sir, your blueing issue may be normal. the Deerstalker was there first rifle. they had issues. i have a few like this myself. if by chance youd sell it. id be interested. Scott

 

Nice one to have. My book says approximately 3,750 made with Deerstalker marked on rifle until Ithaca lawsuit disc. manufacture in 1962. Pretty low number ya got there. My book is a few years old so value on yours should be higher than quoted in my book. Should be worth a premium though even though the bluing not great. I like the wood too.

 

My copy of the Bluebook (41st edition) shows it to be about $1k with 98% finish. Regional and collector variances not accounted for.

 

Well...it doesn’t have 98% remaining finish.

 

You would be lucky to get $400.00 in that condition , how ever if you were to have it cleaned and re-blued with the stock sanded & refinished with a nice oil finish , You can get up to $1,000.00 for it . If I were you I would have it refinished and keep it . I had one of these Ruger .44 magnum Carbine Rifles in the 80's and I traded it for a Colt Commander 1911 pistol . Sorry I did not hang on to that rifle. It was one of the best brush guns for Deer & Hog hunting I've ever owned.

 

I checked and Ruger’s website says they will polish and reblue for $130 plus shipping. Was wondering if doing so would help or hinder the value of the gun.

 

I'm going to respectfully disagree with any refinishing of your gun. Leave it "as is" to retain the most value. The fact that it is an early s/n with the "Deerslayer" markings is going to enhance it's value over a "regular/later" model & those are going for about a $1000 on GB these days. Hopefully a true collecter will see your pics & give you a better value estimate but an auction will net you what it's really worth in the current, crazy market.

 

GOOD LUCK WITH THAT ! 😁

 

Got this old rifle. Ruger Deerstalker 44 Mag carbine. Made in 1961, probably during the first week of initial production. SN is 108. What is it worth? Stock is nice wood with some dings and finish wear. Bore looks great. Metal finish is maybe 50%. Almost looks like someone put blueing remover on barrel and receiver top. Maybe to make more stealthy? No idea. Anyway, all internal parts are in working order with no breakages.
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I'm going to respectfully disagree with any refinishing of your gun. Leave it "as is" to retain the most value. The fact that it is an early s/n with the "Deerslayer" markings is going to enhance it's value over a "regular/later" model & those are going for about a $1000 on GB these days. Hopefully a true collecter will see your pics & give you a better value estimate but an auction will net you what it's really worth in the current, crazy market.

sir, im going to agree with you. leave the gun alone. as a "Carbine" guy. and i feel im the foremost collector of these guns in the USA. i have 70 Deerstalker,s in my pile. many 3 and 2 digit guns. your gun is worth more org then redone. the take backs are the blueing lose, wood cracks. if any? but what is the main detractor is the swivel studs. standard Carbine rifles never had them. kills the stock for a collector. ill feel you have a $1200 -1500 gun with seing it in hand. Scott

 

GOOD LUCK WITH THAT 😁

 

Great to read above posts and opinions I will add. Amazed to see such a low number. Recall when the going price new was $119 for quite awhile. I once read the action required a lot of machining of parts which sounds costly. Still best deer and hog gun for brush or deep woods.

 

I agree with you I now wish I had kept mine if it were mine I would refinish it and keep it .

 

I Have This Old Gun: Ruger 44 Carbine

I Have This Old Gun: Ruger 44 Carbine

 

Got this old rifle. Ruger Deerstalker 44 Mag carbine. Made in 1961, probably during the first week of initial production. SN is 108. What is it worth? Stock is nice wood with some dings and finish wear. Bore looks great. Metal finish is maybe 50%. Almost looks like someone put blueing remover on barrel and receiver top. Maybe to make more stealthy? No idea. Anyway, all internal parts are in working order with no breakages.

FYI : Ruger .44 Carbine Serial Number History
The above chart shows the approximate first serial number shipped for the indicated year. This number should be used as a point of reference only. It is not necessarily the very first serial number shipped, but it can be used to determine the approximate year your Ruger firearm was shipped.
Ruger does not necessarily produce firearms in serial number order. There are occasions when blocks of serial numbers have been manufactured out of sequence, sometimes years later. Also, within a model family the same serial number prefix may be used to produce a variety of different models, all in the same block of serial numbers. And in some cases, firearms may be stored for a length of time before they are shipped.
For details on your specific serial number you may contact our Service Department: 336-949-5200
For serial numbers manufactured prior to our electronic records, or for an official letter confirming the details on your firearm please download and mail in the Request for Letter of Authenticity form.

 

FYI : Ruger .44 Carbine Serial Number History
The above chart shows the approximate first serial number shipped for the indicated year. This number should be used as a point of reference only. It is not necessarily the very first serial number shipped, but it can be used to determine the approximate year your Ruger firearm was shipped.
Ruger does not necessarily produce firearms in serial number order. There are occasions when blocks of serial numbers have been manufactured out of sequence, sometimes years later. Also, within a model family the same serial number prefix may be used to produce a variety of different models, all in the same block of serial numbers. And in some cases, firearms may be stored for a length of time before they are shipped.
For details on your specific serial number you may contact our Service Department: 336-949-5200
For serial numbers manufactured prior to our electronic records, or for an official letter confirming the details on your firearm please download and mail in the Request for Letter of Authenticity form.

Thank you for that link. I have one, my first purchase, shot one single time, one round. Always appreciated it, never used it but once. Now I can see its' manufacture date. Thanks again.

 

Good info Double Duce. Might mention that International model 44 would sure be a good prize to come across. Bit of a rarity one would think.

 

LEAVE IT ORIGINAL

 

My wife’s 85 year old father says he thinks the condition adds character.

 

Anybody have or no where I can find an original 44 carbine rear sight?

 

i might be able to help you out on that. im in AZ for a few more days. ill be back in AK and look in my box. not sure, but i might. id like it better if you sell the rifle to me! im a low numbers guy...lol. ill get back to you in the middle of the week. Scott

 

So it’s feasible this rifle was made on day one?

 

yes, it could be..

 

No educated opinion on value here, but I LIKE IT. I love guns like that with character.

 

You will get top dollars for it being low serial number and they are hard to find but you refinish it and will lose the top dollar amount of left alone.

 

That is the correct early front sight. The rear sight should also be a Lyman. The blade should have U and square shaped notches so you can use the one you prefer. Here is a link for an original rear sight:
Rear Sight, New Original (Not for Express, Magnum, Ultra Light, Varmint (gunpartscorp.com)

 

That picture of the front sight is from a web sight. The front sight currently on my rifle is a Lyman.

And the strange rear sight.

 

them are both wrong sights, Ruger put the glow pin sight on the front. they called it the "Sourdough front sight" one is pictured above. the rear sight is the early slotted one that was adjustable. ill post a few pics in a few days of the right ones, as i have many of theses rifles. Scott

 

Okay. Now that we’ve established I need correct sights and that refinishing the blueing would ruin any value the low number may have, what about the worn finish on the stock?? Do I run the same risk of diminishing the value if I strip what’s left of the varnish and hand rum it with linseed oil? I would not sand it. Just clean off the varnish with mineral spirits and then rub with linseed or maybe tinge oil. Of course I could use true oil sparingly and give it a similar gloss that it current has.

 

Okay. Now that we’ve established I need correct sights and that refinishing the blueing would ruin any value the low number may have, what about the worn finish on the stock?? Do I run the same risk of diminishing the value if I strip what’s left of the varnish and hand rum it with linseed oil? I would not sand it. Just clean off the varnish with mineral spirits and then rub with linseed or maybe tinge oil. Of course I could use true oil sparingly and give it a similar gloss that it current has.
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your gun deserves a new stock. they never came with sling studs. plus yours has three holes...yekes...re barrel. re stock it. 108 calls to be saved! bonus, re barreled would have your sight isses fixed. re finishing that 3 hole stock is just polishing a turd. Scott

 

I have a 1976, .44 Carbine... Great shooting rifle... Enough bang within 150 yds or so for the local whitetail population! That number 108 is a tremendous find and great looking rifle... Looking for the 25th Anniversary model in 1985 (last year they made them I believe) to go with my centennial model... I still think it was crazy that Ithaca got them to change the DeerStalker name because they had a shotgun that was called a DeerSlayer... Really? Bill Ruger was a gentleman...

 

Very happy with today’s first shooting and load testing of #108!! Using my Powder coated, gas checked bullets (Lee C430-310-GC) weighing in at about 308 grains, I shot three rounds each with 16.6 grains and 18.2 grains of H110
H110 - 16.6 gr average V = 1256 FPS Sd - 11.1
H110 - 18.2 gr average V = 1373 FPS Sd - 10.2
NO VISIBLE LEADING FOR EACH!!
Both loads cycled, ejected and locked back on empty. They gave a good thump.
And a bonus was that the recovered Bullets had mushroomed nicely. Should do well on deer!!

 

Very happy with today’s first shooting and load testing of #108!! Using my Powder coated, gas checked bullets (Lee C430-310-GC) weighing in at about 308 grains, I shot three rounds each with 16.6 grains and 18.2 grains of H110
H110 - 16.6 gr average V = 1256 FPS Sd - 11.1
H110 - 18.2 gr average V = 1373 FPS Sd - 10.2
NO VISIBLE LEADING FOR EACH!!
Both loads cycled, ejected and locked back on empty. They gave a good thump.
And a bonus was that the recovered Bullets had mushroomed nicely. Should do well on deer!!

If you powder coat the entire bullet and size it , is the gas check required ? I had used 260 grain hard cast Keith's bullet over 22.5 grains of 2400 at 1,400 feet per second this was Elmo Keith's pet load , I shot several in my .44 Magnum Winchester & Marlin lever guns and never had a problem with lead fouling. I had cast these from old wheel weights I collected since 1976 up to 1990 I had 50 5 gallon buckets full of them in 1990 I Melted them down into lead ingots I had cast swaged & sized about 5,000 bullets and boxed them up put them in storage along with several hundred lead ingots , I also cast .357 Magnum 180 grain & 173 grain semi wadcutter and in my Marlin lever gun I also never had a lead fouling problem . I also cast some 320 grain for my .444 lever action Marlin but this required the gas check because it was pushing that 320 grain bullet at 2,000 -2,200 FPS out of my old 22" barrel Marlin Lever rifle .

 

It is true, that on old 19th century and some early 20th century guns, any refinishing hurts the value especially if they have a documented history behind them. But mid to late 20th century firearms usually bring a better price if they are factory re-finished.

I have a 1978 Ruger 44 carbine. It's about 95% condition I was thinking about selling it so I looked on Gun Broker to see what they were going for. Comparable 44s are going for $1200 -1500.

Yours is in rough condition. Because it has the original DeerStalker stamping a collector may give you between $500 -1000. It will depend on the collector. In my opinion I would send it back to Ruger and let them refinish it.

 

It is true, that on old 19th century and some early 20th century guns, any refinishing hurts the value especially if they have a documented history behind them. But mid to late 20th century firearms usually bring a better price if they are factory re-finished.

I have a 1978 Ruger 44 carbine. It's about 95% condition I was thinking about selling it so I looked on Gun Broker to see what they were going for. Comparable 44s are going for $1200 -1500.

Yours is in rough condition. Because it has the original DeerStalker stamping a collector may give you between $500 -1000. It will depend on the collector. In my opinion I would send it back to Ruger and let them refinish it.

Personally, I wouldn’t take less than $1000 for it. That may mean I end up keeping it for a quite a long time. But it’s growing on me, and my son enjoyed shooting it to.

 

How about scope mounts for these carbines? Brownell’s again?

 

I went with the Ironsighter see-thru mount on my .44 Carbine.
It allows you to use the scope or iron sights.

 

Personally, I like the Redfield two piece bases, SR DS 512010. They are no longer mfg, so you will have to search around. Otherwise, I believe the only current mfg bases would be the Weaver #47 rear, #68 front.

 

Thank you for the info. I’ll brush up on my googlejitsu

 

Got this old rifle. Ruger Deerstalker 44 Mag carbine. Made in 1961, probably during the first week of initial production. SN is 108. What is it worth? Stock is nice wood with some dings and finish wear. Bore looks great. Metal finish is maybe 50%. Almost looks like someone put blueing remover on barrel and receiver top. Maybe to make more stealthy? No idea. Anyway, all internal parts are in working order with no breakages.
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The old Ruger .44 Magnum carbines are greatly missed in the shooting community. Even in this condition, it's still worth close to $1,000 in the right market. I saw one recently in my area that didn't sit on the shelf long at a price above that. If you like it, I'd keep it.

 

Yup I agree, maybe a grand on the high end.

 

It's junk, I'd be glad to take it off your hands for $50 so that you don't have to worry about any of this stuff anymore.