questions about new .44mag carbine

[coosbaycreep]

I got another ruger .44 earlier, and had some questions about it.

I owned one for awhile a year or two ago (sold it to buy something else I wanted more at the time, and regretted it), and I know you're not suppose to shoot lead bullets in them, and that they like heavier bullets, but is there a certain kind of bullet that they function best with?

This one has the tube magazine. The only thing I ever shot through the first one I had was WWB 240gr soft points, but I got to wondering if there's any danger in using hollow points and stuff in this? I realize that 44mag bullets aren't spire shaped like rifle bullets, but can certain bullet designs ignite a primer in one of these?

I reload for .44, and was wondering if these guns are strong enough to shoot the "ruger/T/C only" loads in the reload books? My other .44s are S&W revolvers, and I shoot pretty mild loads in those, but if this is capable of handling the heavier loads, that's what I'd prefer to shoot in it.

Is there anything else I should be aware of when loading a pistol caliber for a semi-auto rifle?

I don't know if you can see in the pics, but the receiver and parts of the barrel look like someone tried cleaning it with steel wool or something, and put a bunch of scratches in the blueing. I'm not concerned about rust or anything really because I don't hunt or shoot in the rain usually, but is there a cheap and easy way to fix the blueing?

What's up with the peep sight? Is that factory? It seems like my other one had a flip-up sight or something. I'm not a big fan of peeps (except for the sugar-covered marshmallow easter candy of the same name of course), so I might just put a scope on it eventually, but we'll see.

I haven't shot it yet, but if it's not raining and I get some ammo loaded for it, I hope to shoot it tomorrow.

The gun looks really nice other than the blemishes on the barrel/receiver, but I wish I could've got it cheaper. I paid $395 (I sold my first one, which was nicer for $400), but these don't come up for sale around here very often, and when they do, they're usually priced higher than I'm willing to pay, so I'm glad I've got another one. These are about the coolest little hiking guns you can get. Too bad ruger doesn't bring back the semi-auto carbines with the rotary mag, and make hi-cap mags and pistol grip black synthetic stocks for them.

 

[dmazur]

I think I can answer some of your questions -

The information I read several years go said to stay away from bullets with a tip smaller than the primer diameter, but that flat nosed & hollow points were generally OK. And, as you know from .44 Mag reloading, you need a firm crimp regardless of whether it's going in a revolver or a tubular magazine.

Ruger's manual for the carbine was printed long before the hotter loads for the Ruger revolvers, I believe, and it just says something about using full power ammunition for reliable action cycling, and jacketed only to prevent fouling the gas cylinder with lead.

As the gas system isn't adjustable, I believe there may be some of the same problems as the M1 Garand in shooting "hot loads" in the Ruger carbine. That is, the gun may function just fine, but something is being over-stressed and will fail sooner than designed. You could get thousands of rounds of hot loads through it, or only a few hundred. As Ruger carbine parts are scarcer than Garand parts, I wouldn't do it. I would settle for "full up" H110 loads with 240gr jacketed soft points.

The other problem the Ruger carbine can have is cartridge overall length. While there are published loads for 300 gr bullets, some of these require seating to the "first cannelure". This is generally OK for Ruger revolvers, but not OK for the carbine, which requires seating to the "second cannelure" to achieve the correct COAL. As this has a reduced volume, the load is reduced.

I don't believe the carbines had factory peep sights, but I'm not a Ruger historian and I could be misinformed. They work well with Weaver mounts and either low-power conventional or red-dot scopes. I use a Leupold 1-4X on my carbine. I also extended the front sight with a 0.250" riser block so I could use a NECG peep sight on the rear Weaver mount. The front sight looks odd at that height, but it works.