Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire what about the ruger 44 carbine,any good?

I have a chance to pick up a ruger 44 carbine,pretty reasonable.
Worth having,or no?

Probably depends on what you intend to do with it. Good cartridge with 300 grain bullets in my opinion but my own .44 rifle is a bolt gun.

Yeah, probably.

remember when it first came out and they had the ads with the guy who shot a gorilla with one? can you imagine the screaming if you tried that now?

never owned one, but had a buddy who had one of the old ones and liked it for woods deer in La. They completely redesigned it when it was reintroduced and I've not had any experience with them. always thought they were cool.

I would love to find one of the older ones at a deal!

"I would love to find one of the older ones at a deal!"

Is that the ones with the tube magazine instead of the rotary clip?

Super Fun Gun, Especially when you shoot Jack Rabbits with Hollowpoints.

My Dad has one, handy little close up Deer Gun, (again great for Jacks) and he killed a Mountain Lion with it a few years back. Great Little Carbine IMHO.

Its a fun one to have in the collection.

That would be correct.

I've had two of the old ones. I thought they were great rifles for what they were designed for. I had a 2.5 power scope on the first one and a Williams FP receiver sight on the last.

Less than 100 yards they are good for deer sized animals and I never pushed them to do anything else. I never came across any gorillas while I had it with me so I can't speak to that... Most of the places I hunt deer, 35 to 40 yards would be the normal shot and 100 yards would be a very long shot. I always shot factory jacketed bullets in them and had no problems. The 44mg in a rifle has worked well for me on deer.

It is not a target rifle, but it would do 2.5 to 3 inches at 100 yards without much trouble. That was all I needed.

If I came across one of the old ones in good shape for a fair price I would not hesitate to jump on it.

I got one, then learned that you cannot shoot lead in them, due to the gas port gumming up. Anyone else hear that? No matter, I sold it, 4 round capacity aint enough!

Ive got one and I enjoy it. Im a hound hunter and they work good at bear and mnt lion trees. Mine has lived under the seat of my dog truck for the last ten years and it always goes off when it occasionally gets the call. Not hugely accurate but plenty good for its purpose. I have a 4x Leupold on it and the whole unit works good for kids to shoot, its short and has little recoil. It will darn sure dump a bear outta a tree.

Billy

I bought one 15 years ago. Had it re-blued and mounted a Nikon 1.5x4.5 Monarch in the original Weaver pivot rings (anyone remember those?).

These guns have a 1/38 twist barrel and mine won't stabilize 300 grain bullets past about 50 yards. For a heavy load I use a 270 grain Gold Dot softpoint over 21.5 grains of H110. It's not a target gun, but I know for a fact it'll shoot minute of bear or deer. It's a fun, handy little carbine that I have no intention of letting go of.

Father in Law had one years ago and loved it. he regrets selling it. Shot deer with it at woods ranges.

Everyone should have a 44 carbine. One of the most fun guns I've ever owned.

Brian.

About thirty years ago we had a friend who did a lot of hound hunting. If you had a tag, he would tree a bear for you to shoot.

Then he would put two or three into the skull as the bear hit the ground to make sure it did not hurt his dogs. He carried a nine shot 22 mag revolver.

My Dad and Mr. hound man were out one day, hunting on hound guy's tag. The dogs picked up a scent, but the bear did not tree. Mr. hound man waded into the scrap, and fired five rounds into a mean old skinny boar black bear with no effect, and then the hammer fell on an empty chamber. He had forgotten to do a tactical reload after the last bear encounter.

Well, after a quick retreat while his four dogs fought valiantly with the old bear, the revolver was reloaded and the bear was dispatched with only minimal damage done to the dogs.

The next time we saw Mr. hound man he was carrying a shiny new Ruger 44 mag carbine. I never knew what ammo he used, but I was mightily impressed by an expanded slug we removed from a bear carcass. It was a perfect mushroom and larger than a 25 cent piece in diameter.

It was definitely a DRT machine on black bear.

Its one with a tube magazine.

had one for awhile, very fun gun but i didnt have alot of use for it and sold it to a member here a few years ago......my brother was pissed when he found out.....hadnt realized how much he liked the gun.....

I have a Marlin 44 mag lever gun. I know it is not a ruger, but still a carbine by definition. Shoots oversized cast great and factory jackets OK. Everyone should have a 44 mag carbine of some sort- a hoot to shoot!

Hemi

Had a high school buddy who had one, swore by it!





He used to swap 'woods shooting duties' with a .35Rem M336.

I bought a brand spankin' new one from Fred Baker Firearms in Oklahoma City when I turned 18...that was in '79. It was a cool gun. Well made, solid, functioned well, fun. Sadly, it was stolen from me in Tyler, Texas back in 1990. Wish I had it still.