[searcher451]

Nice report on the Smith, Dep. Thanks for sharing. And the photo of the Marlin is sweet, indeed. Now we'll all have to run out and get us one of those, too.

Stop it -- knock it off. Cease. No more.

 

[searcher451]

Dep: That Marlin is a nice piece in any caliber, and it's just stunning wearing stainless steel. You'd have to believe that it would look great in the gun cabinet, above the mantle over the fireplace, in the bush (.44 mag makes a hell of a fine brush gun during deer season), or in steady hands on the shooting range.

And yeah, I suspect that ol' Max would love that rifle. Absolutely. How could you do otherwise?

 

[searcher451]

Dep: All right, you didn't bite at the suggestion of a Ruger Bearcat as a wonderful little .22 revolver to plink your hours away, but maybe you'll want to take a look at the Ruger Deerstalker .44 magnum carbine instead. It's a 5-shot gem that makes as good a brush gun as you'll find anywhere. Ruger apparently is only making the 10/22 model these days on what looks to be pretty much the same frame, but a quick check at places like Gunsamerica indicates that the .44 magnum version is still out there. I ran into one at a little gun shop east of my home base last month that was in dandy shape; they were asking less than $500 for it and likely would have taken an offer (though now, with deer season under way, you'd probably have to pay a little more).

I've had one for years. It's accurate, reliable, and well-built -- typical of the quality firearm that you'd expect from Ruger. I would recommend one to anyone who is in the market for a .44 magnum.

 

[searcher451]

Searcher: If I could get a NEW Ruger .44 Magnum Carbine, aka Deerstalker, I would probably do it. But I don't like buying used guns. Only exception I make is used military guns. The Ruger .44 mag Carbine is VERY cool. Sorta like a super-duty M1 Carbine. But I can't bring myself to buy used. I am either going to wait out the Marlin lever gun, or buy a CZ with the Mannlicher stock in .30/06 like the .22 I have on order.

Dep

I understand the thinking and generally would agree in principle if we were talking about, say, getting one via Gunsamerica or Gunbroker or Auction Arms. When buying a gun from those types of operations, you have no chance to inspect beyond a photo or two; and even if the buyer is be-wary, the buyer also is sometimes be-snickered. True, the no-shoot, three-day return policy that some sellers offer is better than nothing, I guess, but it also doesn't make up for the trouble, the shipping, the lost time, the hassle, the nonsense.

I was thinking more along the lines of finding one locally, or having your local gun dealer locate you one that you could kick the tires on a bit before shelling out the hard currency. The one I spotted three hours east of me was a dandy; if I didn't already own one, I would have bought it in a New York minute ... provided I could have taken it out to the range for a little hands-on testing (and the boys at that shop would give a thumbs-up to that condition). The Ruger is a wonderful carbine; if you poked around a bit and could land one, you would be a happy camper for sure.

Sure can't fault your thinking on the .22 CZed. That's a fine piece of hardware.