[longshotz]

An opportunity has come my way to purchase a Winchester 1894 AE .444 Big Bore. I seem to recall reading at one time or another that the Big Bore 1894AE could handle pressures higher than the Marlin by about 15000 PSI.
If this is true then it strikes me that separate loading data must exist for this rifle; much the same as 45/70 data does for the different rifles it comes chambered in. If it does then it must be well hidden because extensive searching on all the various available reloading sites turns up squat, nada, zero. nothing.
Does this mean that the '94 .444 doesn't handle the pressure or am I not looking in the right places?
Any one with proven and verifiable data (with the usual disclaimers of course) willing to give me a hand here?
Thanks all.

 

[TMan]

The Big Bore was beefed up to digest the .307 and .356 Winchester cartridges. The were running at the same pressures as the .308 Winchester. The Brass was heavier than either .308 or .358 Win, so data isn't interchangable. They are pretty rugged.

There are other factors than strictly pulse peak pressure that makes a design "strong enough" or not. .444 pressures ran lower, so I wouldn't get too crazy.

 

[Kanuck]

go to Leverguns.com and look for articles by Paco. He did some good work with BB94 in .444 Marlin in an article called "444 Misunderstood".

 

[Johnny Canuck]

Here are two articles I have come across about the Winchester Big Bore in .444 Marlin:
http://www.leverguns.com/articles/paco/444.htm
http://www.leverguns.com/articles/paco/444_misunderstood.htm
These articles are written by Paco Kelly
Plese understand that even in a Winchester, these are VERY hot loads...
Please be very careful, and take everything with a grain of salt....

 

[William Iorg]

Gosh,

We haven’t had a good 444 discussion in quite some time.
I joined the board specifically to discuss the 444 Marlin and its loading for the Winchester Timber Rifle.
What you will find is the COAL is you limiting factor. As you load for the cartridge you will find that wide meplats cannot make the turn into the magazine from the loading gate.
Pressure is not a problem but your case capacity is limited by the shorter COAL required by the Winchester action.
The Marlin has a cut out in the left receiver wall and a bulge in the magazine tube to overcome the turn into the magazine problem.
Wide meplats affect the COAL for the Winchester also.
You will find few people with more experience than Marshall at loading the 444 Marlin and 375 Winchester cartridge for the lever action rifles.
The threads below cover quite a bit of loading information for the 444 cartridge and its use in the Winchester action.
These threads are old enough the search engine will not find them.
ENGLANDER lives in Falkirk Scotland and has become a good friend over the years. I was just e mailing with him this week. He was out shooting his Marlin 444 and a trapdoor Springfield. ENGLANDER shoots quite a few suppressed air rifles and they are serious hunting rifles. He is quite a fly fisherman and now rides a bicycle made primarily of graphite - a bit high tech for me!
The threads are in no particular order but they should have some good info on the Winchester 444. If they don’t answer the question there are several of us still shooting the Winchesters on the board.

http://shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?t=18403&highlight=310+lee

http://shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?t=5211&highlight=310+lee

http://shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?t=1859&highlight=310+lee

http://shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?t=1830&highlight=310+lee

http://shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?t=2011&highlight=310+lee

http://shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?t=4153&highlight=310+lee

http://shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?t=2010&highlight=310+lee

http://shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?t=1850&highlight=310+lee

http://shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?t=13440&highlight=310+lee

http://shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?t=16620&highlight=310+lee

http://shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?t=9465&highlight=310+lee

http://shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?t=1981&highlight=310+lee