A new-to-me No. 1 arrives

[Howland937]

Beautiful rifle!
I've always loved the lines of the #1's, and yours reminds me why.
Had one in .223 with the heavy barrel and it was pure joy to look at.

 

[BigBlue 94]

Nice, nice, nice. The very first time I saw a picture of the #1 I was in love. It took some time to accumulate enough spare funds to actually get one as I was the sole income for a wife and two kids. It will pass to my son along with one more that I bought several years ago.

I had the pleasure of holding on to my grandpas 7x57 for a few months to shoot. The only hi power rifles id shot were nearly identical varmint barrel Win 70 and Rem 700 deer rifles in 243. The No 1 was a great shooter. When it came time to divvy up his guns after his passing, i chose a pair of Savage 99s over the No.1s. While i wish i had them, i dont regret my decision!

 

[Riomouse911]

Depending on the twist rate, the OP’s rifle may not stabilize the 69-grain Federal load. Sierra recommends a 1:10” twist or faster for acceptable accuracy with that bullet. Older No. 1s used a 1:12” twist.

Beautiful rifle, I only have three…..



.

This one is new enough to fortunately have the 1/9” twist. Hopefully that twist should be ok with many of the heavier bullets and most lighter mono metals. Obviously I’ll know how well it does when I get it sighted in and shoot .

Nice! I too fell in love with the #1 when my Dad bought his .30-06 #1 in @ 1982. This was his "One shot, one deer" phase (Though he hadn't killed a deer up to that point, and when he did it was with a 12 ga. 1100, and fired 3 shots, one of which shattered the 12 pt. rack on that buck ) and it was indeed a very accurate rifle. Even he could shoot groups at 200 yards with it that matched his 100 yard groups with his 700's or Win. 70's. But, as he is, sold it not long after, never having taken a deer with it.
It was an easy thing to fall in love with the #1. My dream rifle then, (still is, though there are others that tie it) was a Sharps-Borchardt in .30-06.
In case you are wondering, the taxidermist rebuilt the rack with the pieces we picked up and some resin. You have to look very closely to notice it.

I cracked up when I read that one. Reminded me of a story my Grandfather told me years ago; He once loaned his Model 12 16 Ga to a neighboring rancher and his wife (Erbnie and Gussie) for their first deer season. They loaded some buckshot in the magazine and my Grandfather and Gussie went out before first light to the newly set box blind at the edge of Gussie and Erbnie’s 10-acre hay field.

Apparently a nice hill country buck wandered up to the corn that was spread out and Gussie opened the glass pane of the blind and leaned into the stock to take the first shot.

My Grandfather said Gussie fired and the buck went down like it had been hit with a sack of bricks and rolled completely over. My Grandfather said he had enough time to say “Good shot” when the buck quickly jumped up, looked around bug eyed without a scratch on him or a horn left on his head, and took off running. Gussie never got off a second shot.

They all laughed about that one for decades afterwards.

I hope to get a chance to shoot this rifle soon. We have some races coming up that’ll eat up my weekends, but I’ll do what I can to get out there.

Thanks again guys, this gun was a long time coming.

Stay safe.

 

[jags]

I've got a No.1B in.223 just like yours. You are going to have fun with it. Nice looking rifle.

 

[marksman13]

I’d like to add a No. 1 B back to the collection. Right now I’m down to 1As and RSIs.

 

[Riomouse911]

I’d like to add a No. 1 B back to the collection. Right now I’m down to 1As and RSIs.

Lucky! A .275 Rigby would be an awesome RSI!

Stay safe.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

The only bummer is the (unopened) Ruger rings that came with the gun are 30mm rings, and none of my new scopes in boxes have 30mm tubes. I have a new 3x9x40 Weaver Classic sitting in a box, so I think I’ll start off with this scope first. (If I need more magnification I will look at a 4.5x16 or greater) Ruger didn’t have 1” gloss medium rings in stock, so I ordered a set from Midway (They offered free shipping today) .

I may still have the set of factory 1" rings that came with my No.1 in my spares box -- PM me if you want 'em for the cost of postage.

 

[Riomouse911]

I may still have the set of factory 1" rings that came with my No.1 in my spares box -- PM me if you want 'em for the cost of postage.

I appreciate your kind offer, very nice of you!

I have a set of rings coming from Midway, they should be here by the end of next week. Ill try to mount the scope after I return from a race next weekend.

If the Midway rings don’t work out, I’ll definitely reach out to you.

Thanks, and stay safe.

 

[marksman13]

I appreciate your kind offer, very nice of you!

I have a set of rings coming from Midway, they should be here by the end of next week. Ill try to mount the scope after I return from a race next weekend.

If the Midway rings don’t work out, I’ll definitely reach out to you.

Thanks, and stay safe.

Depending on the scope you are mounting, you may decide that the extended rings are the best option. Most scopes just don’t have enough eye relief for the No. 1’s action. We’re all built differently, but I have found that I have to get the ocular lens AT LEAST even with the forward edge of the tang safety in order to to be able to shoulder my rifle without straining to get a clear sight picture.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

Depending on the scope you are mounting, you may decide that the extended rings are the best option. Most scopes just don’t have enough eye relief for the No. 1’s action. We’re all built differently, but I have found that I have to get the ocular lens AT LEAST even with the forward edge of the tang safety in order to to be able to shoulder my rifle without straining to get a clear sight picture.

That was my problem too. I finally went with ghost-ring peeps on my No.1 & No.3 -- they provide a Type 99 sight picture:

 

[doubleh]

Scoping the #1 is the one fly in it's ointment. It is a difficult rifle to get the scope where it needs to be or a least they are for me and Ruger was the only source for rings when I was doing mine and Ruger is very proud of their rings. I believe I have seen some rings lately at a much better price though.

 

[marksman13]

Scoping the #1 is the one fly in it's ointment. It is a difficult rifle to get the scope where it needs to be or a least they are for me and Ruger was the only source for rings when I was doing mine and Ruger is very proud of their rings. I believe I have seen some rings lately at a much better price though.

Leupold and Ruger both make extended rings now. Both are quality products, but neither is cheap. I’ve had good results with both.

 

[sarduy]

That’s beautiful man..

 

[Weflyfast]

I’ll admit that I fell in love with the Ruger No. 1 rifle in high school. A hole-in-the-wall gun store on College Avenue in Berkeley had a beautiful No. 1 Tropical .458 Win Mag in a wooden rack on the counter. Every time I popped in to buy .177 pellets I drooled over that gun and dreamt of safaris; Cape buffalo, Elephant, Lion, etc.

Obviously a high school kid didn’t have the scratch to buy one, and as time has gone on the No. 1 certainly can’t be classified as a budget rifle so they’re spendy, but mainly it was other easier to attain wants that kept one on the back burner.

After all those years of desiring a No. 1, and seeing all of the THR members posting their awesome specimens on these pages, I finally found a 1-B in .223 in a nearly new condition. (If it was shot it doesn’t look like a scope was ever mounted so it easily has no more than a few boxes through it.) Best of all, it was obtained for a price that didn’t look like a mortgage payment.

View attachment 1057385 View attachment 1057386 View attachment 1057387 View attachment 1057388 View attachment 1057389 View attachment 1057390 View attachment 1057391

The only bummer is the (unopened) Ruger rings that came with the gun are 30mm rings, and none of my new scopes in boxes have 30mm tubes. I have a new 3x9x40 Weaver Classic sitting in a box, so I think I’ll start off with this scope first. (If I need more magnification I will look at a 4.5x16 or greater) Ruger didn’t have 1” gloss medium rings in stock, so I ordered a set from Midway (They offered free shipping today) .

Once I get the rings and the scope mounted I’ll head to the rifle range and see how it shoots. I have a good bit of Win 64 gr PowerPoint and Federal 69 gr BTHP match ammo on the shelves, so I should be able to shoot enough to get it where I want it.

Stay safe.

Sweet rifle- I have one in 458 win tropical....just pure fun to shoot- I do load it down to 45-70 performance and have taken several whitetails with it..... Something just sexy about a No1

Congrats and have fun-

 

[SwampWolf]

Beautiful rifle; looks to be brand new. I bought my No. 1 (Varmint 1 v), chambered in .220 Swift, new in 1995. Over the years, I've heard a lot of people complain that it takes some "tinkering" to make these rifle accurate but that hasn't been the case with my rifle at all. I've had and have a lot of rifles over the past fifty decades and can honestly say that my No. 1 is the most accurate rifle I've ever owned-and that's with using factory ammunition (with a B&L Elite 3000 4x12 scope, I use it mostly for shooting chucks at a distance of 200 yards or so). I'm looking forward to seeing how your No. 1 shoots!

 

[Slamfire]

I have a Ruger #1 in 30-06.



It shoots well with a limited range of bullet weights. It likes 150 grain bullets pushed fast.







I monkeyed around with tension screws in the hanger. Well, don't do that



cracked case necks due to old powder did not help things



Not that it mattered with these bullets



I believe the Ruger #1 is a bit finicky about bullet weights, so if you find a good load, remember it.

I do think it is difficult to shoot a tight group with my Ruger #1 due to its trigger and the grip. You really cannot get a very light trigger pull and the hammer strike moves the rifle. I am of the opinion that hitting the trigger too hard accounts for most of my vertical stringing, I had to concentrate on not moving the rifle when the trigger broke. Which is hard as pistol grips do not place your hand in a natural position, and the rifle is light. But, give it time, pay attention to where you rest that fore end on the bags, and consistency in trigger pull and sight alignment, and those rifles can shoot.

 

[Riomouse911]

I have a Ruger #1 in 30-06.

View attachment 1058149

It shoots well with a limited range of bullet weights. It likes 150 grain bullets pushed fast.

View attachment 1058150

View attachment 1058151

View attachment 1058152

I monkeyed around with tension screws in the hanger. Well, don't do that

View attachment 1058153

cracked case necks due to old powder did not help things

View attachment 1058154

Not that it mattered with these bullets

View attachment 1058155

I believe the Ruger #1 is a bit finicky about bullet weights, so if you find a good load, remember it.

I do think it is difficult to shoot a tight group with my Ruger #1 due to its trigger and the grip. You really cannot get a very light trigger pull and the hammer strike moves the rifle. I am of the opinion that hitting the trigger too hard accounts for most of my vertical stringing, I had to concentrate on not moving the rifle when the trigger broke. Which is hard as pistol grips do not place your hand in a natural position, and the rifle is light. But, give it time, pay attention to where you rest that fore end on the bags, and consistency in trigger pull and sight alignment, and those rifles can shoot.

It looks like you put a lot of time and effort finding what your ‘06 likes .

If nothing else, the weight of this gun will bring the .223 recoil down to practically nil. I hope to be able to shoot it with a fixed concrete bench on the 300 yard range soon, if not I’ll have to settle for a portable table at 100. (Not quite as solid.)

Thanks again for posting all that data, especially the change in POI/group size due to changing the foreend screw tension. I’ll need to watch that as I find what this gun likes.

Stay safe.

 

[Grumpy_old_Fart]

I do think it is difficult to shoot a tight group with my Ruger #1 due to its trigger and the grip. You really cannot get a very light trigger pull and the hammer strike moves the rifle. I am of the opinion that hitting the trigger too hard accounts for most of my vertical stringing, I had to concentrate on not moving the rifle when the trigger broke. Which is hard as pistol grips do not place your hand in a natural position, and the rifle is light. But, give it time, pay attention to where you rest that fore end on the bags, and consistency in trigger pull and sight alignment, and those rifles can shoot.[/QUOTE]

I think maybe my #1 in 30-06 has been doctored on quite a bit.
It's accurate. It has a clean, smooth 2lb trigger, a target crown, shortened barrel, shortened fore end, 22 inch barrel, and it will put bullets in the same hole.