Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Bought a Ruger No. 3

Saw a guy offering a great condition No. 3 chambered in 30-40 Krag for a low price so I had to buy it. I don't know what I'm going to do with it though.

Shoot it! Don't you like the 30-40?

Those are hard to come by at a reasonable price. Good for you. By all means shoot it a bunch. Might want go load it down a trifle to limit recoil a bit.

Indeed. They haven't been made for 30 yrs. My best friend has one in 45-70 and he quickly learned to load it down to reasonable levels. I'd shoot the bejeezus out of it. Enjoy!

I'd LOVE to have that one in 30-40 Krag!!! If you get tired of it, I'll take first dibs !

My # 3 in 45-70 kicks like a damn mule! But it's a hog killin SOB!

Those made sense to me in 22 Hornet. The big stuff is nuts. Hence the rarity and collector popularity today. I dont see shooting the heck out of this gun. Why? Just for the sake of buring ammo. Its not a fun plinker. One shot, one kill. Or maybe light loads with cast bullets, that could be fun.

take it in the woods and kill some deer with it.

I've had a couple of the .30-40s. The one I have now I've used almost exclusively with cast bullets for thirty years and it's quite accurate. Most of the few jacketed loads I've tried in it also shot well and I don't recall the recoil as being excessive. In Hodgdon manual #25, they list "Heavy Loads for Ruger Only" data. These loads are very close in performance to .308 loads.

I'd hang onto the #3 wood but restock it with #1 wood. Did that with mine and it looks a lot better to me, allowed a recoil pad to be installed, and makes the .30-40 pleasant to shoot, even off a bench. The only stock modification mine needed was a little shaving off the inside of the pistol grip to make the lever fit right.

I've always preferred the shape of the #3 lever to the #1's: trimmer and more like a classic American single shot.

Cast bullets in that rifle would be awesome.

What a cool little rifle ... and in a delightful chambering. Congratulations!!!

Makes me totally want one in .25-35; which, of course, was never made, but it should have been.

kd

Nice gun...looks like it's in great shape. I have one just like it. After struggling to get a few No. 1's to shoot I was pleasantly surprised how easy the No. 3 was. I mounted a scope, worked up a quick load using 170 grain 30-30 bullets over 48 grs. H4350 and went to the range. After sighting in, I fired a slow 10 shot group just for the fun of it. All were within 1.5 inches...and maybe a snit less.

The load chrono'd right at 2400 fps which is more than adequate . The same load with a 180 gr. Sierra RN was clocked at 2300. Rem. factory 180's were right at 2250. I really can't see much merit in working up anything else.

The recoil is not at all bad and it's an easy gun to shoot. I can't say that I am a fan of the stock design..... it's what Bill Ruger imagined would have resulted had the US Calvary adopted the Farquharson instead of the trapdoor Springfield. The barrel diameter seems to be the same as my .45-70. and I am seriously considering restocking with wood from a number 1 .

It is by no means a long range rifle, at least the way I am loading it....but as it sits, it's just about perfect for sitting in a deer stand in the corner of a New England woodlot.

It's a fun rifle. You're going too like it.

.30-30 bullets in a .30-40 work great, as noted. I've found that Sierra Spitzer 125 gr. bullets work perfectly for deer in a .30-40 case. You need to increase the recommended loads for the .30-30 a hair to compensate for the lower pressure in the larger case, but it doesn't take much experimentation to get a nicely balanced load. Less kick, good expansion and penetration--you don't need an elk load to kill whitetails or blacktails at normal distances. For big mulies in big country, I'd go with a different bullet/load, tho.

Oh the hell you do! I claim first cuts ahead of your first dibs!

I've only seen one of those in .30-40 and it was pretty rough. This one looks very very good. Drooling.

Recoil, with that hard plate, may be "rugged". Someone, perhaps Choate, made a 1.5 inch thick rubber spacer for the 10/22 which fits and takes some of the recoil out of it. I had one on my #3 .45-70 but that was 30 years ago and the details have faded a bit I'm afraid. There is something out there, though.

Tom

Thanks guys, I hunt deer with a Ruger No. 1 in 270 Win so this one will probably sit in the safe with the other oddballs. I have a weakness for finding weird guns and buying them.

I've never heard of such a thing!

I got a deal on a .223 recently. Wish it were a .30-40! My need for anything .223 is pretty well covered by now so I may send it off to be rebored as something more useful for big game. At the very least I'm going to put the wood on the rasp and file diet plan. It also seems getting the lever reshaped would be a good idea. Does anyone have a smith recommendation for such a job? One way or another this will end up being a nice little rifle.

I put a No. 1. Stock on mine (.45-70) and it does soften it but just a bit but a Past shoulder recoil pad works fine. A .30-40 would have been my first choice but just never found one.

One can load full powered 30-40 loads in the #3.
It will be noticed by the shooter too.

I have a 30/40 Krag in a No.1. It is a nice shooting rifle. I have not killed anything with it, yet.