Ruger .44 carbine

[waco]

I believe these were discontinued in the '80's

Are these gas operated, or just a blowback?

My dad just died and left one to my younger brother.

I'm not sure if I can run cast through this gun, or just stick with J words in it.

Thanks in advance guys.

Waco.

[offshore44]

Short stroke gas piston. Make sure to read the directions a least twice before taking one apart. Putting it back together is not all that much fun. I have heard that they will shoot cast, but haven't done it yet. The wife has one that needs to be re-crowned.

[John in PA]

There was a short-lived Ruger lever action carbine in .44 Mag also. Looked a bit like a Savage 99, even down to the rotary magazine. I kind of liked the design, but just never could figure out the use for one. Would have made a good first deer rifle for one of my sons I guess. Instead I started him with a Ruger #3 in .44 Mag.

[WallyM3]

I would dearly love to get hold of one of those 44 Ruger semi-autos.

Shot a friend's back in the 70s.

[dbosman]

If you like a Ruger 10/22, the .44 carbine is really going to tickle your fancy. As offshore44 said - Short stroke gas piston. Shoot what ever you want in it. Will the gas piston assembly need to be cleaned once in a while? .
Sure, but it's not a big deal.
I find the most difficult part is remembering where the proper sized screw driver got left last time. You need to take the barrel band off without marring the screw, or I do anyway. There are Youtube videos that show the cleaning process. Here's one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muV5e-3E4Dg

[waco]

Thank you guys. Dad's old rifle will not sit in the safe. We will run many a boolit through it.

[WallyM3]

You won't regret it. It's a great rifle for that cartridge.

[dbosman]

The only problem will be getting your hands on it after little brother runs a box through it.
It took me a couple of years to find one and that -was- in the 80s. It will be in my estate. I can't image selling it.


Thank you guys. Dad's old rifle will not sit in the safe. We will run many a boolit through it.

[454PB]

I had one many years ago. I shot cast through it, and it did well. You do have to clean the gas system occasionally, it's mostly the boolit lube that gunks up the piston.

[Thin Man]

From the various reports I have heard and/or read about these carbines, they greatly prefer the lighter weight boolits. Then again, experimentation does not have to be all sweat and no fun.

Thin Man

[EDG]

Those carbines have a one turn in 38" twist. At lower velocities accuracy will be poor.

[lotech]

I've had two of these, one bought new in the mid-'70s, the other a much older gun that did not appear to have been used much. Neither gun was particularly accurate with cast or jacketed bullets, but would have been adequate for 100-yard deer hunting. Never had a problem with a fouled gas system in either carbine. I've normally used long, heavy bullets in the .44 magnum like the Lyman #429421. To function through the magazine, such a bullet had to be seated quite a bit deeper than it would for revolver use. Heavy, wide meplat, shortnosed bullet moulds are available today that would probably make bullets that are more suitable for the Ruger magazine. A light bullet in a .44 magnum seems to defeat the purpose for the cartridge, but they might also be worth trying in this gun.

[rintinglen]

I had one back in the 70's but sold it when I shot tighter groups with a revolver at 50 yards than I could get from the ruger. It was reliable, and would have been fine for minute of whitetail hunting, but mine was not accurate. It shot into 5 inches at 50 yards, if I did my part.

[44man]

Where is a gas piston? They are blow back ONLY. The limit is what fits the magazine.
The gun had the wrong twist like the Marlin.

[454PB]

Here's a link to the instruction manual:

https://ruger-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/_manuals/44MagCarbine.pdf

Check page #7, part #C-58. That's the piston.

[lotech]

The Ruger is gas-operated.

[barney67]

I've been hesitant to shoot cast in my 44 carbine due to concerns with lube gumming up the gas system, so I picked up a powder coat kit from Harbor Freight last week and I'm going to give that a try.

[2shot]

Great little piston driven guns for deer hunting and even better house guns.


2shot

[357maximum]

Where is a gas piston? They are blow back ONLY. The limit is what fits the magazine.
The gun had the wrong twist like the Marlin.

Jim...you are incorrect sir....they are a gas/piston action. The twist likes the lighter bullets, but the gun will cycle shoot heavier bullets (265 JSP) just not shoot them as accurately.


FWIW....My Mom has killed a pile of deer with her little Ruger Louisville Slugger "ballbat44". My Dad has worked the gun over well (bedding and such) and using 23.5grains of H110 and Speer 240grain softpoint it will rip a ragged hole at 100 yards with 5 shots. I have one waiting for me at a friends house as soon as I get round to picking it up, if it shoots cast 1/2 as good as hers shoots the Speer I will be tickled pink.

[mac60]

Over the years I've owned two of them. Neither of the two was very accurate. I also owned one of the lever action .44's (model 96 I believe it was) - the most inaccurate gun I've ever shot. I wish I had the two semi auto's back - but that lever action, naw. I forget what I traded it off on, but whatever it was I got the good end of the bargain.

[dubber123]

Sighted one in for a friend, he sent me 3 different factory 240 gr. loads. All were in the 4" range at 50 yds. I worked up a load with the Speer 270 gr. Gold Dot bullet, 1" at 50 yds. Try as I might, he wont part with it.

[Old School Big Bore]

I've had two of them, one was the first rifle I bought new with my own money as a young adult, which was later stolen. The other is one I picked out of an estate as part of my fee for prepping all the guns in the estate. Both had/have excellent accuracy with selected J-word projectiles.

[user55645]

Ruger made 2 completely different 44 carbines.

One was an action like a 10/22 (solid receiver top), the Model 44 Carbine, first called the Deerstalker. It had an internal tube magazine. I took several deer with my grandfathers. My parents sold it after his death.

The other had an open top receiver like an M1 and operated from a rotating bolt short stroke piston mini14 action. The Deerfield Carbine Model 99/44 had a rotary magazine like a 10/22.

Ive never shot the later, but they do value at considerably more than the earlier version.

[44man]

Jim...you are incorrect sir....they are a gas/piston action. The twist likes the lighter bullets, but the gun will cycle shoot heavier bullets (265 JSP) just not shoot them as accurately.


FWIW....My Mom has killed a pile of deer with her little Ruger Louisville Slugger "ballbat44". My Dad has worked the gun over well (bedding and such) and using 23.5grains of H110 and Speer 240grain softpoint it will rip a ragged hole at 100 yards with 5 shots. I have one waiting for me at a friends house as soon as I get round to picking it up, if it shoots cast 1/2 as good as hers shoots the Speer I will be tickled pink.
You are correct, the nine and .40 are blow back. I have not seen the old carbine for over 20 years so forgot. I only had to shorten the stock for a young shooter. I did shoot it but never took it apart, had the rotary mag and my loads would not fit.
I had to shoot backwards because the farmer was working the field. Found the big 320 gr LBT's were going through a large sycamore tree. I had to shoot single shot.
The one I had to clean was a nine. Had to look back in my book.
Thanks for correcting me.

[Woebeme]

Best little brush gun for Florida. Short and shoulders like a 10/22 so it felt familiar the first time I picked it up. Mine is a; mid sixties production complete with a Marbles see through scope mount. 200gr Lee RNFP work well for me.

[fcvan]

I picked one up for $225 over 20 years ago. A friend had it and another friend wanted it. I bought it and waited 5 years for the other friend to pony up with the money. He had a Ruger Super Redhawk and wanted a mate for it. He was getting ready to move to Missouri and I told him 'I still have your rifle.' His wife laid into him something fierce for not picking it up sooner because she wanted to shoot it! Anyway, I never shot it (because in my mind it was never mine) and he commenced to slaying many deer in the Springfield MO area. Great brush gun.