a few weeks ago I bought my first pistol caliber carbine a Ruger M77/44 for hunting hogs in brush, loved it right off, all my previous calibers been Texas type, long range. Couple days ago I ran across a Ruger I been looking for a long time, an old Ruger .44 mag Carbine, not the Deerslayer or Deerfield, just marked Ruger .44 mag Carbine, serial # shows it was made in '72, someone had chromed the barrel, it is still in great shape. I shot it while ago and fell in love with it too. Any of you guys hunt with similar type carbines, what ammo works best etc. would appreciate any input.

Good old cheap Winchester 240gr "White Box" shoots great and hits very hard out of my Remington 788 44mag. It is one of my favorite rifles to shoot and to just go out and have fun with. It's killed plenty of hogs and deer out to 100 yds with no problems. I'd say pick up a box and give it a try.

I have owned several, some shoot well some don't. BUT, I'm ALWAYS looking at every show I set up at for another one. It's a love hate/thing, the one's I have owned have never shot a small "group". But they ALL shot min. of pig very well!

Mine shoot anything from 180 gn (yes there is a 180gn 44 mag) Federals up to 300 Buffalo Bore just fine.

I load my own lately. 19.5 gns of 110 and a 260 gn bullet.

Doesn't save me a dime, I just like to do it.

I guess my favorite factoy load (at the moment) are the Winchester 210 or 250 silver bullets. Honestly any full power 44 load will do fine.

Most accurate load from mine uses a near max load of H110 behind a 300gr XTP for just over an inch @ 100 yards.

I been using both last few days since I am overrun with hogs...have taken 5 with the M77/44 and 2 with the .44 mag auto.....using the Winchester 240 grain store bought...happy for now, still thinking about a peep sight or scope for the old semi auto....cant wait for cold weather again when I can get back in the brush and not worry bout rattlers.

I love that gun I bought one used 30 years ago and sold to my best friend.
For hunting he uses 240 grain Winchesters or federals.

Had one years ago and killed several deer with 240 grain

When it comes to 44mag rifles, generally I stick with what my rifle likes best coupled with what's always on the shelf. In my case it ended up being the Hornady 225gr Lever-E. If you can find a serious supply of Rem 180 JSP for your task, give it a try for sure...Its upward of 2100fps.

Never seen the .44mag in person (I have a .243 with the 22" barrel).

I was able to pick one up a couple of years ago and really like it, except for the open iron sights. My old eyes just aren't good enough anymore, so I ordered a set of "GI" type Aperture Sights from TECH SIGHTS for the Ruger 10/22 which they said would likely fit.

They did work except the dovetail on my .44 is apparently a bit larger and when tightening down the mount on the Tech sight it broke.

I contacted them and they sent a replacement, but the same thing happened. Another call resulted in them sending me some small wedges to take up the slack in the gun's dovetail. But I have to admit that by then I had already mounted a red dot sight on it.

The red dot is good, but adds bulk to the gun which handles exceptionally well with just iron sights. But I haven't given up on getting my new Leupold Hog 1x4 a try on it.

Anyone know of a picatinny rail mount that will fit the Ruger .44 carbine? I already tried one for the 10/22 but it's too short.