Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Ruger 44 carbine

Well after a long odessy I now am the owner of 2 ruger 44 carbine. Going to use them this fall. Just want to hear from those who hunt with one

You won't have to track far ;-)

they work ! nice find. once saw one with full stock.

this is how I ended up with 2. I bought one for $605 out of Texas. USPS broke stock in shipment and finally honored my insurance claim for $605 and I kept the action. So free gun right! I found a stock but the guy also had a custom stocked 44 carbine he wanted to sell too. So I gave him $700 for the custom stocked gun plus he threw in the second stock. So I put the gun with the broken stock in the new stock. Now I have 2 complete guns all in for $350 apiece.

My wife's uncle has probably killed several truckloads of deer up here in Mn. with the Ruger .44 mag carbine. We hunt in a lot of thick heavy cover. Shots are frequently just a little outside bayonet range, out to 50 yards The gun works great, puts 'em down quick, is light to carry, and swings fast in the thick stuff. I think he has a lowly Tasco 4X on it.

mine was made in 1961 like i was .it is my killing machine. has a burris 1.5 to4.5 scope

I was thinking of putting a 1x4 vortex on one

red dot works good in tight stuff

slduck a buddy gave me that scope .he said it was made in the late 60s/earl 70s an it fit the gun to a tee in looks & use

I have the Ruger #3 in 44 mag with a zeiss conquest 1.2-5 for hunting the thick stuff in N GA. I shoots the HSM 305 gr bearloads very well. You might want to try them.

on my Bucket list!

I’d love to see a modern carbine in 44 mag with a detacheable box magazine.

My father had a Ruger 44 International (full stock), it shot bugholes with Winchester 240 grain ammo. He shot one small buck with it in New York state, it ran about 75 yards. He shot the buck quartering away and the bullet traveled about 18" from the rib cage to the off shoulder and didn't exit. He ended up selling the rifle because he liked his BAR better.

So what are the lubrication requirements for a 44carbine

i use a lite spray of rem oil

i have a real nice 44 mag Ruger carbine I took in trade,this gun was so nice I kept it for my use, but its to nice for me to hunt with. so guys someday I will die might be 20 years maybe less ? but my kids will probably have a heck of a garage sale !

MurrilllWIsco seen a BurntBridge, heard about Thems...

Not sure what that means

I have had one for 10 years or so. It has not jammed yet! With Lil Gun and 240 grain bullets it shoots into 2" groups at 100 yards. You can get 200 grain bullets to 2000fps but it really sends the brass flying making me wonder if the action is being over stressed. I think sticking with 240 grain bullets is the way to go. at 300 fps over handgun velocities out of the rifle barrel they expand very nicely yet still penetrate well. Shot in the chest deer size creatures will often run for a bit then pile up.

Keep it clean! They work flawlessly as long as you clean the action and lube lightly. One uncle I have is HORRIBLE at gun cleaning etc. He hated his cause it always jammed, funny thing was 3 others in the family never failed. We took his, ripped it apart, cleaned it and gave it back. Worked great after that for a few years.

I remember the old add where the 44 Carbine was used on a Mt. Gorilla. That would not go over too well now. I think the 44 is a great Hog rifle but have only shot them at the range.

When I was just a small kid my uncle talked to my dad about a 44 carbine to do northern min deer hunting my dad had a 740 3006. Had it custom stocked and with tipoff. This is the 50s. I don't think he ever shot it. Have a pic of my dad the first year Iowa opened the deer season early fifyts had a scope mounted jc higgins model 20 with the choke tube out. He was ahead of his time

My uncles conversation by the way was the early 70s when the carbine came out

I have a marlin 444 with a 1x4 vortex. Stand rifle. One of the carbine has a peep. Should I go red dot on the other carbine or a low powered scope or iron sights

The Ruger 44 carbine is the Cajun Machine gun. All my buddies in La. have them handy in their boats for hogs and deer.

Stay away from the Hornady Lever Revolution stuff for this caliber. It shoots well but on game performance has sucked. It is the only rifle I haven't loaded for so it is probably my own fault. Only chimed in hoping some might recommend a favorite bullet for you (us)

Pops has a '66 fingergroove.
It shoots 236 gr Norma JHP halfway decent.
Has reg sights and a Williams peep at the back (top mount). Front is big bead,
Those, and the horrible trigger make it a 75 yard gun.
When IN allowed PCR I used it to flip a deer at 65 yards.

oh one thing I wanted to mention too, when I tried some lighter bullets....HOLY COW - at like >30 yds it was like a foot left of center. I am guessing\wondering this might be common shooting pistol bullets in rifles?

It'll shoot other bullet weights, but it was designed by Ruger around the standard, jacketed, full power 240 grain 44 REM MAG load. I put a new scope on mine a few years ago (2-7), good size for a woods lane rifle.

Well since I ended up with 2 guns I thought I would scope one with a 1x4 x24 vortex scope. Use the Williams peep on the other one

I shot both guns I have. What a blast. Got a vortex low power variable coming. The other irons or peep site

I was at the legs last week. Found another pre warning carbine for 450 bucks in the end. Now I got 3. The shop is a regional. Supposed to have gone through the gun. Got it home. The recoil block is stripped as is the block screw. Numrich.has them. Gonna try to get my 30 bucks back on.parts

I recieved a steel one piece picatinney base and mounted a Vortex Diamondback 1.75x5 with quick detach lever Warne rings on one of the 44 Carbines. Cant wait to go shoot this and see what it will do off the bench. Figured it was going to be my tree stand rifle.

One of the odd rifles I’d like to have.

Just posted a question about how those loads do in this rifle on the Hunting rifle forum.

Happy to hear they shoot well. Bummer the terminal performance was poor. What happened?