I bought a No 1 varmit years ago in 22-250 as a prairie dog rig. Over the years it has become an old friend. Sometimes I drag it out of the safe just to handle it a bit.
I would compare it to the old college girl friend that you still see. You’ve seen prettier and handled sleeker and certainly moved on to more expensive, but there is something effortlessly pretty about her that draws you back to her.

quote:

Originally posted by greenjoy:
The only thing that put me off is that the rifles simple elegance belies a complicated action that appears to have more parts than a Swiss watch.
I like the rifle’s looks but would not want to take it a part.

It's not all that hard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgTJfITvDJI

Ruger number ones are hunting rifles. I have had several and still have quite a few.

I have never had one that does not shoot much much better than I can from hunting positions.

quote:

Anyone need a high quality .45-70 barrel for No. 1?

Does it have the sights and quarter rib

I have had quite a few. One early 243 was a legit 1/2 minute rifle, with some groups half that size.
Don't need any now, as my son loves them so I can borrow any I want.

They are great, classic rifles and I predict they will become the Farquarson of the future.

Well, I've posted pretty much the same sentiment on a number of threads about the No. 1. I love them, and they are one of the few current production rifles that seem "real" to me. I'm not even sure what that means exactly, but they seem real in the same way that an old Mauser rifle is real. I have them in 223, 6.5 CM, 7x57, 300 H&H, 375 H&H, 450/400 and 458 Win Mag. Haven't had a chance to shoot the 223 yet as the range has been closed for a few months. The others are all accurate. I had a 25-06 that was finicky; good some days, not on others. Couldn't figure out why (newer black pad gun). I gave it to a friend who had Renner do his thing with it, as an iron sight 7x57 Rigby-style rifle. Great looking rifle. I've used them to take red stag, eland, zebra, hartebeest, kudu, gemsbok, impala, springbok and warthog. Not sure how much hunting I'll be doing in the future, but whatever it is, it will be with one of them.

Surefire,
There is only one problem, that would be ME, I LOVE to trade both horses and guns, Im addicted to change!

Not many of us old time gun traders left, folks seem to put'm in the gun case for closet queens and show them off to friends, they are the horders, shame on them! I had a couple of friends that we traded guns back and fourth, the same guns many times, then some cad would trade with us and keep our guns, he was marked as unreliable scum...Give it a try its a kick!

quote:

Originally posted by surefire7:
I have many Ruger No. 1s. Really like them. Mostly 35 Whelens (7), 9.3x74R (3), 450/400 (4), and 450NE (2). The rest are small bores.

I picked up two more last week, a Boddington 300 H&H, and a Lipsey's .22 Hornet.

I think I'm going to like this Hornet. It's case colored in the receiver, lever and grip cap, and jeweled in the falling block and lever release. Wood is great. I shot a 3/4" group at 50 yards with the open sights. No complaints in the accuracy dept. here!

I wonder what she'll do with a scope.

I should add, I have no older No.1s with the red pads and gorgeous wood with Wilson barrels, so I've never come across a 'bad' shooter. Yet...

So, I mounted a Leupold FX 2.5 EER scope on this .22 Hornet, and I shot a 3/8" (.375) 3-shot group at 50 yards with Hornady 35 gr. V-Max varmint express ammo. Ran out of ammo before I could get to the 100 yd. range. That's next. High praise to Ruger so far.

quote:

Originally posted by surefire7:

quote:

Originally posted by surefire7:
I have many Ruger No. 1s. Really like them. Mostly 35 Whelens (7), 9.3x74R (3), 450/400 (4), and 450NE (2). The rest are small bores.

I picked up two more last week, a Boddington 300 H&H, and a Lipsey's .22 Hornet.

I think I'm going to like this Hornet. It's case colored in the receiver, lever and grip cap, and jeweled in the falling block and lever release. Wood is great. I shot a 3/4" group at 50 yards with the open sights. No complaints in the accuracy dept. here!

I wonder what she'll do with a scope.

I should add, I have no older No.1s with the red pads and gorgeous wood with Wilson barrels, so I've never come across a 'bad' shooter. Yet...

So, I mounted a Leupold FX 2.5 EER scope on this .22 Hornet, and I shot a 3/8" (.375) group at 50 yards with Hornady 35 gr. V-Max varmint express ammo. Ran out of ammo before I could get to the 100 yd. range. That's next. High praise to Ruger so far.

Every Hornet in this recent run, that I've seen (by pics only) has exceptional wood. Congrats on another shooter.

I bought more ammo and made it back and on to the 100m range. It was the same ammo; Hornady in .22 Hornet 35 Gr. V-Max varmint express.

It shot a 1" 3-shot group. I dialed the scope in at 3.5" high at 12:00.

I now hope to hunt something with it!

P-dog,
I forgot to add no money, sell the guns and horses and plenty of money!!

Held my first Ruger #1 chambered in .357 mag yesterday. I have the bug to bring it home just because I know it would be a fun shooter.

Need to stay strong and resist

I purchased my Ruger #1 back in the 1980's. It still shoots well. Spend enough time on the bench, you will find a load that shoots well.





I have cut this load from 59.0 grains to 57.0 as 59 grs caused primer leaks.





shot well all the way out to 600 yards



This is how I grease my bullets:



a dip and twist. I am quite convinced it reduces jacket fouling to nothing. Probably protects the throat from erosion, and on new cases, prevents case sidewall stretch. And it shoots well out to 600 yards.

Anyone who thinks Rugers are complicated to disassemble, are wrong, and have never taken apart a Miroku Browning/Winchester High Wall.
The #1 is best suited for large bores; trying to use them for varmint rifles might or might not, work. Get a bolt action for that. I own none under 375 caliber and I have several of them.
Rugers are very simple devices.

I’ve had two and am down to just one. They are beautiful rifles but you will need a scope with long eye relief as they do mount forwards. The main problem I found with them was that the scope interferes with loading, which could be a problem in a hunting situation where a quick second shot is needed. The one I still have is in .458 win mag and it wears a peep sight. Very fast to put on target. Working on some milder “North American” loads for local hunting.

Those Renner specials are out of this world..I picked up a Renner in a mk2 77 Ruger in 7x57, it has side panals, short forend to a small schnable, all the bells and whistles, shoots and honest sub one minute of angle, forend locks with as brass inset ala muzzle loader, its awesome, I bought it to sell, but shot it for group and its a sho nuff rare gun around me casa, not many keepers here, but this one stays..

Even as a kid, I wanted a Ruger No. 1 rifle and it wasn't until I was over 50 years old that I bought a used red pad in 270 and the guy threw in the last two rounds from the only box of ammo that he had shot through the rifle.

Not knowing that they were supposed to be finicky with a strong preference for heavier bullets, I started reloading and experimenting with different bullets and found that my gun loved the lightweight bullets. It took me about three range trips to find loads that shot like magic through mine.

Now I own two Ruger No. 1s (270 and 7mm) and a No 3 in 30-40 Krag and they're now the only rifles that I've used for the last 5-6 years for my North American deer and antelope hunting.

You say "primarily a range gun".

I don't think anyone has mentioned that rifles with underlevers are somewhat cumbersome to use from the bench off of a rest (sandbags or similar). In order to work the action you have to lift the rifle from battery position for every shot to reload, then re-position it. This is a PITA. A bolt gun is far preferable for this type of shooting.

For carrying and offhand shooting the single-shot underlever has a somewhat shorter receiver, so the overall length of the rifle with the same length barrel can be shorter than a bolt gun, which is an advantage in that area.

These are just a couple of practical considerations when contemplating an underlever like the Ruger No. 1.

I bought my first No. 1 in 1976 and I've never had any trouble on the bench but I can see some problems people would have depending on their bench rest setup. My Sinclair International heavy rest is high enough along with a high bunny ear sand bag to eliminate the lever problem. The one problem I've had with the Ruger No. 1 has been in the field when the lever gets caught in your coat pockets and opens dumping your cartridge in 2 feet of snow.

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:
You say "primarily a range gun".

I don't think anyone has mentioned that rifles with underlevers are somewhat cumbersome to use from the bench off of a rest (sandbags or similar). In order to work the action you have to lift the rifle from battery position for every shot to reload, then re-position it. This is a PITA. A bolt gun is far preferable for this type of shooting.

For carrying and offhand shooting the single-shot underlever has a somewhat shorter receiver, so the overall length of the rifle with the same length barrel can be shorter than a bolt gun, which is an advantage in that area.

These are just a couple of practical considerations when contemplating an underlever like the Ruger No. 1.

Assuming we are comparing single shots with single shots and repeaters with repeaters, I find it much easier to operate a lever than a bolt from bench or prone, as the "loading platform" is far more conveniently placed on single shots and the hand movement to operate the lever is more natural to me. But my rest is tall enough to clear the lever, as is my natural prone position.