Ruger 77/44 suppressed

[bbailey7821]

I'm toying with the idea of getting an intergrally suppressed Ruger 77/44. I do quite a bit of pig slaying down here in South Texas. This seems like a perfect fit for that. Anybody have any experience with one of these?

[crawfobj]

I agree that it's the perfect solution for pig slaying. I did a bunch of internet research on them, and liked what I saw. I'm having one built now by John Tibbetts at Keechi Creek Arms. He's also built them on the 77/357, with remarkable accuracy. John has been using 300gr XTPs in the .44 with good results out of the factory barrel. On my rifle, he's testing a 1 in 16" twist barrel to see how the faster twist handles the heavies.

I killed a pig with my 77/44 in December, and liked the results. (200+lb sow, cheap wwb 240gr sp ammo - drilled through both shoulders, took off the top of the heart, and I lost very little meat.) The slow, heavy bullet/boolit makes so much less of a mess out of the meat, and still puts 'em down in a hurry.

The guys at Cottonwoodarmory.com have both the .44 and .357 versions in stock, as dealers for KCA.

It'll be a while before the paperwork, etc. comes back, but I'll be posting results here. In the mean time, I'm on the lookout for a heavy .44 boolit design. Thinking of starting with the Lee 300gr, or maybe someting from Ranch Dog.

Would love to hear what others are seeing too.

[Haggway]

That sounds like it will be a fun rig

[bbailey7821]

Hey Crawfobj,
I got me one of those Mihec 44 HPGC mold awhile back. That is an awesome bullet for hunting.

[Larry Gibson]

Friend of mine very recently aquired a suppresed M77/44. Magazine curtails oal severely with 250+ gr bullets seated normally. Working with 429244 and 429642HP over Unique for subsonic load. Starting at 7 gr and working up....haven't tested yet.

Larry Gibson

[crawfobj]

Larry - glad to see you on this thread. Always look forward to reading your posts. Please keep us posted on your results.

I've read the concerns with OAL limitations of the magazine, but haven't had a chance to fiddle with it to see what will/will not work. My rifle is out for it's upgrade, so can't play with it, but I do have an extra magazine at home. Will work with it when I free up some at work.

bbailey - I have Miha's 429640 hpgc. Wish I hadn't missed out on his 444 boolit. He has it listed on his website, but it's out of stock. Is that the one that you have?

[bbailey7821]

I've got the 432640, been casting them outta WW with the Penta point. Its like a hand grenade goes off inside a pigs head out to about 50 yds. Really hard to find out whats happening, because they seem to fragment, but there's always a giant exit wound. Nothing has taken a step after a head shot...

[crawfobj]

Very nice! It wouldn't surprise me at all if you're getting petals that sheer off, and the base that keeps on truckin. Great combination to scramble their eggs, imo. I do love Miha's hollow point molds. It's like an addiction...

[Larry Gibson]

.........bbailey - I have Miha's 429640 hpgc. Wish I hadn't missed out on his 444 boolit. He has it listed on his website, but it's out of stock. Is that the one that you have?

No, mine is the standard Lyman "Devastator" bullet.

Larry Gibson

[crawfobj]

Nice!

[Matthew 25]

I have one built and paid for. I'm waiting for the ATF paperwork, should be done by June. So I'm still glad I have this coming, but I sometimes wonder if I should have done it a little differently. At least consider suppressing a 45 acp upper to go on an AR. A heavy 45 acp will approach the sound barrier out of a rifle barrel and the semi-auto aspect would be pretty awesome. However, I don't know how loud they are being a semi-auto. I wonder if Clark Custom would build a 460 Rowland on a AR upper, that would get the job done.

[Artful]

I have friends with Ruger 77/44 with can's - one has SRT (doug melton) conversion with faster than factory twist barrel and uses Hornady 300 grn HP's with nice tone and strong hitting power. Another is using his 45 Silencerco can on threaded barrel, and it works well.

[thehouseproduct]

Will you be getting a serviceable can so you can shoot cast through it?

[crawfobj]

The integral one that I'm having built will be serviceable.

[bbailey7821]

I had pretty much decided on having a local company convert my gun. It's an outfit called Shooters Depot in Corpus Christi. They offered a carbon fiber outer shell with the innards removeable via a threaded end cap. I had initially looked elsewhere, but these guys were local and had a pretty impressive bunch of wares.

[bbailey7821]

Has anyone heard of this shop and their goods? I would also like to know if anyone has a business that they have personally dealt with and would reccomend.

[bbailey7821]

Okay guys, thanks for the warnings on Shooters Depot... Once again, you've protected me from my self! Does anyone have a shop that they could reccomend?

[crawfobj]

I'm having one built now by John Tibbetts at Keechi Creek Arms.

The guys at Cottonwoodarmory.com have both the .44 and .357 versions in stock, as dealers for KCA.

PM me if you want additional contact info for either of them.

[Artful]

Doug Melton at SRT makes a heck of a suppressor pkg.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvbI4OpjuTI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evOdMAaDmnI&feature=fvst
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWYxUbctX3E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq_d6p33v2U&feature=fvst

Tom Denall's Silent Destroyer is a good one also.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI6aCnh-99o

check out more info
http://nfatalk.org/forum/
http://www.silencertalk.com/forum/
http://www.silencerforum.com/forum/forumdisplay.php/247-SILENCER-SOUND-TESTING

[Deputy Dog]

I have a 77/44 supressed its quiet andshoots about one inch groups at 50 yds with 240 kieth style cast bullits if some one wants it ill make them a good deal

[bbailey7821]

PM sent, DeputyDog

[crawfobj]

My paperwork on my suppressed 77/44 should be in any day. I procured a 310gr mold from Ranch Dog to play with. I'm hoping the 1 in 16 barrel will like these, but I haven't had a chance to play with OAL vs magazine length yet.

Reviving this thread to see if Larry or anyone else has suggestions on heavy subsonic loads for the 77/44.

I'll post pictures when I finally lay hands on my new toy.

[Larry Gibson]

Well, good news and bad news. The Ruger 77/44 I've been working with has a very slow twist. The barrel has been cut to 10" for the integral suppressor. The twist barely makes 1/3 turn if that so i suspect the twist was/is 1-28 or 1-32? At subsonic velocities it does not stabilize any cast bullet over 250 gr for any reasonable accuracy at 50 yards (I'm talking 6"+ groups with 250+ gr cast bullets under 1000 fps.

With commercial 225 - 240 gr bullets over Bullseye it does real well. Best is with 185 gr cast (unkown mould but it is a CBA style bullet). We started at 4 gr of Bullseye in the Magnum cases with each bullet and worked up until we go the first "snap" out just in front of the suppressor. We then backed off 3/10ths and that was the load. Even with the same weight bullet the powder charge could be different because the shape of the bullet makes a difference. We found most consistent subsonic loads with RF or SWC bullets to run in the 950 - 1050 fps range. Testing was done at 200 ft elevation.

The owner of the 77/44 is really disatisfied with the results as he want to use heavier bullets. He wishes he would have checked with me 1st because he knew nothing about how the twist at subsonic velocity would adversly affect the accuracy with heavy bullets. The rifle shoots excellently with magnum level sonic loads.....but that's not what he wants. He is now going to have it rebarreld with a faster twist barrel.

He sure has lots of $s tied up in that rifle............

Larry Gibson

[crawfobj]

Ouch! Glad my 'smith recommended the faster twist barrel. Will be interesting to see how much of a difference it makes.

I have the same view that your buddy has. I'm looking to deliver a serious payload quietly. If I wanted to hear a sonic crack, I would have gone with another caliber.

Sorry to hear that it hasn't worked out as he had hoped. Hopefully we can keep others from making the same mistake.

Can't wait to get my hands on mine!

[white eagle]

mine shoots lights out at 50 yds..... cloverleaf groups
not to hijack but does anyong know of any mods that can be done to the mag to utilize longer heavier boolits??
btw I am shooting a MP 434/640 pb mine drops out at 265gr

[crawfobj]

That's not a hijack at all. I think anybody with a 77/44 will have the same question.

I have the 434/640 too. Mind sharing the load you're using?

[white eagle]

I use a cci 300 primer and starline brass and 22.5 gr h.110

[ohnomrbillk]

Well, good news and bad news. The Ruger 77/44 I've been working with has a very slow twist. The barrel has been cut to 10" for the integral suppressor. The twist barely makes 1/3 turn if that so i suspect the twist was/is 1-28 or 1-32? At subsonic velocities it does not stabilize any cast bullet over 250 gr for any reasonable accuracy at 50 yards (I'm talking 6"+ groups with 250+ gr cast bullets under 1000 fps.

With commercial 225 - 240 gr bullets over Bullseye it does real well. Best is with 185 gr cast (unkown mould but it is a CBA style bullet). We started at 4 gr of Bullseye in the Magnum cases with each bullet and worked up until we go the first "snap" out just in front of the suppressor. We then backed off 3/10ths and that was the load. Even with the same weight bullet the powder charge could be different because the shape of the bullet makes a difference. We found most consistent subsonic loads with RF or SWC bullets to run in the 950 - 1050 fps range. Testing was done at 200 ft elevation.

The owner of the 77/44 is really disatisfied with the results as he want to use heavier bullets. He wishes he would have checked with me 1st because he knew nothing about how the twist at subsonic velocity would adversly affect the accuracy with heavy bullets. The rifle shoots excellently with magnum level sonic loads.....but that's not what he wants. He is now going to have it rebarreld with a faster twist barrel.

He sure has lots of $s tied up in that rifle............

Larry Gibson

The Ruger should have a 1 in 20" twist.

Do you recall what the thread specs are of the action to barrel junction?

[GabbyM]

You need to re barrel a Ruger 77/44 to make it a subsonic. No big deal. Since you are machining the whole assembly anyway. There was a fellow here in Illinois making suppressed Rugers. Have his card here but not going to advertise for him. His guns were nice but he is a jerk.

It’s no big rocket science to machine a barrel can unit to look like a short bull barrel. Not for a pistol caliber round anyways.

Bullet to use is the Lee 310gr RF-GC which was designed by one of our members here.
You need a faster than standard twist. At least ideally. Since you do not want the bullet to tumble after impact but rather drill straight through. Remember we are wanting to stabalize big bullets at sub sonic rates.

If you want it cheep then just use a 12 gage shotgun. Blooper loads would be a bit weak on pigs but back yard varmints get splattered.

[crawfobj]

I picked up one of Ranch Dog's 310 TL molds that I'm going to try. Half gc half pb cavities so I can experiment. With as much as I expect to want to shoot this thing, I'm looking for serious production!

[rockrat]

S&H arms, IIRC, used to make suppressed 77/44's, and there was a gun in Shotgun News that advertised them also

[Larry Gibson]

The Ruger should have a 1 in 20" twist.

Do you recall what the thread specs are of the action to barrel junction?

That's what I thought too, however with the barrel at 10" now the lands make slightly less than 1/3 turn from throat to muzzle. That indicates (as does a patch/rod measuring) that the twist in that barrel is 1 - 30"+.

Larry Gibson

[Eutectic]

That's what I thought too, however with the barrel at 10" now the lands make slightly less than 1/3 turn from throat to muzzle. That indicates (as does a patch/rod measuring) that the twist in that barrel is 1 - 30"+.

Larry Gibson

Earlier Ruger's used a 1 in 38" twist.......

Eutectic

[BABore]

If you have the proper twist for heavies, and are only shooting at subsonic velocities, use a 44 special case for the stock Ruger mag.

[ohnomrbillk]

If you have the proper twist for heavies, and are only shooting at subsonic velocities, use a 44 special case for the stock Ruger mag.

That is exactly my intention. I'm sitting on 2K new 44 special starline cases, and no gun in hand to use them in :grin:

I know Douglas barrels of 1in11 twist are used by SRT arms.

Does anyone have one of these barrels or something similar?

I want to hear some real word results before I order my barrel blank.

Now if I can only come up with a Miha mold in 300+ weight.....

[Larry Gibson]

Earlier Ruger's used a 1 in 38" twist.......

Eutectic

That's probably what he's got.........:-(

Larry Gibson

[45-70.gov]

will the gas check come off in the can??

[L1A1Rocker]

That is exactly my intention. I'm sitting on 2K new 44 special starline cases, and no gun in hand to use them in :grin:

I know Douglas barrels of 1in11 twist are used by SRT arms.

Does anyone have one of these barrels or something similar?

I want to hear some real word results before I order my barrel blank.

Now if I can only come up with a Miha mold in 300+ weight.....

I could use one of those for my ruger 96/44

[ohnomrbillk]

I spoke with Doug at SRT today,

He said MOA accuracy was likely with a 240gr, but even with the 11 twist barrel, the 300 grain bullets are not stabilized enough to shoot well. He did say they were stable enough to not cause a baffle strike.

He also suggested that cast bullets be of a "hard" alloy and/or gas checked for use in his suppressor. He said he hasn't seen a gas check get stuck in any of his.

[crawfobj]

I'm not at all worried about gas checks coming off in the can. I bought Ranchdog's 310gr 44 mold to try out in my rifle, which was built by John Tibbetts Jr. At Keechi Creek Arms with the 1 in 11 McGowan barrel. My stamp should be here any day now, so we'll see how it goes. I had Ranchdog remove the gas check shanks on half of the cavities so I could try plain based too, since I don't plan to throw them supersonic anyway.

[BachelorJack]

I've got more experience behind these rigs than most. Definitely more than anyone who has posted so far.


Go 50AE. Easy conversion on a 77/44. Feeds single shot all day long with the bullet just thrown in the action. It just rests on the 44mag magazine feed lips. Some jb weld, dremel, time and Desert Eagle magazine and you have a full on repeater.

350gr XTP. Or cast. Your choice.

Once you max out speed, size and weight or projectile are key. 50AE is cheap, comparatively.

Doug at SRT Arms makes a MEAN 50AE integral conversion on a 77/44.

[ohnomrbillk]

I've got more experience behind these rigs than most. Definitely more than anyone who has posted so far.


Go 50AE. Easy conversion on a 77/44. Feeds single shot all day long with the bullet just thrown in the action. It just rests on the 44mag magazine feed lips. Some jb weld, dremel, time and Desert Eagle magazine and you have a full on repeater.

350gr XTP. Or cast. Your choice.

Once you max out speed, size and weight or projectile are key. 50AE is cheap, comparatively.

Doug at SRT Arms makes a MEAN 50AE integral conversion on a 77/44.

What twist do you go with on the 50?

[crawfobj]

Looking for some help on this one. My 77/44 should arrive this week, after LOTS of waiting on the BATFE to process my stamp. Now to get some loads worked up to test.

I have two boolits to try - the Ranch Dog TLC 432-300 and Miha's 300gr .44/.444 hollow point. Looking for load data now, but haven't found much for subsonic 300 grain loads, for jacketed or cast. 44 special loads typically only go up to 250gr boolits.

Anyone have any experience with these or similar designs? Looking to stay subsonic in a 16" barrel.

Any help would be appreciated.