Ruger No 3 Ideas

[cimcw]

Hi
I am thinking of taking my no 3 and putting no 1 wood on it. I would like to put on the 1A style wood. Do any of you guys know what the barrel contour on the no 3 is in relation to the No 1 contours???
Any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

[pete44ru]

AFAIK, No 1A barrel has the same config as a #3, but a 1S .45-70 MIGHT.

Unless you're buying the stocks from Ruger (very $$$$), you're not gonna have the choices that you either think you have, or want - since there's just not that many #1 take-off stock sets available F/S.

It's not a big deal to open up a narrower barrel channel to the #3 barrel config, though - so if you're buying used, jump on the first one you can find/afford.

.

 

[gewehrfreund]

I think the normal 1S forearm might work for your #3, unless it's a 45-70, then you probably need the forearm off of a 45-70 1S.
If you have access to a 1S (or 1B= same barrel profile), you could measure it against your #3. For what it's worth, I have a #3 fore end from a 223 on a 1B 30-06 right now and it fits very well without any barrel channel modification.
You'll probably have better luck finding an unfinished aftermarket stock set than a Ruger set, and it will be quite a bit cheaper, if you have the skills and desire to do the shaping and finishing yourself.

 

[Mike Armstrong]

I have a 1A stock on my #3; it fit fine with just a hair shaved off the PG where the lever touched it. Not noticeable in the finish. As posters noted, FINDING a factory #1 stock ain't easy!

Best fix for the forend is a DIY remodel of the #3 forend; you have plenty of "meat" to work with. I made a schnable slightly longer than the 1A forend, then changed my mind and made a short English "splinter" with a rounded ebony tip. Easy to do, looks classy, no work need be done on the barrel channel. Mine looked so good I sent it out for a professional checkering job to match the buttstock. And that cost a few actual American $$, things I give up very reluctantly.

 

[Ale-8(1)]

I have heard this swap referred to as the "Ruger #2".

 

[picketpin]

Do a search. Somewhere I answered the question before, at length.

The barrels aren't the same and the reciever portion and taper arent the same between the "A" and the #3. An #1 A or AB forearmscan be opened up to fit the #3 barrel. Conversly the the #1B or "S" forearm can be filled with accraglass by taping the barrel and putting the release agent on it.

Remember not all #1 forarms are created equal. They did in fact change the angle at the front of the reciever of the #1 in the mid 80s. Forearms from before versus after this change are NOT interchangable. Putting the new forearm on an older action will result in an unsightly gap between the reciever and the end of the farearm. If you go this route the gap can bill filled with colored acrcraglas to and finished to where it's ALMOST invisible.

So it's entirely possible to find a forearm that won't fit your #3, EVEN IF IT'S FACTORY!!

Anyway. Somewhere here are the specs for the various profiles of barrels, including the reciever portion, muzzel diameter, taper and diameters at 6" spacing down the length of the barrel for the 5 standard barrel contours.

While $1 wood is hard to find and spendy, it does come up. The narrow channeled forearms for the "A" barrel are the least common thing to come up.

Unless you are a stock guy and can and do shape and refinish your own wood, the factory wood almost always works out better than aftermarket. One it's usually cheaper once you add on any cost for a smith to do the wood work. Two the rifle while not original will be closer to original and you won't lose as much money. Custom wood is pretty and I've seem some wonderful #1 stocks and forearms out there. They are also HUGE money lossers. There is a "B" in 7mm Mag on GB right now with a great piece of tiger maple on it complete with sdadow line check piece. It's current priced for less than if the rifle had plain factory wood and still hasn't sold.

I've seen a lot of work done by guys that prided themselves in their ability to do stocks. Most don't impress me and very very few are something I'd buy little alone pay extra for. Beuty is in the eye of the beholder and nowhere is that truer than after market or custom wood.

I still plan on doing one before I die. Then I figure I can die and leave it to my kid and he can worry about the loss on the custom wood and the rest of the custom work. Otherwise I'm going to feal really really bad about all the money spent and lost on the project.

Go to Cabelas Gun Room and watch just how fast those $3000 $6000 custom #1s sell. Or any other gun site for that matter.

 

[wunbe]

Mike,

I would love to have a picture and perhaps some general dimensions --height, width, tpaer back to front--from that splinter foreend you made.

I favor the B profile but only because the the AH foreend is way not my favorite idea of Old Bill. I have toyed with a splinter option on some of my custom guns but not done one yet. Some of mine have understated schnables or just ebony caps. All have much trimmer foreends.

Thanks,
Wunbe

 

[Mike Armstrong]

Wunbe, I can't do pix (computer/camera illiterate) but will pull the gun out of the safe and measure the forend, then email you. In general, it is a short, blocky forend with minimal taper and a rounded ebony tip just like it was a square-ended, then had a full radius end cut on it. Looks "sorta British"; I copied it from a Henry (Brit single shot, not our Henry repeater) forend I saw in a book on English single shots. I remember it is 9" long, including the ebony tip; that's about 1 1/2" shorter than a 1A forend. Ebony block is 2 1/2" long.

I left it so full for two reasons: easier to make it less full if you don't like the final result (hard to ADD wood), and my #3 is a .30-40. Not exactly a cannon, but you still need something to hold on to! If yours is a .45-70, I would make sure your forend is a handful, too. For a Hornet or a .223, your could make a true "splinter". The Henry rifle I copied it from was a heavy caliber rifle with substantial recoil (some version of old .400 Express ctg.).

I made my replacement forend out of a spare #3 forend I bought from a gunshop. If I were you, I'd keep your original wood in case you ever decide to sell the #3; some guys want them original.

 

[picketpin]

Mike: I would second that you keep your original wood. If your rifle is anything at all that might be considered rare/uncommon and nearly all #3s are starting to get there, it's worth more in it's original condition than nearly any alteration.

There is a custrom 250-3000 on GB, might be in the lever section it's got absolutely killer custom wood and has a shortened, slimmed down forearm with a ebony tip. It actually look really good.