The 444 Marlin is a 200 yard rifle. bullets weighing 250 gr. As a participant in the Amazon Associates program and other affiliate services, I may earn a small amount of money if you buy something after clicking on a link. Both are suitable for nearly any big-game animal, save the African dangerous heavyweights, and both have fervent, passionate followers. Bullet drop is an important factor for all calibers, but it can make a big difference for heavy, big bore bullets that are only meant to shoot in shorter ranges. Formally known as the .45-70-405relating caliber-powder charge-bullet weight specificationsthe cartridge was commercially known as the .45-70 Government, and that 405-grain lead bullet travelled at a muzzle velocity of just about 1400 fps, though a heavier 500-grain bullet was soon employed. At 150 yards the 444 drops 2.4 inches, whereas the Bushmaster drops about 2.9 inches. 450 Bushmaster 044176 Cartridge. While it does not have the power of the .450 Marlin, the .444 Marlin is very similar ballistically to the .45-70, . The original loading used a 250-grain bullet with a muzzle velocity of 2200 fps from a 20-inch barrel. But in my opinion, the sheer flexibility of the .45-70 Government in both rifles and ammunition gives it a definitive advantage. Many of the loads out there are designed to be safe in the trapdoor Springfields that are still around. Save my name and email to use for future comments. However, some shooters like the extra margin of safety, and its there if desired. He was intrigued by the idea of the .450 Bushmaster cartridge but prefers hunting with a lever-action versus a bolt action rifle. Terms of Service - It goes so far as, previously mentioned, manufacturers offering the same model rifle in both .450 Bushmaster and .350 Legend. Ultimately, the biggest factor in choosing between these two cartridges will be what type of rifle you wish to use. Well, I gotta respectfully disagree with that statement. The .450 Bushmaster is a rifle cartridge developed by Tim LeGendre of LeMag Firearms, and licensed to Bushmaster Firearms International. I have an H&R 444 with the 16tw barrel - loaded some 240gr. or 260 gr. When it comes to .450 Bushmaster vs .350 Legend, is there a clear winner? The Winchester 150-grain Deer Season XP generates 8.52 foot-pounds of recoil in a 7-pound rifle. One would think that would have to play in to your decision making. These are lightweight rifles that are easy to handle and very fast to get a shot off, which can make them ideal for treks across the backcountry. of energy. It had a plain but serviceable checkered walnut stock with trestle-style buttpad made of black rubberized iron. Why dont manufacturers get the word here? We are the largest provider of all brands of Rifle Ammo because we offer great service and wholesale prices. Who needs more than 1 shot? In the .450 Bushmasters corner is Hornadys 250-grain FTX load, which has a listed muzzle velocity of 2,200 fps, is topped with a flex-tip bullet and has a ballistic coefficient (BC) of .210. You have entered an incorrect email address! Cooper was not only an icon of modern tactical applications; he was an serious hunter as well. In the end thats what counts. Get the latest news and reviews from Gundigest.com. To totally avoid any problems with hot-loaded .45-70 ammunition, Wild West Guns announced a new cartridge, the .457 Magnum. The walnut was very decent wood, nicer than that on the .450. Even better, if you need a hot 45-caliber lever rifle you probably dont need that Trapdoor Springfield, so sell it. The resulting round boasts performance on par with the .45-70 Gov't but in a more compact configuration. We cant see the sense of a scope on a short, relatively light rifle, unless its done Scout-style like the Co-Pilot. Now I wont dissuade anyone from getting involved with reloading ammunition. X-Vision Optics long-range ImpactThermal Scope (TS300) boasts a 640 x 480 thermal sensor that can detect big game well past 3,000 yards. Bullet Diameter: .452 inches (All .450 Bushmaster) Shell Case Length: 1.7 inches (All .450 Bushmaster) Bullet Size: 250 grains (Bullets range from 245 to 300 grains) Muzzle Velocity: 2,200 feet per second. By the way, if you are using ar-15, the scope for ar-15 is the good one you should had. It in no way increases the amount you pay and helps us stay in business. I dont think anybody can say anything against the quality of marlin lever actions. It is on the wane and has long ago been supplanted by the resurgent 45-70. The Straight-Wall Deer Hunting Cartridge With the Most Potential: .444 Marlin, The Best Straight-Wall Deer Hunting Ammo for AR-15 Style Rifles: .450 Bushmaster, The Best Straight-Wall Deer Hunting Ammo For Long Shots: .45-70 Government. The checkering was fully functional, well done, and attractive. Winchester has also chambered their XPR line of bolt-action rifles for the cartridge, and other major gun manufacturers are producing rifles for it as well. Disclaimer: Sportsman's Warehouse assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions of the information on this page. Out of the muzzle, the .450 Marlin is flying 175 ft/s faster than the .45-70 Government. This one didnt work. The .45-70 is far more versatile, and ammo is made by many companies. This cartridge is useless, and it may have caused a host of ejection problems in our test gun. A heavier bullet will generally travel more slowly than a lighter bullet. It costs less than the Marlins and delivered excellent quality and adequate accuracy for a big-game rifle. Its a great round in a Marlin lever action. Both rifles had this exact same setup. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Advertising - The .458 American was Frank Barness idea, developed decades ago. .451 Caliber projectiles Heres how to avoid the poseurs and choose the right one. Wild West was also the originator of the short, handy, powerful lever-rifle concept. At 100 yards bullet velocity slows to 1,835 and retains 1,868 pounds of energy. The current Hornady .450 Bushmaster load uses a 250-gr. The .450 Bushmaster has a SAAMI Mean Average Pressure (MAP) of 38,500 psi. So youll have to buy your ammunition from the one-and-only maker, Hornady. A straight-wall, .452-caliber cartridge with a rebated rim, it's capable of pushing a 250-grain bullet to 2,200 fps. Best grouping was with Buffalo Bores 300-grain load, just over 3 inches at 50 yards. Though the .45-70 Government cartridge has been in production since 1873, there was a time when a new rifle chambered in that cartridge just wasnt offered. A 44 mag has 11 ftlbs. Its big and powerful enough, and with good bullets, it may produce the best external ballistics of the bunch. 2.215 Case length, .451 Caliber projectiles The checkering was fully functional. It might be a little too much for whitetails - it would be perfect on elk and moose. Ours didnt. BALLISTICS: Some straight-wall loads produce muzzle velocities of 2,200 to 2,400 fps, a . 30/06 good for all the above out to about 275 yards, for comparison. The pores were well filled, though the finish material seemed a bit softer than that of the Marlins. I have worked pretty extensively with this cartridge on the range with three different rifles, and I have talked with a bunch of other gun guys who have been shooting the 350 Legend. Throw a moose in then I would lean to the .450 but realize that these lightweight .450 carbines kick like a .375 H&H. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Gun Tests has been independently reviewing firearms since 1989. Then the Marlin 1895 lever-action rifle came along in 1972 and changed everything. Join F&S+ to read exclusive stories by your favorite writers. But, the numbers say it should be a great little deer cartridge if you dont get stupid with the distances. (450 Bushmaster) 397119 45 Cal .458" 325 gr. .429 Caliber projectiles The $404 Side Eject Winchester felt like a toy compared to the relatively bulky Marlins. The ammunition is madeso faronly by Hornady. 450 Bushmaster was the first big round to come out for bolt action and AR-style rifles, It opened up possibilities for hunters where shotguns and straight-walled cartridge. You may have a perfect group going on your target only to find the next shot is off in another time zone. Cookie Policy - The ported barrels of these rifles worked wonders to keep the muzzle down, but the rearward kick was still significant. If you want a powerful lever-action .45-caliber rifle, you probably know what youre doing. 1.690 case length, .458 Caliber projectiles These drawings will be incorporated during the next revision of the relevant SAAMI Standard. In days past these included the .348, various wildcats on that theme like the .450 Alaskan, the .45-70, and numerous blackpowder-era cartridges modernized with smokeless powder. flex tip Hornady's it shot 1'' at 75 yards - sighted in at that range since it's 65 yards to the hog feeder . A hard rubber buttpad doesnt help the shooter, it hinders him from getting the most out of the rifle. The models chambered for the .35 Whelen, .444 Marlin, .45-70, and .450 Bushmaster come with a muzzle brake to help dampen recoil. Born in 1873, .45-70 Govt. Its a great gun. This means that it is still a niche cartridge offered by just a few manufacturers, and you might struggle to find it on the shelves of your local ammunition store. Published Jun 15, 2021 9:00 AM EDT, We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Sounds impressive. Ballistics are similar to hot 45-70 loads--which are often downloaded by major manufacturers because they need to be able to not blow up the older weaker guns. It is on the wane and has long ago been supplanted by the resurgent 45-70. Rubber meet road, because if there is anyone point in .450 Bushmaster vs .350 Legend battle where one wins out, its here. (45-70 Govt) Mag. With the good loads out there for the .45-70, and with Wild Wests .457 Magnum available, we see no need for the .450 Marlin. Big bore cartridges in particular can make lever action rifles a great choice for a bear defense gun. Much of this is attributable to the Legend and Bushmaster competing for the same hunters. The big difference is that .308 Winchester keeps at least 1,000 ft.lbf out to about 600 yards, 450 Bushmaster loses it by 300 yards. The .444 Marlin is essentially a deer rifle that can be used on black bear. The fluid motion of the action and those huge, rimmed, brass cases make for some formidable medicine for the largest bears, bison and cervids. I'd also guess that, given similar shoulder fit, you couldn't tell the difference in recoil. Its been the hot ticket in town over the past few years, and new rifle and deer hunting ammo introductions are happening pretty fast. Its the most powerful factory lever gun ever produced. But this problem never happened again. I have two .444's and a .450. Like the .44-40 WCF and .45 Colt, the .45-70 Government has been with us since 1873, and shows no sign of fading anytime soon; its roots in the American shooting industry run deep, and Id bet the affection for the design will extend another century. The .450 Bushmaster thumper round launches .452-cal. We have no doubt that with a scope both of the Marlin rifles would average well under 2 inches at 100 yards, based on our iron-sight results. Like the Marlins, the Winchester had a cross-bolt safety but the owner had locked it out so the rifle would fire every time the hammer fell. So when it comes to the .350 Legend vs .450 Bushmaster, is there any discernable advantage of hunting one or the other? In our tests, the gun was not as smooth as the .444, had less power than you can get out of a good .45-70 load, offered not a lot more power than you can get out of good .444 Marlin loads, and in short didnt offer us anything at all that we wanted. The cartridges we tested include the 460 S&W Magnum, 444 Marlin, 450 Bushmaster, and 45-70 Government. Like the .450, the .444 Marlin rifle was very well made. CVA Inc Scout V2 .444 Marlin Single Shot Rifle with Stainless Barrel and Dead-On Mount $349.99; Brand: CVA Inc; Item Number: CR4913S-NB; Thompson Center Encore Pro Hunter 500SW Mag Katahdin Carbine Why, you ask, would a company do this? Follow along to see exactly how. One recurring problem, however, was the guns poor ejection. Based on that flaw, wed have to say Dont Buy it. Because of its recoil, a .28 Nosler should generally only be shot out of heavier rifles, coupled with a brake or suppressor. If you also shoot a Trapdoor Springfield or any other kind of weak-actioned rifle that takes the .45-70, it makes sense that you should not mix up your ammunition. The .450 Marlin is a relatively new cartridge designed as a challenge to the classic .45-70 Government, but did not offer enough of an improvement for most hunters to justify making the switch. Heres a look at 10 of the most flexible long-range hunting cartridges. Each cartridge has its own benefit and ultimately is your choice. GunnersDen.com ~ CVA Inc Scout TD .450 Bushmaster Single Shot Rifle w/ Stainless Barrel $429.99; Notify Me When Available; Brand: CVA Inc; Item Number: CR4830S Then Hornady brought out two loads for the cartridge and things changed. By logging into your account, you agree to our. Looking at this product line, youll be inclined to give the nod to the .444 Marlin, especially coupled with the Hornady Superformance load of the 265-grain InterLock at 2400 fps. Marlin 1895M .450 Marlin, $560. Utilizing a lighter bullet with a smaller powder charge, it can generally be said it produces less recoil. It is on the wane and has long ago been supplanted by the resurgent 45-70. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. You can find more information on our site under the Velocity/Info tab labeled Velocity Testing. This straddled the bolt, but was much too far forward for proper use by our test personnel. The two most popular flavors are the .45-70 and .450 Marlin cartridges, both of . Bushmaster also requested a name change to .450 Bushmaster, to which LeGendre agreed. Based on the function of the gun we had, we would have to say Dont Buy the 444P. Powder Valley is your Ammunition Superstore . Copyright 2023Sportsman's Warehouse. Non-1911 .45 ACPs: Heresy, Or Are They Here To Stay? Perhaps the most notable in recent years has been the .350 Legend. The Bushmaster is based on a sawed-off .284 Winchester case. For all the .450 Bushmasters assets, economic shooting isnt one of them. Velocity from the 450 will be slightly lower due to the heavier weight bullets thus more of a rainbow trajectory but will give better stopping power on BIG game and more . The case length for both rifle cartridges is virtually identical, with the 45-70 measuring 2.10" compared to 2.105" for the 450 Marlin. This BB ammunition defines todays standard for the .45-70 for those rifles that can handle the pressure. Perhaps with a longer barrel the ammunition might achieve its claimed 2,100 fps. Pick the. Remington had a 265-grain load for a while but dropped it, leaving only the 240-grain factory load. Few rifle calibers carry as much tradition as the .444 Marlin, which originally hit the scene as a way to give lever-action rifles more of a punch around the ammunition manufacturers stopped commercially producing .45-70-caliber rifles in the 1960s. These two rifles were both light and, with outstanding Buffalo Bore ammunition, provided as modern and powerful ballistics as anyone could want. Commercial cartridges are available for both rounds. The big difference here is the bullet diameter. The 450/460 have proven to be , accuracy wise, about equal with boolits. Tim LeGendre of LeMag Firearms LLC developed the .45 Professional cartridge based on that criteria and licensed it to Bushmaster Firearms International for production and distribution. Precision Reloading: Making The Best Case Possible, Best 7mm Rem. The rimmed .457 case is longer than the .45-70 but otherwise similar, its extra length keeping it out of chambers where it doesnt belong. We didnt make an effort to eject slowly or quickly, just operated the lever in a normal manner. It produces 28.27 ft-lbs of recoil energy at a velocity of 14.72 fps. Our test .444 Marlin 444P was essentially a .444 Guide Gun, having the same ideas behind it as Marlins best-selling .45-70 version. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -. The long belt certainly does not add strength, no matter what you might have read elsewhere. The Winchester had a 20-inch barrel. 444 vs 450. Newly Accepted Cartridge and Chamber Designs. The 450 would do better, but, is it needed on deer? The 265 Hornady flat point bullet is THE bullet for the .444, The Hornady SuperPerformance ammo is very accurate in my .444 and the bullet performs great. The .444 Marlin was available in a svelte Marlin lever-action riflethe Model 444 and proved to be a thumper on big game from whitetails to moose and bear, though like the .45-70, the range was limited by the low velocity and bullet profiles. The .450 Marlins belt is longer than that found on most belted magnum cases, which means you cant make .450 Marlin cases out of normal belted magnum cases. Mag..300 RSAUM vs. .300 WSM .500 Jeffrey vs. .505 Gibbs7mm RUM vs. .300 RUM.308 Winchester vs. 7mm-08 Remington6.5 Creedmoor vs. .260 Remington.303 British vs. 8x57 Mauser.30-06 Springfield vs. All Other .30s.17 HMR vs. .17 WSM.450 Nitro Express vs. .470 Nitro Express350 Legend vs. .35 Remington.280 Ackley Improved vs. 7mm Rem. I've shot a couple whitetails now shooting through 1" saplings and when the bullet hits the deer it just destroys them. Eliminate trailing, disputes over the game, keep the deer on your side of the fence. The .444 Marlin has a smaller frontal diameter, and bullets of equal weight will possess a higher Sectional Density than those .458-inch diameter bullets, and should offer better penetration. While the 450 Marlin is definetly a more powerful cartridge the 444 certainly aint no slouch. Ohio and southern Michigan are just two examples of areas where the shotgun slug has been replaced by straight-walled cartridges like the .45-70 Government, .444 Marlin and, more recently, the .450 Bushmaster. On my chronograph. The U.S. Army adopted the new cartridge, which replaced the .50-70 cartridge it employed in 1866. Comparatively, a 250 grain projectile chambered in .450 Bushmaster has a muzzle velocity of 2,200 feet per second with a muzzle energy of 2,686 feet pounds. His Thumper concept was a semi-auto rifle larger than .44-caliber, capable of taking big game out to 250 yards. It cant. The 450 Bushmaster is taking off and new ammo offerings keep popping up. View Details at Brownells. For the .350 Legend, the ammo of choice is Winchester 's 150-grain Deer Season XP, with a listed muzzle velocity of 2,325 fps and a BC of .223. I have tested them and the results are not good. Links to technical data and drawings for the newly SAAMI accepted Cartridge and Chamber designs not yet included in SAAMI Standards are listed below. As it is, we feel this odd belted design will only speed the demise of this rifle/cartridge combination, because it doesnt make the least bit of sense to us. I have not shot any of the "leverultion ammo" in any of mine, so have no comment there. That gives it an overall length of about 2.25 inches, so the length is close to the 450. 1s, new Winchester 1886s, and the like. 1, the .45-70 can be loaded to impressive performance. New Shooters Guide: What Is a Pistol Caliber Carbine? Specifically, the 45-70 cartridge has an overall length of 2.55 and a 2.105 long case. Heres a detailed look at each step of the process. One of my favorites, and a big favorite for many Alaskans, is the Marlin 1895 lever gun.
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