No question!  The appearance of the Ruger No 1 is  very pleasing to the eye.   This one, in 280 Rem. was restocked with what I call the "wood from hell"  Grain seemed to change direction every mm or so.  Iron sights were added, customer had me strike the  barrel to get rid of all the writing and caliber designation was modified to "7MM Express"   done in script.  The extensive color casing was done by Turnbulls.  Like I say, very pleasing contour, just have a hard time dealing with the endless stampings and castings, and roll pins on the lnside.  Yep...it all works pretty well, but if asked to do another ...well...I'll be busy that day!

It may not have been fun but the results are stunning.

Beautiful rifle.

Terry

quote:

Originally posted by TC1:
It may not have been fun but the results are stunning.

Beautiful rifle.

Terry

you got that right!

Great effort. IMO the Ruger #1 is the best looking of all single shots, despite their commonplace and low cost.

I want one just like it in 7x57!

I won't necessarily say they are the best looking to begin with, but they damn sure polish up when you work on them! I like that treatment behind the grip, and of course color case work just does it for me. I'm sure the customer is going to be overjoyed.

Red

Geez Duane...another beauty! thanks for putting up the pictures.

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:
I want one just like it in 7x57!

Call Duane, his number is....

Stephen

Nice looking No. 1.

Grace, taste, style...and in 280 Remington!

What's not to like? It "echoes" the classic British falling blocks once made here.

That is truly a superb piece of benchwork!

Thank you for posting those pictures. They were a real pleasure to view.

Congratulations it is a magnificent piece, the detail on the pistol grip is the work of a genius, It is a pleasure to see your guns.

Duane,

Not sure how many quality gunsmiths have told me how much they dislike working on #1's, but it's been at least a dozen. Apparently, it's the hardest to work on metal in the world.

I guess engraving one is near impossible for hand engraving.

Great work, however, one of the best I've seen. I want one like it in .300 H&H.

Mike

Duane, the rifle is stunning. Your comment about "never again" reminds me of the late Chick Donnelly, who said the same thing about Ruger No. 1's after he rebarreled one for me.
By the way, so much for the old wives' tale that Ruger steel can't be color cased.

A very beautiful rifle Duane!

Somewhere in my files, I have a letter from Holland and Holland cautioning against color casing heat treatable actions.

The reasoning is basic...You bring the temp up to outrageous...then quench to produce the colors..OK..you have the colors, but you've also hardened the part...really hard! On mild steel, of course, you would not harden the part through and through, only create a hard "case"

In the real worlds, you would draw the temp back for temper....but do that to a color cased product..no more color!

Turnbulls have come up with the answer by apparently using lower temps to create the colors.

Progress...and we in the custom world benefit.

I have owned 2 different Ruger No1's, a 243 and a 45/70, both with sights and the Alex Henry foreend, which is the only No 1 I would personally have. They both handled great and shot very accurate, in fact Scary accurate...

They also handled like a fine double rifle, Perfect.

There is just something about that style of No 1...

Duane,

I have an action, a #1, out getting that treatment right now. Did you notice any warping when you got it back?

Jim

Quite pretty. Well done!
That piece of wood must have been a PITA !
I wonder how the case coloring would look on a dark grey/black synthetic stock Ruger #1? Yes a clash of old styling and modern I admit but would be great for bad weather while being reliable and durable.

http://www.midwayusa.com/produ...ck-ruger-1-synthetic

I've got a Ruger #1 that Frank Hendricks engraved, then had satin nickled. Absolutely beautiful work and he never commented on difficulty in engraving #1s.

quote:

Originally posted by prof242:
I've got a Ruger #1 that Frank Hendricks engraved, then had satin nickled. Absolutely beautiful work and he never commented on difficulty in engraving #1s.

I have a friend who is in an engraver, he hates No.1's because they are so hard. He told me that he has refused the last couple of jobs offered on them.

I think it was the late stockmaker Bob Emmons who said he would no longer restock Rugers (he did several for John Waters) anymore because as Emmons said- "Life is to short to work on crap".

While a complete factry Ruger is a workmanlike, serviceable rifle, they are a real sow's ear to try to turn into a silk purse.

Mr Weibe looks to have succeeded here..

I'm old enough to have been there! It was at an NRA show...SLC UT, I believe, when some young man asked Monte Kennedy how he drilled the stock bolt hole for a Ruger # 1.


"I don't...life is too short to work on shit like that"