Ruger no.3 rebarrel as revolver companion options.

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mommicked

Bearcat
Joined
Mar 15, 2023
Messages
7
Location
NC
I want to rebarrel my Ruger no.3 with a 16" barrel in 41mag or 45lc as a hunting companion to my revolver. My thoughts are I would be easy on the shoulders as I grow older and would make reloading simpler.
The cons that are brought up are it devalues the gun but honestly that doesn't matter to me because I won't let go of this gun.
I live in NC and would not be long range shooting with it. I like the 41mag as a revolver but see the versatility of the 45lc when it come to heavier bullet selection. The last thing that in in my thoughts are that I could chamber it in 454 Casull. Honestly, I'm not interested in shooting 454 Casull in pistol form, which negates the easier reloading and possibly the shouldering of the carbine.
I will be hunting mainly deer with this setup but there is a the possibility of a black bear hunt two. I do plain on a hog hunt in Florida & Texas a few times. I'm telling you this just in case it has bearing on opinions.

Thanks for looking.
 

instructor

Single-Sixer
Joined
Nov 15, 2013
Messages
125
Location
Charleston, WV
I have a No 3 with two separate barrels, one in 6BR and other in 45/70. Barrels were provided by Douglas Barrel Co and only parts change out would be the extractor. Did the same with my No. 1 and it has 22-250 barrel and a 348 Win. barrel, very versatile firearm as both of them are. You would have to determine which extractor would work for your caliber choice, but the barrel itself is not a problem for Douglas. Just a suggestion.
 

BearBiologist

Buckeye
Joined
Dec 4, 2021
Messages
1,831
IF your 45 Colt is a Blackhawk and can take "Ruger Only" loads, then it might be practical. Or the 41 Mag. I used both in OM Blackhawks while hunting pigs in Central Cali (worked p/t as a guide on hogs and deer while in grad school). A single shot would be "OK" on deer but black bear do sometimes bite back and so do pigs, so any delay on reloading/switching guns could conceivably be costly. I hunted antelope with a No. 1 in 25-06 and pigs with a 45-70 Sharps reproduction, also an 1885 in 405 Winchester (loaded as a 40-60 Sharps BP load). Hunted but never took anything but a few ground squirrels. The No. ! was a tackdriver but it was a Varmint model with a Unertl 10x.
 
Joined
Dec 5, 2011
Messages
524
Location
FL
I've have two No.1 converted to revolver cartridges. One was done to share use of existing inventory for bullets, powder, and primers for 44Mag. (The conversion cartridge was 445 SuperMag and the revolver is 44Mag.). The other conversion was in 500S&W even though I don't own a revolver in that cartridge. Sight regulation for elevation should not be taken for granted and might require a little trial and error depending on load and distance. I went with custom barrels and NECG Masterpiece hardware for barrel-banded front and their fold-down rear and banded swivel. I love the setups.

EDIT: in hindsight, I wish I'd just kept the 45-70 but upgrade the sights to NECG. The revolver cartridges (e.g., 45 Colt) have merit by virtue of using the same resources, but you'd probably still elect to use one bullet and powder for the rifle and one bullet / powder in handgun loads.
 

jyo

Single-Sixer
Joined
Jan 5, 2011
Messages
134
Probably 30 years ago or so, I too rebarreled a Ruger #3 from .223 to 454 Casull. Being an admirer of Freedom Arms Model 83 revolvers, I found a rather Bubbaed 223 and had my local gunsmith, Dean Wilkersen, convert it to 454. With full-shout ammo, the little beast has some kick, but with reloaded cases holding 10 grains of Unique powder under a hard-cast 300 grain LFP bullet, it's like a big 22! Great minds think alike!
 
Joined
Sep 7, 2022
Messages
51
Location
Rochester, NH
Looks like we are all in the same boat...

Bought a #3 .22 Hornet with the thoughts of having it rebored to .327 Federal or .41 Magnum....it shot so well as a Hornet never did get it done. That and I already have a TC Contender Carbine with a 16.5" .41 barrel on it...

As to caliber considerations... If you go .45 you may want to think .460 S&W. Shot with a guy one day that has a TC Encore barrel and it will run everything from full bore .460s to .45 Cowboy Short. He said he didn't see any accuracy issues when shooting .45 Colt and .454 in the longer chamber...

Bob
 

buckeyeshooter

Blackhawk
Joined
Nov 8, 2004
Messages
856
Location
Ohio
I might go 454 casull. For play and deer, you can load 45 colts or put 45 colt loads in the longer brass. I see advertisements for NC black bear from outfitters that weigh up to 1000 pounds. That is out of my comfort range for a 45 colt.
 

mommicked

Bearcat
Joined
Mar 15, 2023
Messages
7
Location
NC
Thank you for all the responses. I'm now in the planing and parts stage of my project.
User "Instructor" I will keep Douglas Barrel Co in mind, do you want me to say you referred me to their business? Is that helpful to you in any way?
User "Buckeyeshooter". It does seem that the bears everywhere seem to be getting larger. Maybe it's just more people have access to the cameras and scales I'm not sure.
My end goal is to have less stuff, more time to use what I have & the right tools for the job.
Thanks for all the input.
 

Bad Barlow

Blackhawk
Joined
Apr 3, 2022
Messages
622
Location
Norcal
Thank you for all the responses. I'm now in the planing and parts stage of my project.
User "Instructor" I will keep Douglas Barrel Co in mind, do you want me to say you referred me to their business? Is that helpful to you in any way?
User "Buckeyeshooter". It does seem that the bears everywhere seem to be getting larger. Maybe it's just more people have access to the cameras and scales I'm not sure.
My end goal is to have less stuff, more time to use what I have & the right tools for the job.
Thanks for all the input.
What caliber is the #3 right now?
 
Joined
Nov 2, 2012
Messages
329
Location
Western Maine
I want to rebarrel my Ruger no.3 with a 16" barrel in 41mag or 45lc as a hunting companion to my revolver. My thoughts are I would be easy on the shoulders as I grow older and would make reloading simpler.
The cons that are brought up are it devalues the gun but honestly that doesn't matter to me because I won't let go of this gun.
I live in NC and would not be long range shooting with it. I like the 41mag as a revolver but see the versatility of the 45lc when it come to heavier bullet selection. The last thing that in in my thoughts are that I could chamber it in 454 Casull. Honestly, I'm not interested in shooting 454 Casull in pistol form, which negates the easier reloading and possibly the shouldering of the carbine.
I will be hunting mainly deer with this setup but there is a the possibility of a black bear hunt two. I do plain on a hog hunt in Florida & Texas a few times. I'm telling you this just in case it has bearing on opinions.

Thanks for looking.
I've had three No.1 rifles re-barreled by McGowan's Precision Barrels. They all shoot great and are accurate. They were not cheap and there was a long wait, but worth it. A lot of companies don't want to work on No.1/3 actions.

I had them convert a RSI 7x57 to 35 Rem., a K1-B 270 to 35 Rem. and a 1-H 375 H&H to 454. I bought a badly abused No.3 22 hornet that the barrel looked like he had been shooting black powder loads and never cleaning it and the stock had been broken and repaired with Gorilla glue, I got it cheap. I put the 20" 7x57 take off barrel on it and then contacted Ruger and bought new RSI wood for it. I later picked up a used, shortened stock and made it a "Youth" model for the grand kids.

My No.2? 13? 31? Frankenrifle? 7x57
Ruger No.2 RSI 7x57.jpg

Have fun with your project and get what you really want.
 
Last edited:

BearBiologist

Buckeye
Joined
Dec 4, 2021
Messages
1,831
I might go 454 casull. For play and deer, you can load 45 colts or put 45 colt loads in the longer brass. I see advertisements for NC black bear from outfitters that weigh up to 1000 pounds. That is out of my comfort range for a 45 colt.
Record black bear from NC is 880 pounds. I carry a "hot" loaded OM Blackhawk in 45 Colt when in grizzly county.
 

mommicked

Bearcat
Joined
Mar 15, 2023
Messages
7
Location
NC
User "JiminMaine" Nice looking No.2 in 7x57.
I wanted a 257 Roberts barrel put on mine for a long time. But changed my mind after using a friend's custom H&R 44mag with a 16" barrel. It was a fun gun to carry and shoot.
 

mommicked

Bearcat
Joined
Mar 15, 2023
Messages
7
Location
NC
I've had three No.1 rifles re-barreled by McGowan's Precision Barrels. They all shoot great and are accurate. They were not cheap and there was a long wait, but worth it. A lot of companies don't want to work on No.1/3 actions.

I had them convert a RSI 7x57 to 35 Rem., a K1-B 270 to 35 Rem. and a 1-H 375 H&H to 454. I bought a badly abused No.3 22 hornet that the barrel looked like he had been shooting black powder loads and never cleaning it and the stock had been broken and repaired with Gorilla glue, I got it cheap. I put the 20" 7x57 take off barrel on it and then contacted Ruger and bought new RSI wood for it. I later picked up a used, shortened stock and made it a "Youth" model for the grand kids.

My No.2? 13? 31? Frankenrifle? 7x57
View attachment 18266
Have fun with your project and get what you really want.
User "JiminMaine" did you install the 7x57 take-off barrel to the no.3 yourself? Or was it done by a smith? If a smith would you recommend them?
Thanks,
Mommicked
 

buckeyeshooter

Blackhawk
Joined
Nov 8, 2004
Messages
856
Location
Ohio
Thank you for all the responses. I'm now in the planing and parts stage of my project.
User "Instructor" I will keep Douglas Barrel Co in mind, do you want me to say you referred me to their business? Is that helpful to you in any way?
User "Buckeyeshooter". It does seem that the bears everywhere seem to be getting larger. Maybe it's just more people have access to the cameras and scales I'm not sure.
My end goal is to have less stuff, more time to use what I have & the right tools for the job.
Thanks for all the input.
I am not positive, I think it depends on where you are. Some areas just have plenty of food and that makes big bears. I would guess that a 45 colt would do for a 350 pound black bear. I shot one in Idaho on a guided hunt that weighed 453 pounds field dressed and squared 6' 11 inches with a 19 9/16 skull. I used a 50 Alaskan. I saw one on that trip that my guide said was an 8 footer. Shure looked like it. I have seen smaller grizzlys. I would not want a 45 colt for either of them. My hunting partner shot one that squared 6'10" with a 454 casul. Dropped it right out of a big pine tree.
 
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