How do you like the Ruger No1 Varmint Model as compared to bolt actions? Which chambering do you prefer in the No1 Varmint?

Thanks.

I like mine.

I have it in the 220 swift. Taken a lot of Pdogs with it, and a couple of coyotes.

Only issue I found was I have lost a few rounds when going through the timber and the lever would get hooked on bush and pop the block open.

I did put the hicks acurrizer on it and the groups tightened down to around .5 inch when I do my part, Shoot the Nosler 50gr BT.

I have several No.1V rifles, 223, 22-250, 220 Swift, 6mm Rem and 6mm PPC
The 6MM Remington has a Kepplinger set trigger and I have a Canjar on my 22-250. The Kepplinger trigger makes the 6mm Rem my favorite.
Take the trigger out of the equasion and the 6mm PPC is my favorite

Off topic question for Hairtrigger.

Is it still possible to get a Canjar trigger?

My Dad had one for his Win 70, but I haven't been able to locate them anymore.

Canjar went out/under a couple three years back. Might find a NOS or used one somewhere. I have a Kepplinger on one of my #1's. Great trigger, although a bit pricey.

I've always thought the Number one was one of the prettiest rifles ever made but stories of unsolvable accuracy woes with some of em has always stopped me from making the move.
I've had Kepplinger's and Canjar's both but the time frame on Canjar's when they were in business was measured in years .
The Canjar was in my opinion a bit better trigger but the Kepplinger is no slouch and Brownells stocks em. I have several and would buy more. On mine I adjust em for "unset" 2lbs for cold fingers hunting and "set" 8oz, for off the bags or long range varminting.

The No 1 is accurate enough. Does it have bolt action accuracy? Yes and no. The No 1 can never go head to head with a really good bolt action rifle. You don’t buy a No 1 because it’s a target rifle, you buy it because of the romance, the beauty, the nostalgia, and the balls to use a rifle that only loads one at a time by hand.

If a rifle is just a tool to you, then stay away from the No 1.

Well, I understand where you are coming from, but all my No 1's shoot as well as my bolt guns.

I don't shoot bench rest though, so I wouldn't want to try to use it for that.

I have a 7mm rem mag,22-250,220swift, and a 204. The 204 was probably the most accurate gun out of the box that I had ever shot.

I did have to do a bit more on them to get them to shoot. I followed this guys advice.

http://www.rvbprecision.com/sh...for-the-ruger-1.html

The 204 though I didn't have to touch, although it could stand a new trigger.

Don’t get me wrong mgoodrich, I love my No 1s and they are accurate. Like you I had to work with a few of them to get the accuracy I needed but that’s part of the love for them. The No 1 is first and foremost a hunting rifle.

Everyone has their own expectations of what their needs are in the accuracy dept. As the man said, "Only accurate rifles are interesting".
We had an older smith here in town that was an acquaintance of P.O. Ackley and in fact Ackley talks about him in some of his writings. One of the things this guy was well known for around here was his ability to make a number one shoot like crazy.
I was at our local range and a fella had two number ones this smith had done for him in Exhibition English Walnut, you truly couldn't tell the two apart, identical! One was a .284 and one was a .22-250. Both were shooting solidly sub 1/2 inch 5 shot groups at 100 yards. That is an interesting rifle indeed!! Unfortunately I'm sure the stock blanks on the two of em cost more than my pickup and that's before the smith started working on em. Truly magnificent!
Not to be argumentative here but I didn't realize it took balls to hunt with a single shot . Who could have known??? I must have more balls than the NBA cause single shots are about all I own and I got a couple . For my uses however if it isn't capable of .3's and 4's it won't effectively do what I need it to. Maybe someday I'll hit the lottery and have a couple twinsie number ones put together for me like the ones that guy had at the range, I've sure thought about those rifles a lot since seeing em. Truly beautiful.

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Not to be argumentative here but I didn't realize it took balls to hunt with a single shot Confused. Who could have known???

Maybe not for you or me but there are a number people that wouldn’t dream of just chambering 1 round in their bolt action rifle and going out in the field and hunting deer, elk, or bear. I know that doesn’t have anything to do with a prairie dog rifle but the No 1 is much more than just a varmint gun.

When shooting under varmint conditions (not calling)do you find it problematic to adjust the rifle for using the underlever shot to shot as opposed to a bolt gun?

No, not in a prairie dog situation. The lever is a little long but I’ve never really had a problem with it touching the ground. Here’s a picture of one with an open action on a low bipod.



If the rifle were on the shoulder the lever would be higher off the ground.

Have a 1V in 22-250. I'm not a huge varmit guy, but this is my only true varmit rifle. I've found it to be an extremely accurate coyote killer.

The Number One is the finest single shot rifle by a major manufacturer. Drill and tap the hangar for a headless hex head screw and tune from there.

Very accurate if tuned properly and a Kepplinger installed.

THE most accurate is likely a double set trigger HiWall or Stevens/CPA. There's something about a sub-one ounce trigger.

Rich

This topic and a private message stirred the old "gee I wish I had a number one in the battery" feelings. I took a little Google cruise and found this one.



How ya suppose that one'd shoot? I'd be nervous as a whore in church just holding it .
If I ever see one in a .218 Bee at a reasonable price, I'm an owner! Then I'll hawk the farm to have it turned into a .17 or .20 Killer Bee.



That logo'd look real good on a tweaked out number one huh? Don't bother asking I confess, I'm seriously afflicted with small caliber madness. This thread is giving me a resurgence of why don't I own a number one flu? as well.

Montdoug, the No 1 actions do make some beautiful custom rifles done they?

None prettier!!

i have a 7x57. it did not shoot well at all when i bought it. i purchased a hick accurizer from some place and fooled with it for a while. my #1 will shoot right at 0.7 5 shot groups now with 175 grain hornady round nosers. i have a varmit 25-06 that shoots pretty well, but i have not fooled with it in two years. from what i remember, it was good on groundhogs with 75 grainers out to 300 yards or so.

I have a Ruger 1-B in .204. Put After market trigger and hick's device in it. Still in the process of tuning it up. Sighted in at this point for 50 yards.

Put varmint simulator (water filled soda bottle) at 50 yards and fired a Federal factory round (yes I have 1 box) and the effect was incredible. Result looked like steam powered mist and it took 2 or three seconds for the bottle to come back to earth.

Totally awesome and easy replacement for .223 or .220 Swift. 35 grain BT perform magnificently. Accuracy on Lilja/Jewel M700 is good for squirrels at 300-400 yards.

I'm sold!

I have always thought that they are one of the most Beutiful rifles ever produced. My buddie had a 7mm Rem mag and just couldn't get it to shoot. That always swayded my decision everytime I had an erge to get one.

What put me off buying a Ruger #1 was hearing so many owner comments on the work necessary to "get it to shoot" and that OEM triggers need replacing and accurizing parts need to added to get the groups shrunk to acceptable size.

A real eye opener for me was to discover that this action that appears to be so elegant and simple looking actually has more parts than an swiss watch inside.
The complexity of action put me off, this is not a simple action.

I hear the varmint model with the scope blocks on the barrel is the most likely model to shoot well out of box and continue to group once the barrel warms up.

Ruger #1's always look silly with a scope installed.
The 220 Swift pictured above in the middle of the group of 5 rifles is the first one I've seen that doesn't look visually unbalanced, I think it's because that scope looks like its two feet long with enough mass on both ends to balance the look of the rifle. That one I like.

Greenjoy,

LOL, My wife thinks that’s the goofiest looking one I own because of the size of it’s scope.

The only thing I’ve done to the five rifles above is change the triggers and sand the barrel channel on the forend of a few. Other than that they are “out of the box” rifles. I've owned and shot/hunted the 7mm Remington and 220 Swift for 15 years before I changed the triggers in them.

As the No. 1 has developed over the years it’s had 3 different trigger designs. The original trigger was a “link-less” adjustable trigger. This trigger wasn’t used very long, just a few rifles were made with it. The second trigger was the “linked” adjustable trigger, often called the 3-screw trigger and Ruger built No 1s with this trigger up to about 1980. The first 2 No. 1s I owned (no longer own) had these triggers and were some of the best shooting rifles I ever owned. After 1980 they changed the trigger to a non-adjustable “2 screw” trigger or the “lawyers trigger”. This trigger is a piece of crap aluminum casting that is only worth the 2 cents it cost to make it.

The rifles above (except for the Swift) have a copy of the 3-screw trigger (T. L. Moyers) installed in them. The Swift has a very expensive Kepplinger single set trigger.


Lawyers Trigger


3-screw trigger


Kepplinger single set trigger


I will concede the No. 1’s falling block is not as simple as the Sharps. There is a number of moving parts that come out with the block. But you really don’t need a watchmaker to take it apart for you. Each No. 1 comes with instructions on how to take the block out and reinstall it. I take mine apart at least once a year. It’s really no big deal but I’ve been taking them apart since 1976.

With hot barrels, as a general rule the varmint model seems to stay on target better than the quart ribbed models. The 204 Ruger 1B shown above isn't bothered by long string shooting sessions though. I don’t shoot my big game rifles to the point were heat becomes a problem.

The .220 Swift seems to me to be a perfect fit with the No.1 being a semi-rimmed cartridge. I can only guess Ruger discontinued the Swift because of lack of sales?

Love it.

I'd like to have one in .25/06...I believe that is the model that my friends' 25/06 is in

Buliwyf,

quote:

I can only guess Ruger discontinued the Swift because of lack of sales?

Yes, the Swift sales fell off. I don’t think Ruger has a Swift listed in any of their guns at this time. I don’t know if anyone is making a factory Swift at this time, but I haven’t looked.

Since Bill died, Ruger has been cutting back on the factory offerings in the No. 1 except for the odd stuff.

My Swift is getting a little long in the tooth. When it stops shooting straight I’ll have it rebarreled, in 220 Swift of coarse.

i hvae one in 22-250. very accurate, bought it for my brother who's left handed to start him on prairie rats. he used it on several occasions. then i reposessed it ( he had stopped using it and wasn't coming on that years trip and had never started paying).

.5 min accurate. nosler ballistic tips (50 gr) w/ nickel plated win cases. H414 (?grs). no work on the cases short of trim and full length size when new, "bump" size now. harris bypod on the front sling swivel. rarely shot off of a rest.

one christmas, my family each took turns shooting holes in pennies at 100 yards after presents were opened and we had stuffed our selves full as ticks.

The 220 Swift and the No.1 go together like peanut butter and grape jelly. I'll be lookin for one. And if I find one shot-out I will re-barrel it to a 220 Swift

One complaint I once heard about the #1 was that it was difficult to load a short cartridge (e.g. 17 PPC, 17 Fireball, etc.) and remove the spent cartridge, when the rear of the scope was over the the breech. Is this actually a problem?

The smallest factory offerings (I know of) have been in 22 Hornet, 218 Bee, 222 and the 223. I can say I never had any problems with the 223 when I owned one. I’ve never handled one chambered in the Hornet, Bee, or 222. No matter what size the cartridges are, when the gun is level you pretty much have to push them all the way into the chamber with your thumb. The ejector throws the case out of the chamber when you open the action unless you turn the tension down to where it extracts only. You can see the size and placement of the scopes above and I really have no trouble with them.

The real problem some people have with the No.1 is the tang safety. It sticks up in the way and catches spent cases as they’re ejecting and stops them from clearing the action. You can see the safety sticking up in the pictures above.

This is not a problem for me in fact it’s kind of handy. It keeps my spent case from being thrown in the dirt.

If on the other hand I was chasing dangerous game with a 450/400 or 458 Lott and needed a quick second shot the safety could be a problem. Rolling the gun to one side or the other defeats the safety problem. Remembering to do that while a Cape buffalo in bearing down on you is the real trick.

Without the safety blocking the empties the cases will hit off the stock comb in the Ejector mode. My No.1 is in the Extractor mode.

That #1 is just to lovely, Doug. WoW! Killer Bee would be fantastic.

My old .218Bee #1 wad a hoot to shoot - accurate too for short strings.

Of course, for a .218 Bee, 40gr. Vmax or Ballistic Tip at 3,750fps is nothing to sneeze at either. Traded it off after 6,500 rounds with 475 of the initial 500 rounds of brass. Ruger #1's are good to brass.

Never did understand why Ruger put 24 inch barrels on all their No 1Vs except for the Swift on which they mounted a 26 inch barrel.

I've got a No1V in both Swift and 25-06. The 25-06 was always a natural for a 26 inch barrel except to Ruger.

That's my only complaint about No 1s. Both mine are fine, fine shooters.

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Never did understand why Ruger put 24 inch barrels on all their No 1Vs except for the Swift on which they mounted a 26 inch barrel.

I’ve always wondered about that too. But when Bill and friends designed the Varmint model it was design for the cartridges and scopes of the time. Ruger hasn’t made many changes since those days. They did make changes in their scope mounts but they never made changes in barrel length. Oh Well! It is what it is.