Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Ruger Carbine .44 Magnum-Worth and Uses?

I have always had a desire for a Ruger Carbine .44 mag. Not a strong desire, because I have not even done much research, but just a thought in the back of my mind that they would be really neat.

My local gun shop has one that looks pretty old. The serial number is 5 digit, starting with 68. The rifle has an old wide angle weaver that has probably been on there its whole life. The gun shop has a tag of $611 on it, which seems a bit high.

I have two questions, first of all, what is a rifle like this worth? It had normal wear and tear for an old rifle. I did not have a chance to look at the bore, etc.

Second of all, what are the main uses for a rifle like this. When I think about the price of a box of 50 .44 mag rounds, its pricey to plink with. Seems it would be a good camp gun, a decent defense option (a shotgun is better for both of these items) and a short range deer gun. It could be fun to just let ride in the gun racks of a 4 wheeler or pick up when on small adventures. What does the campfire crew use them for?

I had a Ruger 44 & a Marlin 44.

The Ruger went away , the Marlin stayed , easier to keep up with the brass from the Marlin.


Mike

I have a Ruger .44 carbine with a walnut stock and a 4 digit serial number. I paid $70.00 for it used in great shape (1968, home on leave from the Navy.) I killed the biggest rack I ever shot, a calendar picture perfect ten point WT. I only got that deer and another buck I shot with it because the carbine handled so fast and shot where I was looking when it came up to my shoulder. I also killed the biggest bodied deer I ever killed with it, and eight point that weighed 208 pounds dressed, after hanging five days. It likes 240 grain XTP's over 23 grains of H-110. They are too slow twisted to handle heavy .44 bullets. I really like mine. I can recall, as a kid in the early '60's Ruger ran adds for them with a guy next to a gorilla he'd shot. Love to see those ads run today.

The older ones in good shape bring a premium price.Take a look on GB once.

They are neat. I actually like all of the .44 carbines that ruger has done. There's been the auto, the "deerfield" auto, a lever, and the current 77/44. The original autos have been $600 for used shooters for a long time now, goes up from there for pristine examples.

They are all basically 100 yd and under carbines, maybe 125. If you play with em long enough, and read up on others experiences, you'll find that they aren't ON THE WHOLE the most accurate things ever invented (I realize there are exceptions before I hurt anyone's feelings with that statement). not as big a deal if you're only shooting 100 yds, but I wouldn't have my heart set on "MOA" performance out of one.

My current example is a 77/44. you'll read varying accuracy reports on these, too. A lot of ppl blame the 2 piece bolt for accuracy issues, but I notice on this new example I have that they have significantly tightened up the interface on the 2 piece bolt. Interested to see how it does.

To answer this question, they make hella good short range deer rifles. A 240 g XTP flying ashtray makes a big hole through both sides of the deer I've shot with it.

Second, I handload the .44 mag, which makes it cheap for me to operate. compared to centerfire rifle rounds, it is miserly on powder, noise, and recoil. And the carbines are light and short ... real easy to tote.

As a kid, I shot my uncle's .44 Ruger carbine quite a bit back in the late 60's and early 70's. It was accurate enough for our fun shooting. I don't know if you are supposed to, but we shot a lot of the old factory SWC lead bullets through it. It made for a great short range deer and hog gun.

I bought mine in 1976. I was told Ruger made only 100 of the one I bought. On the chamber it is stamped "Manufactured In The 200th year of American Liberty" as a By Centennial Model. I used it one season shot a 6 pointer and put it away. Never saw another one like it.

Bought mine in the early 60's and have taken deer and a lot of hogs with it. Great handy rifle. I still use mine if I am hunting in the tight cover areas. Rick.

$650.00 is probably not unreasonable for one in good shape these days.

Usefulness depends on your hunting style and terrain. It's definitely not a long range tack driver, but if you�re humping through thick, steep terrain where shots past 50 are rare and 100 is impossible, it's hard to beat this carbine IMO. A 3-point tactical sling is an especially handy accessory if you move around a lot and for carrying on the ATV.

Bought mine in 1982 and used it to hunt deer in Louisiana where we had less than 75 yards shots. Very little recoil so I have used it for younger kids that were afraid of recoil. Then we move them up from there. The $600 range for a well kept one seems reasonable.

My son David took this boar on the Campfire Boar Hunt with the Ruger 44 Carbine and the Hornady XTP

I have not followed pricing. I also had a '76 model, rigged with a Weaver 3X and their swing over mount. Purpose was for deer and hogs in the southeast Texas swamps. I sighted it in a little high at 50 where it cut about an inch or a little less with factory loads.

This was an invited hunt and a couple of funerals whipped it out, so I sold or traded the carbine for something more useful to me. Bottom line, I liked everything except the gut slick butt plate.

[quote=cra1948 I also killed the biggest bodied deer I ever killed with it, and eight point that weighed 208 pounds dressed, after hanging five days. [/quote]


Forgot to mention that I shot that deer at 200 yards. Years back, there was an article, probably in Rifle and maybe by Ken Waters, about accurizing the Ruger .44 carbine. I followed the instructions as far as glass bedding the gas block. The other big accuracy problem comes from wood shrinkage loosening up the screw that runs through the buttstock (like a lot of shotguns." Take care of those two items and, IME, you will be amazed at the improvement in accuracy.

Wanted one for home defense for a long time now.

Get it OP! I passed on one in good shape for $400 just after Sandy Hook cuz I wanted other things at the time. Hate myself.

Met a guy four deer seasons ago w massive 10-ptr. In truck bed. Said he'd killed truckloads of bucks w his .44 Ruger for more than a quarter century using Fed 180. JHPS. Said Most went straight down.
Ruger .44 Gorilla Ad

Don't remember how long I've had mine but it has been a while. I usually carry my Marlin when hunting but love to shoot this out to about 100 yds. In the woods around here that is a long way. Very handy in a deer stand or tight woods. As long as you shoot jacketed bullets mine functions great and will shoot 2 inches at 100. Not quite as good as my Marlin but if you miss a deer it won't be the guns fault.

I purchased one from Cabela's for $499, used, very good condition. It averages about 2 inches @ 50yds and 4 inches @ 100 yds. Fit, finish, and functioning are good. The only complaint I have is that I can't load the Hornady Leverevolution 225 gn FTX into the magazine because the ogive won't allow it. Other than that, I think it is a fine little carbine.

I picked one up at a gun show a couple of years ago, like new with a 1-4X Leupold for $550. Luckily I was one of the first guys in the door that morning. There was a guy behind me ready with the cash if I didn't take it.

They are a great little rifle. In parts of the east they have almost a cult following. The old guy that taught me to deer hunt had a gun cabinet full of nice guns but almost always grabbed the little Ruger when he went out. For the still hunting he did in the Adirondacks it was the perfect gun for him.

Mart

family has owned 3 of them over the years...never a feeding issue with any of them

we ran nothing but the old 240 hornadys in them


great little rifle out to around 100 yards.

0.9" 3 shot group 100 yards

In 2000 I paid $180 for this 1962 Ruger.
Then I blew up the muzzle with Lead fouling.
I could not find a new barrel.
Then I saw Marlin 444 micro groove barrels, new old stock at Numrich for cheap.
I realized that if I cut the rear off the chamber, the part that was left was close enough to a 44 mag chamber.

So cut off some breech, drill a gas hole, and voila, I have the world's heaviest and most accurate 44 carbine.

I no longer shoot cast bullets in it. Now it is a steady diet of 240 gr JHP 24 gr H110 and a mean roll crimp.

I am old enough to remember the magazine article when this rifle came out. It said that the carbine could take high velocity ammo, but the revolver could not. They are doing just fine with the same handloads now.

The newer model "Deerfield" has a faster twist and shoots a little better, or so I'm told. I have a Deerfield and love it. It's at worst a 2" gun at 100 yds with 240gr XTPs

I've had two of the older model; one purchased new and one used. Others have already covered major aspects of these guns, but I'll add that they shoot cast bullets about as accurately as they do jacketed ones. Other sources commonly mention that cast bullet shooting fouls the gas port in the Ruger carbine, but I never had such a problem. The drawback to cast bullet use is that the heavier bullets of 240 grains and upward, depending on bullet design and length, must be seated quite deeply to feed properly in the Ruger.

Haven't seen one for less than $600 for years. Cute rifle, but too limited for me, and there are a lot of other rifles for which I'd rather spend $600. The neighbor lady has used one for many years and still does. My wife thought she wanted one years ago before she learned about the range limitation. A 44 mag handgun kills game handily, but if I'm going to carry a rifle, I want something with a little more reach (like a 7x57 ).

Yes, BigRed,
In 2000 when I got mine, the typical price was $400, but they were all nice ones. My $180 shooter had a scratched up stock and had been drilled by bubba for a rear peep sight.

$400 was a lot of mula in 2000 for a rifle that could barely hunt.

Back then $400 would fetch a Ruger #1, which is an excellent hunter.