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Originally Posted by Kuruharan
He might have tried, but he would have been turned into Aruman Butter immediately afterwards for his presumption.
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That's a bold statement to make, Master Dwarf!
Short of Sauron himself, who would force Saruman to hand over the Ring? It looks pretty clear in the
Lord of the Rings and
Unfinished Tales that though Saruman was in Sauron's cahoots, if the Ring had slipped into his fingers he would have been "Saruman for Saruman". And, quite frankly, within the safety of Orthanc, we know (from UT) that he needn't fear from Sauron.
The question is how long it would have taken Saruman to master the Ring. Did he have the military resources to hold off Mordor (and possibly the remnants of Rohan and Gondor)? We are told that his efforts in Orthanc were paltry imitations compared to Sauron's war machine. We must, however, acknowledge that he had an army comparable to that of the "good" nations- which fended off Sauron for quite a few years. Furthermore, if Sauron had to fight his way past Gondor and Rohan- that would have bought Saruman more time.
And, of all the people in Middle-Earth, Saruman would probably have made the quickest study in mastering the Ring. Ringlore was, after all, his specialty. His downfall, too, but that's another matter. I personally don't think it would have been long (in a count of years) before he would have been strong enough to crush Sauron with the Ring. The question is whether he would have had that time.