My Ruger #3 Conversion From .22 Hornet To .357 Magnum, An Adventure In Gunsmithing

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GBertolet posted this 17 July 2019

I had Purchased a Rockwell 10x36 lathe from a retired gunsmith. Along with the lathe, I got a O.B. knee mill, a bucket full of barrels (mostly takeoffs), along with a few Douglass barrel blanks, and a box of reamers. The retired gunsmith specialized in singleshot pistols, so that's what the reamers were mostly for. Lots of oddball calibers.

I had a Ruger #3 in .22 Hornet, which I had purchased used, at the LGS, some years ago, for a ridiculously low price. I soon found out why it was so cheap. The groups were all over the place. Nothing I tried could change that. Adding a Hicks accurizer helped a little, but not enough, so it sat for years.

Our illustrious PA Game Commission, unilaterally decided that in my part of the state, that only RF firearms could be used for small game. This made the usefulness of the Hornet moot.

I decided this was going to be the donor rifle for my first rebarreling project. I wanted a .357 magnum plinking carbine. I had two 35 caliber Douglass barrel blanks that came with the lathe. 1.250 diameter, 29 inches long, 1-12 and 1-14 twists. I went with the 1-14 twist, as I believed it would be more accurate for my purpose.

I used a 12 ton hydraulic press with wood blocks to hold the barrel, and a 1" square bar, 3 feet long, clamping wood blocks for the action. With a little effort the barrel cracked loose.

I had a small headstock on my lathe, so most of the this projects lathe work was done on centers with a steadyrest as needed. I had a friend who was a gunsmith, walked me through on what to do.

In my pre project research, I learned that a 1.5 degree taper on the leade was desirable for cast bullets. Unfortunately my .357 reamer is 6 degrees on the taper. I had a solution. I had a .357 Maximum reamer in my box of reamers. It had a very gentile taper on the leade. After the .357 magnum reamer work was done, I ran the maximum reamer partially in, to get the taper I wanted. It worked out quite well. Headspace was set up so there was a light feel upon closing the action.

Next was tapering the barrel. I decided on 24 inches of barrel length, with a fatter taper, in an attempt to achieve the balance I wanted. You never know if it is right until the project is finished. I was advised to draw out on graph paper, the diameters I wanted, inch by inch, then turn the barrel down in steps to those diameters.

What I was advised to do next, will sound crazy! Adapt my wood lathe for the barrel? I had to make a faceplate, fit a drive dog, and balance the whole thing. I was instructed to run the lathe at high speed, using a disc grinder, with a flap disc or sanding pad, blending the steps on the barrel. It worked, and the job went pretty fast. I asked why the wood lathe, and was told the higher speed will give a better finish, and you don't want the grinding grit on the ways of the metal lathe. Plus it is fast.

If you are purchasing a barrel, you want it to be already tapered by the barrel maker. It makes life a lot easier. But if the barrel is free, like this one, you make due.

After the headspace was set, the extractor cut on the barrel was made. It was the most difficult cut to make for me, getting it right. With that out of the way, the extractor had to be modified to the larger .357 case. I needed a .440 radius. I fortunately had a 7/16" end mill which is .4375, and it was a perfect fit. Success!

Next I placed the now barreled action in my mill vice, leveled it up, located the center of the barrel, attached the drill chuck, and drilled and tapped for the 6-48 scope block mounts. The DRO on the mill is great for this kind of stuff!

After I was done, I realized that I never did the 11 degree muzzle crown. I still had the 60 bevel for the live center. I decided to shoot the gun anyway, and if needed, recut the crown to the 11 degree standard. It shot just fine as is. It proves the angle of the crown cut is not as important as the concentricity.

The barrel band on the forend is an atrocity. I cut the forend with a bandsaw, at the barrel band, and recontoured it. I purchased a Talley barrel band, and Acraglassed it on, two inches from the forend tip. This was just right for the sling. I topped it off with a Leupold 6X scope, using the existing Redfield blocks and rings.

To proof it out, I loaded some ammo using 2400 and 296, exceeding established maximum load data, by a considerable margin. Velocities were in the 1800 fps range, using the 358156 GC bullet. No problem, the cases extracted easily. This rifle was built for 55k + cartridges, so the case strength will be the deciding factor, not the rifle. At these loadings, this rifle is quite capable of reaching out for mid sized game.

Anyhow, I wanted a subsonic plinker to ring the 6" gong at 100 yards. I started out load development using 4 grains of Bullseye, for around 1050 fps. I can use the 160 grain Lyman 358311 RN and Saeco 382 SWC bullets interchangably, with equal accuracy. The barrel is .358, so .359-.360 bullets are in order for best accuracy. I use an oversized expander ball to keep from swaging the bullets when seating. The Saeco 382 makes a louder slap on the steel, possible because of the flat nose. I have also tried some of my 38 special ammo, 3.7 gr Bullseye, with the Saeco 382 bullet. Golfball sized groups at 50 yards with this ammo.

I was gifted an 8 lb keg of International Clays powder. Having no other use for it, I tried it in the Ruger. 4.3 grains give velocities in the 1050 fps range also, and shoots as good as the Bullseye load. So that's my go to load now.

In summation, with the Int'l Clays load, groups of 1.5" at 100 yards are common. Sometimes I can do a little better. This is a really nice rifle to shoot. Almost no recoil, It doesn't disturb the neighbors too much either. Although I always use hearing protection, it may not be absolutely necessiary. I recently had two novice shooters firing this rifle from a rest at my backyard range. They could not miss the 6" gong at 100 yards, even hitting empty soup cans, out there at will. They left with all smiles on their faces.

If there is an attraction to a "bunny gun" concept, this is it. You can really hear the bullet impacts, due to the light report.

I still have the old Hornet barrel, dies, and a load of brass. Someday I will get around to listing it on Ebay.

I have an additional story on my second rebarreling project. A 788 Remington 30-30 to a 30-30 CBM, which is a custom cataloged reamer from Manson, for a 30-30 chamber, with modified throat and leade dimensions, better suited for cast bullets. If I don't get scolded for being too long winded on this one, I may post that also in the future.

On the bottom picture, the .357 Magnum reamer is on the left, and the .357 Maximum reamer is on the right. I just wanted the viewers to see the contrast of the taper between the two reamers.

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gnoahhh posted this 17 July 2019

I love reading stories like that. Well played!!

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M3 Mitch posted this 17 July 2019

Yeah, far from criticizing you for a long post, thank you for a long and very informative post!

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loophole posted this 17 July 2019

I have loved the Ruger #3 since they first came out--Ruger didn't do shooters any favors when the discontinued it.  I don't have the skill or the equiptment to duplicate your project, but I have a Japanese lowall in 357 which is one of my favorite rifles for 50-200 yd clanger targets.  Holdover is a chalenge past 75 yards.  Thanks for the post.

Loophole  

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MarkinEllensburg posted this 18 July 2019

Bravo! I'm thinking you could have made the post even longer and I would still read it. Were you already familiar with metal lathe use prior to purchase of the lathe? I'm thinking of buying one at some point in the future. If not what did you read or were there videos you found helpful?

I think Ruger missed the mark by not doing more with the number 3 action.

 

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GBertolet posted this 18 July 2019

I knew almost nothing about operating a lathe or mill when I purchased them. I had some coaching, but mostly on the job training. I am still learning.

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 18 July 2019

 really great story ... can't wait for next installment ....

.... and liked your observation on the crown styling ....  this 11 degree thing is very likely another popular myth, but today you have to put an 11 degree on a customer job; easier than a long conversation.

hah, reminds me ... i have a full bull douglas in a 416 ....   gonna take a week to cut it down.

thanks for the story ...

ken

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cfp4570 posted this 18 July 2019

Great write up and nice pictures! Ah yes.....barrel contouring and polishing; the bane of a lathe operator's existence. It tends to generate a lot of interesting vocabulary from me. Seriously though, I enjoy these kinds of projects and have more planned than I'll ever finish. Looking forward to your next one, please do post! One of these days I plan on doing a similar write up on one of my lowly H&R projects.

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GBertolet posted this 03 August 2019

Just ordered a Jard trigger for the #3. The original was creepy, gritty, and could not be made to go below 3 lbs. I selected the 1.75 lb trigger. I have read great reviews of this trigger on the #1. Jard says it also fits the #3. Will give a review when I get it, install it, and test it out.

 

I just added a Timney trigger to my 788 Rem project. I am getting my thoughts together, for my write up of that gunsmithing adventure. It's long winded also. Stay tuned.

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Fitzpatrick posted this 04 August 2019

you feel like tackling another #3 that is chamber in 223 rebarreling to 357 mag also?

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GBertolet posted this 04 August 2019

Unfortunately no. One was enough. But if you decide to tackle the job yourself, I will advise you as much as I am able. You will find the the .357 much more useful than the .223, that is, unless you live near a prairie dog town.

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Fitzpatrick posted this 05 August 2019

if i only had the tools to tackle something on this scale ,I recently bought the barrel wrenches and action wrench to rebarrel my savage but no machining tools.

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 05 August 2019

hey mr fitzpatrick ... we might get together in a group chamber reamer buy ... i too have a decent 35 barrel that i want to put on something ... probably my ruger3 ....  but the price of a new chamber reamer and separate shallow angle throater is about $300.  3 of us would get that to $100 each ... hey, 6 or 9  would be even better  ( g ) .

and my fun is doing this stuff for a few bucks ... actually you can just use a straight ( $30 ) 0.380 chucking reamer for the body, but still need a 1.5 ?? degree throater ( $100 range ) .

... my friend john goodrich likes 357 maximum, gotta admit those are impressive, although he usually loads popgun loads of fast powders.   i suppose a 357 mag is better for easy brass.

just thinking out-loud, never got me in trouble before cool ...  anyway, i got a lathe and barrel but no 35 reamers... you got a 35 barrel but no reamers ...  pm me if anything clicks.  .... or anybody else with an itch for a 357 mag.

ken

oh, above has background music playing ::    " you got a brand new pair of roller skates, i got a brand new key .. " 

 

 

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Fitzpatrick posted this 05 August 2019

I could sure enough go in on the tooling ,my ruger #3 is a 223 that isn't all that impressive it needs a make over, just let me know what i need to do to make this work, I'm in

 

I don't have a barrel yet, I need to get a 35 caliber with a 1 in 14 twist. 

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 06 August 2019

mr. fitzpatrick ...  i will pm you for further chat on this, but for general interest here, only the savage " 110 " type barrel mounting can be done by remote control ....  ruger 1.3.77 .... remmy, winchester ... require fitting to the action if the original mounting is used .  further, the ruger 1-3, 77H, require a timed recess be cut in the barrel breech for the extractor .  ( note: some are now using a variation of the savage nut mounting on remmy, win, ruger 77, which would allow remote control , but only a savage has interchangeable bolt noses for different cartridge families ).

but for the most part, our scheme is still do-able  .... more in pm.   ken

 

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GBertolet posted this 08 August 2019

The Jard trigger arrived and I installed it. It took me about 2 hours. Most of the delay was confusion over the instructions being for the #1 Ruger. It called for removal of pins in the receiver, that just wern't there in the #3. Where they were to go, were filled with weld and ground over, leaving the outlines of pins. After that issue was put behind, all else was the same between the #1 and #3.

The Jard trigger is a one piece trigger, eliminating toggles and linkages of the original. There are adjustments for sear engagement, overtravel, and return spring tension. Also there is an adjusting screw to make sure the tang safety blocks the trigger.

The instructions that came with the trigger were very poor. Better instructions, 10 pages worth, with lots of detailed pictures, are available for download on the Jard website. I ordered the 1 3/4 lb trigger setup. The trigger return spring is what determines the ultimate trigger pull. There is plenty of range of adjustment. The sear engagement screw is what determines how much engagement between the sear and hammer, determining creep and crispness. The sear engagement screw, and trigger return spring screw, are used in concert to get the safe pull that you want. I settled on 28 oz, although I might get a little lighter. I could not safely get rid of all the creep, just most, due to the nature of the beast. The hammer and sear are separate entities, and the trigger is just the link to activate them, just like a 1911 Colt.

I had to remove the scope to avoid damage during the installation, so I bore sighted it, and went out to the range. I was within 2 inches of zero. Very pleased with the outcome of this project.

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