.444 or .375 Win Bolt or Auto?

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SavageSniper

New member
I have Googled this to death without any results, so I need your help. Has anyone ever made a bolt action or auto rifle in either .444 or 375 Win? Or even the 45/70. This came up over drinks one evening discussing the perfect brush gun for hogs and deer. I know there are many lever actions and single shots, but none of the other. Anyone know?
 
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jbadams66

New member
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You are not going to find to many bolt action rifles chambered in rimmed cartridges. YOu could probably find a 450 marlin if you look hard enough or want to make one.
 
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SavageSniper

New member
Yes I know there are not many but the 30-30 was chambered by Savage in a bolt action, then there was the .303 Enfield. Is the only problem the tapered mag?
 
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FirstFreedom

Moderator
And also, how is a turnbolt better than a levergun for hunting? I can see *maybe* a semi, for faster follow ups, but the levers are already the perfect brush guns, in those calibers and others (.358 win, .35 rem, .44 mag, etc.)
 
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CraigC

Moderator
No autos although the Enfields are readily converted to .45-70. Can't think of a reason to though, with so many fine leverguns available in both calibers.
 
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Mike Irwin

Staff
Neither round really set the world on its ear.

Had they done better commercially it's possible that someone would have chambered one or both in a bolt or semi-auto.
 
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VonFireball

New member
Hey, I built a Enfield No. 4 Mk II in 444 caliber with the help of a friend.


It's my hog gun. It'll pack a nice wallop, let me tell you.

I think that if you do your own loading, a 45-70 equivalent round can be developed.

The 444 is a dog in a micro grooved marlin gun. The levergun can't handle the pressure that a real load will produce, hence, I get to shoot waaaaay hotter loads.

I just ordered two clips for it from Midway. You gotta modify the ears on the clips in order to feed the rounds up properly. It'll hold about 6 rounds.

I threw a red dot on there.......now I just gotta get me some hawgs!

Don't underestimate that cartridge. It'll stop a bear clean in his tracks! Plus, you can show everybody the king of the .44 cartridges...haha
 
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Scorch

New member
Never heard of anyone producing an autoloader in either chambering, most likely due to the difficulties of getting rimmed cartridges to feed. But I did see the 458 WinMag BAR Safari grade from Browning that made the rounds of the big gun shows back in the 1980s. I believe it was a one-off rifle, not a standard production model. I imagine it would be possible for a gunsmith familiar with BAR operating systems to convert a magnum BAR to fire 458 WinMag.
 
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Jim Watson

New member
Rimmed cartridges are kind of aggravating to get to run in bolt and auto actions. I know of no factory rifle in .444 or .375 Win other than lever and single shot. Long ago, the Remington-Lee was made in .45-70 and it was kind of a cottage industry to convert the Siamese Mauser to .45-70 because it was originally made for a rimmed 8mm and had the slanted magazine to avoid rimlock. The British made a wide range of sporting rifles in rimmed calibers on Lee-Enfield actions, but they are pretty much obsolete now.

You probably would not want to pay a gunsmith to build one up; although it could be an advanced DIY like Von's.
 
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VonFireball

New member
Well, at the moment my price list was something like this.....

......Enfield action.....$8.50
......new england arms .44 barrel.......$35.00 on sale
......rifle stock......got it for nothing, plan for a bell and carlson or equivalent
......BSA red dot sight off ebay.......27.95
......uncle mikes super swivels.........cheap as hell
......cheapo nylon sling for silence and weight

so, I got about 60 bucks in the thing.....shoots pretty good for that price. Nice heavy barrel...stock is a little chewy looking, but hey, it's a hawg gun.
 
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SavageSniper

New member
Von, thats about what I am thinking of. A bolt action with about an 18.5 inch barrel. An M4 style AR would be great also. As for the lever actions, I have a 44mag and a 30-30. Both are great guns for the close work, though I trust the 30-30 more esp. on hogs. My desire is for a hard hitting round for "special" hunts. Alot of the places that I hunt are intermingled with trails, farms, etc that may have livestock or even other people moving on them. I want a rifle that is good to 100 yrds, thats it. Most of the time under these conditions I use a shotgun, which takes care of the distance thing, but we are riflemen right? I even considered slugs, and maybe. Alot of the rounds for the AR have my intrest and maybe that will finally drive me to reload:D.
 
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