Ballard #3F Fine Gallery Model

[marlinman93]

Had this little 3F for about 30 years and always planned to restore it. It had no finish left, and a bad bore, but nice special order buttstock with checkering and cheekpiece. I sent the barreled action to Al Springer in Moore, Mt. for color case and rust bluing, and Al did his usual great work! I built a new forearm to replace the miniature forearms the #3 have. Pretty much completed now. After some cure time on the forearm finish I'll rub it out and then polish with paste wax for the final step.



Put an old Lyman scope on it, but for testing I'll put a spare 20x Super Targetspot on it.

[Road King]

Very nice Val. Really looks like a keeper now.

[marlinman93]

Very nice Val. Really looks like a keeper now.

Thanks. It was a decent looking Ballard before, but just no finish, and I have never been a fan of the very light 24" barrels Marlin used on most #3 and #3F rifles. I own a newer Cody built Ballard with a heavy 30" full round barrel, and love it, so decided to build this one with a little shorter 27" barrel. Hoping it shoots close to what the Cody Schoyen model does, but it's a Badger .22 barrel, not a Green Mountain like this one.
Old picture of my Cody Schoyen:

[Road King]

They are both beautiful rifles. Must be a lot of fun at the range.

[marlinman93]

They are both beautiful rifles. Must be a lot of fun at the range.

The Cody Schoyen is the most accurate .22LR rifle I've ever owned. It's capable of shooting under 1"moa at 100 yds. off my Caldwell Rock if I do my part. I'm not expecting this 3F to be it's equal, just hoping it's close.