Stainless Ruger Levergun on the way (..........OT...?)

[AJMD429]

I always wanted a Stainless .44 Magnum levergun, and got an 1894-SS,



but then I fell in love with the Rugers due to the detachable magazine, and short lever throw, and one-piece stock so easy to remove if I get rain or snow or mud in the gun. So I got a Ruger 96/44



Now, Ruger has finally come out with a STAINLESS .44 Magnum levergun, and one is on the way...

They call it the "Ruger 77/44" - maybe a modern version of an 1877...?

...the only problem is the lever is in the wrong place. . .



Still . . . It's on it's way, and I think it will fit right in among friends...

Range Report will be filed, with photos, post haste upon receipt of ordnance.

[mescalero1]

Oi Vey!
Da lever is all wrong!

[Ysabel Kid]

How are you going to twirl that one???

[homefront]

That's a rifle beyond my understanding.
A stainless .44 mag lever make mucho sense, but a bolt... ?

[meanc]

Out of all the different configurations for a 44mag they choose another bolt gun....

Forward thinking hasn't been one of Ruger's strong points in a long while.

[J Miller]

But ....... at least it has sights. You can shoot it right out of the box. You don't have to spend a fortune for a cheater. That's a sale point right there.

Joe

[Old Ironsights]

Out of all the different configurations for a 44mag they choose another bolt gun....

Forward thinking hasn't been one of Ruger's strong points in a long while.

Back when I was fighting the "Pistol Caliber Rifles for Indiana" fight, one of the incessant complaints by the Antis was how ebil the autoloaders and leverguns were for being able to cycle fairly rapidly.

But there was a fair number of people who lobbied Ruger for a bolt gun in .44 for just such "slow fire" brush gun work.

Never quite understood it, but there it is. So it IS quite possible that Ruger was responding to consumer requests. How likely that possibility is, i dunno, but it is possible.

[AJMD429]

The things that attract me to this rifle are:

a) it is a Ruger, and there are few Rugers I dislike.
b) it is a .44 Mag, and there are few .44 Mags I dislike.
c) it is Stainless/synthetic, and I hate getting blued/walnut guns out in really bad weather.
d) it will be a nice 'pair' with my 77/22 stainless - about the same weight and balance, even.
e) it will be a legal bad-weather deer rifle for Indiana (so is the 1894SS, but not as easy to de-stock and dry off if soaked).

But, I do agree there is a limited 'niche' for the gun, and if they'd made the 96/44 in stainless, I'd REALLY like that.

Of course, every gun I get is the 'last one' I need to fill some particular niche of my own. Often I'll sell another gun to generate the funds. Sooner or later, I come full-circle and may buy another gun the same as I sold 20 years ago, having finally grown to appreciate what I was missing.

Anyway, I'll post a range report on the little "All-weather side-lever" pretty soon, hopefully...!

[44magHunter]

So Dada, what else did you get for me?

[AJMD429]

So Dada, what else did you get for me?

I'll be gettin' YOU a new $4.00 diamond chain-saw sharpener for MY Dremel tool, which I'll let YOU use to sharpen MY chainsaw that I'll let YOU use to cut up the 3 or 4 cords of Beech Tree wood that's blocking the path to the range, which I may let YOU use after YOU stack all that firewood in the woodshed...

Then if I really, really like the Ruger, I may give you one of my old rusty single shot .22's and a half-dozen rounds of ammo . . . now GET to work...!

[Dave]

Those guns are cool. I talked to a guy who had one at the range one day. I had not seen one before. It shot very well.

[deerwhacker444]

Put the lever on the left side and I'd buy one...

[Rusty]

From what I remember the blued version of those 77/44's never did produce the level of accuracy a lot of people though they should. I wonder if the SS version would be different?

[AJMD429]

From what I remember the blued version of those 77/44's never did produce the level of accuracy a lot of people though they should. I wonder if the SS version would be different?

After trolling the forums for a couple years on the 77/44's, it looks like there are several issues going on. One is that some folks expected that since it is a bolt gun vs. a lever gun, that it will be inherently super accurate. Yeah, we all know how inaccurate leverguns are, right...? Anyway, the expectations of it being a tack driver are probably not in line with it's role as a bad-weather whitetail-killer for shots out to 100 yards or so - how accurate does a gun have to be to do that, anyway? Still - it would be nice to have a really accurate .44 Mag rifle - I mean REALLY accurate - not just 3 or 4 MOA (plenty for deer), but a 'cloverleaf' gun at 100 yards. With a 36x scope, my HandiRifle came close to that, so I know it IS possible with a .44 Mag. Most of the guys getting really good accuracy with their 77/44's had spent some serious range time working up loads, and if I recall, were using the bullets of 300 grains or more (it has 1:20 rifling). Supposedly there ARE some design changes from the models of a decade ago, but I'm not sure how significant they are in terms of accuracy or if they are just cosmetic or the usual annoying 'ease of manufacturing' things they do and try to pass off as 'improvements'.

With nearly every new gun I get, I put a 36x scope on it and shoot it off a bench with at least factory loads. That way I don't assume a gun is not accurate just because it doesn't "look" accurate, or isn't chambered in a sexy "target" cartridge. Too many .30-30's outshoot .270's, and too many leverguns outshoot bolt guns, to just assume things. So, I plan on mounting a 36x on it, shooting some factory ammo, and then at least I'll know what it CAN do. The actual sight planned is the NECG one I have on my 77/22 - it clamps right onto the 'Ruger' ring base cuts in the receiver.

[44magHunter]

So Dada, what else did you get for me?

I'll be gettin' YOU a new $4.00 diamond chain-saw sharpener for MY Dremel tool, which I'll let YOU use to sharpen MY chainsaw that I'll let YOU use to cut up the 3 or 4 cords of Beech Tree wood that's blocking the path to the range, which I may let YOU use after YOU stack all that firewood in the woodshed...

Then if I really, really like the Ruger, I may give you one of my old rusty single shot .22's and a half-dozen rounds of ammo . . . now GET to work...!

Oh Boy! A $4.00 sharpener! I can't wait to get to work! Actually that sounds like a good deal to me. (I'm guessing I might even get to sleep in the dog house this time.? (that's better than the chicken coop .)

[AJMD429]

It sorta looks nice next to the .22LR version. . . if the weather holds out we'll do a range report in the next week or so.

[DPris]

The one I had here would do under three inches at 100 for three shots with three of the six factory loads I tried in it a couple weeks ago, with the iron sights.
Smooth action, heavy trigger, tiny sights.
Denis

[44magHunter]

Haven't shot it for accuracy, but we shot it at a metal gong. With factory 180-grain JSP's it went right through our 3/8" thick steel gong.
I think it will be able to break a deer's shoulder......

[madman4570]

Nice weapons there!

[AJMD429]

After just testing a new gun "to see if it blows up..." the next thing I usually do is put a 36x scope on it and shoot it off a bench just to see what is CAN do if needed. Granted, this gun will likely wear ultra-rainproof sights of the 'peep' variety, but it is always nice to see a gun's potential before resigning it to a certain level of duty or accuracy. I've had some real surprises over the years!

With a gun like this, if I can consistently hit within a 4" circle from a cold barrel at 100 yards, I'll be thrilled (and the deer won't ). If I really had to have accuracy and power (...uh...like a 240 gr JSP at 1800 fps through the thorax won't drop a whitetail...?) I'd tote the .444 XLR - a much heavier gun with a big old SCOPE on it! But in Indiana, you have to use a "pistol cartridge" long gun, and this little "side-lever" will be a good whitetail 'rain' gun in my opinion, especially if I can set it up with some rugged peeps I can use my old eyes on adequately.

I suppose if this particular gun were somehow able to shoot cloverleaf 10-shot groups at 100 yards, I'd ditch the 36x BSA scope. . .

. . . and get a 40x instead...!



I'll try to keep the drool off it between now and range-testing it. At least it's stainless...

[madman4570]

"That should dot the I" Awesome!