Now I don't have one but it's a gas operated gun. It looks a little complicated to take apart and get back together but look may be deceiving. I'd love one of those but I think I'd rather have a Savage 99 or a Winchester 88...you know, for a somewhat unconventional rifle.
Yes, it is pretty straight forward semi-automatic gas operated rifle. Complete disassemble and reassemble for through cleaning is not at all a difficult of complicated process. I got my first one around '63 from a Lazarus department store my mom worked in, actually she bought it as I was 13 at the time. New, the rifle was about $120. I repaid my parents $30 a month for 4 months.
Now, the Deerfield Carbine is based on the Ranch Rifle design but uses a four round rotary magazine instead of the staggered box magazine of the Ranch rifle and Mini-14 rifles. The reason for this special magazine is the .44 Magnum's rimmed case. It is a totally different Ruger rifle.
The Ruger .44 carbine was originally called the Ruger Deerstalker, whose name was later changed to the .44 Carbine. Actually I think it was the first Ruger center fire rifle in production with the Model 77 line somewhere in the late 60s.
The rifle is a 100 yard rifle and does just fine and for those good and that can figure drop maybe a little more. I liked it because it was short and inside 100 yards excellent in heavy brush where I hunted deer in West Virginia. Follow up shots (when needed) were very easy with no lever to work.
The pictures I posted earlier were the Model .44 Carbine beside a Ruger 10/22. Pretty close in size. The tubular magazine below the barrel holds 4 rounds so you can load 1, chamber it and load 4 more for 5 rounds though I never bothered with more than 4. They do extremely well with 240 grain jacked bullets and I would never consider a 300 grain .44 Mag in one of mine.
Overall, I would jump on another if the price was right. You don't see them very often anymore. For a nice clean one I would give between $500 and $600 in a heartbeat as I like them that much.
Ron
