Why buy a rifle in a handgun cartridge for deer hunting? I have no problem with using one if that's what you want, but to purposely buy one for deer when you can do so much better in the same size package just doesn't make sense to me? I've got a carbine in 45 Colt. It's a great little rifle, and I love shooting it. I can load it up with a magnum load and hunt with it, but why? I can take my .257 Rbts carbine or my 16" 6.8 spc and be so much better prepared. Just my 2 cents.
I had one years ago and finally got disgusted with the magazine issues and sold it. Honestly, I have never missed it.......YMMV
Magazine ??????
A Ruger 44 carbine does not use magazines ?????
At least mine don't......
It has a tubular magazine. If it wasn't feeding correctly, then it probably just needed a full cleaning.
I killed my first 4 deer with a Ruger .44 Carbine and 240 grain SJHP's. I still have one of them but don't hunt with it anymore.
As others have said, great gun out to about 50 yards. With the right load and scope, it can cleanly kill deer even past that. My aunt killed a nice buck at 94 steps with one back in the 80's. She misjudged the distance and shot farther than she intended to, but it did the job.