Today It Happened… a Ruger #3

[Good Cheer]

OK Mr Cheer, don’t leave us hanging. Tell us about the (wildcat?) 38 Long Cox. Is it based on the 30-30 case or is it something bigger? It looks kinda like a 25-20 WCF on a lot of growth hormones. BTW, is that a #1 fore arm or is it custom as well? Inquiring minds…

I’m wondering how there are any original configuration #3s left. They are such great donor guns to build people’s pet customs. Originally Ruger sold #1 bare actions for the custom rifle crowd. I think their lawyers made them quit, but wouldn’t it be great if they would sell a no frills #3 action for those of us with dreams of greatness?

Froggie

Hey Green Frog.
That was my from the ground up 200 yard cast bullet deer hunting rifle. It's a 45-70 case necked down to hold lots of lube grooves. Wanted the right amount of case volume for my purposes and 45-70 worked out just right. After it was all said and done turned out that what I'd invented amounted to a smokeless version of the 9.5 Mauser. Those in the picture were loaded with the Lyman #375296 (283 grains), a compressed charge of 760 and CCI-250 primers, 2153FPS, what I used in '91. The point of the design was to get a heavy soft bullet moving fast enough without pressures subjecting the base to plastic deformation that would destroy its accuracy. Bullet design compatible to those ends was critical. When I designed the cartridge in the early 80's the conventional wisdom was to cast hard and use fast burning powders. Experimented with cartridges until I figured out how to make this work, selected the diameter and weight I needed, chose the parent case for volume and neck length. Got the reamer and dies. Don't mind telling you I was way proud when it all came together.
Oh, forgot to answer your question about the wood. That's all from the No.3. The brother's skilled eye and hands at work.

[Green Frog]

I found a listing of dates... at least they had the starting number for each year. I’m on my old iPad now so I can’t get to it, but if you’ll post the prefix and first few numbers (like 130 123XX) or send me a PM with the whole thing, I’ll look it up on the other brain when it’s recharged and give you the date and the URL. In return, where did that PDF come from?

Froggie

[Green Frog]

PS to last- here’s the URL to Ruger’s serial nos for #3s;
https://ruger.com/service/productHistory/RI-No3.html

[Mk42gunner]

I found that chart a few minutes ago, thanks anyway. It gives close enough results for me.

My little .22 Hornet was made in 1978, which kind of goes with the M8-4X Leupold that sits on top of it. If it weren't in such good condition, I could see turning it into a .327 Federal.

Robert

[Green Frog]

Good Cheer, it sounds like you’ve described a “38-56 Improved” there. It looks to me like you’ve got a real winner. The fact that you did all that designing and testing puts you on a much higher level than I’ve even dreamed of. Your brother must have a real artist’s eye; that fore arm is a great match stylistically.

Robert, changing the barrel and fore arm is not a permanent change if you don’t want it to be. All alteration would involve removing the fore arm and unscrewing the barrel, then putting them aside in a safe place. Then fit the barrel of your choice, add some wood, and voila! your dream #3. At least I hope it will work like that when my 327 FM carbine build begins.

Froggie

[eastbank]

i have a ruger #3 .22 hornet barrel(bore pitted some) that i bought to have rechambered and rebored to 7-08, never got to it, if some one could use it i would let it go.

[Green Frog]

PM sent, eastbank.
Froggie

[rintinglen]

Froggie, whatever you do, DON'T SHOOT IT! The surest way to buy a great shooting gun is to buy it as "a project gun." Then one of two things happens. Either it shoots so well you have to buy another one for the project, or else you bull ahead and convert it anyways, and the project then fails to live up to expectations. Be safe. Don't raise your hopes only to see them shattered by the cruel reality of scattered groups.

[murf205]

I second that Froggie. I bought a Monkey Ward 30-06 with a hideous stock but a FN Mauser action for $125 to build a 35 Whelen but shot it first. Still don't have a Whelen but got a great 30-06!

[Mk42gunner]

...Robert, changing the barrel and fore arm is not a permanent change if you don’t want it to be. All alteration would involve removing the fore arm and unscrewing the barrel, then putting them aside in a safe place. Then fit the barrel of your choice, add some wood, and voila! your dream #3. At least I hope it will work like that when my 327 FM carbine build begins.

Froggie

You enabler you.

I have way too many projects in the line right now to start another one.

But I am not doing anything with the No. 3 right now...

I really need to finish the .30 BR Savage bedding job and make some dies for it first.

One of these years,

Robert

[Chena]

Back around 1980 a friend’s hot loaded .45-70 No. 3 gave me the worst beating of any rifle I have ever fired. I still wince when I think about it. That said it was a wonderful little gun in every other way. Still kicking around the cabin somewhere is one of his round ball hand loads intended for hare and grouse. Those I could shoot without my eyes watering.

[Texas by God]

The early #3 45-70 that I had was one the best shooting Rugers that I ever had. Factory 405gr and my cast loads were just fine.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Green Frog]

I’ve told this story before, but here goes. About 30+ years ago, Dad was the third owner of a #3 in 45-70. It came with the original box of factory ammo, with only 2 rounds fired. That should have been a warning to us. He shot it once and I shot it twice (I’m a slow learner!) and that carbine got swapped off with a box of 15 unfired rounds. I don’t need that kind of abuse.

As for this project and my advancing age… this is the last of my “dream” projects, having been percolating in my brain ever since I had my K frame Smith built in 327 and bought my 327 Blackhawk. This may be my last major project, but I just felt like it was something I just had to do. The Henry lever gun in 327 is just too heavy, and I’ve always loved single shots, so there we go. Yes, I’ll shoot it in 223, just to check function and see how it fits, but that caliber holds little or no attraction for me. It appears I’ve been offered a 22 Hornet barrel to have rebored, and I’m liking the idea of a reshaped forearm for a more graceful appearance. Yes, this plan seems to finally be starting to come together.

Froggie

[eastbank]

at near 80 its time i let go of some of the projects i also planned on doing. i don,t know where the time went, it seems like i was 30 yesterday. untill i look in the mirrow when i shave.

[gnostic]

I owned a #3 in 45-70 years ago. It was without a doubt the most punishing rifle I've ever shot. It kicked like a demented mule and that was the good news. The bad news was, it put a big, painful bruise in my middle finger.
Re barrel it to a small cal, as anything with any recoil will rip your head off....

[eastbank]

yes you can load the # 3 to kick like the bugger, the load i shoot 50 grs H-4198 with the 300 gr bullet at close to 2000 fps is a load i don,t mind when hunting and is a good deer-bear killer, however you can load that bullet to close to 2400 fps and that load will rattle your teeth and put colors on you biceps that need to be seen to believe.. as my ruger #1 is heavier it handles better with the real hot loads.

[Gray Fox]

Not a #3, but a #1 in .45-70. About 30 years ago my B-in-law and I were going on an invited hunt for elk in SE Utah. Back in those days a non-resident could walk into a hardware store and buy a license and elk tag over the counter. Anyhow, he decided he was going to load the max load in the Hornady reloading manual for a #1 .45-70 with the 350 round nosed bullet. I opted for a much lesser load with the Lyman 457193 for use in my B-78 .45-70. These were to be our "dark timber" rifles we'd read about that we just had to have to go out West that would augment our .30-06s. Well, he snuggled down on the bench behind that rifle and touched off his first round--and concurrently knocked off three very expensive dental crowns. Being a relocated Yankee I was very appreciative of the N. Georgia hill country swear words I learned that afternoon. GF

[Green Frog]

Yankees can curse or even be obscene at times, but we Southerners know how to sprinkle cuss words through the whole conversation as subject, verb, adjective and adverb! Sometimes you don’t even know we’ve said it, and sometimes you can’t forget it.
Froggie

[Idaho Mule]

You guys are enablers. I have a #3 in 22 Hornet that doesn't get used enough. This thread got me thinking that a simple re chamber job to 218 Bee could be fun.

[Rich/WIS]

The lever can be reshaped, had it done on one of my #3's. I wonder what Bill Ruger was thinking when he designed the butt stock on the number 3, it gets my vote as the worst design for recoil management.