Ruger .44 Magnum Semi-auto Carbine question

[Murphy]

My nephew inherited a Ruger .44 Magnum semi-auto carbine. It was discontinued long ago and he's wants to load for it. He isn't a caster, which leaves it up to his favorite uncle (that would be me, because I'm his only uncle) to help out with cast bullets to try.

The biggest issue is, he lives in Phoenix, AZ and I live in Oklahoma. He doesn't plan on full power loads and wants to go easy on the gun. I keep Keith's #429421 on hand and intend to make up 5-6 dummy rounds to send to him to see if they will function in the rifle. My concern is the OAL of the load.

Does anyone have any experience with that combination? Ruger .44 Magnum Carbine & Lyman #429421 bullets? I would appreciate your input. If they're too long, I can go with several other .44 caliber molds I have.

Thanks,

Murphy

[rking22]

Which rifle, the original tube fed or the newer one, think it has a rotary mag? A good friend has a couple from the early 70s, tube fed. I can get him to measure what he’s loading. He is using a gas check design 250 gr, not sure which one.

[MOA]

Lyman 429 303
Powder coated with HF red
Gas checked
Sized at .430 I think
Honestly seated where no issues with mag, but I use same roung in the Smith.

If you have the first ineration of this carbine with the tubular magazine I'd use a Keith style 240 grain gas checked and powder coated. You don't want to load up the gas system with lead residue or lube. Have fun. Mine's a hoot to shoot.

[pietro]

.

Your nephew's going to get a gunsmithing experience...………...

I've owned several .44 Ruger autoloaders, only one of which was the 1999 Deerfield Carbine - and 7 other members of my annual ( for 20 years) Maine deer hunting party had them too.

They were designed to function with 240gr JSP factory loads.

They are problematic when shooting un-jacketed boolits, as the gas system will clog up fairly fast - leading to a complete teardown & cleaning in order to unclog it.

BT, DT - NTS

.

[MOA]

And as Pietro has mentioned, Ruger designed these carbines to be fired with a jacketed 240 grain j word. Even I don't run lots of my PC boolits through it. This was a specialty boolit for hogs. Therefore the spire point that will hole 3/16" steel plate.

[rondog]

Want.....

[Murphy]

Thanks fella's.

The rifle is the older tube fed version. I did some searching online about it and didn't find much regarding cast boolits in it. What little I did find, was a warning about cast bullets clogging the gas port. I don't powder coat, so there goes that. A few 100 rounds of jacketed won't hurt him when prices drop back. I was telling him I had a feeling the gun was probably designed for just that, standard length jacketed bullets.

Murphy

[Duckiller]

Got a gun similar to your nephew's. Never shot cast in it for fear of plugging gas vent. Works great with jacketed projectiles. 240 gr Berrey's bullets worked and were cheap. Haven't bought any recently. Hornady item no.4200 also work. Think they are 265 gr Flat Point.

[Markopolo]

You kinda have 2 options with that original gun, as I have one also.

first option is shoot cast, 240g and become an expert at tearing it down to keep an eye on the gas port, or just load up 240g j-words and let it be at that. the gun is not exactly easy or routine to tear down to the port and there is the potential to loose parts, so I just shoot jacketed these days in that one.. The twist rate doesn't support longer boolits anyway. And there is also the stock cracking issue over time with the old version. it likes to crack around the wrist and new stocks are impossible to come by so you wanna load them up enough to cycle the gun but not warm by any means. there is surely some trial and error for this kinda finicky gun.

it can be done, but doing it long distance would be a Jacketed bullet situation and better in the long run.

Marko

[DGV]

Nice looking red boolits. can you tell me what seating die you are using for those 429303s. For sizing & seating.

[JRD]

I'll echo Pietro's works only 240 JHP's comments. I also have heard stories of mag tube detonations in these rifles if reloaded primers were left high or the wrong bullet profile used.

I had a handful of factory 44 Mag 180 JHP's which I attempted to shoot in an original Ruger 44 carbine. Shot a couple 180's and observed pierced primers, severely flattened primers and split cases. (Case in point as to why you should check your fired brass when checking a new load or ammo.) I swapped back to 240 JHP and all those signs went away.

I shot the remainder of the 180 grain ammo through a lever gun- and it was totally fine with none of the pressure signs. The different port pressure of the lighter bullet is bad news in the Ruger.

Perhaps those shortcomings in ammo compatibility factored into Ruger's decision to discontinue the rifle.

[MOA]

Sizing was done using my usual 44 mag sizing die in my RCBS lubrisizer. My top punch was #303.
Seating was done by using the 303 punch set on the boolit and then running it up into a Lyman "M" die threaded down to press on the top of the 303 punch adjusted to a set OAL.

[Tripplebeards]

I load 240 grain words in mine and call it a day. Mine is the first generation that looks like a 10/22. I think mine was made in 1980.

[Old School Big Bore]

My first one was stolen and I finally replaced it a couple years ago. I shot some WW Lubaloy SWCs in the first one and had to de-solder the gas system despite the "plating" on the bullets. I have not and will not shoot any cast/lubed in the current one. I'm planning to carefully shoot some PCd MP Thompson clones in this one - the 429421 will not work, nor will the Lee 300. The reason for the above mentioned problems with factory 180 JHPs is that the gun requires a very narrow pressure curve to operate correctly. I started on the low end with some 200, 210 and 240 gr GDHPs and worked up to just above where the bolt would fully cycle.
PCing is not difficult nor costly. All you need is a bit of powder and a rummage sale toaster oven. Get with Smoke4320. His "sand yellow" AKA "bacon grease" is the best powder for higher speeds and should not depart the boolit while shooting. I'll subscribe to this thread and PM you when I've worked up and shot some of my PCd boolits through my DeerStalker.
If you can actually FIND any, the commercial plated bullets should work fine AT MODERATE SPEEDS. I'll see whether I have any lying around and test them in it if I do.
Ed <><

[Tripplebeards]

Finding a replacement stock is as rare as hens teeth. I’d like a replacement stock but can’t find one.

[pietro]

Finding a replacement stock is as rare as hens teeth. I’d like a replacement stock but can’t find one.

Ruger used the same wooden stock profile on both the .44 & 10/22, except the stocks designated for the .44 were inlet differently.

Since 10/22 wood stocks are abundant, I'd buy one and either inlet it for the .44 or take to a (real) gunsmith who could do the job.

.

[stubshaft]

I had one of the early tubular magazine models and have shot a bunch of hogs with the old 429421 ahead of 18.5 grs. 2400. Yes, I read the warning about cast bullets and no, I have never had any problems shooting them out of this rifle, they shot great. I will tell you that I did periodically clean the gas piston and port. IIRC - there was a roll pin retaining the piston.

[Tripplebeards]

Ruger used the same wooden stock profile on both the .44 & 10/22, except the stocks designated for the .44 were inlet differently.

Since 10/22 wood stocks are abundant, I'd buy one and either inlet it for the .44 or take to a (real) gunsmith who could do the job.

.

Mine isn’t broke. Someone must have drilled the front of the stock, in front of the barrel clamp, and tried to fill it in. They then painted the wood black in front of the barrel clamp. It looks nice but I’d rather have it either fixed or replaced. The stock has a medallion in it like the last year they made them but my coin is from the NRA or something similar I’d I remember correctly.

[david s]

I thought that Boyds Stocks made a replacement stock for the original Ruger 44 Carbine but they don't list them currently so I may be misremembering. Any way the stocks will also split thru the forearm not just the wrist. The inletting doesn't allow much wood to remain in the forearms bottom. Mine is held together by epoxy and fiber glass cloth on the forearm's inside. I wouldn't recommend disassembly of the trigger group but cleaning the piston isn't to terrible. It's always reminded me of a big caliber 10/22 (5/2 X 22), you can crank off 5 accurate rounds surprisingly quickly.

[dbosman]

I've got the model after the Deerstalker name. I shoot Elmer Keith's magnum load using any and I do mean any 240-250 gr bullet over his once recommended charge of 2400. Taking it apart for cleaning isn't as bad as some .22s. It's a great design.