Im new to reloading, I have finished loading my first load for satisfactory results(358 winchester).
I want to move on to my next round, the 444 marlin.
I will be reloading for a 444 marlin rifle, and it will be a deer/possibly bear gun at close range(100 yards or less).
I used 265 hornady factory loads in this rifle, but want to use a different bullet. It seemed like the Hornady was too "tight", it required a bit more effort to close the action then my other Marlin 336s. When I loaded the gun with remington 240 loads, the action closed easy.
So what else is out there, in the 250-270 grain range? I want to use a "rifle" bullet.

And if possible, I want to use Reloader 7 powder. I bought some when I was loading the 358 winchester, but that didnt work out- so if I can put that powder to use, that would be biscuit city. I realize that the "try the powders you have on hand" doesnt work out all the time, but a few of the books I looked at suggest reloader 7, so maybe I can put the powder to some use.
Any other suggestions of loads and powder would also be appreciated.

I don't know what other rifle bullets are available, but I tried a Keith-style 240 gr. hard cast sized to .431 in my brother's 444 last week. I couldn't chamber the round fully and the bullet stuck in the throat when I ejected the cartridge. I think this particular Marlin - and perhaps yours as well - has a very short and tight throat. Depending on what you find for other bullets, it might be worth looking into having the throat opened to .430 (if it isn't already) and extended slightly.

I've done quite a bit of reloading for the 444Marlin for both my brother and my uncle and the only bullet I loaded for either of them was the hornady 165gr.

You want to use RL7? Excellent choice it is one of two propellents I found to work really well in the Marlin, the other was IMR4198.
These two propellants both work so well that it's really six of one half dozen of the other and I tended to lean more towards RL7 because I also use RL7 to reload 223, so I can justify buying a 4lb (or larger) keg of the stuff and save some money.

If I had to chose another bullet for the 444 there's only one
I would seriously consider, the Nosler 250gr Partition.

The noslers are a bit more expensive, but don't worry much about cost, you'll never shoot that many of them.

AllanD

Bullets for the 444 and the 44 Mag are not very aerodynamic...Take a look at the trajectory charts in some reload manuals.. particularly Hornady's...

For that reason, and I prefer the 444 to be a woods range rifle anyway.. I down load mine, as the standard loads listed with powders like RL 7, 4198 etc, usually list a full case load in the 50 grain plus loads...

I used powders like SR 4759, or some of the loads listed for the 44 Mag...Because one is using a much smaller volume of powder, ie: 15 to 25 grains of powder, the recoil is substantially less ( which aids in shot placement regardless of how well the shooter thinks he can tame himself to more recoil).....

IMR and Hodgdon's 4227 are also an excellent powder in the 30 to 32 grain range....

SR 4756 is also a great accurate download powder using even less powder, ( read less recoil also!)

The 265 grain bullet is a hard bullet and needs all the velocity it can get to open up in comparison to what I consider a better bullet for the 444, the XTPs from Hornady...These open up at about any velocity...and produce a very very big hole....

SR 4759 can give me a velocity of 2000 fps with a 240 grain XTP with 30 grains of powder.. with no compressed loads..... and 1800 fps with a 300 grain XTP......

My usual load is the 300 grain XTP.... trajectory charts tell me that I give up about 10 yds of max point blank range.... my shoulder is telling me I give up about 40 to 50 % of the recoil compared to a factory round.. or max loads with the 265 grain FN....

What I gain is a bullet that will open up at lower velocitys easily...( not having to deal with the bullet was so hard, it zipped thru the animal before opening up)...

The 265 grain Fn is list by Hornady for velocity ranges from 1500 fps to 2400 fps....

Whereas the 240 grain XTP has a low range of 900 fps and a high end of 1800 fps....

The 300 grain XTP, has a low end also of 850 fps and a high end of 1900 fps....

I don't believe foot pounds as a killer... I believe in shot placement and a bullet that will open up and do the job.. and penetrate.....

Even when moving slow, a 300 grain XTP will walk thru a lot and open up to at least double its diameter ( almost a good one inch hole).....At 3.5 inches high at 100 yds, a 300 grain XTP with an MV of 1800 fps, is dead on at 100 yds, and 7 inches low at 200 yds...

Since the 444 is a 150 yds rifle anyway...that is plenty fine in my book, and has proven so in the field also....heck, I cut pine trees in half with three shots of this load, just for fun at times...

Not many guys will think of this, because it doesn't excite the testosterone, but a load down around 1000 fps doesn't have ANY recoil so to speak... feels like a big BB gun going off.. but zero it 3.5 inches high at 50 yds and you still have a 100 yd deer load for any kid.... and this 300 grain bullet will still put a hole in something about the size of a half dollar ( if anyone knows what those are anymore...)

Just like my 30/30s.. I have found by reducing the max loads some.. and in the case of the 30/30, duplicating loads like they originally had when they came out....accuracy increases.... and with proper bullets, they do a much better job than bullets at higher velocities....

For a handloader the 444 is fun to play with... it is pretty darn versatile in what you can do with it... keep it under 150 yrds....

And those Hornady XTPs do a wonderful job, for both accuracy and killing power....

one last tip for the handloader... I have found that max loads listed for a 44 Mag in a rifle, will yield about the exact same velocity in the 444 case... so if someone wants to try downloading them a little.... 44 Mag load data, has already done the work for ya.....

cheers
seafire

Look at the speer 300 grain FP uni-cor.