I just received shipping notification for my Ruger 77/44. I'm looking at sending it right out to get integrally suppressed, although it does come with a threaded barrel so a screw on suppressor is at least an option but probably not in the cards since I really want integral.

Looks like theres a few options for this, hoping to get some feedback. I'd like good suppression, user serviceable in order to clean it and ideally fast twist barrel options to really handle subsonioc loads. Looks like the most well known options are

SWS
SRT Arms
Curtis Tactical
AWC

Curious if anyone has experiences or feedback on the options available here?

Tag.  I just SBRed mine.  Going to have it cut to 9”.  But I want to see what you end up going with.

@ecco_machine

Already emailed them. Sadly they aren't doing custom work at this time. I considered emailing thunder beast but even if they have bandwidth for it it'd be the most expensive option by far I'm sure....

TBA

not sure if they change the barrel or if they just modify the factory barrel

I have a SRT Ruger rifle that I shoot nothing but subsonic .44 Specials with.  When I got it (probably ten years ago) I bought a metric ton of Blazer .44 Special and it sure has been a lot of fun.  
I don’t have access anymore, but once I had a hillside above a beaver-flooded valley full of dead trees about 400 yards long and just had a whee of a time hearing that big old flying ashtray bullet strike a tree in the distance with a satisfying whallop and a piece fall off in the distance - nature’s own reactive targets.  
Everybody says a .22 is the most fun suppressed and I get that, but I sure have had a lot of enjoyment with that Ruger 44.

I'm hoping you go with SWS's MISB because I want to see your review on it.

Are you set on the ruger since you already bought it?  
If not, a lever action gets rid of the junky plastic ruger magazines, has iron sights, and holds more ammo.  
What about a single shot rifle?  It will be much smaller/lighter/cheaper than any bolt/lever action.
What about a delisle carbine copy?  None of the ruger 77 issues, cheap factory subsonic ammo, and it looks cool.  

I have a sico hybrid for 44 and 45-70 rifles, it's currently $619 at capitol armory and a great deal at that price.  It is hollywood quiet with 44 subsonic handloads.

If you're talking about a $1k integral I might consider it, but much over that I'd just get a hybrid and put the saved $$ towards something else.  

Well...I already have a Hybrid46 so....

Just looking to get a fun and unique gun. The integrally suppressed systems are significantly more handy IMO since you dont have all that weight hanging off the front of the barrel. In the case of the H46 that ends up being quite a lot of weight! Integrally suppressed lever options are eye wateringly expensive in comparison. I know the Ruger has some drawbacks but it seems to be the "popular" option for integral conversion.

It doesnt help I have a bit of a love affair with 44 Mag in particular.

The easy answer is to try out your hybrid and then decide from there.

The 77 is popular for integrals because it doesn’t have a magazine tube in the way, that is the only reason.  

44mag is the best option, and I’ve had a rifle in every common straight wall caliber.  

What about a sbr single shot 44?  Or just SBR your ruger?  It will be far smaller and lighter than any bolt/lever gun and they’re tons of fun and cheap.  Also way cheaper than an integral build.

Speaking of single shots I want this,
https://broncos.co.nz/firearms/p/bergara-ba-13-stainless-take-down-44-magnum-16-with-gun-bag

Now thats just cool

Looks exactly like a cva scout… cva and bergara are owned by the same company.  
The Henrys are also nice and are made in the USA.  

You can get them cut/threaded for around $100.

Unfortunately I live in a commie state that passed an AWB last year and I don’t think we’re allowed to have barrels cut and threaded.  We can still buy manual action and 22 semi action with threaded barrels though.

I have a pair of CV Scout’s, ones 45-70 and the other is 300BO.  The 300BO is hilariously quiet with my Hyperion.

The integral route would be cool, don't have any advice on that, but I do love suppressed .44s, probably my favorite subsonic hosts.

My 77/44 is from back before they came threaded, so I had mine cut to 16" and threaded by Ecco. If you're used to shooting any other kind of rifle, you probably need to lower your expectations of what acceptable accuracy looks like. After some load work with various bullets I found a few 300/305gr sub loads that shot ~3" at 100 yds and declared total victory, the loads it didn't like were more in the 6" to 9" range. They are also sensitive to action screw torque.

I've recently picked up a Henry X to go with it, and that thing is a stud, haven't done any load development yet, but it shoots the Ruger's loads well enough and feeds great. Plan is to take a deer or two on my property this year with either 300gr XTPs or 305gr GT cast hps.

I didn't mention this because I've never had or even shot a 77 so I don't have any experience with it.  But...

There's all manner of people complaining about 77/44 accuracy online since forever.  
Many of the shops that build integral silencers on them completely replace the ruger barrel, so that tells me something.  

I love the idea of a bolt action 44 rifle but the ruger has always just had too many compromises to get me to be a buyer.  

I emailed SRT, SWS and Shaw(Curtis Tactical) to get some clarifications on the builds. Both do use aftermarket barrels and from what I can find doing some googling both end up decently accurate.

SRT uses the factory barrel or optionally a Doglas 1-11 twist. Its a sealed baffle type design, although it can be disassembled but that isnt officially supported. Its 1.5"x17.5". The Douglas barrel is 12", leaving 5.5" for the suppressor

The SWS in comparison is a monocore design using a Shilen 1-16 or optionally a McGowen 1-10. Its an 8" barrel wih overall dimensions 1.25"x18". The suppressor portion would be 10". Its also a user serviceable design, with the outer sleeve being removeable so the core can be cleaned.

Both SWS and SRT responded very promptly to email. I also emailed Shaw (Curtis Tactical) but havent heard back from them. The two options, SWS and SRT, both seem like solid choices but both really go in different directions in what they do. One is monocore and user serviceable while the other is baffle type and "sealed" although there is a locking ring which can be removed to allow access to the baffles but SRT does not recommend this.

Of the two options I like the user serviceability and OD of the SWS, but the barrel length and baffle type of the SRT. I need to do some reading as to how much more effective a baffle type design is over a monocore. Of what I have found on the interwebz though it seems both options are highly regarded so I don t think theres a wrong choice here. Hoping to hear back from Shaw and I really need to fire off an email to Johns Guns just to see what his 77/44 build is like.

In my experience if you're shooting subsonic ammo through any silencer as large as those the design differences between them will make small differences in noise.  

Given the cost to buy some of those I would prioritize durability and price since they all probably sound awesome.  

i went searching down this road about a month ago. my conclusions, and after talking to them about it are to go with the faster twist barrel from SWS. To me, this seems like the best way to go and i will probably the middle of the summer once i obtain the donor rifle.

You'd take the 1-10 over the 1-16 barrel from SWS? I'm leaning towards the 1-16 as it seems like a solid "jack of all trades" choice to handle full power loads as well as heavy subsonic bullets. I'd be curious what your thoughts are on the twist choices though as well as what SWS had said.

As far as the 2 driving choices, SRT or SWS it seems like at the end of the day the performance would be similar. My opinion is the SRT feels more like a functional tool whereas the SWS feels more like a custom, high end rifle. That Boyds stock really looks sharp but you definitely pay a premium. The SWS is over twice the price of the SRT. I really just like the idea of being user serviceable but not sure how important thats going to be and whether its worth a $1200 premium.

My Ruger 77/44 I believe has a 1/20 barrel from the factory and it stabilizes 375gr bullets.  1 in 10 might be over kill.  If you reload I can send you some super heavy cast bullets to try.

Thats what I'm thinking. 1-10 may be great for heavy slow subsonic loads but not sure what would happen if you start turning up the heat and sending light bullets. I'd sure hate to start throwing jackets off inside the suppressor. Appreciate the offer for cast bullets but for suppressor use I'd probably try to stick to jacketed. If I go SRT, which is sealed, I'll definitely stick with jackets bullets only. But, another point for SWS I think is the serviceable nature means you could run lead bullets.

All my centerfire cans are sealed but I run powder coated bullets and it hasn’t been an issue yet.  I would probably pay the premium for a serviceable can on a high end build like yours but I don’t think it’s necessary.

I wouldn’t worry about a sealed silencer as long as you don’t shoot lead.  I’ve fired over 10k rounds through my hybrid with no more than a light crusting of carbon build up.  Much of that shooting was powder coated lead Bullets also.  

I don’t know why everybody thinks hyper-fast twist rates are needed…. I had a 38 inch twist marlin in 44mag and it shot 300gr XTP as slow as 800fps with no stability problems.  Also have a 30 inch twist rossi in 44mag and it has no issues with heavy subsonic bullet stability.  

Love my srt with the douglas barrel.  All I shoot is 300gr xtps.  It is quiet and is a killer.  

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Are you keeping them subsonic?

Yep, 1:20 is plenty for any bullet you can reasonably find in .429.

Yeah, I think there are a few reasons for the reputation:

- The Ruger bores are sized to the larger rifle spec for .44s, .432 cast give me better results than smaller cast. Jacketed XTPs shoot well too.

- The silly action screw setup makes them sensitive to screw torque. I've found mine does well around 35 in-lb, but looser and tighter change poi.

- The barrels really are kind of picky, I sent my rifle back after the initial loads and told Ruger the results I was getting with certain bullets. They agreed that they got similar results with those bullets, but sent back a target using basic American Eagle 240gr Jhp that was under 2". Once I put in some time playing with bullets and powders I was able to find some my rifle liked.

There are some trigger kits out there that help, and you can also shim the bolt to tighten things up. In the end it's not a precision rifle, but it will easily do what I want within 75yds, and is very fun to shoot.

Yes.

Cool. Those damn XTP's still seem to hold their own. Decades of success.

That's one of the nice things about starting out with a larger diameter for subs, you're less dependent on special or expensive bullet design for performance.

Especially pistol subs many of which are designed around similar velocity.

It depends on barrel length if you want to use a pistol can. Longer the barrel, the more .45 pistol suppressors will probably be compatible.

IQ Munitions makes some 400gr subs that work really well.

Don't forget about Tom Denall's silent destroyer. I was talking to him at the either the Portland gun show or the saddle butter machine gun shoot down by Salem Oregon probably a decade ago now and he was describing his design. If I remember right he uses an eccentric or offset tube within a tube design to avoid it being a SBR. Something like a 1" suppressor inside a 1-3/8" tube with a port to act as a big expansion chamber. It also allows him to tension the remainder of the factory barrel to help with accuracy. I thought the baffle stack was removable but won't swear by it.  I've shot them before and liked them. I want to get one made before he passes or gets out of the game.

I run a DeadAir Primal on my Marlin 44 mag lever gun. Works great. There are probably lighter options out there, but it should handle the hotter magnum loads. It is insanely quiet with .44 special loads. Sorry I don't have a picture handy.