Steg,
I like the #3, but if I was shooting it in any thing even close to the 45/70, the #3 wood would quickly be replaced with #1 wood.
I know many folk like the rifles with lots of drop in the butt stock, RUGER #3, Marlins, Winchester 94s, Handi rifles etc.
But I find them very abusive.
I had, and wish I still had, a Marlin in .44 mag., but found it really beat me up until I put a thick recoil pad in place.
It was not an issue of recoil at the shoulder, but the fact that my face, nose, thumb took the brunt of the beating.
I was shooting my normal RUGER RedHawk load of a 310gr. cast LBT ahead of 19gr. of AA#9, a load that get just a tad over 1300fps from the 5.5" RH.
The stock was too short, and the drop at the heal too much and the addition of an inch thick pad solved the painfull part of the situation.
I have seen #3s with #1 wood and they are sweet. There needs to be just a bit of work on the lever to fit the curve of the #1s grip, but they look great and of course are still #1 - bank vault strong.
Keep em coming!
CDOC