{"id":29459,"date":"2025-05-14T00:01:42","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T07:01:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/?p=29459"},"modified":"2025-05-14T06:30:41","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T13:30:41","slug":"undoing-bubba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/05\/14\/undoing-bubba\/","title":{"rendered":"Undoing Bubba"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Joe Berk<\/h6>\n

Back in the mid 1970s, I was in the Army at Fort Bliss, Texas, and I was both a pistolero and a rifle shooter.\u00a0 It was a great time and a great place to be a shooter and a gun collector.\u00a0 One of the reasons for that was that Ruger had all their guns manufactured in 1976 stamped with \u201cMade in the 200th<\/sup> Year of American Liberty.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 I especially loved Ruger’s single-shot rifles.\u00a0 Ruger had the uber-slick and elegant No. 1, and they also offered an econo-version of it called the No. 3.\u00a0 I guess they skipped No. 2 because they didn\u2019t want anybody calling their guns turds.\u00a0 Trust me on this:\u00a0 They were anything but.<\/p>\n

In those days, the No. 3 carried an MSRP of $165, but you could buy them all day long for $139.\u00a0 The No. 3 was offered in three chamberings:\u00a0 .22 Hornet, .30-40 Krag, and 45-70 Government.\u00a0 I bought all three, and then I sold them when I left the service.\u00a0\u00a0That decision to sell my No. 3 Rugers bothered me for years.\u00a0 About 15 years ago I acted to correct my No. 3-less status.<\/p>\n

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The .45 70 cartridge. It’s one of my favorites to shoot, and it’s one of my favorites to reload. My usual load is 35 grains of IMR 4198 propellant with the Missouri Bullets 405-grain cast bullet.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Like all things, Ruger No. 3 rifles had gone up in value substantially.\u00a0 Used ones were going for around $650 (today, they are going for anywhere between $1000 and $1500).\u00a0 I picked up a .22 Hornet, a .30 40 Krag (I paid a lot for it; they were relatively hard to find), and a .45 70.\u00a0 All were 200th Year Rugers.<\/p>\n

The .45 70 No. 3 I bought had been Bubba\u2019d, and the Bubba-ing was done by a clumsy and nearsighted Bubba.\u00a0 The stock and fore end had scratches all over, the black anodizing on the butt plate and the fore end clamp was worn and scratched, the bluing was well worn, and good buddy Bubba ham-fistedly added sling swivel mounts that weren’t quite centered.\u00a0 But, it was a 200th<\/sup> year rifle and it shot well.\u00a0 I know that some folks get off on honestly-acquired patina, and sometimes I’m one of them.\u00a0 But this wasn’t one of those times.\u00a0 I wanted the rifle to make up for me selling my .45-70 No. 3 back in the ’70s.\u00a0 When I was young.\u00a0 And stupid.\u00a0 I liked the used .45 70 No. 3 I bought, but its cosmetic condition kept me up at night.<\/p>\n

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A view of the No. 3 from the starboard side.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Ruger No. 3 had been out of production for nearly 30 years when I called Ruger 15 years ago to see if they would reblue it.\u00a0 The guy I spoke to had to check, so I waited on the phone.\u00a0 He was back in minute, the answer was yes, and the price was right:\u00a0 $130.\u00a0 While I had the guy on the phone I described the other cosmetic defects, and asked if they had any higher quality wood laying around.\u00a0 That answer was no.\u00a0 I figured that would be okay; I could refinish the stock and fore end myself.<\/p>\n

So I sent the rifle to Ruger and it was back in about 10 days.\u00a0 That was fast.\u00a0 When I took the rifle out of the box, I was blown away at how nice the bluing turned out.\u00a0 All the lines and letters were crisp, nothing was blurred, and the bluing was way nicer than the No. 3 rifles had originally been finished.\u00a0 My No. 3 Ruger’s bluing is like the high-polish bluing that Ruger used to provide on the Super Blackhawk.\u00a0 \u00a0It’s really nice.<\/p>\n

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The No. 3 actipn. These are great rifles.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A .45 70 cartridge in the trough. You load these one at a time. When the lever below is pulled up, as block behind the cartridge rises and the rifle is ready to fire.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The re-anodized metal buttplate. In later production, Ruger started using plastic buttplates. The metal ones are cooler.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As I stared at the rifle, there was something else about it that was different.\u00a0 It took me a few seconds before I realized that contrary to what they said on the phone, they had indeed replaced all the lumber (as well as the black anodized buttplate and fore end clamp).\u00a0 My 1976 No. 3 had become a new rifle.\u00a0 I looked at the invoice, and Ruger hadn’t charged anything for the new wood and metal bits.\u00a0 Somebody back there is an enthusiast, I realized.\u00a0 They did have a stock set laying around, and he (or she; I have no idea) didn\u2019t think it was right for a freshly (and nicely) reblued No. 3 to leave the factory with lumber by Bubba.<\/p>\n

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The “Made in the 200th Anniversary of American Liberty” inscription. Note the new fore end and the re-anodized fore end clamp.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Back in ’76, there were no warnings on the barrel. I like the simpler labeling you see here much better. It’s classier.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The pictures you see here are what came back from Ruger, all for $130 plus shipping.\u00a0 It was a hell of a deal.<\/p>\n

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A big hole.\u00a0 The .22 Hornet, .30-40 Krag, and .45 70 No. 3 rifles all have the same external dimensions. The bigger bore of the .45 70 makes it the lightest of the three chamberings.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Ruger No. 3. It is a classy logo. I almost never see another one of these rifles on the range these days.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Okay, that\u2019s enough for now.\u00a0 You’re probably wondering how the rifle shoots.\u00a0 So am I.\u00a0 I’m going to get out to the range soon, and you’ll read about it right here.\u00a0 Stay tuned.<\/p>\n

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Do you like No. 1 and No. 3 Rugers?\u00a0 \u00a0Me, too.\u00a0 Read our other No. 3 stories here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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