I have a .444 Marlin on the way to my house from NJ.

Any suggestions on a jacketed bullet load to get me started, range practice, and maybe :rolleyes: shoot at a black bear this Spring? BTW I already load for 30-30, '06, .35 Rem, and .35 Whelen but will be new to the .444.

I want to consider BTB loads for elk in the Fall. Just need to get my feet wet for now.

Load suggestions?

Hodgdon's load data for the .444 should work. Try this link: [ Hodgdon .444 Data (http://www.hodgdon.com/data/rifle/444mar.php) ] Hornady's 265g JFP is a good bullet to start with.

Enjoy your new 444. - GL

Vihtavuori is the rocket in 444 Marlin.
www.vihtavuori.fi
For 265 grs bullets, go with N120, and for heavier bullets, go with N130.

I like the HDY 265 Interlock bullet. It was designed by Hornady specifically for the 444. Very accurate out of both my 444's with re-7 and IMR 4198. The 444ss leans toward the re-7 a bit. The rem. 240's shoot wel out of mine too but that is a pretty flimsy bullet but cheap for shooting practice.

I like the HDY 265 Interlock bullet. It was designed by Hornady specifically for the 444. Very accurate out of both my 444's with re-7 and IMR 4198. The 444ss leans toward the re-7 a bit. The rem. 240's shoot wel out of mine too but that is a pretty flimsy bullet but cheap for shooting practice.The 240 grain Remington bullet used in the Remington 444 Marlin ammunition is comparable to the 265 grain Hornady in construction and performance. It is not and has not been a pistol bullet for at least 25 years. A friend of mine in Montana has used the 240 grain Remington 444 Marlin load successfully on elk for almost 30 years. It appears from the following that it stacks up against the Hornady 265 grain and Speer 300 grain pretty well.

http://members.cox.net/hwsportsman8/444Chart.gif
http://members.cox.net/hwsportsman8/RemHorn.jpg
The Remington 240 gr. bullet on the left, and
the Hornady 265 gr. softnose on the right.
Source: Dan Martinez, The Sportsman Online
http://home.earthlink.net/~hwsportsman/444Marlin.html

Just an addendum to what Jackfish wrote above. I took this quote from one of Ranch Dog's posts on Marlin owners:

... The bullet used in the Remington factory ammo IS NOT available as a reloading component. That bullet is the R444M. The bullet that is available as a component is the R44MG2 and is intended for use in the 44 Mag. I recently wrote Remington to see if these bullets were the same and they responded that they were not. They went on to state that the R44MG2 was not intended for use in the 444 Marlin.

Thanks,

This is exactly what I was hoping to see. Rifle is on the way from NJ and reloading supplies are coming from Midway and Boses. With what you have shared and a couple of loading manuals, I am good to get started.

Thanks again.

265 gr hornady, rem brass, cci large rifle primer, 45.3 grains of IMR-4198 -- 1.25" 3 shot groups at 100 yards. (micro-groove barrel)

310 grain ww cast, lee mold, 47 gr of varget, same case and primer as above -- 1.75" 3 shot group at 100 yds. (micro-groove barrel)

sights are a williams foolproof peep sight.

May be you guys could help me investigate this a bit more as Remington really did not offer much about the 240-grain JSP not offered as a reloading component...

Here is the actually text of message that I recieved in reply from Remington...

"Subject
---------------------------------------------------------------
444 Bullet

Bullet used in Remington 444 ammunition is R444M. 240-grain bullet offered as
component for reloading is R44G2. These are not the same bullet.

Discussion Thread
---------------------------------------------------------------
Response (Chris) - 01/26/2006 02:11 PM
Dear Mr. Reamy,

Thank you for your patience. No, this bullet is not offered for component sales."

They didn't offer a "why" to the question I asked or any information about the 265-grain bullet they once offered. If you go to Remington's components web page you can see that the R444M isn't offered.

Here is a picture of the two, 240-grain bullets in question. The R44G2 is on the left and the R444M is on the right.

http://home.awesomenet.net/~ranch-dog/Reloading/Images/R44G2 vs. R444M.jpg

Notice the "fingers" of copper are much more pronounced on the 444 bullet (R444M). I also punched the lead nose with the Lee Hardness Tester. The R44G2s indentation was .088" and the R444M was .095". I got identical readings from several samples taken. So, the lead alloy is softer on the R444M... which would mean that the lead weighs more in the 444 bullet than the 44 Mag bullet? I might have to slice these bullets to look at the cross section and see how they differ in construction.

I also wonder about the 265-bullet as I've never seen an example. I suspect that it was too long for the 1:38 twist and did not shoot well so it was discontinued.

I shot today, several handloads that Ive been working on. I tried the Rem 240JHP, The Speer halfjacket 240 JSP thats a semi wadcutter, The Speer 240 JSP"Magnum" which is a 3/4 jacket FP, and the HDY 265. By far my 444P liked the HDY 265 Interlock bullets. Best group was with 46.5gr of Reloader 7and CCI standard LR primer ended up with a 1.25" 4 shot group at 100yds. Worst acc was with the Rem 240 at about 3"...Hornady factory load is a real thumper! It printed out right at 2" as did most other loadings. The Speer 1/2 jacket 240 SP did well too at 1-3/8" with 47.5g Reloader 7. I didn't..again...get to set up the chronie. I will try to get back to the range Sunday night with the bullet clocker. I may be wrong here but I think H4198 is the powder to use when trying for ultimate speed? Maybe Vuht. wasn't listed in the manuals I was checking but from what I saw it showed H4198 as the fastest for every load. As a side note...anybody know what Hornady stuffs their 265 cartridges with ? At 2335FPS..I don't know if it's H4198. If it is, That's way over max in the loading manuals.

With Re7 and if you are looking for pure accuracy, you might try dropping the load down to about 43 gr and slowly working up. Kinda hard to tell what you after here. You should be able to find sub MOA with H322, Re7 or your H4198 as they are all good powders for the 265 gr Hornady. IMHO. Of course, each rifle is different. ;)

Here is your Vhitavouri Data:

Vihtavuori is a rocket in 444 Marlin.
For 265 grs bullets, go with N120, and for heavier bullets, go with N130.

Hornady 265 gr. FP-N120 43.5 gr.@ 2129 fps - Max=50.5 @ 2415 fps

Dave :cool:

I'm still in the process of working up loads but so far have had very good luck with accuracy with the Mag Tech 240 JFP Midway has a heck of a price on them. The Hornady 265 gr FP has been my mainstay for over 20 years with the 444. I have hammered a bear and more deer than I care to count. But I figure for deer and range shooting those 240 gr Mag Techs are just as fun and cheap to shoot.

//anybody know what Hornady stuffs their 265 cartridges with ? At 2335FPS..I don't know if it's H4198.//

Like VTDW wrote, 50,5 grs N120 give you 2415 fps out of the barrel.
All Vihtavuoris data is from 22 inch barrel.
Vihtavuori use Bar instead of c.u.p or psi when they talk about pressure, and they says that the maxpressure for the 444 Marlin is 3550 Bar.
Non of their listed maxload is over 3300 Bar, so there is an extra 250 Bar to play with, if you dont think that 2415 fps is enough.

I have talked to Vihtavuori about loads for 300 gr. bullet, and they said that they will list loads for 300 gr. bullet next time they uppdate their manual.
In this summer or autumn.

Forgive me my bad spelling, I'am from Sweden, and there is a lot of year since I left the school.

Ok..I picked up some N120 today, I also grabbed a box of Speer 270 GDSP's. Where do you think I should start? The laoding manual list for 265's but nothing heavier.

Ok..I picked up some N120 today, I also grabbed a box of Speer 270 GDSP's. Where do you think I should start? The laoding manual list for 265's but nothing heavier.
I assume you are using the Vihtavuori load data for the 444 Marlin and 265 grain Hornady of 43.5 grains N120 START and 50.5 grains N120 MAXIMUM. Reduce the starting load by 5% and work up carefully watching for signs of excessive pressure or velocity. If you restrict your load to below maximum charge and velocity you should be OK, as the Speer bullet is less than 2% heavier than the 265 grain Hornady and I believe its jacket is softer. I would also try seating them out far enough (approximately 2.6", should still cycle) so the base of the bullet is no deeper than it would be with the 265 grain Hornady seated, crimp with a Lee Factory Crimp Die.

I agree with Jackfish.
Speer's 300 grs bullet has some kind of a "hollowbase", and I wonder, is the base the same on the 270 Gold Dot?
I have never tried that bullet.
Tell us how it works and how your rifle shoot's with that load.