Has anyone ever necked down a 44 mag. case to .416 caliber ? I think it would make an interesting round for a single-shot handgun. The B.C. is better and the bullets would definitely fly better ! Any thoughts ? HD1

To quote BNL -- "It's all been done!"

Gary Reeder's wildcat is the first one that jumps to mind, but I'm sure it was done before him, too. The 44 mag necked down to 357 was a very popular wildcat. I doubt the 44 necked down to 41 would have gained much traction because the 41 magnum is so readily available and the wildcat doesn't offer much more than the standard 41 already brings to the table.

Since the bullet diameter of the 44 magnum is .429, necking it down to .416 wouldn't gain you much.
Still, I have no doubt someone's tried it.

How about a 444 necked to .416 dia. ? .411 ? .429 bullets just don't fly that great at longer than pistol ranges for me and I'm looking to improve on them. HD1


I have a .357 B&D and I've checked out the .375 JDJ. , that's an option too. I just like BIG BORE handguns with some THUMP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JD Jones has done just about everything imaginable with the 444 Marlin parent brass, including a 41 caliber vesion It's an ever bigger boomer than the 375.

Haven't checked out J.D.'s site in awhile, guess I'd better give it look-see !!! HD1

There was a 416 Jurras but I dont know what the case was made from.

Not sure, but I think the Jurras cartridges were all made on 30-06 brass. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. I always thought they would make nice short/medium rounds for auto-loading rifles. Good call though Ironhead7544...I'd forgotten all about them. HD1

In the Proprietary cartridge section of COTW, there are a remarkable number of things JD dreamed up, with just about everything you can imagine on a 444 Marlin case. I'm not sure any of them were all that interesting, beyond the 309 and 375.