Are Ruger No.1 stocks on heavy hitters prone to stock damage?

I have one with some nice wood and would like to know if there are any mods I can do to make the stock endure recoil without coming to grief.

Maybe ask top stockmaker Ross Waghorn as he is in Melbourne and a great bloke to deal with.

Not if they are fitted evenly; I sometimes glass bed them to insure that they are.

Ive never had a problem with one, I have owned a 375, 404 and a light weight 458 with a long throat, a 338 win, and some light calibers..Today I have a 250-3000 1-A fwt. (24" barrel) and a 338 Win. 1-S...I love the NO.1's but decided they were not the best option for Dangerous Game, I made that decision on a particular event for the most part..LIke any rifle they need to be properly inletted, that goes without saying..

Its a basic box lock and boxlock double rifles have stood the test of time even better than an expensive side lock double..Lots of old boxlock doubles and single shots still out there doing their job after a 100 or so years of abuse..

quote:

Originally posted by Mike McGuire:
Maybe ask top stockmaker Ross Waghorn as he is in Melbourne and a great bloke to deal with.

I’m scheduled to see Ross after Easter, assuming we’re not locked down by then. He’ll be doing some work on the Ruger and my CZ. He is a delight to deal with.

I thought I’d ask here for views and experiences before seeing him.

Good topic.

Most important: As dpcd said,
a skim of epoxy bedding where the action meets the buttstock for even bearing.

Bob cracked one on his .458 WIN.



I hope not to do so on my newly acquired 1980 vintage .458 WIN Ruger No.1, Daisy, with walnut that has been drying for over 40 years:



I am going to fit a no-longer-available B&C synthetic to her and then do a job on the walnut before I shoot it, on Daisy.

Old photo, here are the B&C parts being re-purposed for Daisy:



The B&C buttstock has a nonmagnetic metal bedding material showing on either side of the hole that the 1/4" diameter stock bolt runs through,
for a course of about 4" length.
This may be a pillar. I have not X-rayed it.
If it is a pillar, it is probably made of the same aluminum alloy as the bedding blocks of the B&C Medalist stocks. Some titanium there, hopefully.

To fit Daisy, I am going to have to cut 2" off the forend tip and then reshape the synthetic forearm into the Alexander Henry tip,
and sand out the barrel channel,
and bed to barrel with epoxy.

Walnut:
I will insert a steel tube (pipe nipple, lamp conduit) through the grip, bedded in epoxy,
to contain the stock bolt like a ~4"-long pillar.





A former job on a laminate .450 Rigby NE Ruger No.1 buttstock used some brass pins crossways,
though I do not know if that does any good.
Brass pins done by Rusty McGee at my request:



I will try to add some photos as I go, if I ever gitterdun on Daisy's walnut and synthetic stocks.

Thanks for all the comments.

RIP - did the stock break due to recoil or was it a result of a fall ?

I like the idea of installing a tube and epoxy that in for the stock bolt. Assuming the stock is well fitted, that should be the only point of weakness.

Recoil.
Lead Sled related.
Maybe Bob will comment ?

Rip ...

A long socket extension works better than a standard screwdriver for removing the buttstock through the deep hole under the recoil pad.
The stock bolt is a slotted hex-head bolt, over 4" long,
and there is a big, fancy, hole-filling, escutcheon-like washer that the bolt head locks down on when the walnut buttstock is installed.
Like a mini-gripcap inside the grip.
It would fit over the butt end of a pillar just fine.

In the B&C synthetic buttstock there is just a plain flat steel washer against the supposed aluminum pillar.

Rip ...

I can't stomach a synthetic stock on a No 1. Walnut or nothing.

AZ,

I find it distasteful too, but I have a strong stomach. I cannot remember ever losing my cookies.
Blueberry planting is keeping me away from both the walnut and fiberglass lately.
I will gitterdun eventually.
Then I am going to take up beekeeping,
if humanity survives the Wuhan Woohoo.

Rip ...

OK, I have BC stock on my #3!

Neighbor had a saying of why he hunted with a Bear Grizzly bow.
"If he was in a canoe and needed a paddle, he wouldn't be afraid to use it."

Same feelings about the BC stock, paddle or a club!

I put a set screw in the front hanger and did some epoxy bedding!

Target backer, not sure what happened to the target.

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:
Recoil.
Lead Sled related.
Maybe Bob will comment ?

Rip ...

To tame the recoil of "hot" loads from my Ruger #1 in .458 Win Mag at the bench, I bought a Lead Sled. It involved some early-on testing of loads I'd developed for my former CZ 550 in .458 Win Mag. I wanted to see how they compared in the #1 Ruger (24" with Mag-Na-Porting) to the 25" CZ. The Lead Sled was the middle-size, general purpose one, a bit lighter than those for big magnums. If you're not familiar, it has a rugged heavy frame, three steel legs with rubber feet, adjustable cradle for the rifle and a pan for weights -- lead shot in particular. I used an 8-lb bag of shot in the pan. The whole rig weighed about 23 lbs, plus 10+ lbs for the rifle. There was a strap over the barrel and forearm to keep the rifle from jumping out of the V-shaped front rest. The buttstock rested in a "holder" that supported the butt of the rifle on each side as well as its end. My shoulder was against the buttstock "holder" and I held firmly down on the Alexander forearm.

Despite all that, every time the trigger was squeezed the recoil pushed the contraption and me backwards about 1 foot, plus slewing sideways several inches at the front end. Each time, therefore, I had to readjust the whole affair. The bench was 2.5" thick cement, somewhat rough on the surface, supported by three 3" steel pipes anchored to the cement floor. I was seated on a flat bench about 20" x 10" x 2.5" supported by the same wood material at normal height for sitting comfortably.

Since the pan for adding weight could support a lot more than 8 lbs, I added another bag of shot that weighed 25 lbs. That seemed to work great as then the three rubber feet put a lot more downward grip to the cement bench table. In firing, everything moved backward (including myself) about 3 - 4 inches, and the recoil on my shoulder felt more like a lite .223 Rem. I was a happy camper! Until...

At the end of a session, I released the forearm strap and lifted the rifle (Ruger #1 Tropical in .458 WM) out of the cradle, and as usual looked it over, and horror of horrors! There was a crack in the buttstock that extended from where it matted with the action to 5 - 6 inches in length. Plus there were two more of not more than 1/2 inch.

I'd been forewarned by a fellow member at the club, that Lead Sleds had a reputation of cracking stocks on big-bore rifles and some magnums. I didn't take it seriously enough.

The deal was that the recoil, before the Lead Sled, was absorbed over time on my shoulder, body, hands and arms, plus the buttstock. But after adding more weight to the Lead Sled -- that increased the downward force on the legs and rubber feet that sort of "glued it" to the rough cement surface not allowing the whole contraption to move reward -- most of the recoil was taken by the buttstock, especially where it matted to the action.

So no more Lead Sled for me! It's for sale! It should work quite well for "relatively mild cartridges" for sighting-in a rifle, or for those with tender shoulders shooting the same.

But my Ruger has a "new to me" buttstock -- thanks to RIP. You can see it on the header of my blogs. And what he is planning for his is a great idea that should forestall any problems.

Hope this is adequate explanation.

Bob
www.bigbores.ca

I volunteer to take that wood stock off your hands, it's ugly compared to your plastic stock, I will even pay you hard cash..Hows that for the deal of the year!!!

I damaged two rifles, a 450-400 and a 9.5x62 on my Lead Sled...I now use it without weight and stiff sponge behind the butt loosly belted to keep it from bouncing off the rest, and that's been for about 3 years now and no split wood, or other problems.. little more recoil but its fine, as the sled is fairly heavy...No need to sell, just modify how you use it...Anyway for what its worth..

Also it would be fine to just modify the rear butt holder to be free like a sandbag..Anything out uses this method..The only problem with the lead sled is the Lead your using with the big bores..Light caliber make no difference,you can use it with about any amount of Lead up to a 30-06.

I've got a 450NE #1 and haven't had any issues with the stock, but I've only fired it about 50 rounds. 500gr Hornady at 2400fps puts a whallop on me, seeing how the gun only weighs 7.5 pounds.
I only fire it off-hand.

quote:

Originally posted by TonyRumore:
I've got a 450NE #1 and haven't had any issues with the stock, but I've only fired it about 50 rounds. 500gr Hornady at 2400fps puts a whallop on me, seeing how the gun only weighs 7.5 pounds.
I only fire it off-hand.

Is that a re-chambered Ruger No.1 .45-70 Govt., or a custom barrel job?
A 7.5-pound rifle shooting 500-grainers at 2400 fps might leave a mark.
This one does with 500-grainers at 2200 fps:



Same chambering in an 11.5-pound rifle, causes no blood loss on shooter's side of the rifle,
easier on a walnut stock too:



Rip ...