If we worked it briskly, we got slightly better results, but thats not how a rifle is supposed to work. Those unaccustomed to hard-kicking rifles will find either the .444 or the .450 a bit much on the shoulder until they get used to it. The plus side of this cartridge is that recoil is pretty mild, so its a good choice for shooters who need to take recoil into consideration. Shop for ammo available in all calibers for sale online from Guns.com. The Hornady Flextip bullet has a BC of .225 and a muzzle velocity of 2325 fps. Like firearms themselves, there's a wide variety of opinions on what's the best gun. All Marlins. Join F&S+ to read exclusive stories by your favorite writers. This cartridge is useless, and it may have caused a host of ejection problems in our test gun. And, outside a flash hider on an AR, dont usually come with a muzzle device standard. The .450 Marlin was designed as a competitor to the .45-70 Government, so its ballistics are highly similar. Big Bore Cartridges Compared! 444 MARLIN 45-70 GOVERNMENT 450 BUSHMASTER 475 LINEBAUGH 500 S&W Magnum 6.5 CREEDMOOR [+] Show more. Marlin .450 Model 1895M Our recommendation: Dont Buy the $560 Marlin .450 Model 1895M. At introduction, it received a lot of fanfare but soon faded into, well, near oblivion. While the .450 Marlin sought to improve it with modern ammunition techniques while eliminating the chance that shooters would load high-pressure modern ammunition into vintage rifles and cause catastrophe, the .450 Bushmaster sought to translate the short-distance big game cartridge onto the semi-automatic platform. If youre looking to shoot much outside of 200 yards, youre looking at the wrong calibers. If you are looking for a caliber that can do on the AR what the .450 Marlin does on the lever action, then the .450 Bushmaster is the answer to this hope, though it loses a bit of ballistics in making the switch. Thats alright. Of course, if you are planning to shoot in very close ranges (within 100 yards), trajectory may be less of a concern that stopping power. The Winchester 150-grain Deer Season XP generates 8.52 foot-pounds of recoil in a 7-pound rifle. Its been the hot ticket in town over the past few years, and new rifle and deer hunting ammo introductions are happening pretty fast. Then it had a distinct hitch to a solid stop, then a hard pull of 5 pounds followed by lots of overtravelnot the sort of action we look for in rifle triggers. RENE reports 6 different versions of the American Rifle in 450 Bushmaster and now the GSR makes 7. This website contains many older reviews. Heres how to avoid the poseurs and choose the right one. The .45-70 was developed for the army to be used in the trapdoor Springfield rifle. BALLISTICS: Some straight-wall loads produce muzzle velocities of 2,200 to 2,400 fps, a . By and large, .450 Bushmaster rifles are outfitted with medium to heavy contour barrels, a function of its large bore. 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. The Marlins rear sight was a spring-loaded buckhorn with U-notch. That BC may not inspire glee with long range rifle shooters, but in the world of straight-walled rifle cartridges, its pretty impressive. With a 2.260-inch Maximum Overall Cartridge Length, it fits well in the AR-15 platform. Contributor Brad Fenson takes to the grill, to cook up some delicious venison burgers. First, the 45-70 Government is physically larger than the 450 Bushmaster. Copyright 2000-2023 24hourcampfire.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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. Bottles & 12-oz. The finish was about average, we felt, for a modern rifle in this price category. The round didnt go off. Get Special Offers Delivered Right to Your Inbox. Therefore, some might be stuck with the full Bushmaster tab. 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. Marlins introduction of the Guide Gun didnt acknowledge Wild West Guns, so perhaps the reason for Marlins new cartridge stems from a desire to avoid copying Wild West yet again. We tried a different brand of ammunition and the rifle worked fine for awhile. We also got a Winchester Model 94AE chambered for the .444 Marlin. Toward that end, we obtained a pair of nearly identical Marlins chambered for the .444 Marlin, the Model 444P, and .450 Marlin, the Model 1895M. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. All provide an increase in accuracythough there are some wonderfully accurate slug guns out therebut the trajectory of those . Then, later in our testing, we again encountered this failure to feed, and not just from the last round in the magazine. And truly, it is a pleasurable cartridge, very much akin to the .30-30, which by almost anyones standard is extremely manageable. Like the .450, the .444 Marlin rifle was very well made. All rights reserved. Bushmaster also requested a name change to .450 Bushmaster, to which LeGendre agreed. At the muzzle they are basically the same, .308 Win has around 2700 ft.lbf and 450 Bushmaster has just a few pounds under that. I'd also guess that, given similar shoulder fit, you couldn't tell the difference in recoil. 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. I have not shot any of the "leverultion ammo" in any of mine, so have no comment there. Mag..243 Winchester vs. 6mm Remington7x57mm Mauser vs. 7mm-08 Remington.25-06 Remington vs. .257 Weatherby Magnum.338 Winchester vs. .375 H&H Magnum.30-30 Winchester vs. .35 Remington.257 Roberts vs. .250-3000 Savage.270 Winchester vs. .280 Remington.35 Whelen vs. 9.3x62mm Mauser.416 Rigby vs. .416 Remington Magnum.308 Winchester vs. .30-06 Springfield.22 Nosler vs. .224 Valkyrie.300 Win. His Thumper concept was a semi-auto rifle larger than .44-caliber, capable of taking big game out to 250 yards. But if you find a sample that doesnt exhibit the problem and you have zillions of .44 pistol bullets you want to shoot in it, then wed give it a Conditional Buy. Lets look at the similarities, differences and applications of each. Summary: Factory ammo is not a great choice for rifle length barrels, hand loading gives better performance. Shotgun slugs require a series of small miracles to happen for them to perform well. It is just basically a souped-up 45-70 with stronger brass and a belt to make sure it is not confused with a 45-70. The .45-70 Government is definitely the older of the two, having been released in 1873 in the famous Trapdoor Springfield. Bryce M. Towsley Also, the steel-to-steel fit wasnt quite as good as Marlins, nor was the metal polishing. 450 a bit better with jacketed, 1" vs 1.5". It cant. Wild West was also the originator of the short, handy, powerful lever-rifle concept. Newly Accepted Cartridge and Chamber Designs. We eventually decided there was something seriously wrong with this rifle, and though we liked its feel, looks, and accuracy, we wouldnt buy this one. The .450 Bushmaster was developed for big game hunting with modern rifles. 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 rimmed .457 case is longer than the .45-70 but otherwise similar, its extra length keeping it out of chambers where it doesnt belong. He is a gun owner and avid reloader from Colorado. During the spring conservation order, you can hunt with outfitters from Arkansas to Saskatchewan. A small point perhaps, but the action bottom at the balance point was squared on the Winchester, but nicely rounded on the Marlins, and that made the Marlin easier to carry. A good aperture sight would be lighter, just as fast, and nearly as effective in most conditions as a scope, assuming the shooter has reasonably good eyesight. Accuracy can be elusive, and you may need to try a few different types of ammo until you find one that works best in your rifle. Will drop a 300+lb. The muzzle velocity is 2200 fps, and the bullet carries a BC of .210. The .450 Bushmaster has a SAAMI Mean Average Pressure (MAP) of 38,500 psi. We hesitate to recommend this gun because of our rifles probably temporary, but very real, feeding problem that needed to be fixed. and .444 Marlin provide enough accuracy (and their bullets retain enough energy) to confidently reach out across a cut cornfield and make a 200-yard shot. These drawings will be incorporated during the next revision of the relevant SAAMI Standard. It didnt punch out groups as small as those with the Marlin .444, but it was accurate enough to take hunting. If there is an apparent divide in .450 Bushmaster vs .350 Legend rifles its muzzle devices and barrel contour. We wanted to test Marlins iteration of the .450 side by side with one of the companys staple .444s, as well as Winchesters Big Bore Side-Eject lever gun, originally chambered in the now-defunct .375 Winchester, but which is now cataloged in .444 Marlin (and .356 Winchester). A good solution is to install a proper recoil-reducing pad like the Pachmayr Decelerator. 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. It retains 1,000 foot-pounds of energy to 399 yards. The new Marlin .450 cartridge is supposed to be a hot choice for all medium-to-big game hunting. I use a 450 bushmaster ar-15 as my big bore brush gun for my up close and personal bear hunting and coming across a deer 25 yards away through the bushes. .350 Legend Vs .450 Bushmaster: Does One Win Out For Hunting? One sure way to cut through some of the tall grass is measure it against an established cartridge thats already proven its worth. is more comparable to the .350 Legend, but you're losing power and velocity. I've shot a couple whitetails now shooting through 1" saplings and when the bullet hits the deer it just destroys them. The concept of the fast, short, powerful lever-action rifle is probably best exemplified by the Co-Pilot, from Wild West Guns of Anchorage, Alaska. 450/460 same boolit dia, the 458 socom is bigger (45-70 sized boolits). Use: Defense. The .45-70 is far more versatile, and ammo is made by many companies. Benefits abound with a tamer rifle. Depending on the weight of the gun, recoil for the 450 varies between 15 and 20 ftlbs. 2.215 Case length, .451 Caliber projectiles I wouldn't fret over performance or availability in either case. The .444 did have its moment in the sun, and there are still quite a few shooters who quietly enjoy their lever guns each season. Disclaimer: Sportsman's Warehouse assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions of the information on this page. While my .444 Marlin lever-action rifle shoots just over one MOA with the Hornady ammo, like all lever actions, its not built for precision work. The front sight was a gold-faced bead on a ramp underneath a protective hood. While the .444 is near the bottom of the popularity list in current straight-walled rifle cartridges, I expect that will change as hunters discover the potential of this cartridge. Sounds impressive. (Well cover the .35 Remington or .356 Winchester another day.) Of course, with the shorter barrels on the AR-15 and some other rifles, the muzzle velocity is lower, which changes all the other numbers. Mag..30-06 Springfield vs. .270 Winchester6.5 Creedmoor vs. 7mm-08 Remington8x57 Mauser vs. .318 Westley Richards.358 Winchester vs. .350 Remington Magnum.22-250 Remington vs. .220 Swift.270 Winchester vs. .270 WSM.26 Nosler vs. 6.5-300 Weatherby Magnum.458 Win. Offers more power than any commercial lever gun cartridge except the .450 Marlin. For generations, a lot of states have allowed deer hunters to use only shotguns with slugs or maybe a muzzleloader during gun season. Marlin Model 444P Our recommendation: Marlin ought to know by now how to make a flawless .444 Marlin. Hornadys 325-grain Flextip ammo has a muzzle velocity of 2050 fps and the bullet has a BC of .230. The 450 Bushmaster is taking off and new ammo offerings keep popping up. 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. Its a great round in a Marlin lever action. In terms of maximum point-blank range, its only a 16-yard difference on a 14-inch target (roughly the size of a small deers vital zone). Its very accurate and I feel more comfortable with it than a marlin 1895 big bore or another one of the other many 45-70 lever guns. Its a belted case, not the usual rimmed type one normally finds in lever rifles. Mag..375 Ruger vs. .375 H&H Magnum7mm-08 Remington vs. .280 Remington .280 Remington vs. .280 Ackley Improved 7mm vs. .30 Caliber6.5 Weatherby RPM vs. 6.5 PRC.338 Win. Just $1 per month , Thinking about swapping your slug gun for a rifle this fall? The checkering was very well done, had a pleasing pattern, and it worked very well. The 444 Marlin (which I love) is headed in the other direction. Cartridges like the .450 Bushmaster, .45-70 Govt. How can a bit of brass added to a cartridge case make up for the exact same amount of steel removed from the chamber that holds it? Brands include Frontier, Hornady, Lapua and Prvi Partizan. The 2 deer ive gotten with it they made it less than 25 yards. The 450 would do better, but, is it needed on deer? It drops a bear at 100 yards like no ones business if you catch it from your tree stand and it puts deer on the ground fast too. Utilizing a lighter bullet with a smaller powder charge, it can generally be said it produces less recoil. Back to the wood. Perhaps with a longer barrel the ammunition might achieve its claimed 2,100 fps. A talk on straight-wall cartridges is, for the most part, a regional discussion. Powered by UBB.threads PHP Forum Software 7.7.5. Recoil was manageable thanks to the soft pad, but the rifle had much greater muzzle flip than the ported Marlins. Perhaps the most notable in recent years has been the .350 Legend. Elsewhere, we noticed an anomaly between the two Marlins. Commercial cartridges are available for both rounds. This cartridge has the potential to be the best deer hunting ammo of the lot. For the .350 Legend, the ammo of choice is Winchesters 150-grain Deer Season XP, with a listed muzzle velocity of 2,325 fps and a BC of .223. With a 150-yard zero, the bullet is 1.66 inches high at 100 yards, 4.37 inches low at 200 yards, and 11.9 inches low at 250 yards. The .444 shoots much flatter than most folks realize. I have always wanted a bolt action 444 Marlin, but the 450 Bushmaster has ballistics that are almost as good as the 444. With the hammer block there is the possibility of forgetting to press the little button before the shot, and thus losing the shot at the game animal. So whats best, 450 Bushmaster Vs 350 Legend. It generates 21.34 ft-lbs of energy at 12.55 fps. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -. Is the any advantage. Even despite this weight difference, the .250 Marlin manages to maintain a small advantage in velocity over the .450 Bushmaster. It served until the .30-40 Krag replaced it in 1892. We know that Winchester has brought out a shorter-barrel version of this rifle, complete with ported muzzle, but we dont see a real need for it. Well analyze the performance of these calibers across a variety of factors to help you decide which is best for your hunting needs. 350 Legend's 8.52 ft lbs recoil energy is less than the 30-30's 9.64 ft lbs and the 243 Win's 10.38 ft lbs. The .450 Marlin has quite a bit longer case, at 2.10 compared to 1.70 on the .450 Bushmaster. Absolutely, it depends on what rifle you usemore exactly its weightas to how many foot-pounds of energy will jolt into your shoulder. They track closely in weight, thus when chambered Legend tend to be more pleasurable to shoot. The Wild West aperture rear sight costs $100 for Marlins, or $120 for Winchesters. The old Trapdoor rifles are restricted to a lower pressure level than are the modern, strongly-built lever guns like the Marlin Model 1895 and Winchester Model 1886; though the case may be thin, it can generate impressive numbers in a modern gun. (444 Marlin) 397117 45 Cal .452" 200 gr. It is on the wane and has long ago been supplanted by the resurgent 45-70. The 444 Marlin is a 200 yard rifle. Your rifle is your most important hunting tool, and knowing how to properly clean and store it when hunting season comes to a close is critical in keeping it in tip-top shape. For $404, wed give it a Buy rating, being a better deal than the $550 Marlin. Accuracy was all that anyone would want. A straight-wall, .452-caliber cartridge with a rebated rim, it's capable of pushing a 250-grain bullet to 2,200 fps. Anybody who has done much range work with them knows that they are plagued with fliers. In essence the rimmed .444 Marlin is an elongated .44 Magnum (the case length is 2.225 inches, with an overall length of 2.550 inches), as it uses the same .429-inch diameter bullets as the classic revolver cartridge, albeit at a much higher velocity. It is on the wane and has long ago been supplanted by the resurgent 45-70. The Bushmaster is based on a sawed-off .284 Winchester case. Today, there is no shortage of them, though the old-timers have mostly died out. Winchester, Hornady, Remington, and maybe a few others offer ammo, but the market is evolving so fast its tough to keep up. This comparative cartridge information puts the performance of the new .450 Marlin in context, especially when the shooter considers how a slightly less powerful round, the well-known .444 Marlin, shoots. That said, the Bushmasterwhile stoutisnt the North American version of the .500 Nitro Express. The .450 Bushmaster is capable of using any .452-inch bullet, which opens a lot more doors for handloaders with the wide range of bullets on the marketincluding some outstanding choices from Barnes. Which of these big cartridges makes the better choice for the prospective lever gun buyer? 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. 2.100 case length. Bushmaster asked Hornady to produce the .45 Professional, but Hornady wanted to shorten the cartridge case to accommodate their .452-inch, 250-grain pointed SST Flex-Tip bullet. Ours didnt. Over the last few years, there have been a number of straight-walled cartridges to hit the market. Based on the function of the gun we had, we would have to say Dont Buy the 444P. Then somebody figured out that straight-walled rifle cartridges are just as safe as slugs. ; this is a formidable load in any rifle. While .308 can reach out accurately to 1,200 yards (if you're pretty good), 450 . It might be a little too much for whitetails - it would be perfect on elk and moose. In the past decade, state wildlife management agencies in the region have opened what were once shotgun-only deer grounds to rifles chambered for straight-wall cartridges. Back in January we tested this superb rifle along with the similar Marlin Guide Gun, both in .45-70. I have tested them and the results are not good. You can find more information on our site under the Velocity/Info tab labeled Velocity Testing. The Winchester 1886 is back in several iterations, the Henry lineup includes the .45-70 and even Marlin saw fit to offer its Model 1895 Guide Gun in .45-70. But for overall practicality, straight-wall cartridges are a topic for the good folks around the Great Lakes region. Winchester Model 94AE Big Bore Our recommendation: We liked the Winchester .444 Marlin. Eight major concealed carry insurance programs are now available to the millions of Americans who carry concealed. Marlin 1895 (.450 Marlin) My uncle carried a .45-70 when he guided brown bear hunters, and several times stopped charging bears with it at close range. 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 live in the dense hard woods of new England where even walking up a tall hill will put you into the pines and out of any hardwoods. Wood-to-metal fit was truly outstanding on both Marlin rifles. Why didnt Marlin simply lengthen the .45-70 cartridge as Wild West did? 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. Still, one wonders: Is there a need for a .444 Guide Gun, the 444P? The .450 Bushmaster thumper round launches .452-cal. vs. .300 Wby. It also told us that the brake did a lot of good, even though it was noisy. 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. 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.