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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 15,599
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 15,599 |
Been jones'n for one of these for nigh on 50 years. An old friend owns one, and i hunted with it once. Tried to buy it with no success.
The years it was made i was way too into practical all around rifles to pony up for a new one... My bad...
"Chances Will Be Taken"
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 25,107
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 25,107 |
I like mine quite a bit. Fun to shoot and has been reliable.
Never shot a critter with it though.
“Life is life and fun is fun, but it's all so quiet when the goldfish die.”
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Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 653
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 653 |
I had one. It shot great, carried great and was in great condition. Sold it because I got paranoid about the bottom steel cracking and not being able to be fixed. Dumb move on my part, but oh well.
Dale
The more you know, the less you need.
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 41,560 Likes: 9
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 41,560 Likes: 9 |
I've always wanted one.
DMc
Make Gitmo Great Again!! Who gave the order to stop counting votes in the swing states on the night of November 3/4, 2020?
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 10,379
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 10,379 |
I got a 44 carbine at a gun show for $180. The barrel got Leaded and when I shot a jacketed bullet, the muzzle split like a banana peel. I talked to a guy who collects 44 carbines and he said that was a common failure and there are no barrels available. I got a 20" Marlin 444 micro groove barrel, and cut off the rear of the chamber [thus making a 44 mag chamber] and drilled a gas hole. I took it to the range and shot it. I now have a heavy and accurate 44 carbine.
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. -Ernest Hemingway The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything.-- Edward John Phelps
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 19,504
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 19,504 |
I believe mine is a 1963. I bought it from a former co-worker about 15 years ago. It had been stored in a soft case and had some rust speckling on the steel as well as on the Weaver K-3 it wore. I had the gun re-blued and swapped out the Weaver for a Nikon Monarch 1.5-4X using the same rather unique Weaver pivot mounts. A pic of the pivot mounts.
4 out of 5 Great Lakes prefer Michigan.
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Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 1,385
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 1,385 |
I finally convinced a friend to sell me his. I got sick of seeing it collecting dust in his safe.
Threw a 4x period scope and ran Hornady 240 loads through her and was impressed with its accuracy.
Carried it during a few hunts, but no hair.
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Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 519
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 519 |
rather unique Weaver pivot mounts.
I have 3-4 sets of those exact mounts that came on old rifles purchased over the yrs. People look down at those mounts but I did everything I could swinging off-on & I never could make a set change it's POI !
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Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 2,613
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 2,613 |
Growing up back east, my mentor had one. It was his go to deer rifle. We hunted fairly heavy timber back then and shots were rarely over 100 yards and more often than not under 50 yards. He had a gun cabinet full of nice rifles but I never saw him grab any other rifle for deer hunting. Sounds like we had the same mentor, except he would give me the Ruger and he took the 300 Savage. I stumbled across an ad for one in the CF classifieds a few months ago & couldn't resits grabbing it.
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Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 5,844
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 5,844 |
Growing up back east, my mentor had one. It was his go to deer rifle. We hunted fairly heavy timber back then and shots were rarely over 100 yards and more often than not under 50 yards. He had a gun cabinet full of nice rifles but I never saw him grab any other rifle for deer hunting. Sounds like we had the same mentor, except he would give me the Ruger and he took the 300 Savage. I stumbled across an ad for one in the CF classifieds a few months ago & couldn't resits grabbing it. My mentor always seemed to like that little rifle. Of course he was either still hunting heavily wooded areas or driving to guys who where on stands so his shots were always close. I remember kind of scoffing (to my self) his choice of weapons. I had just bought my first centerfire rifle, a Remington 788 in 6mm, and couldn't grasp how anyone would chose that stumpy little pistol cartridge over a hot rod like the 6mm. I saw the light after seeing his little carbine in action and had wanted one ever since. Found this one last year. That's a 50 yard target. First 5 for a group and the second group of 3 after adjusting the scope for my zero.
Chronographs, bore scopes and pattern boards have broke a lot of hearts.
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 3,225
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 3,225 |
In 1968 our house burned to the ground and we lost everything except the clothes on our backs. When the insurance check arrived (which, by the way, was not nearly enough to cover the loss) my father went to a local gun shop and bought replacement guns for the family (bought guns before he bought clothes or a place to live.....my father had his priorities straight!).
At that time, in East Texas, deer hunting was done with packs of dogs in really thick brush. The preferred weapon was a double barrel shotgun and buckshot, but even in those early days he knew the limitations of buckshot and when he saw an early Ruger carbine in .44 magnum on the rack....it seemed "perfect".
A heavy bullet in a short, lightweight rifle that would kill anything within 150 yards was exactly what was needed. No one in our group of friends/family/hunting partners had ever seen such a gun......so it was a bit of an oddity/novelty gun. Over the next decade or so this little gun became a "legend" in our neck of the woods. Used by my father, me as I got older, and my mother (her first deer rifle) and various family members, this little carbine killed over a hundred deer and hogs.....mostly one shot kills and an amazing ability to hit hard and "stop" animals in their tracks.
I still have a Ruger carbine in the gun room and more times than not it is the gun I reach for when I "know" the distances will be close and the brush thick. Maybe luck, maybe ability.....but my Ruger carbines have all shot 1" or so groups at 50 yards (the longest distances I've cared to test them). I've tried heavier bullets (and they worked well) but then I think...."WHY???". A 240 grain bullet shoots through any deer/hog at 50 yards or so and kills like a lightning bolt.
Maybe "legend" or maybe not but if there is a better short-range killing machine than the Ruger carbine and the .44 Magnum cartridge I haven't found it. The .45-70 in a short lever rifle comes close.....but it is much heavier and less "handy". In 1968....by mistake or by intuition.....my fathrer got it right.
I hate change, it's never for the better.... Grumpy Old Men The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know
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Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 21,694
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 21,694 |
Cool post, Rick. Thanks for taking the time to type that one up.
"The number one problem with America is, a whole lot of people need shot, and nobody is shooting them." -Master Chief Hershel Davis
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Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,976
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,976 |
I had two of the older guns. With jacketed bullets, these guns are reasonably accurate 100 yard deer guns. My preference for the .44 Magnum is cast bullets. Did a lot of experimenting; neither gun shot cast well, but gas port blockage was never a problem. A 250 grain cast semi-wadcutter had to be seated deeply to feed through the Ruger magazine.
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Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 1,505
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 1,505 |
My father had one in a Mannlicher stock, it shot lights out with little or no kick. I still can't believe he sold it!
Last edited by GSP814; 08/18/13.
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