Ruger Deerfield carbine in .44 mag

[kiwihunta]

Any body got an opinion on the ruger deerfield carbine in .44 magnum,i have had mine about a year now,I bought it through a mates gun shop ,an old guy had bought it new and never fired it didnt want to renew his firearms license, so i lucked out i always wanted to buy one, but as we all know a few years back they went out of production and instantly became very collectible,so i was really happy to come across this one,i generally use .308 win or .223 on Deer,but this coming roar i intend to use the ruger especially in the scrub,i have settled on 225 grn Hornady lever evo ammo and have been getting some outstanding results at the range snap shooting claybirds all day long at 100-135yds and consistant bulls at 100yds ,more than adequate for deer hunting accuracy ,i am really fond of this little rifle and was wondering if anyone out there had any thoughts..

 

[gunnutery]

I don't own one myself but my brother-in-law does and I know he really likes his. We live a few states away so I haven't been able shoot it yet. I've always liked the thought of them and probably would've bought one if they made higher capacity magazines for it. Congrats on your purchase.

 

[paintballdude902]

real common around coastal NC for bear. its short and handy with alot of punch so the guys that use hounds for bear hunting really like them

 

[kiwihunta]

Thanks gunnutery next time out i hope to post a pic of the makings of a good venison stew,cheers.

 

[PT1911]

around here they are very sought after and not easy to find... well.. the tubular magazine ones anyhow... the detacheable mags... not so much.

 

[kiwihunta]

real common around coastal NC for bear. its short and handy with alot of punch so the guys that use hounds for bear hunting really like them

Icould see how they would make a reasonable bear defence gun 5 fast rounds (4+1)of .44 mag has gotta hurt,we dont have bear in our neck of the woods.... some say thats a good thing well others ....LOL, we do have a variety of deer species and some great pigs plus feral bulls always fun ,though i would prefer to engage the bulls out a little further than a .44 for obvious reasons perhaps a 300 win mag.cheers

 

[MCEOD]

I have one that has been used on hogs in South East Texas. I love the power of the round but I've had FTF and FTE issues with mine. I think it stands to note, it is a rotary magazine type.

 

[Gunfighter123]

I had a older tube mag one with the factory rear peep sight ---- could hit blackbirds at 50 yards with it all day long --- mine fed JHPs/JSPs 100% but would "gag" a little with semi-wadcutters.

 

[Sunray]

"...instantly became very collectible..." Being out of production doesn't make anything a collector's piece.
"...reasonable bear defence gun..." If you can't do it with one shot, it's too late. Yogi is extremely fast when he needs/wants to be.

 

[kanook]

"...instantly became very collectible..." Being out of production doesn't make anything a collector's piece.

There are a lot of Ruger collectors that will argue with you.

"...reasonable bear defence gun..." If you can't do it with one shot, it's too late. Yogi is extremely fast when he needs/wants to be.

A big bore 44 in a rifle is better than nothing. Since some countries don't allow there subjects to carry a handgun for defense , the rifle is nice.

 

[Ranger J]

I have had one for years with excellent results from 240 gr HPs and Sps. I have never had a FTT or FTL of any kind. According to the papers that come with the gun it is maximized for full power 240 GR jacketed bullets. Both the Deerfields and the older tube fed model will jam if fed a diet of cast bullets. I believe it is a case of the lub on cast bullets eventually clogging up the gas system. If you reload try Hornady 240 Gr XTPs over a full load of 2400.

RJ

 

[kiwihunta]

"...instantly became very collectible..." Being out of production doesn't make anything a collector's piece.
"...reasonable bear defence gun..." If you can't do it with one shot, it's too late. Yogi is extremely fast when he needs/wants to be.

Not so in my neck of the woods i have had several offers for the deerfield,two from serious collectors i guess it depends if your into Rugers or not,like anything its about supply and demand and now theres no supply,the bear thing i am really unable to comment as down here we dont have bear,but as i said earlier i certainly intend to carry it in the scrub this year on deer, pigs, bulls whatever, cheers.

 

[rallyhound]

My favorite guns for whitetails in dense Minnesota woods.

I use a 1.5x5 shotgun scope and have taken deer from 5 feet to 150 yards with that combo.

Light and short so very easy to carry and stalk hunt with.

With the long eye relief of the shottie scope it is fast into action and I wont get scope eye if I don't get my head into proper shooting position every time.

Recoil is so light you can keep the target in the scope view as it recoils.

So easy to handle and shoot I even took 1 deer shooting right handed with the rifle laying across my left arm and using my right eye, and I'm a southpaw.

Also took 4 deer walking in a straight line with 4 shots in about 4 seconds on time.

Mine has never jammed or malfunctioned in any way.

Only thing I don't like is for me the stock is a little to thick, both at the fore end and grip area.

 

[rallyhound]

In my opinion also, At 50 yards or less I think the 44mag is a better deer killer than other small, light recoil cartridges, like 30-30, 243 etc.

The 44 240gr semi jacket remington rounds just seems to do more damage than smaller pointed bulllets.

All my shots have achieved excellent penetration although they haven't always exited the animal.

 

[kiwihunta]

My favorite guns for whitetails in dense Minnesota woods.

I use a 1.5x5 shotgun scope and have taken deer from 5 feet to 150 yards with that combo.

Light and short so very easy to carry and stalk hunt with.

With the long eye relief of the shottie scope it is fast into action and I wont get scope eye if I don't get my head into proper shooting position every time.

Recoil is so light you can keep the target in the scope view as it recoils.

So easy to handle and shoot I even took 1 deer shooting right handed with the rifle laying across my left arm and using my right eye, and I'm a southpaw.

Also took 4 deer walking in a straight line with 4 shots in about 4 seconds on time.

Mine has never jammed or malfunctioned in any way.

Only thing I don't like is for me the stock is a little to thick, both at the fore end and grip area.

Hey rallyhound thats great to hear,thanks for your input ,just wondering if you have any experience with the hornady 225grn ballistic tip sst lever evo rounds,i have sighted in down the range on these and was pretty impressed how flat they shot on the 100yd range,i am using a bushnell 1.5 -4 power dusk till dawn ,i had the scope previously mounted on a marlin 336 so as i already had it it seemed the obvious choice to top off the deerfield with and so far i couldnt be happier with the result.I did find i needed to use rugers high rings as the lower ones tended to deflect the spent case and impair the ejection other than that very pleased, cant wait to introduce it to bambi,my son has quite aptly nick named it "Brutus"...lol.

 

[greyling22]

the older one I"ve used hated everything but hot 44 mags. you couldn't subload for anything.

 

[MichaelK]

I took this last season's deer with a 240 grain hollowpoint. Got 100% penetration and venison in the freezer. I'd recommend the 240 grain hollowpoint to anyone.

 

[kanook]

I forgot to mention, First deer in Florida I got was with a Ruger carbine using Elderado Spitfire at about 60yds, little hole in big hole out

 

[Rokman]

I sold one a couple of years ago and really regret it. It's a great little carbine. Still kicking myself for that one.

 

[kiwihunta]

I sold one a couple of years ago and really regret it. It's a great little carbine. Still kicking myself for that one.

Funny that i have never heard of anyone glad they sold one but i have heard of quite a few still kicking themselves for selling one i think mine will have a permanent corner in my gun cabinet.

 

[rallyhound]

I bought 2 when they first came out for $399 ea.
Still have 1 new in box in case I wear the first one out, in 40 years.

 

[MCEOD]

Mine has been nothing but problematic since I picked it up. But after hearing the way you guys have talked about the rifle, I may just hang on to it and see if I can get the bugs worked out. Thank you all for saving me the regret I would undoubtedly feel down the road.

 

[kiwihunta]

Mine has been nothing but problematic since I picked it up. But after hearing the way you guys have talked about the rifle, I may just hang on to it and see if I can get the bugs worked out. Thank you all for saving me the regret I would undoubtedly feel down the road.

Hey there Mceod, is yours a deerslayer (the earlier tube mag 10/22 type) or the deerfield mini 14 type action, and what problems have you had? never know might be able to help , i have refurbished two of the earlier deerslayers and now own a near new deerfield.

 

[Almond27]

I had one and stupidly sold it for $200 bucks one time. I had the old tube fed model I know mine was dirty as heck when I first got it hell it had a dead cockroach inside the stock once I broke it all the way down and gave it a good cleaning it ran like a top. I'd try giving it a good cleaning inside the tube and action.

 

[MCEOD]

It's the Deerfield Mini-14 type. At first I was having problems with the bolt cycling at all. I tore the rifle down as far as I could and cleaned every part I could get a Q-tip into. That fixed some of the issues. I am now getting 1 or 2 Failure to Eject per 4 round mag. I've tried several different types of ammo with none making things any better.

I jump on the purchase without looking to much into the well being of the rifle. I was looking for something a little unusual to add to my collection. As soon as I saw the huge hole in the front of what I though was a Mini-14, I jumped all over it.