Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Mule Deer Ruger .44 Carbine

They were a dime a dozen 30 years ago in Maine. Except for one all that were owned by friends were terribly inaccurate and many developed cracks in the wood. They never appealed to me then or now especially for the price they're selling for these days!

The Ruger 44 Carbine is a rifle that I've always wanted but at the same time I've avoided them. For some of the hunting I do I think they would be absolutely perfect. What concerns me is the problems that I've heard of with the trigger assembly that leave a rifle completely inoperable and very difficult to fix. Are these problems fairly common or is it an overblown situation? I'd like to get one but I don't want to end up with an expensive paperweight.

Yep, I know that about West Virginia--which is exceptional in many ways.

The one time I hunted deer there, it was with my friend and fellow writer Richard Mann, and his family. They have a "deer camp", an older farmhouse on some acreage in the northern part of the state, in the middle of mixed private and public land. They invited me and Eileen to hunt there several years ago, and after Richard took me out the first day to show me the lay of the land, I started hunting on my own.

Eventually decided sit on the edge of a thicket on the ridge above the house, early in the morning, when deer would be returning to bed in the thicket. Sat at the base of a tree, with sun rising behind me--which helped illuminate the factory open sights on my Marlin 336 .35 Remington. Pretty soon two antlerless deer came walking right toward me, and I shot the bigger one at around 50 yards. (Eileen got a spike buck later in the hunt, very near the end of shooting light.)

That and other adventures, both in West Virginia and other states, have convinced me that if I ever had to live east of the Mississippi River, WV would be at the head of the list....

Shaman inherited one IIRC, and it broke something irreplaceable, becoming a hanger.

Well John. I read through that post 2 times and I have to admit I can't see anything I'd disagree with.

And I am not advocating giving up scopes on rifles at all. I am only pointing put that the use of a scope is thought of as a necessity by many today and my experience has show me it's a nice luxury more than a necessity.
Being able to hunt for many weeks and even a few months every year probably gives me a sense of confidence that I can get "another crack at another animal" and that's not so for many other hunters. So I simply feel more confidant and relaxed in going afield with an old fashioned rifle or even a handguns with irons only. So I believe my point has some validity, but the converse is that most hunters are far more limited in their hunting time time, so I am sure most feel gaining any advantage they can get is worth the gear and expense.

Overall I have to agree with your prospective however,

In my opinion mathman's response probably has a lot to do with it: The caliber options for the ubiquitous AR-15 has hurt the popularity & commercial viability of some other options. When I was looking for a semi-auto to hunt hogs with, I got a Wilson Combat in 300 HAM'R. You can see the caliber options that company offers below. The first deer I took this last fall was with a 44 Magnum. But that came out of a Browning 1885 single-shot falling-block during primitive season. Dropped the deer in its tracks so spectacular results. But I don't regret my AR purchase because it's a lot of fun to shoot with lots of accessories.

Yup.

Even the bargain-priced Tupperware®️ rifles (not so cheap anymore) have a hard time competing against cheap uppers that ship direct to your house, no paperwork required. I just got started in November and already have two lowers and three uppers. Cheap and easy fun…

I often use a Marlin 1894 44Mag P for hunting the swamp behind my house where 50 yards is a long shot . I have a Weaver Grand Slam 1.5 -4 with the German # 4 lit Reticle . Super fast for running deer . This little carbine has a ported 16 1/2" barrel . Tits for close range .

I have a M92 chambered in 454 Casul.

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if a new version would sell very well - just look at the number of new lever guns that are being manufactured and sold. Whether that's worth it for someone to go through the manufacturing process is another story.


One thing Darrick (shortactionsmoker here on the Fire) mentioned several years back was the huge demand for NEW classic styled rifles. Lots of folks (including many young folks) apparently came into the shop wanting to purchase a wood/blued whatever, but most of what was on the shelf was plastic/cerakote.

John, may I ask how you know this?

Pistol caliber carbines are hot right now.

Also, Ruger seems to have mostly gone into the cheap/volume market, so they might not be a great indicator of what people want. Cough cough new Ruger #1s.

Back when IMI introduced the Timberwolf pump action in 357. I was convinced that I would have one once funds allowed. It never happened.
While we are wishin' could someone being back the Timberwolf?

I wonder how much a manufacturer would have to sell one for to make a profit. The little 77/44s are inexplicably high priced. Twice as much as many of the entry level rifles that are better built.

I don't KNOW this for certain, but my answer was based on some knowledge of the industry.

Here's some background info on both the original Ruger .44 carbine, and the second generation Deerfield model:

The Deerfield Carbine replaced the earlier Ruger Model 44 Deerstalker rifle first produced in 1961 and dropped from the Ruger lineup in 1985 due to high production cost.[2][4] The Deerfield is a brand new design and has little in common with the Model 44. While the Model 44 featured a solid-topped receiver, the modern Deerfield Carbine has an open-top design more resembling the M1 Carbine,[5] which is stronger and easier to make.[3] The Deerfield also uses a rotary magazine similar to that used on Ruger's .22 LR 10/22 rifle,[5] whereas the Model 44 was fed via a fixed 4-shot tubular magazine.[6]

This is from Wikipedia, but the info is well annotated as to source.

Will add that the Deerfield lasted from 2000 to 2006. Total production of both versions was far less than Ruger No. 1s--which are still being made in special runs, even though the price is pretty high.

But do know for sure that the reason Savage decided not to start producing 99s again around 2000 was that the price of the tooling wouldn't allow them to compete with the two million 99's already in existence. In fact, if I recall correctly, that was stated in the final company press release on the subject.

Also know personally, due to plenty of info from various Leupold folks, that the reason they don't make smaller fixed-power scopes anymore is there's almost zero demand for new ones--partly because there are a bunch already out there. (Which is also why they recently discontinued the 2.5x20.)

Will also note that many new "handgun round" carbines are not autoloaders but lever-actions, which does seem to be a pretty strong trend.

Maybe one of the non-USA manufacturers could produce a clone of the .44 Ruger at an "affordable" price.....

As you previously state, about fixed power Leupolds. You said something along the lines as there are a lot on the used market.

When you Leupold 6x36 [bleep] the bed and you send it in, what do they do? Send you a 4-40x50mm 30mm tube 47 ounce scope?

Don't know, as I've yet to have an M8 6x--whether compact, x36 or x42--[bleep] the bed....

But would hazard a guess that they'd offer to replace it with on of their variables with an upper magnification of at least 6x.

Mule Deer;
Good evening John, I hope that spring is behaving for you all and that you and Eileen are well.

Thanks for the report on the fixed 6X Leupold scopes, that's good to know.

At our last local gun show I picked up a 6x42 from the late '80's for $150CDN which I thought was at least $100 low.

It was for a buddy who wanted one for a project rifle he's working on.

He must have got tired of me telling him I'd not touched the 6x42 on my .308 Norma for something like at least a dozen seasons now.

Thanks for the other insights into the industry as always too.

All the best to you both as we head into "serious" gardening season.

Dwayne

Those carbines were often seen in upstate NY when I was a young lad in 70's.

One of my grandfathers hunted with one. I don't think he ever shot a deer with it that was more than 50 yards away from him.

I still have that gun.

My other grandfather called them "Double 22's".

Which isn't a 6x, which is akin to them replacing your wife with a dude.