Original discussion:
https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/...=923103115#923103115

I walked away from it. After several months and another offer that fell through, I bought it at low enough cost that I can take a gamble on it. It started out as a Ruger No. 3 in 30-40 Krag. It was rebarreled with a 26" long Lilja stainless steel barrel with a wildcat 30-40 Krag case necked down to 7mm. The barrel is a little heavier than hunting, but not a bull barrel -- front is 0.660". The twist is one turn in 9-1/2" to 10".

There are no sights on it, but there are 1" rings. I intend to take the Leupold VariX-II 3x9-40 from my Browning BAR and mount it for testing (just got the BAR sighted in for deer season -- will have to do it again when I am done). The trigger is a custom one. I don't know which one of the two available that it is. The action and the trigger are as smooth as possible. Much more smooth (and light) than my other two stock Ruger No. 3's.

The stock is also custom. It is a laminated green/black No. 1 stock that fits perfectly (steel/wood joints). Skeletonized grip-cap and a nicely fitted rubber recoil pad. The barrel is free floated. It came with about 880 Sierra MatchKing 168gr target bullets. I figure he probably shot 120 rounds or so out of the gun.

Also came with two different sets of Hornady dies marked with the custom dieset name on them (the handwriting is the same on both). One is still sealed in the factory shrinkwrap. The other one has been used. There was ONE loaded cartridge in the die box. The shoulder is moved forward (but there is still plenty of neck) and the shoulder is also blown out compared to its parent case (sort of like an Ackley Improved, but not quite that straight). It looks like there is no fancy machining of the neck after forming or anything else. I intend to start at 7mm Mauser loads and work up to 7mm-08 loads. I formed up 50 of them for fireforming with 15gr of Red Dot, shot filler, and a wax plug in each. Hope to get some for reloading by next weekend.

Have done some more checking and measuring. I originally thought the capacity of this case was probably close to that of a 7mm-08 or 7mm Mauser. From my calculations, it appears that it is actually about the same as the .284 Winchester or .280 Remington/7mm Remington Express. After fireforming some, I will do an actual water/weight check to get the internal capacity.

Also checking the bullet he used and the twist of the barrel, it looks like he must have been pushing 2,650fps to 2,700fps in order to get stability. With the 26" long barrel and heavy bullet, he was probably using IMR4831 or something about that speed.

It definitely looks like he was using this for some kind of competition. The bullets are not at all suitable for hunting. In addition, there are no sling points. What kind of competition uses a just under 10lb gun like this?

I intend to start at lower loads (7mm-08 or 7mm Mauser maximums), but if they don't stabilize, not all is lost. I will just work up until I see pressure signs or they stabilize.

HarryO,

It looks like the original owner started with a Ruger No. 3 in .30-40 Krag (or Army) before going the 7mm wildcat route. Ackley says in his handbook that the .30-40 has a wide rim and a case strong enough for his improved design. He commented that the only drawbaqck is a strong action to use (the P17 being his only available choice).

Your barrel has .188" wqalls at the muzzle, clearly not a bull barrel but yet one you would expect to shoot well.

Perhaps he wanted to shoot metallic silhouette with it. I used to use a .280 Remington for that sport, and even shot some 168 gr Match Kings at 500 meters on rams.

Sounds like a fun project rifle, although on the heavy side like all Ruger single shots (mine have all been No. 1 versions).

jim