Ruger Deerfield barrel dampener?

[Newtire]

A couple of years ago I picked up this Ruger Deerfield in .44 mag. It looked like a right handy little carbine & it is a pretty handy little thing but it has a characteristic that is annoying. It shoots different loads to the right or left (not to mention up & down).

Accuracy isn't match quality but should be good enough to drop a deer or even a coyote at 100 yds. I think the thin little barrel is the culprit & was wondering if anyone had tried one of those barrel weight damper apparatus that clamps around the barrel?

[JIMinPHX]

I have messed with the older version of that thing for years. I’m talking about the .44 carbine with the tube feed. I’m assuming that you have the one with the detachable box magazine & the action that looks like an overgrown mini-14. They both have very thin barrels. I was amazed at the groups that I was able to get using nearly top loads of H-110 under 240 & 300 grain slugs. I got inch groups at 50 yards with iron sights with either slug. I didn’t think that I could shoot that good, let alone the rifle. Try some H-110 in that thing & see if she simmers down for you.

[Newtire]

Hi Jim,

I was using Win 296 & understand that H110 is a version of that stuff or maybe even one & the same. I have some H-110. I got 1-1/2" groups @ 50 yds. but they changed point of impact when I changed weights. Not just up & down-wise but side to side. That's why I thought a dampener might help & was wondering if anyone had tried one. The good old Marlin .444 doesn't care what weight boolit except that it changes vertically. It's barrel is pretty thick. Just something to wonder about I guess. Once sighted in, it seems to group them OK. I had a problem with the first shot being off but the scope mounts were loose.

[Three44s]

I don't agree with the WW296/H110 sameness ..... it's widely touted and ballistic tables seem to lend agreement with interchangeability ....... but these powders differ in other attributes.

I find that WW is cleaner ....... but Hodgons is more ACCURATE .... by a substantial margin.

I would also try the H110 and then standardize on one killer load and stick with it to solve your POI issue.

Regards

Three 44s

[JIMinPHX]

H110 gave my exceptional accuracy & unbelievable velocity consistency in the .44 Mag. My groups with 240 & 300 grain slugs both printed about an inch with iron sights. The 300 grainers were a little lower, but about the same right to left. I’ve had quite a few 5-shot strings where the extreme velocity deviation was under 30fps. That’s about the best I’ve seen in any cartridge with any powder. I was loading these towards the hot side, but within book limits.

It sounds like maybe your rifle does behave differently than mine. Have you checked your stock to barrel fit? That was a problem on a different Marlin that I had. A little woodwork changed that gun’s performance from 8” patterns to 1.5” groups at 100-yards. I had driven myself nutty with adjustments to scopes, rings, triggers & everything else that I could think of before I looked at the wood. It was quite a frustrating experience until I stumbled upon the actual problem.

[Newtire]

It sounds like maybe your rifle does behave differently than mine. Have you checked your stock to barrel fit? That was a problem on a different Marlin that I had. A little woodwork changed that gun’s performance from 8” patterns to 1.5” groups at 100-yards. I had driven myself nutty with adjustments to scopes, rings, triggers & everything else that I could think of before I looked at the wood. It was quite a frustrating experience until I stumbled upon the actual problem.

With the barrel band types, I'm not exactly sure how to go about bedding the barrel or whatever it is you have to do. My M-1 carbine's accuracy sure made a giant leap towards the better side once I put it into a Fajen stock that holds the barrel tight against the wood where the special machined Fajen barrel band wraps around it. I'll give it a closer look see.

[Blackwater]

Newtire, if you want to know how to bed that Deerfield carbine, get yourself a copy of the USMC manual on accurizing the M-14. They're not the same, of course, but the principles apply, and it's not hard to figure out what to do with your gun vs. the M-14. I'm not much of a betting man, but I'd bet money that your gun will respond very well to a good bedding job. FWIW?

[Newtire]

Newtire, if you want to know how to bed that Deerfield carbine, get yourself a copy of the USMC manual on accurizing the M-14. They're not the same, of course, but the principles apply, and it's not hard to figure out what to do with your gun vs. the M-14. I'm not much of a betting man, but I'd bet money that your gun will respond very well to a good bedding job. FWIW?

I'm inclined to agree with that...A summer project.