Any Ruger No. 1 fans?

[2152hq]

I had one I bought new in about '70 or '71. (Last NIB rifle I ever bought too!)

A real beauty as far as wood quality and metal finish.
It was the sporter, don't remember the Model#. 30-06 cal 'cause I already reloaded that.
I put a new Weaver scope on it in it's Ruger rings.
It had a nice trigger and all that but never was very accurate.
I ended up trading it off on something else unmemorable.

I still like single shots and have a few others. But never went back to a R#1 again.
I do admit I was tempted one time on one of the short run .357Mag cal #1's made as a commemorative for the CHP . Seemed like a neat rifle,,another 'should've bought it' I guess.

 

[STCM(SW)]

My Ruger #1 was in 7mm Magnum.
Never got it to shoot that well.
Sold it about 10 years ago.
Only Single Shot I have now is a Ruger #3 in 45/70 with the stock changed to a Ruger #1.
Original stock killed me.
Not too bad now....

 

[Homie]

My custom # 1 heavily modified in a 338 wildcat of my own design built in early 80's

Nice wood!!!(understatement of the week) Tell us more about your wildcat.

Like our beloved Hand Ejectors, the earlier the better.
Anyone have my old .222, #326?

 

[22hipower]

I've had several over the years. Always liked the design but out of the box accuracy left a lot to be desired. I've found with Ruger rifles that when you find one that shoots well, hang on to it. Only one I have left is one of the "tropical" style in 45-70. Accuracy is good and I like the flexibility when hand loading for it. Can get close to 458 Win Mag numbers if I want to and loading it down a bit for deer and pigs is fine too. If I could find an RSI in 6.5X55 I'd buy it in a heart beat. If you can find one for a reasonable price I'd say go for it. Good luck.

Jeff
SWCA #1457

 

[model70hunter]

I had 3 in the middle 70's a 25-06 and a 270. the accuracy did not impress me, both moved on quickly.

I love the looks and always wanted to stumble across a 45-70 at a low price.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I currently have two, A pre-"76 in 7x57 No.1A 22"barrle and a 13 year old No.1 S 26" barrel 218 Bee. Both have never been touched by an idiot with a screw driver! (One of the secrets to accuracy is the torque on the fore end screw.) I have several boxes of Norma's 154 grain semi-spritzer load, which is a copy of Rigby's 275 load. Very fast and kicks lots more than US made ammo! The Federal premium load shoots very well also, but is not quite up to Norma's quality!

I was at our club's range shooting the 218 No.1, one Saturday afternoon about 12 years ago. An old crotchety member was screwing up by the numbers with a beautiful Dakota in 280 Remington (maybe Ackley Improved). I was shooting 1/4" groups at a 100 yards, off a rest and with a 4-12x scope. He was shooting 6 or 7 inch groups offhand. We switch for a few minutes and he shot a perfect one hole group with my 218, and complained about my lousy trigger the whole time! I shot his Dakota in a 3/4 to 7/8 inch group offhand, And told him how wonderful his rifle was. I then shot my 218 offhand in a wonderful .455" group, so he got P.O.ed and left me by myself. I love a good No.1 story!

For most of the 80's and 90's, I had a No.1 T in 375 H&H, wonderful gun, great wood, shot fantastic. But, What do you shoot with one in Ohio? It dose a real number on ground hogs! I had 2 other Big Game (Elephant, Rhino, ect.) rifles, so when some guy wanted to part with more money than it was worth, I couldn't so no.

Ivan

 

[alwslate]

I had one #1 about 25 yrs ago. It was the #1A in 30-06 with the Alex
Henry forearm and 22" barrel, the best looking #1 in my opinion. As
already mentioned they are heavy, hard to scope, not particularly
accurate and expensive. They are however, beautiful, the older ones
that is when they tended to have nicer wood. I kept it for a while and
traded it off at a gun show. I wish now that I had kept it and just
appreciated it for what it was. I have thought about getting another
one but the reality that two nice bolt action rifles can be had for the
price of a #1 has stopped me. I do have what may have been the
best rifle built on the #1 action in some ways, the #3, and in a rare
caliber to boot, the .44 magnum. I have taken several Whitetails with
it so far.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

By the way. Cabela's bought out a warehouse full of them some where. There are half a dozen in every gun library I walk in. Most are of very recent manufacture and have plane wood, but there were some real nice ones at Wheeling, W.Va. a shot while back.

Ivan

 

[aphelion]

I do have what may have been the
best rifle built on the #1 action in some ways, the #3,

I agree. As much as I like the No.1, I prefer the lever on the No.3 for hunting. It is easy to unlatch the No.1's lever inadvertently with a gloved hand, but there is no such problem with the No. 3. I am glad I have my No. 3's, because they very pricey these days themselves.

 

[6thtexas]

I have four #1s- 1-S in .300H&H (my absolute favorite!), 1-RSI in 7x57, 1-B in .257 Roberts, and a 1-H in 45/70. I also have a #3 in .22 Hornet. What I have found is different vintages shoot different or have different characteristics. The 1-B is an older one with beautiful wood, and a l-o-n-g throat. It shoots great but bullets have to be seated WAY out. Hornady 100 gr. SPs have to be seated so they are barely hanging in the case by their toenails. The rifle is also a bit heavy for the caliber. The 300 and the 45/70 (both of newer vintage with normal throats) are not picky at all and shoot about anything well. The little RSI will shoot dime sized groups for about 3 shots. Then if you don't let it cool down they start migrating in a line upwards. I had a 1-H in .375 H&H, but the felt recoil was worse than a Mauser .375 I have so I let go of the Ruger. I think the stock was designed as a compromise to use both irons and a scope and I could get my cheek down where it should have been with a scope. BTW, the recoil in the 45/70 is not bad. I also had at one time a #3 in 45/70 that was miserable to shoot and a scope killer as well.

 

[Buford57]

http://smith-wessonforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=233989&stc=1&d=1460676848http://smith-wessonforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=233992&stc=1&d=1460677906
This is my only Ruger #1, it's in .243 Win. Another nice little Ruger rifle, not as popular, or made anymore? Is the Ruger #3. It's a Plane Jane, straight grip stock version of the #1. I have one in .22 Hornet. Thought You might enjoy seeing both.
Chubbo

I had a #3 in .22 Hornet and another in .45-70. The #3 were considerably lighter than the #1. My "someday when I indulge myself" gun is a #1 International in either 7X57 or .257 Roberts.

 

[Old Corp]

Have had two, a .45-70 and a .270 Win. Gave the .270 to a landowner friend of mine that allowed me to hunt his place for 20+ years.

What was strange was the .45-70 would stack bullets atop one another all day with about any factory ammo at 100 yds.

The .270, was doing hand-sized groups with various loads until I did some shimming of the fore end hanger. That helped a lot, but it still didn't group like the .45-70.
Not what one would expect.

Oh, and I waited too long to get a No. 3. Really hate they discontinued it. Heard it cut into No. 1's sales.

 

[DocB]

Reading this thread made me go online and check the prices of the Ruger Number 1. . .WOW! Back in the late 1980's I picked up the Tropical in 375 H&H at a gun show for $350. About the same time I ordered a new one in 458 Winchester Magnum for a tad over $400. . .still have them both and both are like new. So, now we're looking at around $1400 each. Don't tell me it's inflation because I made a lot money in the 1980's and buying these guns was not a financial problem for me. Buying them today at today's prices? I really don't think so; and, I'm a lot wealthier now than I was then.

 

[Leonard]

Nice wood!!!(understatement of the week) Tell us more about your wildcat.

I always had an interest in the 338-378 due to its down range retained energy and flat trajectory. I started communicating with Elmer Keith about this cartridge and he actually recommended a 340 Weatherby. He felt the cost and work of making the 338 378 and the expense of a magnum Mauser action due to the length of the cartridge made the Weatherby, a slower cartridge a more sensible choice.
But I was determined to squeeze 3,000 fps from a 250 grain bullet and was so impressed by the high ballistic co-efficiency of the Sierra bullet that I decided to design my own cartridge and use a Ruger #1 as the platform.
Knowing a rimmed case was more reliable with a falling block type extractor I chose to rework an RCBS 45 basic case. I blew the case out and shortened it to attain the powder volume I felt I needed, I tried to come close the case volume of the 338 378.
My case and reamer design is attached. It exceeded my expectations in fact I was afraid I would end up with only Weatherby performance! The cartridge reached over 3,200 fps before showing sign of excessive pressure. I then worked down to 3,000 fps and used a Nosler partition as I am not impressed with Sierra bullet construction for large game. The rifle shoots a tight 3 shot clover leaf at 100 yard!
Over the years it has accompanied me on many African hunts and major culling operations and I could not be more pleased with its performance. While in realty I rarely shoot at game at over 300 yards I did take a number of impala at 500 plus yards the retained energy was amazing it knocked them down like they were standing at the end of the muzzle.
It’s a lot of fun taking game with a cartridge of your own design which is unlike any other 338, a couple of friends are now using my wildcat in their numbers 1s.

 

[021]

I have 5, two 1B's in 22-250 and .243, two identically set up Lipseys' stainless/walnut 6.5x55 1A's, and a 1S in .375 Ruger. I think they are terrific!

 

[alwslate]

I agree. As much as I like the No.1, I prefer the lever on the No.3 for hunting. It is easy to unlatch the No.1's lever inadvertently with a gloved hand, but there is no such problem with the No. 3. I am glad I have my No. 3's, because they very pricey these days themselves.

That was another one of my complaints about my #1. With
the simple lever of the #3 I am holding it closed with a
firing grip and there's no way it can unlatch inadvertently. I
check GB for #3s occasionally but they have gotten very
pricey these days. I would like to find a reasonably priced
#3 in 30-40 Krag, a practical caliber and they are not scarce
but one hasn't come along yet. I always thought that Ruger
missed the boat by not offering the #3 in 30-30. Seems like
a natural pairing to me and they probably wouldn't have
been able to keep up with the demand. The #3 surely was
a low profit gun compared to the #1 and maybe it did hurt
#1 sales. I suppose having all receiver production commited
to filling back orders for the #3 would have been a costly
mistake for Ruger.

 

[Ed Fowler]

I put #1 wood on my #3' 30-40s, in the stronger action you could load them very hot and they shot beautifully after tuning them up. Became my favorite hunting rifle.

 

[steveno]

I have had 5 Ruger #1's.

#1A in 270 - I paid $289 for it back in 1979
#1A in 7 x 57
#1B in 270
#1B in 22-250
#1S in 45-70

nice rifles but I think that they became over priced quite a few years ago when Ruger had over a $1,000 for the suggested price. they all shot very well

 

[fyimo]

I had one in 308 Win with a breath taking stock but it was never that accurate so I ended up selling it. I bought a Savage Model 14 in 308 and it was much more accurate than the Ruger #1.

 

[Hairtrigger]

Count me as a fan

There are 2 missing from this pic... a 22 Hornet and a 6mmPPC that are buried in the safe (rarely fired)