I started reloading last year, and have finally settled on a load for the cartridge that I started reloading(358 winchester).
I am ready to move on to my next cartridge, the 444 marlin.
I am looking to use the rifle for hunting predominantly whitetails, and maybe an occasional black bear.
The rifle will be a hundred yard gun.
Any bullet suggestions would be appreciated, any powder suggestions would also be appreciated-though I would probably like to start with powder that I have on hand- RL7, IMR4340, IMR4895.
The rifle is a Marlin 444, micro groove barrel. Thanks for any suggestions.

I believe RE7 will be the most useful of the powders you have for the .444 marlin. In addition, IMR 4895 can be used as well.

I personally believe that the .444 should be loaded with bullets heavier than the standard 240-grain pistol bullets that were used in this round initially. The 265-grain, such as made by Hornady, is an improvement. And the 300 grain Hornady is even better.

For th 265, you can use as much as 51 grains of IMR 4895 or 47 grains of RE7 - both of these loads will give velocities of about 2050 FPS, but of course, you should approach them from about 3 grains UNDER just to be safe. Same goes fort ALL the loads shown.

With the 300 grain Hornady bullet, 51 grains of IMR 4895 should give you over 1900 FPS, and 45 grains of RE7 would give perhaps as much as 2000 FPS with the 300-grain bullet. This would be a real killer, close to the .405 Winchester!

For a cast bullet, I'd use the Cast Performance 320-grain flatnose gascheck bullet and 44 grains of RE 7, for close to 2000 FPS.

Personally, I would try to develop a heavy, cast-bullet load at 1850-2000 FPS for all-round use in the .444. At the velocities at which the .444 operates, I am not convinced that jacketed bullets are even needed......

People say that those Micro-groove barrels will not shoot well with cast bullets. This is incorrect, if the right bullet design is used, cast from a medium to hard alloy (or heat-treated), and sized to .001" to .002" OVER the groove diameter of the barrel.

Ditto for the heaver bullet. The 300 gr. pills really pack A wallop. The 270gr and 265gr are also good, but my vote goes for the 300 grainers. Most of the 444 marlins are much more accurate than they should be. Enjoy.

For the 444 I recommend H4198, H322, H335. Try the 265 gr and 300 gr bullets. Stay away from the 240 gr.

http://www.handloads.com/loaddata/default.asp?Caliber=4...Order=Powder&Source=

http://www.reloadersnest.com/

RE-7 and the Speer 300 gr. Uni-cor!

For bullets, I use the Hornady 300 grain XTP exclusively for hunting with mine...

these flat nose bullets are not that aerodynamic... and if one loads them down, you really don't loose much point blank range....

XTPs also open up at very low velocities since it was originally designed for the 44 Mag...

I load mine to about 1750 fps, with the 300 grain XTP.... and I use either SR 4759, or Blue Dot....

I don't have to mess with high capacity compressed loads, which can be a pain in this case....

Recoil is dramatically reduced also...point blank range is reduced by about 10 to 15 yds...a good trade off in my book....

I am not a person who is a believer in footpounds...as the only indicator of lethality for a bullet... but those XTPs will really plow thru a lot! at 1750 fps or 750 fps....

But hey, I have a reputation of being different and looking at things differently than everyone else on this forum anyway...

As for bullet selection, your best bet with the 444 Marlin is either the 265gr Hornady flat point or 270 Speer Gold Dot. Out the three powders you mentioned, only the RL-7 is suitable with those bullet weights, and Ken Waters suggests that the RL-7 is too erratic in his book, "Pet Loads". Your best powders for those bullet weights are IMR4198 and H4198.

270 gold-dot and H322.........