dark timber.
MIKE recently purchased a 450 marlin caliber BLR after trying mine at the range, but he still says he likes the feel and way the 444 handles, but the 450 marlin caliber has a slight advantage in bullet weight, for any given velocity.
now Id be lying II I told you mikes not been told a hundred times or more that hes limiting his chances using a mid range lever action, and I know mikes thought about that, but hes made the trip out west to hunt ELK easily 10 times now and although hes had about half the years hes gone home without filling his tag, he will be the first guy to tell you its never been because hes been out of range or the rifles not been up to the task at hand, the fact is that we hunt some rather steep and wooded country and shots tend to be under 200 yards so hes been at no great disadvantage, using the 444 marlin or his new 450 marlin caliber BLR.
but despite how the shooting magazines make it seem, getting even a good look at a shoot-able ELK on public land is not always easy, so some years hes settled for a mule deer or not filled his tags, but its never been the equipments fault.
don,t get hung up on velocity just get the most accurate load
http://www.marlinfirearms.com/Firearms/bigbore/444.asp
http://www.leverguns.com/articles/ander ... fitter.htm
http://www.leverguns.com/articles/paco/444.htm
http://www.loaddata.com/members/search_ ... ing%20Data
http://www.browning.com/products/catalo ... 1-firearms