Ruger 44 mag. rifle

[Country Boy]

 A guy wants to trade in a older .44mag rifle on my Browning blr. What difference should I ask.
     Tell me about the Ruger .44 mag rifle, never used one. If I took the deal it would be used for deer and hogs, what is it's range limitation and what ammo should I use ? Thanks

[GatCat]

The older Ruger .44 mag was designed to use jacketed bullets ONLY. Most folks seem to use 240 gr. bullets, which is what was standard when the carbines were made. Some say they have accuracy issues, others say they shoot just fine. If auracy is good, I would say it is good for 150 yards or so. I bought a used one a while back, but have not had a chance to play with it yet. IF the new Hornady pointed bullets work in it, according to their ballistic charts, out of a rifle it has the same velocity at 150 yards that a revolver does at 50 yards. I really don't know about value of the two you are comparing, check with on-line auctions and see what each is going for.
Mark

[Rangr44]

The BLR's worth a minimum of $250-300 more than the .44 Auto Carbine (I have both).

The .44 Ruger's effective to about 125yds +/-, and never, never use lead bullets in it, unless you're a maschocist & love cleaning melted lead out of gas orfices, etc.

It's arguably the best short range, medium game repeater available.  Should you miss, nothing else has to move except your trigger finger.

[awshucks]

The BLR's worth a minimum of $250-300 more than the .44 Auto Carbine (I have both).

The .44 Ruger's effective to about 125yds +/-, and never, never use lead bullets in it, unless you're a maschocist & love cleaning melted lead out of gas orfices, etc.

It's arguably the best short range, medium game repeater available.  Should you miss, nothing else has to move except your trigger finger.

Just got one!  Thanks for the tip on jacketed ammo only, saved me some grief for sure.  Any tips on what factory ammo would be best place to start for accuracy?  Plan on hunting med size hogs and close range deer w/ it.  Will one load do both?  Thanks for any help!!

[Tom W.]

I had my hands on a bolt .44 Ruger, a Lever and the auto.. Which one is it?

[bilmac]

Didn't Ruger change the auto from  gas opated to blowback? what I was told was the gas gun was a nice slim trim little carbine but the blowback was a lot heavier and not so handy.

[awshucks]

I have the auto.  was told it was one of the first ones made, but have no idea.  The top of the receiver has two screws that hold a curved plate in place up inside the receiver.  Behind it is the rear mount, front mount is drilled and tapped into bbl.  The rear folding open sight has a square notch and the front sight has a white insert that appears square when sighting it.  I'd tell you the ser # but gun isn't home right now.  thanks for the look!

[Blackhawk44]

Both are gas operated.  Older style is recognized by closed action with only an ejection port and a tube magazine in the forearm.  Recent style is an "open" action much like the M1 Garand/M1A with a detachable plastic rotary magazine.  Most folks much prefer the handling and utility of the older design.    

[Rangr44]

[Didn't Ruger change the auto from  gas opated to blowback ?] - Nope, as posted above.

[what I was told was the gas gun was a nice slim trim little carbine but the blowback was a lot heavier and not so handy.] - Both the tube-feed Old Model, and the Mini-14 based 99/44 Deerfield weigh about the same, and handle similarly - except for the differing magazine systems & sight layouts.

awshucks - My Old Model .44 Auto's (I've had several) all shot pretty good groups with just about any commercial 240gr JSP or JHP ammo.

This is a typical 100yd 3-shot group (The target rings are 1" apart):

[awshucks]

This is a typical 100yd 3-shot group (The target rings are 1" apart):

I could sure live w/ that, lol.  I had the gun here for sale for a buddy in Tn and found a pristine Weaver K-3 w/ Germ post in 3x and couldn't resist the combo.  i got one group like yours but at 50 and am having a smith buddy tune the trigger pull a tad lower.  thanks for the info guys, if I ever beat that 100 yd group, i'll be back, lol.

[Rangr44]

You might want to consider experimenting with zeroes, if using the post & crosshair reticle on some scopes.

At first, I zeroed using the top of the post, which was a tad above the crosshair - but found that I was shooting high when I was excited, as in during jumping a bedded deer.

I think the thinner post tip was "disappearing" to my view, in my excitement.

So, I eventually switched to a zero at the junction of the post & crosshair, to allow for my idiosyncrasy.

YMMV, of course.

[bilmac]

The new models shoot from the open bolt? I know submachine guns do that so that the barrels cool faster, but wouldn't that be terrible for accuracy? Some people say the SA sixguns can't shoot well because that big old heavy hammer kills the potential, or the 03 springfield can't shoot straight because of the heavy fireing pin..

[Rangr44]

[The new models shoot from the open bolt? ]

I don't know how you came up with that slant, bilmac - None of the Ruger .44 Auto's fire from an open bolt (which means the bolt acts as the firing pin).

If you're referring to Blackhawk 44's post, above, referring to the new models having an "open" action - I'm confident that the comment referred to an open top receiver, or no receiver top, as opposed to the closed-top/covered bolt receivers the old model .44's had.

[Ranger J]

I have a new model (Deerfield) and it is a very accurate 100 yd deer gun.  The only thing that keeps me from shooting it a lot more is I hate chasing the spent cartridges down  (I reload), it needs a a heavy load to cycle properly and you can not shoot cast in it.  On the other hand it will shoot accurately any 240 gr SP or JHP that is loaded heavy enough to cycle.  It is a shame Ruger discontinued it.

RJ

[Drilling Man]

I know submachine guns do that so that the barrels cool faster,

  Actually, they fire from an "open bolt", so they don't fire (cook off) the loaded round when they are hot from continued use...

  DM

[Ak.Hiker]

I have had one for many years. I just stick to a good 240 JSP for all uses. The Winchester white box as well as the Remington express are both good loads.