Deerfield .44 Magnum Carbine

[Igor]

I have the opportunity to buy a Deerfield .44 Magnum Carbine. It has seen very little use, and has a 3x9 Bushnell scope on it. The serial number tells me it was manufactured in 2001.

I know very little about this particular Ruger, other than what I have been able to find by searching this forum. It appears that some people love them, and some people don't have much love for them.

I am looking for advice on what things to be aware of. I shoot revolvers in .44 magnum, so I thought this carbine would be fun to shoot, and probably easy to reload for. I'm not sure how practical it would be for hunting.

Any advice/tips would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[silvergoat86]

Hello Igor,
I have a 44 Deerfield, I use it for a backup rifle for deer hunting in Kentucky. My farm is wooded with maximum shots being less than 150 yards. I don't shoot reloads in it yet but have dies now and intend to give it a try. Enjoy this carbine !

 

[wwb]

............ I'm not sure how practical it would be for hunting.

Any advice/tips would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

The Deerfield is a mini14 type action. Not as visually appealing as the original .44 carbine, but a rock-solid performer and a great hunting rifle for deer, if you hunt in the woods where 100-125 yards is the longest shot. With the ballistics of the .44, it's no beanfield rifle.

 

[G2]

They do have a look of thier own, liked & dis-liked ... opinions. :roll:

The one problem they did have is; ejected cases hit the mounted scope,
Ruger's soulition to the problem was to include a little piece of Velcro "leather" wrap to offer some protection to the scope. :shock:

I sure like mine, it's a performer, no scope, but I do have the little wrap & rings safely tucked away in the box. :wink:

 

[pete44ru]

.

I used the issue peepsight on mine effectively, but scope users can certainly rotate the scope 90-degrees in the rings so the old-windage/new-elevation turret is on top, leaving a clear EJ pathway.

I didn't care for the issue black plastic handguard atop the barrel, and so painted it to match the stock finish.
While a little better looking, it made the rifle look like a old Marlin M-1 .22 autoloader. :roll:

I also purchased an extra magazine, which I carried loaded in a haversack pocket ILO carrying extra single cartridges in belt loops, etc, etc.


.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

That scope seems a little powerful for that rifle but hey it might work well for you if you turn it down to 3X or 4X. The rifle likes full power 44mag ammo or handloads and the rifle is pretty much indestructible and that is a good thing because there aren't many parts available anymore form Ruger although there are a few other suppliers that have some. You are not supposed to shoot lead bullets because they can clog the gas port but if cleaned regularly you can shoot lead if you really want to. The rifle has only a 4-round mag so you better get at least one extra mag while they are still available. A real fun, compact gun to load for and shoot. I have a RedDot on mine but I don't hunt.

 

[Igor]

Thanks for all of the input........I do appreciate it. Probably fun to shoot, but not real practical for hunting in the state of Washington. Not sure that I need a Deerfield at this point. Had never seen one before, so I thought I would do a little looking around before I made up my mind.

 

[altajava]

Thanks for all of the input........I do appreciate it. Probably fun to shoot, but not real practical for hunting in the state of Washington. Not sure that I need a Deerfield at this point. Had never seen one before, so I thought I would do a little looking around before I made up my mind.

after you get one rifle, one shotgun and one handgun it's not about need anymore.
At this point I'm just trying to not have too buy yet one more $3000 gun safe.
Luckily the .44 carbine I just picked up fits without rearranging everything.

 

[mohavesam]

Thanks for all of the input........I do appreciate it. Probably fun to shoot, but not real practical for hunting in the state of Washington...

What are you hunting that is more than 125 yards away? Inside that range, I think a scoped Deerfield 44RM is about as practical as it gets for a big-hole kill.
- and insofar as a home-defense carbine, has few peers. 8)

 

[Igor]

Thanks for all of the input........I do appreciate it. Probably fun to shoot, but not real practical for hunting in the state of Washington...

What are you hunting that is more than 125 yards away? Inside that range, I think a scoped Deerfield 44RM is about as practical as it gets for a big-hole kill.
- and insofar as a home-defense carbine, has few peers. 8)

We usually hunt mule deer in Eastern Washington. I would say our average range is 150 - 200 yards........sometimes we reach out further than that. The couple of times we have hunted in Montana, I'd say that the average is around 225 - 250 yards. That's why I prefer a .270 Winchester.
As far as home defense goes, I like my Sig P229.........12 rounds of .357 Sig.