My .44 Magnum Is Now A .445 Super Magnum !

[Fred McIntire]

Well, the last month has been hectic, to say the least; however, I finally found time tonight to use the .445 Super Magnum reamer I rented from Tim.

I'll have to say I was a little nervous having never reamed a barrel before. I followed the tips on using the reamer from other GBO members. I found that the more oil I used the easier the reamer cut. It wasn't long and the metal shavings were piling up.

I was cautious to stop frequently and check my progress, and clean the metal shavings from the reamer. It took me about 30 minutes from the time I started; however, I feel like I could do the next barrel in about 10 minutes. The reamer cut a very smooth chamber. The check cartridge dropped in smoothly and, with a little more cutting, I got a nice solid sound when I dropped the cartridge into the chamber, followed by a little bounce back that told me the cartridge was fitting into the new chamber freely, without binding or being too tight.

I'm anxious to load up some .445 Super Magnum cartridges and test my "new gun".


Fred

[petemi]

Fred, you're going to enjoy it.  I like mine a lot more the the .500 S&W.  I have an older barrel, and it shoots well in spite of the fact.  Grab brass when you find it.  It took me a little while, but I finally got all I need for quite some time.  Perhaps it's my over bore, but mine likes to be loaded hot.  Reaming didn't change accuracy with mags either.  Good luck with it.

Pete

[Dixie Dude]

What are some ballistics on this cartridge?  Is it approaching a 444 or 45-70? 

[petemi]

What are some ballistics on this cartridge?  Is it approaching a 444 or 45-70? 

I would have to say yes, depending on how you look at it and what velocity/bullet weight you want.  I run a 240 gr. XTP over H110 or 296 to ~1800 fps and a 230XTP to ~2000.  Granted I can easily match those velocities with a 405 gr. bullet out of my .45-70, but, to me, the .445 is in the ball park, and with a lighter bullet doesn't seem to punish the shooter as badly.

Pete

[tzimm007]

Is there any factory loaded rounds to be had for the 445 or is it a hand load only?

[petemi]

Is there any factory loaded rounds to be had for the 445 or is it a hand load only?

In the past, I bought .445 ammo from American Custom and Custom Cartridge........it ain't cheap.    You're much better off reloading and waiting for a production run of brass.

Pete

[JMcDonald]

I'd imagine some experimenting will need to be done with it to find pressure limits, as the Hodgdon site is showing performance specs oddly similar to .44mag, and they don't show pressure. But with like 1/3 more powder capacity, there should be a pretty notable increase in performance. Out of a rifle, I'd expect a 240 at 2000+fps at least, given a .44mag can do 1800+ with the same bullet weight. That seems more like .454Casull performance than .444Marlin, though (not that it still isn't a big leap though!).
*edit*
There is a load on handloads.com showing a 315gr bullet doing 1972fps out of a 22" Handi. So, a 240gr bullet should easily be capable of 2100+fps at the same pressures. Also, there is a 360gr load @ about 1900fps and the description says "20fps slower than the 444marlin load." These two loads are about 100fps slower than something Buffalo Bore would put out, and they load about as hot as any commercial loader I've seen. So, maybe it really is approaching .444 Marlin performance!