My experience with the .444 is mostly on deer and hogs. With the lightweight 240 grain bullets a pass through is rare except where only rib bones are struck (in and out). They just expand too fast and tend to destroy a lot of meat.
The 265 grain bullets are a definite improvement with pass throughs on deer quite common. On larger hogs (250 pounds and up) however they still are sometimes lacking in penetration. They kill well, but don't always exit. I would expect similar performance on bears.
For me, the heavier 300+ grain bullets are just the ticket. Almost always get a full pass through. I've always thought that the .444 should have been loaded with a bullet of 350 grains or so. This would put it into the same class as the .45-70. With lighter bullets it just can't keep up with the .45-70 on heavier game.
As far as trajectory, the Marlin rifles are very strong (as can be seen by some of the .45-70 loadings). It is no real problem to push a 300 grain bullet to 1600-1700 fps in the .444. That gives a good trjectory out to 250 yards or so (a bit more if you practice)and still have enough bullet speed to kill cleanly. Maximum loads will push the 300+ grain bullets to over 2100 fps.....a true "killer" loading and flat out to 300 yards.
The downside is that the recoil is a bit brisk with the Marlin stock design. It's not intollerable, but definitely more than the lighter bullet loads. That's the price you pay for performance.....there ain't no free lunch!
Last edited by TexasRick; 05/11/14.
