Ruger No 1.

[madang55]

OK, so I would really love to have one. Can't really afford one, so, would if I could, but can't so I can't...
But, there is a gem for sale, in 204R, which I can't have..but, you see where this is going.
How good is the Ruger No1?. Silly question, answer, by all accounts, bloody good.
How accurate can they be? For me, not so silly a question because I've never owned one and have no personal experience with friends owning one, etc. Owning one I would have to know it would be as accurate as my bolts. i.e. shoot better than I can.
I can only see pro's for these rifles, are there any cons?

[in2anity]

Madang they aren't a target rifle by any stretch of the imagination, mainly because of the bedding setup. I.e. a tightly fitting timber forend that will cause stringing if any more than a few shots are taken. They behave rather like a lever gun actually, if run in a match setting. The strategy to "accurize" a No 1 as outlined by M. L. McPherson is to relieve the forend and bed the barrel in a cushion-like-substance namely RTV silicone (aka gasket silicone) - very similar to how you accurize a lever gun. This allows the barrel to comfortably expand as it heats. This goes a long way in improving longer string consistency.

So yar, long story short, a hunting rife that may cold-barrel group x3 well

Cheers,
In2

[geoff]

Right out of the box you're unlikely to find a Ruger 1 that shoots sub MOA like a decent bolt gun. THey are a bit finicky, especially with respects to the forend contacting the barrel.

I have a Ruger 1 in 218 Bee, it was originally a 223 and the previous owner rebarreled it. It shoots 20-25mm at 100m with the Hicks Accurizing Device tuned to my loads but be warned, i burned through a lot of components getting it to that stage. Some people get lucky and get a real shooter from the factory, but it's more likely that you'll have to spend time fiddling if precision is what youre after.....they weren't really built for fine accuracy, that's not really their mandate.

That said, I love my #1 and it is an absolute pleasure to shoot and point at foxes, cats and rabbits. I would buy another #1 if the opportunity presents itself in the future.

[cz515]

Ahh they look pretty nice for a ruger. My 2nd fav gun i would like to own from ruger.

Maybe one day

[Over The Hill]

Ruger #1 are desirable for the coolness factor more than anything related to accuracy. I had a #1 in 223 and with a bit of work tuning with the hicks accurizer device and fitting of a Jard trigger it could hold 1" at 100 consistently with factory 55g matchkings and shoot the occasional 1/2" group if the shooting gods were favourable but that was about it. Loved it and only sold it to finance another project gun. No way was it as good a shooter as my Tikka T3X but if you want to stand out from the crowd then the #1 is a fine choice.

[SCJ429]

One of the prettiest rifles around, I am a Ruger #1 tragic and own a few. They are mainly big bores and all of them have custom barrels. My 416 Rigby has shot under an inch, no mean feat with a 4x scope. I have a 6mm that shoots 0.4 of an inch, I have used an after market trigger, I think it was called a Kepplering or something like that. Th standard trigger can be tuned to be OK. If you buy the 204 and when it is time to rebarrel you want a 500 Asquare, no problem. Buy a new extractor and screw on the new barrel.

[mchughcb]

OK, so I would really love to have one. Can't really afford one, so, would if I could, but can't so I can't...
But, there is a gem for sale, in 204R, which I can't have..but, you see where this is going.
How good is the Ruger No1?. Silly question, answer, by all accounts, bloody good.
How accurate can they be? For me, not so silly a question because I've never owned one and have no personal experience with friends owning one, etc. Owning one I would have to know it would be as accurate as my bolts. i.e. shoot better than I can.
I can only see pro's for these rifles, are there any cons?

I don't mind them but I've only shot one in a 450NE.

I'd save money and buy a tikka T3 in 204R. You need multi-shot hunting, T3 is well known for accuracy and its cheaper, and the mounting system is simple.

[dnedative]

They are not a particularity accurate rifle, mainly because of how the action interacts with the forend but most owners really dont give a s**t given most are in pretty serious big game chamberings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su9ZJ1SFldQ
Old mate shoots em well, they are light for caliber and pretty unforgiving.

Would love a No1 or No3 action one day, 500 nitro would be my pick

[wrenchman]

I have shot one a few times it was in 22-250 it was a tac driver the wood was some of the nicest I have seen.
It was a older gun when I shot it in the 80s.

[madang55]

Well, that about says it all. They ain't a work horse rifle. I guess for me the purchase would only be a wish list one. Would love one, but if its going to be "finicky", or the like, then its too much money to buy something I ain't going to use a lot. I do have a Rem700/Timney trigger/Swann barrel/Ken Noye varmint stock in 204R, (yeah, it shoots) so it would have to be equal to that or better for me to spend the asking price.I'm going to curl up somewhere and suck my thumb for a while. Thanks for the input guys.

[geoff]

Depends what you mean by workhorse. They are a workhorse in the sense that they are very strong actions capable of taking thumper rounds very reliably, accurately enough for the work that those rounds do. There's a reason that a lot of #1's are in heavy hitting calibres - they work well and will continue to do so. When people have them barreled in zippy high performance cartridges, well, it's a bit like trying to put a hat on a fish?

They were not intended to be a volume gun, so they are not a workhorse if your definition of that originates in macropod harvesting, varminting or other culling type activities. Probably stick with your 700 if that's the case

Everyone who owns one tends to love it, but it certainly occupies a niche role in shooting. Which isn't for everyone. And that's fine, that just means there's more for the rest of us.

[mickb]

If you like them, Id get one. They would make more sense to me in a large calibre. In my former hobby of big game rifles we always said the rugers were as accurate as bolt actions but in the context no one was chasing 1 moa with heavy rifles. They should shoot better than lever actions, which have even more stuff hanging off them as well as the crazy bore variances in pistol cals( anywhere from .429 to .435 depending on model in a 44 for example). At least with a Ruger no.1 in a rifle calibre you know what your getting. Suprised to hear they are so expensive now, what do they actually cost new? This is going back to the 2000's but a ruger no.1 in the big calibres was always considered pretty affordable, not much more than a CZ550 or A-bolt , rifles in the low 1000's price range

[Madang185]

Madang55.


Did you live there?

Madang185

[madang55]

Born there

[No1_49er]

For anyone interested in accurising the No1, you could go to worse places than here https://forum.accurateshooter.com/threa ... r.3952983/ You might need to crate an account at that site to view any pictures; 22-250 1/4inch group is very tidy. A No1 can do it.
The trigger alluded to, above, is the Kepplinger, made in Austria. It's a single-set of the type that I refer to as a broken knee. The set puts the knee joint just prior to the point of failure and a slight take up pressure sends the joint into failure. They work nicely - I have a few.
And, Frank de Haas, author of 'Single Shot Rifles and Actions' says this of the No1 - "I believe it is without question one of the strongest and safest single shot actions ever made". Somewhere or other I also read that he described (in his early years) what he believed to be the best parameters for the design of a single shot rifle. Then along came "Bill" Ruger, with a rifle having all those desirable features.
They are a fine rifle.

[MontyShooter]

I wouldn't need much arm twisting to buy one in 416 Rigby or bigger if one came up...don't see them outside auctions all that often.

[SCJ429]

I have a 416 Rigby Ruger #1 and it is the most pleasant big bore I have. Even the lower powered 450/400 Jeffery and 45/70 Govt. Are not as well balanced. I even shot a crow at 200 metres with it. The stock design is much better at coping with recoil than my Mark 5 Weatherby. As stated above, it is one of the strongest and compact actions around.

[mickb]

its another thing worth mentioning is you can load Ruger no.1's up to regular bolt action pressures, even in the big old nitro express cases as its a strong action.

With the possible exception of conversions to 577 nitro, where quite a bit of metal is removed to get that size case in. Fellas with that conversion usually stick to the original moderate pressures.

[madang55]

Madang55.


Did you live there?

Madang185

Born there, lived in Madang, Rabaul, Pom, ended in Lae. Good times for a young fella back then

[gunnnie]

Have a No1B in 25-06 and it shoots 115gn pills to 1.25"@100m. I'm yet to have the fore-end mod done & have a Kepplinger trigger to fit.
Also have a custom No1 chambered in 38-72WCF, yet to do any work with this one as I only picked it up a couple of weeks ago.

[madang55]

OK, looks like the bigger calibres are a really good option. You're not looking for moa at 150-200, but close enough. Still sucking my thumb on this one. Something will come along I can't pass up.