Having a Marlin 444 since 1981....
I can tell ya this for fact and experience. he's wasting his time.. Don't know what he is trying to accomplish, but I can tell you ANY bullet for the 444 is so lacking in any aerodynamics, they are like shooting a ping pong ball, attached to a parachute....
Factory loads with a 240 grain, have a max point blank range or about 175 yds and that is with a full load of recoil to it, and a 240 grain bullet., MV at about 2400 fps
I do handloads using SR 4759, at about 1850 fps MV....I have HALF the recoil of factory load, using the 240 grain Bullet, and my max point blank range is 165 yds..... so I give up 10 yds of point blank range, before I have to start using Kentucky Windage....and the lower velocity gives better and deeper penetration, and a whole lot less of blood shot meat than the Remington Factory loads give....
These bullets are designed for the 44 Rem mag originally, and pushed as fast as 2400 fps, they come apart when they hit something at the higher velocity...
at 2900, wouldn't surprise me that you had the entire front of the deer blood shot
For those interested, you can use load data for a 44 Rem Mag pistol in a 444 Marlin case.... and it will yield pretty much the same velocity as a 44 Mag in a Marlin Lever action for that caliber.
I've taken a couple of deer in the yard over the years, with the 444 using a 210 gr XTP, with like 10 to 12 grains of Unique.... a decent 75 yd load and the recoil was almost ZERO, and that XTP dropped them on the spot....bullet was running about 1000 fps out of the muzzle...
