Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Ruger number 3 in 44 Mag

Just trying to get some info on a gun i have sitting in the back of the safe, like the post says it is a number 3 in 44mag, made in 1985 as far as i can tell. does anybody have any info on how many were actually made in 44 mag or any idea as to an actual value?

Thanks
David

Blue Book, 37th Ed., gives a 20% premium for .44 mag. and .375 Win, which tells me it's rare compared to most.

At 100%, they list the No. 3 at $750 before the 20% premium.

DF

thanks, i heard and have read that they are rare, just never knew how rare. nice little carbine

You selling or just boasting?😛

Number 3's are pretty cool, but these days are priced almost as high as Number 1s. A lot of them for sale online have been customized to some extent, especially Hornets and .223s.

I just dug mine out of the back of my safe. I had heard that were fewer 44 mag #3's than any other caliber.
I did put a 4X Burris on it and it really likes the HMS 305 grain cast bullet loads at least at 50 yards. My longest shooting lane at my stand is 45 yards it will get some play this year since I have a pretty good size black bear on my trail cam 4-5 times this year.

im rocking a leupold 1-4 shotgun scope on mine with the heavy duplex. have them in warne qd,s with a set of ruger firesights installed for irons. hoping to get to minnesota and get a black bear with it since im pretty much relegated to paper or coyotes here in iowa

I had one in 44mag and thought it was cool until I shot it at paper. It was the least accurate rifle I have owned. 1-38" twist is ghey. Of course this is just my $0.02 ymmv

They are rare in that cartridge.

They have substantial recoil and a buttplate that slips around on your shoulder when you shoot, which is a problem. Skateboard tape on the buttplate may help, but it probably won't ever be a tackdriver.

There is supposed to be a #1S in .44 mag this year, which should be a really useful rifle, especially if you have a .44 mag revolver. Were it me, I think I'd sell the #3 and buy the #1

I was hurting all over again for a .44 rifle and looked at a lot of stuff, but for once I held out for what I really wanted and eventually picked up a NIB Browning Low Wall. Paid a bit for it, but there was no "ground shrink" when I got it in my hands; it's just about perfect. I've been playing with sight options a bit and just installed a black blade front sight from Skinner Sights. It's going to take a bit of tinkering, but I hope to find a compromise height that will let me shoot light lead-bullet loads for practice and fun, and then adjust the rear for full-power jacketed hunting loads. The light loads, similar to light loads in a long-barreled single action, land very high. I was also having a tough time getting a good sight picture with the brass bead, but the flat-topped, serrated Skinner looks great.

I'm also working on a barrel mount for a lightweight reflex red dot, using the sight dovetail and a slip-in base originally designed for a globe sight. No holes will be drilled in the rifle itself, only the base.

#3's are cool..

I had one and it was junk in the accuracy department and i'm guessing this is why there were very few made and why they didn't last long on the market.

My only Number 3 was a .45/70 and it either had a barrel mounted crooked in the receiver or a bent one. Even with the rear sight hanging out to one side in the dovetail, I couldn't get it sighted in. It went down the road, and while I still look at them online, the general price range puts them pretty close to the much nicer Number 1s.

My only singles now are a couple of Browning Low Walls, but I've kinda got my eye on the (I think) Uberti rolling block .22s. One of those scoped with a vintage reproduction Malcom or Lyman would be very cool. On the other hand, I can save a grand or so just shooting reduced loads in my low wall Hornet. Decisions, decisions.....