IMO, you need to make a gun stock fit you, and not the other way around. They do this with Perazzi shotguns that cost as much as 500 or 600 or so Marlin 444's. Again IMO, a Marlin 444 is not ever going to be worth enough to not justify forming it to your body. This will lead to less shooter fatigue, better accuracy, and will probably drop the resale down some too, oh well.
Figure out your length of pull by going to a gunsmith and using some of the guns he has set up for this purpose. Then you can fine tune your particular gun so that with either iron or scope sights your eye comes in perfect alignment on target when the gun is snapped to your shoulder. You can do this yourself too, but might be better to take it in and have them set it up for you. Might as well get the cheek weld done too. Have a decent butt pad fitted at this time.
I added butt pads to all of mine, and took off about an inch of wood apiece, they are right under 14 inches now...but set up for me.
Take care!
