Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Ruger 44 carbine

So I found a ruger 44 carbine. We can hunt straight walled for deer. Any suggestions on factory loads to use in this gun?

I don't own one but all three guys at deer camp that do use Hornady 240 gr. loads with very good results. One switched to their 225 gr. load last Fall but did not shoot a deer.

My BIL owns a 77/44 and all he uses is Winchester white box 240 gr., he's shot 25+ deer with that load it never fails to perform for him.

As a FFL licensed dealer, the Ruger carbine was the very first gun I sold way back in 1978. Early on there were so feed problems with the large exposed lead tips on ammo loaded for revolvers. Federal came out with a product with a longer jacket, labeled for semi-auto use. Guess the other manufactures did the same as I've heard no more about it.

I use the Hornadys as well. No issues. Make sure you give it a good cleaning. Quite a bit of information online as to how to tear it down.
I cant saw I have shot mine tons but out of the few hundred rounds I have shot I have never had a problem. Never shot a deer but it will kill a hog straight out. I am thinking of using mine in Ohio this year and leaving the .444 in the truck. I put a scope on it a few years ago
And its deadly accurate at 50-75 yards which is a long shot where I hunt in
Ohio.

I have a Ruger #3 in 44 mag, not sure if twist rate is the same but it might be. I found HSM 305 gr bear loads are extremely accurate (50 yard cloverleafs) and it just knocks deer over inside of 50 yards.
Two of my 3 stands at our club have max shots inside 50 yards in very thick woods. You might want to try them in the carbine.

My dad's '66 Fingergroove runs Norma 236 gr JHP.........shoots em decent.
Still have a few boxes LOL
Hasn't been shot since I popped a deer with it about 10 yrs ago.

I have shot a bunch of boringly accurate Remington 240 grain JSP or JHP factory loads in my old .44 International over the past 50 years. They aren't fancy, but they work so well that I never felt the need to change.

if you can find any 240gr horxtp loads try them

So the newer version of the 44 carbine was a flop? It didnt seem to last long, the older version is cooler anyway.

I've got an older Marlin lever running .44 Mag, and the plain old Remington 240's have never let us down. Since I got that rifle 5 different people have taken their first deer with it. Never a lost critter, never a miss.

saw one of the older ones today at a gun show, guy was asking $775.00 for it! it looked pretty nice!

Killed my first whitetail using a Ruger .44 mag carbine with a "Texas heart shot". I was shooting factory 240 grain Winchester un-jacketed semi hollow points. The bullet entered right above the base of the deer's tail, traveled lengthwise all of the way through it's body and lodged just beneath the hide of right front shoulder. That shot put it down, a second shot through the heart/lungs finished it off with the second shot being a complete pass through, so no bullet recovered. .

The same year a couple of friends of mine killed deer using lever actions in .44 mag shooting factory Rem. 240grain jacketed full hollow points. Both were heart lung shots and both recovered their bullets. .

The difference between our recovered bullets was the two Rem had expanded fully inside the deer's body without exiting, had fragmented quite a bit and looked like ragged petals on a flower while my un-jacketed Win had expanded about half as much but was still pretty much intact and had 'mushroomed' rather than 'expanded'.

My take was in each case for the distance, conditions and shots taken, each bullet style performed as it was designed to do.

I like the barnes ammo. Giant hollow point and will penetrate deep.

My 44 mag carbine will shot anything I pull out fo the safe. Killed many deer with this gun. Soft point or hollow points shoot fime.

I used the plain old Remington 240 JHP in my first Marlin 1894/44mag, 1975. They kinda wadded up on hogs but never recovered one from deer. I have played with several more 44s through the years, including that updated semi, it shot fine, but the original Deerslayer shot well too I had. I got it for my godson to use (he was 13) but we were after exotics in Nov, Colorado and it was 4 deg there. he had a hard time with the hard trigger pull it had/lightwt rifle, holding it still. So I had him use the 270 BAR. I sold the Deerslayer. It has its place in the swamps/river bottoms, deep woods in lever or semi. Guaranteed big holes, little bloodshot. A 45 Colt does the same in a levergun ( my personal favorite.)

I use Magtech 240gr JSP's. Because they work and are cheap

Find a 240grainer that shoots out of it, and go stack the deer up.

a boringly reliable deer slayer.

-jake

This thread almost makes me want to drag pop's old Fingergroove out again.
While it has a peep, the front bead is huge.
Need to slap a 2-7X Leupold on it.
Have one laying around.
But think it will go on a .35 rem rifle of some sort.