.35 Remington
My first factory deer rifle was a Marlin 336SC in .35 Rem. I no longer have it, but I do have a slide-action Remington Model 14C with a 22-inch barrel. There was a time when the Model 14 and the later Model 141 in .35 Rem. were as common in deer and bear camps as Filson coats and L.L. Bean boots, especially in the Northeast. For woods-hunting deer, even today, I’d just as soon have one of the old .35-cal. pump guns as anything else. At 100 long paces, mine is about a 4-inch rifle with any bullet and that includes the new Hornady 200-grain FTX.

.444 Marlin
Older Marlin rifles with Micro-groove rifling at a twist rate of 1:38 inches can be a bit fussy when fed bullets heavier than 280 grains, but those built after 1998 with 1:20-inch twist Ballard-style rifling usually shoot 300-grain bullets quite accurately. Some of the new bullets transform a wonderful close- to medium-range deer cartridge into a solid performer on larger game. The Barnes 225-grain XPB offers more penetration than conventional lead-core bullets weighing as much as 240 grains. And, while I would be tempted to use it on black bear, I believe the higher sectional densities of the Swift 280- and 300-grain A-Frame bullets make them better choices not only for big bruins but for moose and elk as well. I have used the 280-grain A-Frame on caribou, and its performance left nothing to be desired.

Moving back to deer bullets, I find accuracy with the Hornady 265-grain FTX to be slightly better with the 1:20-inch twist but, even in a slower barrel, it is plenty accurate for shots as far away as should be tempted with this cartridge. Shortening the case to 2.06 inches keeps overall cartridge length compatible with the Marlin rifle.

.45-70 Government/.450 Marlin
Its square-shaped finger lever and eight-groove rifling identify my Marlin New Model 1895 as a 1972 first-year production, and its custom stock of American walnut identify it as one of my special rifles. Soon after Marlin made the old .45-70 Gov’t front-page news again, new bullets became available for it, and those weighing 300 grains.from Sierra and Hornady continue to drop deer like bolts from the blue. The 400-grain bullets from Speer and Barnes are good choices for larger game but even they can be a bit soft at velocities attainable in the Marlin 1895 and Ruger No. 1 rifles.

For the penetration sometimes required when using the .45-70 on the bigger stuff, the 300-grain TSX FN bullet from Barnes, the 350-grain Swift A-Frame and the 250-grain Hornady MonoFlex should be outstanding. I have not tried either on game but have taken a nice whitetail at about 125 yards with the Hornady 325-grain FTX. It dropped in its tracks with a nicely expanded bullet resting against the off-side hide. When loading the FTX and MonoFlex for the Marlin rifle, don’t forget to shorten the case to 1.97 inches.

.470 and .475 Turnbull
Turnbull Mfg. offers the .475 Turnbull on the .50-110 Win. case in rifles built on the Browning Model 71 and a high-quality reproduction of the Winchester Model 86 action. A shorter version called the .470 Turnbull is available on the Marlin New Model 1895 action. Velocities are 1,700 fps for the .470 and 2,050 fps for the .475, both with 450-grain bullets. Barnes, Hawk and Nosler have been making the bullets for quite some time, and Swift recently hopped aboard. Perhaps someday I will get around to shooting the .475 but in the meantime, data shot by the guys at Swift with their new 450-grain A-Frame will have to do.

.50 Alaskan/.50 B&M Alaskan
The .50 Alaskan was created back in the 1950s by Alaska gunsmith Harold Johnson for Winchester Model 71 and Model 86 rifles. Originally formed by necking up the .348 Win. case, fully formed cases are now available from Starline. The new Swift 450-grain A-Frame and the Woodleigh 500-grain Weldcore are for this cartridge as well as the .50-110 Win. and others that use a bullet diameter of 0.510 inches. Gunsmith Harry McGowen has been converting rifles to .50 Alaskan for more than 40 years.

The .50 B&M Alaskan is formed by necking down the Starline case for the 0.500-inch bullets of the .500 S&W Magnum. Any of the revolver bullets are fine in this cartridge for practice shooting and for use on deer-size game, but for larger game the 500-grain Hornady, 400-grain Barnes Buster and 325-grain Swift A-Frame are better choices. Even stouter bullets capable of taking any game on the planet were designed specifically for this cartridge by its co-developer Michael McCourry and are available from Cutting Edge and Northfork.

My rifle, built around the Marlin New Model 1895 action by SSK Industries, has a 22-inch McGowen barrel and its rifling twist rate of 1:18 inches does a good job of stabilizing bullets as long as the 500-grain Hornady. When loading the Hornady FTX, the case has to be shortened to 1.97 inches.