I've found a as new but no box Ruger .44 carbine that has me wondering. Wondering about the finish that is. It is brushed stainless steel and I cannot find any information about it. Has anyone every see or heard of a stainless .44 carbine? Please see the picture. (hopefully it uploaded ok) Thanks, John
Good find! I would like to have one of those, wish Ruger would re-introduce them. I never saw a stainless model. Maybe someone here will know something about it. If not a call to Ruger armed with the serial number should help.
Thanks for the input. I never thought about contacting Ruger...getting old I guess! I will give them a call Monday and will let you know what I find out.
I reload my own 44 mag ammo, I said that....to say this, If I seen/saw that SS carbine sitting at my LGS, it would be mine. Jim
Please do let us know. Wonder how many stainless carbines they made? Also wondering if Ruger would tell you?
I tried contacting Ruger to see if they could perhaps give me some information but see that their customer service department is closed from June 27-July 5th. Guess I'll try to contact them then. Many thanks for all of the feedback!
One person brought up a good thought, given that neither I nor anyone else can seem to find any reference to a "stainless" .44 carbine. He thought it most likely that sometime during this rifles life time it very well may have been sent out for an "electroless nickel plating", which certainly does make sense in this case. I still plan on contacting Ruger to see if they might help. I had this done to my original big game rifle many years ago and it does look like matte stainless so who knows? Many thanks to everyone who put in their 2 cents worth!
Final update on this rifle. I put in a bid for this rifle but was way too low I guess. This rifle sold for $850.00 plus a 20% auction house buyers fee. That is nuts! That is well over $1000.00! I've seen them on gunbroker for much less, (but still very high and crazy prices). I don't know if "auction fever" got into someone's blood or if there really is something special about this rifle.
I have a similar situation. I bought a series 180 mini 14 and had it done in electroless nickle, then called NITEX. Still have it and it is a great shooter and looks like stainless. My son had it for a few years and it was returned to me with 2 additional PLASTIC stocks. When I asked why the answer was "Because they were cool" which is probably the worst reasoning I've heard.
