The Ruger Model 44 is a

semi-automatic rifle A semi-automatic rifle is an autoloading rifle that fires a single cartridge with each pull of the trigger, and uses part of the fired cartridge's energy to eject the case and load another cartridge into the chamber. For comparison, a bolt-a ...

chambered in .44 Remington Magnum designed and manufactured by American firearm company Sturm, Ruger & Co. It uses a 4-round tubular magazine and was produced from 1961 to 1985.

History

Designed as a close range carbine for

deer hunting Deer hunting is hunting for deer for meat and sport, an activity which dates back tens of thousands of years. Venison, the name for deer meat, is a nutritious and natural food source of animal protein that can be obtained through deer hunting. ...

in dense woods, Ruger released the Model 44 Carbine in 1961 as the "Deerstalker", a moniker it used until 1962 after which a lawsuit brought by the

Ithaca Gun Company The Ithaca Gun Company is a manufacturer of shotguns and rifles originally established in Ithaca, New York, in 1880. History Over the years, Ithaca made numerous firearms, most notably the Ithaca Flues double-barreled shotgun and the Ithaca 37 ...

prohibited them from doing so. The design influenced the smaller and more popular

Ruger 10/22 The Ruger 10/22 is a series of semi-automatic rifles produced by American firearm manufacturer Sturm, Ruger & Co., chambered for the .22 Long Rifle rimfire cartridge. It uses a patented 10-round rotary magazine, though higher capacity box ma ...

model chambered in

.22 LR The .22 Long Rifle or simply .22 LR or 22 (metric designation: 5.6×15mmR) is a long-established variety of .22 caliber rimfire ammunition originating from the United States. It is used in a wide range of rifles, pistols, revolvers, smooth ...

that would debut in 1964. The rifle was discontinued in 1985 due to high production costs. Ruger does not offer any parts support for the Model 44. The Ruger Model 44 was replaced by the

Ruger Deerfield Carbine The Deerfield Carbine or Model 99/44 is a .44 Magnum semi-automatic rifle produced by Sturm, Ruger & Co. It uses a rotating-bolt short-stroke gas-piston. It was introduced in 2000 and discontinued in 2006. The Deerfield Carbine replaced the ea ...

introduced in 2000 and produced until 2006. The Deerfield is a brand new design and has little in common with the Model 44. While the Model 44 featured a solid-topped receiver, the modern Deerfield Carbine has an open-top design more resembling the

M1 Carbine The M1 carbine (formally the United States Carbine, Caliber .30, M1) is a lightweight semi-automatic carbine that was a standard firearm for the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The M1 carbine was produced ...

, which offered increased strength and lower production costs. The Deerfield uses a

rotary magazine A magazine is an ammunition storage and feeding device for a repeating firearm, either integral within the gun (internal/fixed magazine) or externally attached (detachable magazine). The magazine functions by holding several cartridges withi ...

similar to that used on Ruger's

10/22 The Ruger 10/22 is a series of semi-automatic rifles produced by American firearm manufacturer Sturm, Ruger & Co., chambered for the .22 Long Rifle rimfire cartridge. It uses a patented 10-round rotary magazine, though higher capacity box ma ...

rifle.

Design

The standard model featured a walnut stock and a barrel band similar to the Ruger 10/22 and the

, but using a solid top receiver. The front sight was a gold bead and the rear sight was a folding leaf-type. The receiver was drilled and tapped for scope mounts. The rifle was fed via a 3 round tubular magazine. The chief complaint of the rifle was that the gas ports quickly fouled when using lead ammunition. This became less of an issue as manufacturers of .44 Magnum ammunition offered jacketed rounds instead of traditional lead. Ruger offered several variants including the RS model that had factory sling swivels and a rear peep

sight Visual perception is the ability to interpret the surrounding environment through photopic vision (daytime vision), color vision, scotopic vision (night vision), and mesopic vision (twilight vision), using light in the visible spectrum reflecte ...

close to the rear receiver lug. The International Model was similar, but lacked the rear peep sight and had a Mannlicher-type stock. The Sporter was the same, but made use of a Monte-Carlo style of stock. These three variants were dropped from production in 1971. In the final year of production, Ruger offered a "25th Anniversary Edition" that featured a Ruger medallion embedded in the stock.

Images

File:Ruger Deerstalker44 r.JPG, The right side of the Ruger Deerstalker 44 Magnum semi-auto rifle. File:Ruger Deestalker44 l.JPG, The left side of the Ruger Deerstalker 44 Magnum semi-auto rifle, bearing the pre-lawsuit brand name, and the low 1000s serial number.

References

External links

User Manual
{{Ruger .44 Magnum firearms Semi-automatic rifles of the United States Ruger rifles Rotary magazine firearms