I ended up with 3 of these. Been hunting bottomland whitetail. Handy and fun rifle. Never going back to slugs gun.

I thought about using mine in Ohio this year but ended up using my 444 Marlin.

I have a scoped 444 also for sitting stand hunting. What I like about the 44 carbines is the weight and length They are just handy. Shot a buck in the blow downs in the river bottoms. I have one set up with the factory peep sights. I just wish there was a front sight available that is like a Williams Fire sight that is tall enough to use with peeps. The brass thin front sight is a little hard to pick up against a background that is the same color.

I have a bolt action Ruger 77 that I really like. Light to carry, handles nice and shoots well.

My neighbor walked over while I was checking the zero on my rifles earlier in the fall. I told him to go grab his rifle as I have a little rifle range set up on my farm. He brought over an older Ruger 44 Carbine. I'm gonna guess it was maybe a 60's or 70's vintage rifle? He had an old steel Weaver on top. He let me put a few rounds through it. It was an easy rifle to shoot, fairly accurate, and I'll bet it would be a delight to tote through the woods. A neat little gun. Problem is, now I've been checking prices on Gunbroker. I wouldn't mind having one.

I too, have a couple of them that don't get used as much as I should. They are a joy to shoot and fairly accurate with iron sights. The one I shoot will group 2- 3 inches at 100 yards off a bench.

I bought mine from a buddy's Dad who is getting too old and fragile to hunt. It was made in 1967 and is in excellent condition. Wanted one since I was young and finally own one. I love it. Looks like a 10/22 until you looks at the business end!

Ron

This is my RUGER model 96 which is currently out of production but a well designed carbine for hunting where distances rarely exceed 100 yards or so. 100 yard accuracy with Hornady ammo is outstanding! 44 MAG is a keeper!

Sherwood

I have one with the finger groove sporter stock. It was one of my dad's guns. I love that little thing. They're pretty hard to find with that stock.

Sherwood, I have a Browning B92 I love that shot those lever revolutions well but I did not like the on game performance. Too me it seemed like they didn't expand at all. It is the only rifle I don't load for and have switched to Hornady factory hollow points in 240 grain. I was absolutely floored by how wildly the groups opened up when I tried going to lighter bullets. Anyone else find this the case with your 44 mag?

I’ve got one of the original.44 carbines....walnut stock, 4 digit serial number. Bought it while home on leave in ‘68.

Pops has a minty sporter (also called fingergroove). 1966
I popped a deer with it when IN first allowed PCR,
Neat gun.

I have one with a 3 digit sn made in 1961 like me it an a marlin 30/30 made the same year are my favorite guns

Hunting with small group. This is some river bottom ground that has corn fields. Yard to explain but the bottoms are thick. Had 8 come across a small field. Entered my blow down timber. Big doe ran within 50 yards and dumped her lung shot with 240 xtp factory hornady. Cartwheeled. 44 carbine with peeps. I'm loving this rifle

I've had a 44 International for the past 50 years. It does the job as long as the ranges aren't too long.

I picked up a 77/44 a couple of years ago, and did some more serious testing during deer season this year to find out what it shot well...and what sucked.

i had been loading 21gr Ramshot Enforcer with the Hornady 240XTP for my S&W 629 Hunter, which shot well...that load in my 77/44 averaged 1685fps, and at 75 yards would group 5 shots into about 1.5" usually.

Then i tested some lightweight R-P factory 180gr JSP loads; had 200 rounds that i had traded into years ago.... those were pretty zippy & chronoed at 2137fps average from my 77/44...but groups ran 5-6" at 75 yards...had hoped those would fare better, since i got a bunch of them, but for that rifle, they were a no-go...

Once I was hunting with a group doing deer drives and when I pulled out my Ruger semi auto one of the guys went nuts accusing me of using a .22lr. When I showed him it was a .44 he was flabbergasted.

I've used nothing but white box Winchester 240 grain soft points. The first ammo I tried was acceptable for my purposes, so I've stuck with it.

I've only shot one deer with mine, a decent 8pt buck, 120" or so shot at 40 yards, and he ran about 40 yards. Within 100 yards it is the equal of a 30-30, imo.

When I was younger I had only heard people talk about the .44 carbine, and bought the first one I laid eyes on about 15 years ago for $400. Zero buyers remorse, and my wife loves shooting the thing.

I had one of the Ruger 77/44s and could not get decent accuracy out of it. Ruger replaced it three times. That was enough for me to swear off of that model. I do have a Rossi lever action in 44 Mag. Great little gun, but the sights are terrible. I have replaced the front sight with a Skinner and have a Skinner aperture sight under the tree for Christmas from my wife. These will go to the gun smith for mounting right after the holidays. This will be my constant companion when hunting the thickets for hogs and late season deer (assuming I can get the aperture mounted in time).

Frankly, I do like the lever action better than the bolt for the 44 mag. and the type of hunting I do with it. I would love to have one of those older Ruger carbines. The ones I was around when I was a kid were not particularly accurate, but certainly accurate enough to put venison on the table. Could not get that kind of confidence in the new Ruger bolt action.

i had a stainless/synthetic 77/44 that was one of the handiest, dandiest carbines ive ever laid eyes on or used. trigger sucked, of course. only problem was that it shot patterns, even at 50 yds. i couldnt figure out why or how it was spraying bullets seemingly at random. also, with my full-house 240 xtp reloads, the recoil was surprisingly disconcerting. i also had a ruger merican predator .308 (18” barrel) at the time. the predator was similarly sized, recoiled less, better trigger, had far superior ballistics, and shot tidy 1” groups at 100. thats when the 77/44 got traded ...

Funny. I have 3 44 carbines and all shoot. One gun us the factory peep set up. Shoots the middle out of the black ring at 60 yards. One us scoped and does the same at 100 yards

A .44 Magnum kills a deer way out of proportion to what the paper ballistics say that it should within its range. That said you can kill a close deer with a cartridge that shoots far, but you can't kill a far deer with a cartridge that shoots close. My buddy showed up with a .44 carbine one deer season and I still remember the look on his face when we posted him over looking a couple hundred wide opening. The next year he showed up with a Browning semi-auto in .300 WSM.

Well all I can say after u have been hunting in a slug state we tend to get close. I'm from the nw corner of the state and wide open plains. Stupid gun rules. Not like it is populated up there

I think the .44 Ruger carbine is at or near the top firearm people beg daily for Ruger to bring back. At the $800 price tag used, I just can't do it. There was a very nice one sold on here a month ago.

I have been killing deer and hogs with a Marlin 1894S since 1993. The rifle was the first present my new wife gave me. The only load I have ever used is the Speer Gold Dot SP 270 grain. I load my own with H110 powder. 1600+ FPS, and 1 1/2 inch groups at 100 yards. Clover leafs at 50 yards. I hunt north FL swamps and palmetto thickets. The .44 Mag is ideal.

I remember growing up and my dads hunting buddy had a Ruger 44 Mag carbine. It seemed miserably inaccurate. He bought a Remington M 700 7mm Rem Mag that seemed miserably inaccurate as well until my dad shot it. Thinking he sold that inaccurate 44carbine to someone who was very pleased with the deal they got.

I have joined the ranks of Ruger 44 Mag Carbine owners. I brought home mine from the widow of my best friend last night. My sons and I were over picking up our choices from his inventory last night. Big Bob died over the winter. His nephew got the lever carbine. I got his semi. I doubt the thing has been fired since the Johnson administration.

I read this thread eagerly back last fall and had no idea I'd be owning one before Memorial Day. Funny how things happen. My memories of this particular rifle are scant. It was just something Bob kept in the case. However, our mutual best friend, Jerry also had one. It was with Jerry that I have the most vivid memories with the 44 Carbine.

Jerry and I had gone down to Crossville, TN to go boar hunting. Jerry brought a 44 Carbine and a Ruger Redhawk. I had already taken my boar and was out at the truck, waiting for Jerry and the guide to come in when I heard a shot. Then we heard another shot, and then another. After several more, the woods fell quiet. The guide showed up with ripped clothing. Jerry slogged out behind him. Both had 20-mile stares. The short of it was that Jerry had tried to shoot his hog with the pistol and done nothing more than make it mad. When he went to the carbine, it took him a while to realize the sights were off and it was shooting a foot to the right and above the point of aim. Meanwhile the hog was doing a fair job of chasing the guide. Jerry was down to his last round before the hog decided to call it quits.

Windfall is correct. The 44 kills a LOT better then it's figures would make you believe. I have used it from both handguns and a carbine. I sold my old Browning M92 years ago to get "moving money" but before I did I killed several deer, a few antelope and elk with it. Thinking back, I do not believe I ever shot any animal 2 times with that carbine. 100% were one shot kills.

The only thing I didn't like about that carbine was the fact that it would not feed bullets with very wide noses. Also it had the slow twist (1- 38" I think)so it may not have been accurate with 300 or 320 grain bullets even if it would have fed them.
But it did work well with the Hornady 265 grain bullets, ans that's what I killed most of the game with. I did kill one antelope with a 200 grain Speer HP bullet, but could not see anything the HP did any better then the soft nose 265, so I went back to them.

Anyway, I have not owned a 44 carbine since I moved to Wyoming 27 years ago and all my 44 kills since I moved here have been with handguns. But if I ever get a chance to get a Ruger M96 and I have the cash to spend I think I'd get one. That's one 44 carbine I always liked, but never found one at the times I had some money I could spend on it.

I don't care much for the ones with the barrel band. My dad used to have one of the Deluxe models, with the flutes on the fore end. It sure was pretty, and a lot of fun to carry and shoot. I don't know what ever became of it, but I sure would like to have that one. Wonder if he gave it to one of my brothers...

I have a picture of my Father and Bearrr264's Father standing in front of a Jeep Wagoneer with 2 big whitetail bucks tied to the top. They were both dressed in Johnson Woolen Mills green/black plaid and had Ruger 44 Carbines in their hands. IIRC, the picture was taken on Main Street in Colebrook, NH, at the end of November 1968. When it was time for me to start deer hunting, my Father set me up with two rifles, a Remington 660 in 6mm and a Ruger 44 International, both of which I still have and hunt with occasionally. The are few more practical rifles for still hunting deer in tight cover than a Ruger 44 Carbine of any style.

The Cabela's Gun Library in LaVista, NE, had a 3-digit Ruger 44 Deerstalker when I there earlier today.

260 what did they want for it ?

That's been my expereience. The .44 is equally effective to a .30-30 out to 100 yards but no better. Past 100 the .30-30 leaves the .44 in the dust trajectory wise and still kills well out past 200 yards. My 1894 Marlin .44 mag. kicked worse than my 94 Winchester .30-30 or my Marlin 336 .30-30 and wasn't as accurate as either. Couldn't see any point so I sold the .44.

I don't remember exactly, but it was probably overpriced, as that is the Cabela's way.

Phffft, ya can't kill anything with a .44.

'Cept maybe what you hit with it.



Fartin' around load, subsonic:


Racin' one cartridge against another Is curious. Trajectory doesn't kill, maim or mangle. The 44 will sure as hell kill beyond 100 yards and do it well.

Serious load, 300 grains ballpark 1600 fps at the muzzle.

thinking of taking one of my 3 44 carbines and put it in a MPI stock. I see they are back up and running anyone have an MPI stock How much fit and bedding to be done ?

I once played with a newer one and an older one. Both shot "OK", but both triggers were heavy and spongey. I couldn't find anyone to work on them for me, and my Godson couldn't master the pull on the original. Well, it "was" four (4) degrees that morning, ha. It was a combination of a very light rifle and heavy, spongely trigger that made it hard to hit with for him. He was 13 at the time and a skinny kid. Fortunately, I had brought an old BAR .270 with a nice 3# pull that he could use well.