Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Ruger No. 3 fans?

I don't know why but I've got an itch to find a good used Ruger #3 in .45-70. I need one like I need a hole in the side of my head but it's a unique piece and something is drawing me to them.

I used to shoot one as a teenager with cast bullet loads and it was a lot of fun. We also had some 500g Hornady loads jacked up to about 1700 fps that could best be described ad brutal.

Any fans of the old #3 or am I just being silly?

I have a number 1 in 45.70 that I really like. But I am not sure I would want a number 3 and its metal stock plate in 45.70. YMMV.

But I wold like a number 3 in 30.40 Krag and .22 Hornet.

I bought a #3 in 45-70 a few years back and then put #1 wood on it along with a nice pad and rebarreled it to a 222 Remington. It is the only gun I have that will shoot one inch groups at 100 yards for 10 shots !

A friend had one in 45-70 that he had custom wood put on. It had a schnabel forend with no barrel band and an old timey looking crescent metal butplate. The rifle was gorgeous but I had no interest in shooting it.

I had a # 3 in .45-70. Mine would shoot MOA groups with the right Handload. But it was a brutal little bastard to shoot off the bench with the Ruger Only type handloads.

I've had two for a long time, a .30-40 Krag and a .45-70. I shoot only cast bullets in them. Both are accurate. Probably a coincidence, but these guns hold a zero better than most of the #1s I had years ago.

I have a Liberty Model .30/40.

I have a No. 3 in .45-70. I also put a No. 1 butt stock on it. It helps but not all that much. It is a good tree stand rifle and caliber where shots are never over 100 yards or so. 405's at about 1400 fps are okay and seem to knock the whitetails down with authority.

A 30-40 Krag would be nice but haven't seen one for sale in a long time.

For no reason in particular I like the lever mechanism on the No. 3's.

I had one in .45-70 for a while. I was working from the "Ruger Only" section pushing 400 grain jacketed flat points just over 2150 fps. In a 6-ish pound rifle that was worse than wicked. One thing I did do was put one of the thick choate (?) pads for a 10/22 on it ... bout 1-1/4th inches thick.

I have no interest in one in .45-70. I'd somewhat, maybe, possibly like to find one in .22 Hornet and turn it into a .25-20 Winchester.

Tom

I have a customized No. 3 in 22 K-Hornet (stock and reshaped lever). It's one of my most accurate rifles and will be with me to the end. I didn't build it - found it on the used rack at the LGS...





5 and 10 shot 100 yd groups:

wow, that is a nice one.

Of the Ruger single loaders, I prefer the #3 straight grip and finger lever to the #1 but the factory #3 finger lever is not comfortable. Planning on having the terminal bend in the lever opened a bit while it is at Turnbulls to be color case hardened.

I posted this pic of my .45-70 previously when I cut off the tip of the fore arm to get rid of the fugly faux barrel band.

I think a Ruger #3 in 35 REM would be cool.

Like them, but prices are often kinda crazy considering what you get with the base model.

Somebody else's custom is the way to go.

Yup, pops has a one that was redone in .219 wasp........so when he gets bored with it I'm gonna send it off to be .35 rem.

I can understand your itch for a No.3, I've been scratching that itch for about 30 years. Mine have all been varmint calibers but I did shoot a buddy's 45-70 with 405's at 1850 a couple of times. That was over thirty years ago and I can still remember that hard buttplate pounding my shoulder. I had a No.3 in .22 K-Hornet for a couple of years and traded it off before I bought this one. I think I paid $175 for it in 1991. It was originally a .22 Hornet but had been rechambered to .221 Fireball. I shot it that way for a couple of years before having it rebarreled to .219 Wasp. I put some inexpensive wood on it and shot it 6000 times at paper and PD's.

I added a Keplinger set trigger and French Gray finish on the action about 2004. I had it rebarelled to my wildcat .204 Wasp in 2010 with a Pac-Nor 11" twist. It now has a 6-24x42 Sightron SII Big Sky instead of the Redfield 6400 16x.

The No.3 on the left was a .22 K-Hornet when I bought it from a buddy 20 years ago. It now has a Shilen 8" twist barrel in my .219DW PDK chambering. It's a 30-30 case 1.900 long with 35* shoulder. I shoot the 75 grain A-Max at 3200 fps for long range Pd's. Built it to try for a 1000 yd PD, but 915 is the longest hit so far.
The No.3 in the center is an example of buying someone else's custom. I was looking for a No.3 .22 Hornet when I found this one at a gun show three years ago. It was a .223 but I couldn't pass it up for $525 since it had a Keplinger set trigger and some custom work on the wood. I've since rebarreled it to .22/38-55 with a Shilen barrel.


This is what my No3's are built for, Pd's in Montana and coyotes in Indiana.
Dave

I believe I saw a custom #3 in 25-20 years ago, might have been a 25-35

Nice rifles in those photos. Makes me wish I would have bought that No. 3 at an estate sale. It had been rechambered from .22 Hornet to .22-454 Casull.

The french gray finish really looks nice.

There was a .22-454 No.3 at a gun show here in Indiana a few years ago. It would have been an interesting project making cases for it, but I decided to pass on it. With the 16" twist barrel it would have been a short to medium range rifle and at the time I was looking to go longer range.
The French Gray finish was the result of a screw up on my part. The foam inserts in a hard case had gotten wet and after laying them out to dry for a couple of weeks, I thought they would be OK. I stored the No.3 in the case for a couple of months. The outside of the action was rusted but the stainless barrel and inside the action were OK. After sanding the surface rust off I found pitting on the action and the lever. I didn't think it would look good reblued so I sent it to EABCO in Minnesota for their French Gray finish. You can see some of the pitting in this picture but it still looks pretty good. The cartridge is a .204 Wasp with a 39 gr Sierra BlitzKing.

Dave

This is my Ruger#3 that was customized with the suggestions n details fro the Campfire . Chambered in .303 Brit, all work done by Leeper except the checkering.
What a rifle!
Cat

I definitely like that style, very classy.

Probably too much to hope for, but if Ruger built a lightweight single shot - action downsized slightly, .473 max case head size, they;d really have something IMO.

Story behind this one is that a buddy saw it first at the LGS. He was interested in it and mentioned it to me because I had a No. 1S in 218 Bee I was fond of. I ran down and bought it on the spot, though was feeling guilty I snagged it out from under him. I remedied that by offering to sell him my 218 Bee, which he did

Love the looks of that one. Especially like what you did with the lever. If I was to do a #3, I would have something similar to that done. The factory #3 lever just does not fit my hand/fingers at all.

Yes, that is a good looking gun. I like the express sight and the octagon to round barrel. Classy looking.

I too like the #3. I have had them in .223, Hornet and .221 Fireball. Here are the two I still own.

John, I like your taste in guns. Would you mind telling us who made those rifles?

I've been thinking about a No. 1 or a No. 3 for another project... I'd really like one in a .22 LR. I like guns I can shoot and a rimfire is perfect and I found a good guy in Michigan that can do the conversion right.

Thanks for posting.

The top rifle was barreled by a little known barrel maker whose service was so slow he deserves to remain so. The blank was a $100 dollar bargin due to the sap wood. The stock was machined be Jim Visio of Heritage Walnut in Colorado. Stock fit and finish by A youngster out of Houston.

Bottom rifle has wood from the late Jack Burris, machined by Dakota Arms and fit and finish by the late Wayne Baker whose work was deserving of more recognition than he received. It has an Ivory insert in the grip cap.

JC

carbon12, that's one pretty rifle!

Ruger should have made them so. I always thought the No.1 rather ugly.

I had two #1s in 45-70. They kicked like mules. I also have a #1 in 7x57 and a #3 in 223.
I do not like the feel and handling of the #3. I can't imagine shooting one in 45-70 as being much fun. It might be okay with some of the mods suggested above??????
Tim

Just putting #1A wood on a #3 improves it a lot.

Is #3 metal a drop in into a #1 stock???

The buttstock yes, the forend may need fitting depending on the barrel contour.

I'm a Ruger fan period. I have 3 No. 3s all are in factory condition though. I would love to find another to have customized. I have an early 45-70 that is not factory D/t for scope rings so it's an iron sight only deal. I have a 375 Win. that has never had a round through it and a .22 Hornet that I have shot a few times. I also like No 1s as well. No 3s are neat simple rifles.

I have none now. Owned all the factory chamberings at one time or another. My favorite was the .375 Winchester followed closely by the 44 Mag. Did not enjoy the 45-70 until I installed #1 wood. Then it was manageable......barely.