I'm thinking about one.
Seems like a good idea, for a great all around rifle.


Any experience out there with this weapon?

no one?

I have no personal experience with it, but you may want to check at http://www.rugerforum.com to find comments about it.

I was looking at one this past weekend...seem pretty nice..different from the old 44mag carbine with the tube feed..more like mini 14 ..just gave it a cursory fondle.. I heard a rumor about making a short rifle in that 480 ruger
super redhawk cartridge...in an auto loader hmmm...all we need is 20rd mags.
I heated up that link for ya
www.rugerforum.com

I just sold one to a guy with a Nikon scope added,nice gun shoots well,don't care much for the wood though.

I just bought a 99/44 that was little used. It's a really neat rifle. It is somewhat sensitive about ammo. Mine likes IMR4227 when reloaded for. Shoots anywhere from 3/4" to 2" three shot groups at 50 yards using an Aimpoint 3000 depending on the ammo. I've got a post at the Ruger Forum about it. There's a link above.

I've shot one. 180gr ammo shot way high, 240gr was on the money. Personally I see this as a solution looking for a problem. A lever action 44 would be better/more fun, IMO. A .30 Carbine would be more appropriate, IMO.

Your money though.

No first hand experience, but I think they are neat, handy rifles.

Here is a Guns and Ammo review:

www.gunsandammomag.com/dynamic.asp?intSectionID=199&intArticleID=750

I have one.

Background:

I usually hunt deer with a c. 1989 Remington 7400 carbine in .30-'06 w/ Leupold 1x4 scope but had been thinking about getting something else for those days when I felt like carrying something else, so I bought a Deerfield last summer. Used it for I think 4 days during hunting season (I usually hunt all day for 11 or 12 days each year during the open firearms season for whitetails).  The Remington is restocked with a Kevlar/glass stock + forend and weighs between 7 1/4 and 7 1/2 lbs so one of my criteria was a setup that weighed even less than that.

The Ruger does come with scope-mounting rings but I didn't want to mount a scope because that would kind of defeat my purpose for buying the gun in the first place.

Likes:

- Pretty lightweight.

- Modest recoil when compared to my 7400. Not a real issue for me, but it might be for some.  

- Shell ejection poses me no problem. (I'm a lefty.)

- Accuracy isn't that of a target rifle but is certainly good enough for a 100-yd deer rifle.

Dislikes:

- Overall appearance.  Even a lower-grade walnut stock would improve its looks dramatically IMO. By lower-grade I mean something like what Marlin used to use on their C995 .22 carbine.  Not a big concern for me since I bought the gun as a hunter/shooter and as such it will get scratched and gouged.

- Removal and reinsertion of the clip requires some fumbling.  Clip removal/insertion is easier on the Remington, especially with gloves.
(I like to carry a spare pre-loaded clip when hunting.)

- It would feel a bit better for me if the stock were somewhat longer. I assume Ruger chose this length as a compromise with a nod toward the smaller-statured hunter, which I'm not.

- The rear peep sight folds forward too easily for walking through the woods.  I still-hunt walking through woods, sometimes through fairly thick stuff where stuff would slide against the gun, and found that I had to keep checking my rear sight and flipping it back up.  I didn't discover this problem until I actually took the gun in the woods, when checking it out at home there's enough resistance where it doesn't *seem* like it would be a problem.

Overall I like the gun a lot for the way I intended to use it, but I could only give it an unconditional thumbs-up if you planned on mounting a scope or doing some minor work to better secure the rear sight so it stays up. (Put a drop of Loctite on the sight pin? Haven't decided yet what I'm going to do this fall.)

I was with in days of getting one. I looked at it, fondled it, Saw the price tag, left it but still was considering it. I wanted a light brush gun for deer hunting. I liked the Rear peep sight Idea but I dont like how it folded down. To mee if felt like a 10/22 on Steroids. I was just trying to figure out do I really need this rifle. I did not get I finally figured out why. Its was a 4 round mag. If it was a 5 round I would of bought it. I ended up buying a FR8 in .308 for my brush gun and it was half the price.

i have one of the old Ruger .44 Mag. Deerstalkers, does that count ??

i really do not use it that much, but wyth jacketed full power loads it functions perfectly, is very accurate & a nice protection gun.......