Ruger #3 ?????

[Mike in Ct]

I have not been paying attention to what is new the last 20 years..When did ruger stop making the #3 single shot ??...I found a sketch I did 25 years ago for a custom barrel 256 win. magnum on a ruger 3 action..my notes show one local gunsmith advised against a rimmed cartridge that diameter in that action...I thought I could take a 22 hornet #3 & rebarrel it with the 256 win mag pistol cartridge..Thats a 357 mag necked down to 257 diameter...I still think it would be a cool walk around varmint gun & great on squirrels with that lead bullet load....I have an old lyman mold for a 70 gr gas checked lead bullet that was fun to shoot in my 257 roberts...It just looked so silly, that little pill on that rifle case..I wonder if I can find one of those rifles & what any of u think of that project gun??...mike in ct

[260 AAR]

Dear Mike,
   If I can take a #3 in 45-70 and make it into a 17 Ackley Bee [Rimmed case too] you can do the same with the 256 Win Mag! I took off the 45-70  barrel late one night and put on a Rem 700 17 Rem barrel. Chambered it out to 17 Ack Bee and reblued it. Shoots great!. You can get different extractors from Ruger [Brownells too] for cheap and all you gotta do is figure the closest match. I would think one for a 30-30 would work. The most difficult thing you might encounter is figureing out the scope blocks for the barrel. A little trial and error will work there too. Go ahead with the idea! I think it`d be a neat project.

Aloha, Mark