Ruger no.3 rebarrel as revolver companion options.

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DeletedMember45805

Bearcat
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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 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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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!
 
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
 
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.
 
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.
 
mommicked said:
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.
Click to expand...
What caliber is the #3 right now?
 
mommicked said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.
 
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buckeyeshooter said:
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.
Click to expand...
Record black bear from NC is 880 pounds. I carry a "hot" loaded OM Blackhawk in 45 Colt when in grizzly county.
 
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.
 
JiminMaine said:
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.
Click to expand...
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
 
mommicked said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.
 
For at least five years or more I’ve stewed over the idea of a Number 3 in 327 Fed Mag. IMHO, this is a match made in Heaven. Today I took the first step by purchasing a worn but not abused example of the Number 3 in 223. This is only the second example I’ve ever had access to, the first being a 45-70 my Dad traded into about 25 years ago… he shot one round and I shot two before we decided it should be traded! Nothing against the Number 3, but IMHO chambering it in 45-70 was a match not in Heaven, but in a much lower, much hotter location! :devilish:

Anyway, I plan to do a little more searching of this website and the web at large then I’m sure I’ll be starting a new thread with the questions I’ve been able to answer.

Froggie 🐸
 
User: Green Frog, I am definitely interested in seeing your build & following your thread. I have a fondness for 327 Fed and its little brother 32 H&R mag. I feel they are under rated.

On my own journey I went sideways and picked up a custom 20” 475 Linebaugh barrel. I just a friend put me on it and I could not pass it up. Not my not my original intention but I like in this new direction. Definitely won’t feel under-gunned with any of my hunting endeavors.
 

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Wow, what a coincidence.
I just joined and noticed Aciera is rebarreling a Ruger #3 from 45-70 to 475 JDJ
This has been something I’ve been wanting to do for quite some time now. I just today purchased a used #3 in 45-70 to get it rebarreled to .480 Ruger. I picked up a Super Blackhawk in .480 a few years ago and have been trying ever since to come up with a carbine in .480 for a companion gun. Now when this #3 arrives (coming from another state) I will immediately get it to Jack Huntington at JHGunsmithing in Carson City. He has already built me a .475 Special out of a Ruger Blackhawk. (.475 Special is a shortened .480) This #3 will be a companion to both handguns and very similar to Aciera’s .475 JDJ
 
Sgt Duncan said:
I just today purchased a used #3 in 45-70 to get it rebarreled to .480 Ruger. I picked up a Super Blackhawk in .480 a few years ago and have been trying ever since to come up with a carbine in .480 for a companion gun. Now when this #3 arrives (coming from another state) I will immediately get it to Jack Huntington at JHGunsmithing in Carson City. He has already built me a .475 Special out of a Ruger Blackhawk. (.475 Special is a shortened .480) This #3 will be a companion to both handguns and very similar to Aciera’s .475 JDJ
Click to expand...

Your build sounds like a good one, Welcome to the forum.

I like the way you think… .475L No.1 & 480R SBH.

52329428953_731dc690aa_b.jpg
 
mommicked said:
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.
Click to expand...
You need a .41 Cal.. You might even chamber for a 414 Max. Then you could shoot .41 Special, .41 Mag. or 414.Of course you would have to load your own 414 rounds.
I have a n0.3 with no.1 wood, it has a McGowan barrel. I have not shot it much. It seems to like 220 gr. sillywet bullets.
I have had another in the shop, since last Nov. It will get a .41 cal. bbl. on it. The McGowan bbl, is a 20in heavy . The one in the shop is shorter and same contour as a no.3. The wait is starting to get to me!
 
A few years back I owned a #3 originally chambered in 44 Rem Mag. The previous owner, who was a gunsmith, further reamed the chamber to accept 444 Marlin. Was accurate with both cartridges. Sold it to a forum member awhile back. This one also had a #1A stock with a modified lever.
 
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Back in May I posted I had purchased a used Ruger #3 in 45-70 for the purpose of converting to .480 Ruger. In early June I got it over to JRH Gunsmithing in Carson City to work his magic. Jack rebarreled it with a 17” barrel and installed a ramp type front sight. I picked it up this past Monday.
Jack left the fore arm off for me to play with while I decide what length and profile I want. I opened up the channel to fit the thicker barrel and cut it to about 8 1/4” to use for now and decide if I want to pour a pewter nose cap or not.
 

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