Not offering much help here, but I'll share some direct experiences:
Marlin 1895 .45-70, ain't quite the same as the .444marlin, but I assume you'll forgive the difference.
Took this buck a few years ago at 250yrds with a Bushnell Elite 3200 3-9x40mm. Hundreds of rounds under that scope, nary a hiccup.
Year later, we swapped that Bushnell over to my wife's .22lr, then strapped her Nikon Buckmaster 4.5-14x40mm on top of the rifle. Again, have a couple hundred rounds through the rifle, zero hasn't slipped, no fuzz, reticle hasn't broken free, no issues. Wasn't anything wrong with that Bushnell other than it was "only" a 3-9x40mm, so it's nice having the extra zoom on this one, and it's sure nice having the turrets for those long pokes.
Rifle only has to shoot as far as you want it. Sometimes it's nice having extra zoom in the scope, even if you'll only ever shoot 100yrds. Whether it's scoping out game at farther distances, or zooming in closer to take the shot, I've never felt "over scoped" with a 9x max or 16x max at 100yrds, as long as they come down the 3x or 4x at the bottom end for faster close work.