Anyone still using one of these for hunting? I was gifted with one last week, it was made in 1977. I downloaded the Ruger manual; learned that there are two versions (early and late), mine is late, don't know the difference. Any tips for loads, etc. Thanks, Odessa

There are a couple of spots on the farm I hunt where a Ruger 44 carbine would be the cats a$$.

My grandfather had one for a while when I was a kid, but he traded it for something else before I got a chance to hunt with it.

I'd likely try to put together some cartridges with the 270 grain Speer, zero and prepare to have fun.

Good luck with your rifle!

agree on you getting a great rifle. One is on my bucket list for some places I hunt.

A friend was given one upon his retirement. Never really used it much because he always hunted with his .308, and he just did not warm up to it using pistol loads. But it handled very well and accuracy was pretty decent.

But he was going on a hog hunt in Johnston county and decided to try it for grins and giggles. Since I load his .308 rounds he wanted me to try and come up with a better load for it. I had been shooting the Hornady Lever Revolution stuff in my .45-70 and decided just to try a box of the flex tip .44 mags to see what they would do.

Long story short, it shot superbly with it and he rolled two hogs at 80 and 110 yards. One shot each. He still uses the .308 mostly but if headed to a stand where he knows his shots are limited he will take the Ruger Carbine.

Any tips for loads

As with any tube mag rifle, but especially 44s, you need a good solid crimp to keep the cartridge from shrinking

H110, 240 g XTP

I have one. Great little rifle. We keep it in the camper for discouraging intruders. I keep it stoked with the Hornady 265 grain bullets over 21.5 grains of H110.

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.

No cast bullets. From what I'm told they don't like them. The lube tends to gunk up the gas system. I haven't put that to the test and don't intend to. I love cast bullets but I'm fine with running only jacketed bullets in this rifle.

I tried 2400 and IMR4227 but got the best accuracy with H110.

Mart

The rifle was designed for 240 gr. jacketed bullets.

Others may work, however they will damage the operating system eventually.

I have used mine for 30+ years for Alabama whitetails and it is very effective within 100-125 yards. I have never had any cycling issues as long as I use full power loads. The gun was designed around a 240 grain bullet, so that's what I have always used. Never lost a deer with it and most go down quickly. Currently I am using Hornady 240 xtp factory loads which the gun will hold to a 2-1/4 group @ 100 yards if I do my part. This load is effective but sometimes I don't get an exit wound. When I reloaded I used Speer soft points and always got 2 holes. You will have fun hunting with the 44, it's just like a 10/22 on steroids.

JMSharp

These rifles have a fairly slow twist of 1-38" and I've had problems with longer bullets such as the 300 gr XTP not staying stable past about 50 yards. I'm pretty happy using a good bullet from 240 grs up to the Speer 270 gr Gold Dot soft point over 21.5 grains of H110.

My example of this carbine is an early one. Accuracy is a bit erratic, but is still minute of ribcage out to 100 yds.

Basic instructions for a lifetime of good service are, keep the action reasonably clean and lightly lubed, avoid cast bullets that can clog the gas port and enjoy.

Thank you very much gentlemen! I have a decent supply of the Hornady XTP and the Nosler JKT/FP in 240 grains - and some H110 - looks like I'm in business.

I just got one. My first two groups after sighting in. 265 Hornadys with H110 on the left 240 XTP and 2400 on right. Shot at 35 yards. Really fun rifle.

I must be unlucky, because I have owned 3 of them over the years and none of them would reliably function. If you get a good one, cherish it.

The 3 I owned were so unreliable that I stopped monkeying around with them.

That is what I have heard as well. I went with the Marlin 1894S lever .44 mag carbine, and use the Speer 270 grain Gold Dot Sp, over WW296 poweder.
Simply deadly on hogs, and works very well on Florida and Georgia deer as well.

I have owned four or five of the 44 Rugers and they are great rifles in the woods, but never really got attached to them due to the limited range when i had other rifles that covered the short and longer range of shooting deer.

One of my first CF rifles is a 1967 vintage 44 International. It has been very reliable, but the Ruger 44 Carbines were well known for their failure to cycle reliably and for "stovepiping" while you were cycling the ammo through the action while unloading them. I haven't shot it a lot, maybe five hundred rounds in forty-two years, and can't recall ever shooting anything through it except 240 grain JSP/JHP factory ammo.

I specifically remember my Father and Bearrr264's Father hunted with Ruger 44 Carbines for a couple of years during the 1960s. I have a picture of them posing with two large northern NH whitetail bucks loaded on the roof of my Father's Jeep Super Wagoneer that is noted "Colebrook-1967" and a picture of them posing with two more big whitetail bucks on a trailer behind an old I-H Scout that is noted "Dummer-1969"

If you ever need work on a Ruger 44 Carbine, the guys who really know how solve your problem(s) can be found across the street from Ruger's Pinetree Castings plant at Rody's Gun Shop in Newport/Guild, NH.

603-863-3356

The 44 carbine was made from 1961 to 1985. It has a 4-round tube mag. In 2000 they started making a 44 Deerfield that had a box mag & resembled a mini 14.

As mentioned the 44 carbine was designed around a 240gr jacketed bullet but I suspect sensible reloaders could tinker with that a bit. Lead bullets will clog the gas port, but it is fairly easy to take apart & clean. IMO a modern dry lube type cleaner like Prolix is the cat's meow for this gun.

Mine doesn't like some types of ammo. I shot some 240gr JSP's from PMC out of it & it shot all over the place. I have had flawless results with these:

http://www.doubletapammo.com/php/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21_35&products_id=117

Below target is from 2-weeks ago - the first 3 shots my 14yo daughter ever shot from a centerfire rifle - 1963 Ruger 44 carbine @ 50 yards:

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I use the 270 gr Speer in mine without issue. I believe it and the discontinued 250 gr Partition (which I have a stockpile of) are the two finest bullets for the little carbine. Use the Williams WRGS on mine with a taller gold bear front Marbles. Had a 1-4X Leupold but the rifle just lost its handiness.

Ran into a guy checking a huge 10-point at a local market several years back.

Asked what he used and he pulled a Ruger .44 Carbine with a Low power variable outta the cab of his Chevy pickup.

Said he'd zeroed it 25 years earlier w Federal 180 JHPs and had killed more than 3 dozen bucks with it in his thick and tangled hunting area.

One shot each, every one a rag doll in its tracks drop w heart-lung shots.

I believed him, but it's an itch I've still not scratched.

Like to find one in good shape and grab it; that baboon gorilla ad tickled hell outta me when I was a kid...wanted to shut Lancelot Link up permanently.

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...

I like mine quite a bit. Fun to shoot and has been reliable.

Never shot a critter with it though.

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

I've always wanted one.

DMc

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.

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.

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.

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 !

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.

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.

Cool post, Rick. Thanks for taking the time to type that one up.

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.

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!