Marlin has long been the king of lever action rifles, and without a doubt the .444 Marlin has been one of the most popular heavy rounds of the last half century. Now as the round is fast coming up on its 60th birthday, let’s put some perspective into the big .444 slugger.
Why the need
Large game hunters in North America in the late 19th century discovered the venerable .45-70 Government round. The .45-70 was adopted by the US Army in 1873 and used in all of the late Indian Wars as well as the Spanish American War by the military, but its greatest calling was in large animal hunting. The .45-70 helped bring the buffalo to near extinction, and line up innumerable bear, cougar, wolves, and elk and mule deer from Texas to Alaska and back. However, the big round needed a big gun, typically a single shot drop hinge action long barreled rifle that weighed at least 9-pounds.
The Marlin 336 rifle, introduced in 1948 was a game changer. With its solid, flat top receiver and side ejection, the 336 could mount optics and its microgroove rifling worked better with a jacketed bullets. Offered mainly in .30-.30, the 336 was a great brush gun for whitetails, but couldn’t be counted on to take large dangerous game. What was needed was a modern heavy round that was short enough to use the 336′s lever action. That’s what led to the development of the .444 in 1964….
Read the rest in my column at the Marlin Forums
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About laststandonzombieisland
Let me introduce myself. I am a bit of a conflict junkie. I am fascinated by war and warfare, assassination, personal protection and weaponry ranging from spud guns and flame throwers to thermonuclear bombs and soviet-trained Ebola monkeys. In short, if it’s violent or a tool to create violence it is kind of my thing.
I have written a few hundred articles on the dry encyclopedia side for such websites as History Times, Firearms Talk.com, GUNS.com, Suite 101 (where I am the contracted Feature Writer for Military History) and Combat Forums; as well as for print publications like England Expects, and Strike First Strike Fast. Several magazines such as Sea Classics, Military Historian and Collector, Mississippi Sportsman and Warship International have carried my pieces. Additionally I am on staff as a naval consultant and writer for Eye Spy Intelligence Magazine.
Currently I am working on several book projects, including a section in the upcoming Mississippi Encyclopedia (to be published by Ole Miss this summer), an alternative history novel about the US-German War of 1916, and a biography of Bennett Doty. My first novel, about the coming zombie apocalypse was released this Spring by Necro Publications and can be found at Amazon.com.
In my day job I am a contractor for the US federal government in what could best be described as the ‘Force Protection’ field. In this I am a certified Firearms, and less-than-lethal combat instructor.
