Ruger 44 Mag carbine value please

[bravastar1]

I have my eye on a 1964 production Ruger 44 Mag carbine. I feel it is in 85% condition. It is all original. Does this gun have any collector value or is it just a good shooter? Any idea of value will be a great help. The owner is asking $525.00 Thanks.

 

[salty]

Make sure it works and if so buy it quick at that price - they are great shooters and in short supply. Very nice if you have a 44 mag pistol.

 

[greyling22]

if you are referring to the semi auto they're picky on their ammo. takes a really hot 44 mag to get the gun to cycle reliably.

 

[dmazur]

I had good luck with Remington factory ammo, 240 gr JSP's. I also had good luck with handloads using 24 gr of H110 and 240 gr JSP bullets. I'm not sure if this qualifies as a "hot load", but it is near maximum. No, you won't get the gas mechanism to cycle with reduced or target loads.

The Ruger carbine is fussy about case overall length. While 1.610" is supposed to be acceptable for .44 Rem Mag, I had trouble unless the COL was closer to 1.590" (which matches Remington JSP, strangely enough). Some JHP's achieve 240 gr by lengthening the bullet above the cannelure, which can cause feed troubles with the Ruger carbine. OK for revolvers.

Speer makes JSP bullets in 240 gr which allow closely matching the Remington factory performance and dimensions, so I'm going to stick with this.

Other than being fussy about ammo, they are great little guns.