MARLIN CONVERSION

[30calpal]

Has anyone considered converting a 444 Marlin to 405 Win ?  Is the 444 action long enough?  Would it work if the ejection port were opened a tiny bit?  I believe it would be cheaper to build than than to buy one of the 1895 405's right now,...at $1500.  Insight and opionions welcomed.

[EsoxLucius]

The Marlin 336/444/1895 action is not long enough to accommodate the 405 Win.  About the maximum length you are going to be able to cycle out of that action is 2.75" and the 405 Win is 3.2".  You could possibly get similar ballistics with a 405/348 improved wildcat with overall length limited to about 2.7" in a Marlin.

[30calpal]

Sounds like the action would eject an empty, but it would be a problem to unload the rifle, unless you used a mag tube similar to a Henry. 

[EsoxLucius]

Sounds like the action would eject an empty, but it would be a problem to unload the rifle, unless you used a mag tube similar to a Henry.

It would not eject an empty 405 Winchester.  The ejection port cannot be altered to clear a 2.58" long case.  The Marlin 1895 action cannot be altered to reliably cycle rounds over 2.75" with cases over 2.3", including transferring a round from the magazine to the chamber, and extracting and ejecting a spent round.

[mcwoodduck]

I had some 500 grain loads for my 45-70 that were a little long and they fed from the tube and ejected empty fine.  But when a Cease fire was called I unloaded a live round I broke the ejector on the Marlin 1895.  So if you are thinking of sticking one in and seeing if it will clear it is a bad idea on a couple of fronts.  One you may break parts and 2 if you accidentally touch the round off.

[bluecow]

if you want a 40 call lever gun check out the 416 barnes.