Manual

15
6. With lever open, insert magazine into the firearm, with bullet end of the
cartridges toward the muzzle. (Magazine cannot be seated if reversed, or if
lever is not at least 1/2” open). Do not strike magazine if it does not insert
readily. Just be sure the lever is open, or firmly push the magazine latch,
which will open the lever sufficiently to allow full insertion of the magazine.
7. Load a cartridge into the chamber by fully closing the lever. It is not necessary
to “slam” the lever shut. Do not apply excessive force to the lever to chamber
a cartridge. If a cartridge does not readily chamber, open the lever, eject it
from the rifle, and reload with ammunition that chambers readily. If it still
fails to chamber smoothly, open the bolt, remove the magazine and see
“Malfunctions Warning”, p. 20. If a “jam” occurs (usually due to damaged or
improper ammunition), see “To Clear A Malfunction”, p. 19.
8. The rifle is now fully loaded. If the rifle is not to be fired immediately, the
safety should remain “ON” (See Figure 1, p. 9). When the safety is moved to
the “off” position, the rifle will fire when the trigger is pulled. The lever is
then fully opened, ejecting the fired cartridge case, and closed to reload
another cartridge from the magazine into the chamber. The rifle is again
ready to fire by pulling the trigger and this cycle can be repeated until all the
cartridges in the magazine, and the one in the chamber, have been fired.
Operating the lever will automatically reload and recock the rifle. Keep your
finger away from the trigger while operating the lever! Note that every time
the trigger is pulled, if a cartridge is in the chamber and the bolt is closed, the
rifle will fire -- be careful!
Figure 4. To load the magazine, press the
rim of the cartridge against the magazine
rotor at the widest section of the
magazine throat until the cartridge enters
far enough to be pushed to the rear end of
the magazine. With the first cartridge in
place, each succeeding cartridge is pressed
against the body of the top cartridge and
slid to the rear of the magazine until a
maximum of ten .22 LR cartridges (or
nine .22 WMR or .17 HMR cartridges, or
four .44 Magnum cartridges, depending
upon the magazine being loaded) are in
the magazine.
The magazine must at all times be in
good condition or malfunctions can occur.
Please carefully read the sections in this
manual on “Magazine Inspection and
Care” and the section and warning on
“Malfunctions”.
Loading the
Magazine
.22 Long Rifle Magazine Shown
NOTE: The 9 shot Ruger .22 Magnum and .17 HMR magazines are not interchangeable
with any other magazine. The .44 magnum magazines for the Ruger 96/44 lever action
rifle and the Deerfield Carbine rifle will not fit into the Ruger 77/44 bolt action rifle due
to dimensional differences. Do not attempt to use either of them in the Ruger 77/44.