Why does my 44mag Ruger Carbine jam!!

6.5x55swm

6.5x55swm

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I'm ready to pull out the rest of my hair! The gas port and piston are clean. I guess it doesn't really jam, it just don't work. I'll put 4 rounds in it, pull the bolt back to put 1 in the chamber, fire 1 shot and the bolt comes back about a 1/4 of a inch, I have to pull the bolt to put another round in the chamber. Any ideas ? Thanks
 
I tried American Eagle 240gr jacketed HP and some hand loads that were made for my buddy's carbine 240gr HP/XTP Hornady, 22gr of 2400 they work fine in his carbine and so does the american eagle stuff
 
6.5x55swm said:
I tried American Eagle 240gr jacketed HP and some hand loads that were made for my buddy's carbine 240gr HP/XTP Hornady, 22gr of 2400 they work fine in his carbine and so does the american eagle stuff
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Well based on what I'm hearing its together wrong. Unless you or somebody else has been monkeying with the chamber thats all it can be. I'm assuming that when you reassembled you oiled so little it was almost non existant. They dont like pails of oil,only enough to keep from rusting. I didnt have as much luck with 2400 as I did with 24.5 grs of H110 on the 240's

And as for the helpful contributing dealer that says short ammo. I'll try not to be a contributing customer:rolleyes:
 
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Has the gun seen any amount of cast bullets down the pipe? Years ago a friend of mine had almost the same experience with a mini 14 that he had been experimenting with some cast bullet loads in. The gas port had gotten clogged full of lead shavings, choking off the gas to operate the slide. Got to where it didn't work with the cast or the factory jacketed loads. The gas port block had to be removed from the gun to clean it out.

AFIK, the 44 mag has the same gas porting arrangement as the mini 14.
Just a thought.
 
captonion said:
Gotta be a gummed up gas port.
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That woulda been my first guess, but he says clean,so I'm thinkin oil,or reassembly wrong,or loads with to fast a powder...Geez all three would jam it up. No seriously what he describes is exactly what my 351 used to do with 2400 powder. It burned so fast that the brass was chamber locked and the projectile gone before ejection. it would just spring the action a 1/2 inch or so.If you wanta find out if thats it, load up a round with a case full of 4198,imr or H no matter. It'll operate the action if its gonna. You'll only be around 1100 fps but that always tells weather its gun or load
 
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Yes it is, serial number starts with 100. I'm starting to think it is the ammo, maybe the American Eagle ammo is to slow and the hand loads to fast, 22gr of 2400 should give me about 1750 fps this is in Speer #11 manual this is a max load, but in Speer #12 manual it has 17.7gr of 2400 at 1506 fps as a max load, maybe blindside is right, the bullet is leaveing the barrel to fast to operate the piston. But what do I know. I won't even take the stock off
 
I have had two Ruger 44's

One for the life of me mine would do the same thing. All the parts were there, Gas would get throught the gas port. The action was clean with a bit of lube. I took it to two gunsmiths and they could not figure it out. I called it the cursed gun.

Maybe thats why Ruger droped the rifle 20 years ago.

Good luck I pulled my hair out untill I found one that works.
 
Mine developed a hairline crack in a bolt carrier(?) part. Was basically unrepairable without a replacement part. It eventually wouldn't function with any ammo, I only used factory at the time.
 
Just a thought, but how is the surface condition of the chamber.
In a friends semi auto garand. Corrosion,just a little bit of it, got hold in the chamber area. His rifle reacted the exact same way. He would load rifle chamber a round, fire rifle, and it would only extract about one half inch.

A bit of attention, cleaning the chamber with some JB bore scrubber
(it is abrasive, so do not overdo it) solved that problem.

Just a thought.....
 
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Wild_Thing said:
This brings up an interesting question. Just how reliable are these Ruger .44 Carbines? I have always played with the idea of getting one.
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I dont know bout the newer ones. I got the old style in a high grade. Never misses a beat
 
6.5x55swm said:
Yes it is, serial number starts with 100. I'm starting to think it is the ammo, maybe the American Eagle ammo is to slow and the hand loads to fast, 22gr of 2400 should give me about 1750 fps this is in Speer #11 manual this is a max load, but in Speer #12 manual it has 17.7gr of 2400 at 1506 fps as a max load, maybe blindside is right, the bullet is leaveing the barrel to fast to operate the piston. But what do I know. I won't even take the stock off
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Well load some up with H110 or if you just wanta see where the prob lies 4198 will tell you..We're kinda waitin for you to make the next move bro.The am eagle will also be a small amount of fast burning powder..Your getting the energy to rotate the lugs, then the rest goes out the muzzle and thats that. A half cocked bolt. If your short on powders just say, I'll send you out a few that'll test er
 
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If it's the older...better model of carbine then I may have an answer. I bought mine in the late 60's and it saw quite a bit of use as my main rifle for deer and wolves. I tried some souped up handloads in it and they worked for a bit. I then started to get jams....sometimes it wouldn't fully eject...sometimes it would fail to bring one up from the mag. I contacted Riuger who advised me to change a part...something to do with the ejection process so I did. It worked for a bit and then began to malfunction again. This time I took it to a gunsmith who advised that these had a design flaw (unusual for Ruger) and he would have to order parts from Ruger and then do some milling on the action and reassemble with the new parts. I sent it west. I live in Ontario and it went to a smith in Manitoba or Sask.....he said he had five to do at that time. So $100.00 and something later and it is "fixed" and has been 100% since. No, I can't rememberwho but I will ask the Smith here for details. I believe that the trigger housing casting was cracked...or something like that.
Common problem especially with older Rugers which had been pounded with heavy handloads. Contact me if you wish more info. Dave
 
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