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spaniel · April 4, 2013, 07:43 PM

I own one of the original Ruger 44Mag Deerhunter carbines, which I inherited. Likely from the 1970s.

I do deer hunt with it; I installed a set of Williams peep sights on it. I used to shoot competitively with peep sights so I prefer them on all guns I do not scope.

This is not a gun mean to shoot 200-300 yards. I typically care a smokeless powder muzzleloader for anything over 100 yards; the Ruger is for closer shots when the deer run up on me or I am still-hunting.

This past season I was still-hunting a creek bank bordering a corn stubble field; it was the only good crop food source around so I figured there would be some deer bedded around it. As I neared one end a doe and her two large yearling winded me and bolted at about 30 yards. The larger yearling cut across at ~40 yards, and I easily rolled it with a pass-thru of the lungs. I drew up on the second yearling as the doe took the straight path away from me, but it was too small so I eased off and let it go. I figured the doe was gone, but she made the fatal mistake of stopping dead broadside 140 yards out to check on her offspring. I took a careful aim, holding a bit high (I had practiced a lot out to 150 yards) and broke the shot. Even at that range, the bullet did good damage through the chest and managed to just poke a hole to exit.

They are great guns. Mine is as accurate as one can shoot with iron sights. One thing to remember is that these are gas-operated guns, so they will not cycle properly if you shoot 44Mags intended for pistols out of them (fast powder). This gun was originally gifted to another family member, but he could not get it to cycle and after several years gave it to me and told me that it was mine if I could make it work. After researching the issue I loaded up a strong load with a slower powder (H110) and the gun has yet to fail to cycle a single of the hundreds of rounds I have fired since.

April 4, 2013, 07:43 PM	#10
spaniel Senior Member Join Date: November 26, 2008 Posts: 217	I own one of the original Ruger 44Mag Deerhunter carbines, which I inherited. Likely from the 1970s. I do deer hunt with it; I installed a set of Williams peep sights on it. I used to shoot competitively with peep sights so I prefer them on all guns I do not scope. This is not a gun mean to shoot 200-300 yards. I typically care a smokeless powder muzzleloader for anything over 100 yards; the Ruger is for closer shots when the deer run up on me or I am still-hunting. This past season I was still-hunting a creek bank bordering a corn stubble field; it was the only good crop food source around so I figured there would be some deer bedded around it. As I neared one end a doe and her two large yearling winded me and bolted at about 30 yards. The larger yearling cut across at ~40 yards, and I easily rolled it with a pass-thru of the lungs. I drew up on the second yearling as the doe took the straight path away from me, but it was too small so I eased off and let it go. I figured the doe was gone, but she made the fatal mistake of stopping dead broadside 140 yards out to check on her offspring. I took a careful aim, holding a bit high (I had practiced a lot out to 150 yards) and broke the shot. Even at that range, the bullet did good damage through the chest and managed to just poke a hole to exit. They are great guns. Mine is as accurate as one can shoot with iron sights. One thing to remember is that these are gas-operated guns, so they will not cycle properly if you shoot 44Mags intended for pistols out of them (fast powder). This gun was originally gifted to another family member, but he could not get it to cycle and after several years gave it to me and told me that it was mine if I could make it work. After researching the issue I loaded up a strong load with a slower powder (H110) and the gun has yet to fail to cycle a single of the hundreds of rounds I have fired since.