44 magnum Ruger at the range

[bunkysdad]

I went to the range Tuesday and had a blast in the nice cool weather. One thing however I noticed is that I was shooting my Ruger 44 carbine with some full power handloads and the recoil hurt like crazy. I wonder if I am getting a little arthritis in my shoulder? Yeah that must be it. Shooting 44 magnum 240 gr jacketed bullets with 24 grains of H110 powder. Good Lord that rifle is about the same specs as a 10-22 but a real hammer.

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[entropy]

Light rifle+hot loads+ heavy recoil. My Dad had one of those and loaded for it; he found a few left over after he sold his, and gave them to me to shoot from my Ruger Redhawk. I had to shave the lead off the front (240 JSP's, don't know the charge or what powder though) to get them to fit in the cylinder! That had a bit of recoil, I will say! The Redhawk took them without a hiccup, of course.

[Brake Weight]

Good to know. I just shoot regular ‘bear loads’ in it. I forget what brand even. White box from WallyWorld.

[Junk Yard Dog]

[M39 Shooter]

24 grains of h110 is almost max. Have you tried imr 4227 ? about 10,000 less c.u.p. while giving up about 100 fps. That is a beautiful rifle, i love the old Redfield t.v. screen scope. I have seen the Ruger 44s crack their trigger guards on occasion, and getting a replacement part is about nill.

[BuckeyeSgt]

IMG_4280.jpg

I love shooting my desert eagle .44 Sure would like to get a carbine like that.

[bunkysdad]

24 grains of h110 is almost max. Have you tried imr 4227 ? about 10,000 less c.u.p. while giving up about 100 fps. That is a beautiful rifle, i love the old Redfield t.v. screen scope. I have seen the Ruger 44s crack their trigger guards on occasion, and getting a replacement part is about nill.

I have not tried 4227, I have a batch loaded up with some 2400 but the load escapes me at the moment. You are right the 24 gr load of H110 is max and I'm going to save the rest for a Super Blackhawk revolver. I appreciate the tip about the cracks in the stock. I'd sure hate to crack this one. You know I was hoping to find a Redfield wide screen scope because I had wanted one for years and this rifle had no scope or mounts when I bought it. I lucked into that scope at a pawn shop my brother was working at. I wanted a 70's scope for my 70's carbine.

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[bunkysdad]

IMG_4280.jpg

I love shooting my desert eagle .44 Sure would like to get a carbine like that. [emoji106]

At night that Desert Eagle would light the place up like a signal flare.

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[M39 Shooter]

24 grains of h110 is almost max. Have you tried imr 4227 ? about 10,000 less c.u.p. while giving up about 100 fps. That is a beautiful rifle, i love the old Redfield t.v. screen scope. I have seen the Ruger 44s crack their trigger guards on occasion, and getting a replacement part is about nill.

I have not tried 4227, I have a batch loaded up with some 2400 but the load escapes me at the moment. You are right the 24 gr load of H110 is max and I'm going to save the rest for a Super Blackhawk revolver. I appreciate the tip about the cracks in the stock. I'd sure hate to crack this one. You know I was hoping to find a Redfield wide screen scope because I had wanted one for years and this rifle had no scope or mounts when I bought it. I lucked into that scope at a pawn shop my brother was working at. I wanted a 70's scope for my 70's carbine.

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Not the stock, the cast trigger guard. you probably could find a stock before you ever found the T/G. It seems to be the Achilles heel of the rifle. I have been experimenting with BE-86 in my s&w 44mag. It`s seemingly gentile and may work with a carbine length barrel.

[bunkysdad]

24 grains of h110 is almost max. Have you tried imr 4227 ? about 10,000 less c.u.p. while giving up about 100 fps. That is a beautiful rifle, i love the old Redfield t.v. screen scope. I have seen the Ruger 44s crack their trigger guards on occasion, and getting a replacement part is about nill.

I have not tried 4227, I have a batch loaded up with some 2400 but the load escapes me at the moment. You are right the 24 gr load of H110 is max and I'm going to save the rest for a Super Blackhawk revolver. I appreciate the tip about the cracks in the stock. I'd sure hate to crack this one. You know I was hoping to find a Redfield wide screen scope because I had wanted one for years and this rifle had no scope or mounts when I bought it. I lucked into that scope at a pawn shop my brother was working at. I wanted a 70's scope for my 70's carbine.

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Not the stock, the cast trigger guard. you probably could find a stock before you ever found the T/G. It seems to be the Achilles heel of the rifle. I have been experimenting with BE-86 in my s&w 44mag. It`s seemingly gentile and may work with a carbine length barrel.

I was looking at my rifle the other day and noticed the gold bead was missing from my front sight. I thought it would be either expensive or impossible to find, but got lucky. It was in stock at Numerich gun parts.

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[tjtM38]

I had one of those .44 Deerstalkers and sold it like a fool. I hunted with it a couple of times and had no luck, but it is a real handy rifle in the field. I would use 240 grain jacket bullets (no half jackets) and a load that is fairly heavy, although 10% below will still cycle the action. Lead bullets are out, due to fouling of the gas port. PM me if you need an original owners manual; I have one and don't need it. Ruger probably still has them available online as well.

[bunkysdad]

That reminds me of the first time I did a thorough cleaning on the carbine. I was disassembling it on the tailgate of my truck and dropped the gas system piston without realizing it. And it went into the grass. When I realized it was missing I thought I'd never find it. Lesson learned for sure. When I disassemble a weapon I do so over a towel or blanket so that small parts don't bounce into the alternate universe. I have taken apart small parts with springs inside plastic bags so the springs don't launch out the window. [emoji14]

[entropy]

That reminds me of the first time I did a thorough cleaning on the carbine. I was disassembling it on the tailgate of my truck and dropped the gas system piston without realizing it. And it went into the grass. When I realized it was missing I thought I'd never find it. Lesson learned for sure. When I disassemble a weapon I do so over a towel or blanket so that small parts don't bounce into the alternate universe. I have taken apart small parts with springs inside plastic bags so the springs don't launch out the window. [emoji14]

Yup, I learned that last trick from an old gunsmith that did work for the first shop I worked at. I sometimes forget to use it, however. I lost the buffer detent spring for my AR a month ago, never did find it. I found something in my parts that worked while waiting for the several I ordered to come in. I now have some spares.

[Longcolt44]

Lost springs, yup, did that. There are two mainsprings from my SVT 40 lost forever in the front room of my house.

[bunkysdad]

All you need is a metal detector! Sweep everything till toy find them.

[tjtM38]

FYI, Russell, in case you haven't seen this article:

https://www.americanrifleman.org/articl ... 4-carbine/

[Brake Weight]

Thanks for that article. Motivated me to find these two links. Mine is a 1977 model.

1961-74
https://ruger.com/service/productHistor ... rbine.html

1975-85
https://ruger.com/service/productHistor ... bineA.html

[bunkysdad]

thanks for that this old gun article. Mine was made in 1971.

[tjtM38]

thanks for that this old gun article. Mine was made in 1971.

The one I had had a 102 serial number start. Probably early 80's; it was a nice rifle.

[tjtM38]

I went to the nearby LGS, a pawn and gun shop a few miles away, and he had one of these .44 Ruger carbines in really nice shape. It was a 100 series serial number so manufactured between 1971 and 1973 (didn't capture the full number). The stock was almost perfect; the rifle had been fired some, but the bore was clean and lead free with no gas port fouling. It just needed disassembly and cleaning, mainly in the area of the bolt (internal grease and some dirt). He wanted a whopping $650 for it. I would love to have another one, but that is a bit steep. You just don't see too many of these around.