Good bye to the 444?

[FOTIS]

Looked at the 2012 Marlin catalog today. No mention whatsoever of rifles chambered in either .444 or .338 Express. Personally the 338 express was never one of my faves. That said the 444 always had a special place in my heart. Now both appear to be defunct...

 

[ScreaminEagle]

That sucks. I got to shoot a 444 once that I drilled and tapped for a vernier sight. It was a pretty sweet rifle!

 

[BK]

Bummer. That was one of three Marlins I really liked.

 

[DrMike]

I'm mildly surprised, except for the growth in interest in the 45-70, which undoubtedly has contributed to the demise of this fine cartridge.

 

[gerry]

It's too good of a round to die, maybe they will still make some in the future. If I ever own a lever gun again it will be Marlin in either the 444 or 35 Remington. Actually a 357 magnum would be cool too.

 

[JD338]

The 444 Marlin was always one of the flag ship rounds, along with the rifles that were offered by Marlin.

Its obvious that with Marlin being owned by Remington, Big Greens worthless marketing people are clueless.

JD338

 

[SJB358]

I'm with Jim. I hate the fact there isn't going to be a 444. I will find one though, just make sure I can have a fine thumper around.

Gerry. Get on the big bore lever wagon buddy! Talk about a fun rifle. Any of the .44's or .45's are plain awesome hunting rifles.

 

[Guy Miner]

"Its obvious that with Marlin being owned by Remington, Big Greens worthless marketing people are clueless."

Remington hasn't done much to impress lately, particularly with their handling of Marlin.

Although my big bore Marlins were both .45/70 rifles, I gave some serious thought to the .444 and decided that it does have some great attributes. It would be on my short list of Marlins that I'd consider. Absolutely.

Might not have been selling well. Am sure that had something to do with the decision to drop it, but dang, it's been faithfully killing stuff for about 50 years now... That ought to count for something!

Guy

 

[BK]

Unfortunately, the bean-counting dweebs that are running Remington into the ground could not care any less about history. They just want their dividend, stock options and bonuses to be as large as possible.

 

[big rifle man]

In past years I hunted in the small town of youngsville, PA which had a nice down home gun shop that carried all sorts of surprises. My last hunt in this area was three years ago and the gun shop had at least 5 marlins on the wall. If I remember correctly one was in 30-30 and the others were in .444. My hunting buddy lives in Youngsville and if anyone is interested I can have him take a look at whats still on the shelf. What I'm looking for is a Marlin "Texan" model .35 caliber lever. This rifle was made back in the late 50's early 60's. The rifle has a straight grip similar to the Win 94 and was my first deer rifle. They are hard to find. I'd give some money up to find one in decent shape.