Help me determing the caliber and chamber of a barrel

I will be posting more information on this later. I will slug the bore and chamber to try and get exact measurements.

I'm not going to say at the moment what the barrel is for...cause I'm not positive on that yet.

A 45lc case will fit in the chamber, but only if it is resized and the last 1/8" has to be pushed in(snug fit). The chamber is recessed for a rimmed case. I did my best to measure the chamber length and I'm getting about a 3" chamber.

You all are thinking 410 gauge shotgun, aren't you?

So was I until I looked a little closer at the bore...it is rifled, possibly 9 grooves, give or take 1 groove. And measures out to around .428" - 430" with calipers between grooves...definitely a 44cal.

So I then took a closer look at the chamber again...the chamber is tapered....I can't remember the measurements I read using my telescopic gauges because I planned on slugging the chamber for a critical look.

Looking through all of my manuals...the closest thing I can find to fit in this chamber is the 444 marlin...but there may be a zillion wildcats I don't know about.

Thoughts so far?

I will try to get more info and will also shed a little light on the application of this barrel later.

You sound about right on the 444 but I would pour a chamber cast with cerosafe to be sure.

I'll try to get a casting of the chamber and slug the bore. I'll take a few pics too...

I have to get a costume made for my boy first, so it might be a day or two.

From the information you've provided so far, the 444 is the closest thing that I see so far. You said that it has a recess for the rim, what is the diameter of the recess?

eagle60 wrote:From the information you've provided so far, the 444 is the closest thing that I see so far. You said that it has a recess for the rim, what is the diameter of the recess?

I'll try to get a good measurement on the rim recess diameter when I do all the other critical measurements. It seems the 45LC rim completely fills the recess...a 44mag rim has a little clearance all the way around. The rim of the 45LC is also thicker than the recesses depth since it doesn't fit flush...but this may have been how the headspace was set.

It took a casting of he chamber and slugged the bore. I wrote in the measurements on the paper except rim diameter...I think that was .540".

I'm thinking it is chambered in 444 marlin. I did a little research on the 444....it turns out a 410 can be shot through a 444 as long as it chambers. I seems many guys have been doing this in their leverguns. A unfired 410 shell drops easily in and out of he chamber and fits the rim recess perfectly.

Ok....what the heck is the barrel for anyway? I measures out to be the same dimensions as a 26.5mm flare.....except for it is about 8 inches long. So I'm thinking someone made this for a flare gun insert. 444 marlin is a bit on the overkill side....but the 410 would be fun. I'm sure reduced 444 marlin loads would be fun too. I'd have o have a heavy duty built flare gun for sure.

If I were a betting man ...444 Marlin.... A pretty good all around cartridge. Not as popular as others but still fun.