ruger .44 carbine?

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ratherbefishin

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I've always wondered-why did Ruger discontinue the .44 carbine?Was there anything inherently wrong with it?The 10/22 that followed it certainly proved to be a winner.The 44 lever action that came later didn't seem to have anywhere near the popularity-and I wondered why they just didn't resume production of the older .44 semi automatic instead of trying to introduce a lever action when marlin and winchestor already had that market?

All I remember people saying was it was ''only a short range deer/black bear rifle good for 100 yards''......but nobody seemed to mention that those are the ranges MOST deer and bear are taken at-unless in open country[I see someone has one for sale in EE,which got me thinking about it]
 
Great gun

I've got one and think it's the best deer gun I've used. Sighted it at 100 yrds at the range but never shot it beyond 65 yrds in the field, which would put it in the majority of shooting. Don't know why it was discontinued. I'm having a devil of a time trying to find an extra magazine for it. I've heard that the mag from the new Ruger bolt .44 will work in my Deerfield, can ayone confirm this?

Cheers, Will
 
The new auto fmb is refering to just never seemed to take off, maybe because of the weight? The older semi's were much lighter & a great little carrying carbine. My F-in-law has one. Someday I'll stumble on one for my daughter.
 
did you hunt with them-and if so-what was your experiance?They seem like a nice little carbine and I can't see anything going too far after being hit with a big chunk of lead ,even if it wasn't going too fast.I know the .44 was a pistol cartridge but a longer barrel would likely get better velocity out of it,and maybe handloads would improve on that.
Was there any design flaw or issues with them ?
 
Worked for me

I've only taken one deer with it, 62-65 yrds standing still, broadside so he went nowhere, the buck certainly made it easy for me. I like to carry it and it's simple to operate, it's a mate to my 10/22 and one day maybe, a 629.

Senior, I'm not sure on the weight of mne, but were the tube feds that much lighter? (there's one on EE right now if you're looking http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=427600)

Cheers, Will
 
It seems to me the later semi's [mini14 and 30] didn't come up to the popularity of the orginal .44 carbine, but I don't know if there was any real basis for that,design wise,accuracy or reliability.I'm not in the slightest detered by the ''short range-100 yrd'' limitation arguement when 98% of all the deer I've shot were well within half that.Nor can I see anything hit with 240 gr of soft lead going anywhere but down.Was the real reason for the .44 's demise just the gun writers preoccupation with 400 yard bean field rifles and minute of angle accuracy-neither of which mean too much in typical deer cover
 
Maybe they discontinued it becasue it was expensive to manufacture. It has a lot more parts than a 10-22.

I also read somewhere that sales were low it was limited to jacketed bullets becaise the gas ports would foul if leead bulleted ammo was used. don't know if that's true or not.
 
I had one year's ago (early 70's- paid $85.00 used). Shot several deer with it. "Flattened" everyone on the spot. I was never happy with the accuracy that it was capable of- 2-3" at 50yds. Traded it for a BAR 3006 in the early 80's. Browning will do an inch and a half at 100 yds. I've shot several deer with it and not all went down as quickly as the ones taken with the Ruger.
I read an article a few year's after the trade (Rifle magazine I think) that the little Ruger's had a bedding problem which was easily corrected and groups tightened up significantly.
With improved accuracy I think they they might be the perfect Central Ontario deer rifle- Light, short, semi auto, lots of knockdown power and mine never jammed in the couple hundred rounds of factory ammo I put through it (didn't reload at the time).
Mine was early production and every round from the tube magazine had to be pulled out through the action to unload. A later modification included a magazine release mechanism- small button which when pushed allowed the rounds in the mag to be removed without the action being cycled
Used guns do turn up for sale occaisionally. Usually in the $500-600 range.
 
I believe Ruger Discontiuned these because of high manufaturing costs. Even though this gun was there flag ship model for over 30 years. It helped pave the way to making the 10-22 a success.

Ive had a few different models over the years and a few were finiky with the gas system, I do not know why, they just were. With that Barrel the 44mag is great out to 150 yrds.

Certainly a great piece to have.

Does anyone have a full wood Manlicher stock model??? They are pretty!
 
I've had 4 or 5 of them, + a couple of the newer deerfields.....they have always been my "go to" gun for everything and anything up to 125 yards. The most "dramatic" kill I've made was last year.....I was on a beaver dam between two patches of bush when a big boar (black bear) came out of the bush 30 yards to my left running at full tilit to cross the dam...double tapped him in the chest and he dropped right there. 3 seconds later his brother came out right on his ass also quite intent on going where I was standing. I had dropped the mag to reload so I only had the one in the pipe to deal with #2 and avoid getting run over...I pulled up, fired, and held my breath.....one in the chest dropped him about 4' from my feet.

Love the guns :)
 
Its funny how people think-a 2'' or 3'' group at 50 yards might not be impressive-and maybe a lot of guys would even turn their nose up at groups like that but it doesn't even count if thats the range you are hunting at-and in many cases,at least where I hunt, you can't even SEE 50 yards in the bush,let alone get a shot...its like my short range ''potato thrower''9.3x57 Husqvarna ''only good for shots under 200 yards'' I got for moose hunting,286 gr privipartizans are reputed to hit like the hammer of Thor even at 2000 fps....

what about reliability and parts issues for the .44?
 
The only problem that I have heard of pertaining to the 44 Semi Auto Ruger carbine had to do with the cracking of the trigger housing on the earlier design, the ones that load through the stock. My understanding is that they are unobtainable.
 
I had one of the earlier guns, the kind with the loading ramp underneath. It was a great little gun and operated flawlessly. I don't know why they don't keep making them, but I'm sure its a business decision that makes sense to Ruger.
 
so...if you were looking for one-what year and model would you look for/avoid?The little carbines just seem to be just right for a ghost ring peep sight/ firesight front sight.
 
I'd look for the older models ... not the Deeerfield. The latter of the earlier models had a little cartridge release button - made unloading them a lot simpler.

The Williams WGRS 44RU is the rear peep I'd put on, with the insert removed for hunting.

Most of the "fiesights" I've seen with the little plastic light pipes are a little to fragile for my liking. Think I might go with something like the all metal Burris flo-orange ( 3/8" dovetail ) front sight sight instead. No light pipe to break !

No complaints whatsoever with the one I had ... several deer, two bear and a moose all
in the freezer with little fuss. All under 100 yards. Closest - maybe 10 yards. Furthest
(the moose) at about 75. Double to the lungs ... one was probably enough. He only went a bout 7 or 8 strides before he piled-up. One bear dropped so quick I though I'd missed. Never even twitched !
 
I suspect many people chase the holy grail of high velocity -long range ,minute of angle accuracy capability and thats exactly what you need for some hunting situations-but I can't imagine anything getting whacked in the boiler room with a 240 gr soft lead flat nosed bullet travelling at 1500-1600 fps is going to be standing around wondering about it.The reason I said firesight is thats the only way I can focus on the front sight now,anything else is a blur,and I had pretty much resolved myself to using low powered scopes-but the carbines carry so nicely with iron sights and a big ghost ring is just the thing for ''point and shoot'' hunting

I find it amusing to listen to someone claiming some of these older slower cartridges[like who in their right mind would even think of carrying a 30/30 anymore?] are inadequite for hunting-but at the same time think a muzzle loader is quite alright-or even in the states using a ''high powered'' handgun-all with about the same ballistics,or even less....
 
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