Ruger No. 1 safety switch modification

07 November 2017, 01:27

"Switch" probably isn't the right term, but I am asking about the sliding safety catch on the tang. The way the ends of the part bend up and away from the surface of the tang always bothered me. Just looks cheap and like it is stuck on there as an afterthought. Have any of you ever tried bending the ends of the part (with the part removed from the gun of course) so it is more flush with the tang? Would it need to be heated to keep from breaking? Thx.

07 November 2017, 01:48

dpcd

The ends should not be bent but the front looks like that as they overhang the loading trough in the receiver. Much has been written on that, grinding the offending part off, and I think someone might have made one that is shorter in front. Bending won't help. It will still overhang the loading trough and brass will still hit it.

07 November 2017, 01:58

Duane Wiebe (CG&R)

Pretty slick way is to recess it

07 November 2017, 02:01

JeffreyPhD

quote:
Originally posted by dpcd:
The ends should not be bent but the front looks like that as they overhang the loading trough in the receiver. Much has been written on that, grinding the offending part off, and I think someone might have made one that is shorter in front. Bending won't help. It will still overhang the loading trough and brass will still hit it.

Thanks for the reply. My motive for wanting to change it is not so much about the ejection issue. I think you're referring to the Trop safety, which I've tried on another gun. It's more just the look of the thing. Are you saying it shouldn't be bent because it will likely break?

07 November 2017, 04:50

dpcd

Trop safety? What is that? Post a picture. I am talking about standard #1 safeties. The ends are not bent. Or shouldn't be.

07 November 2017, 05:07

JeffreyPhD

quote:
Originally posted by dpcd:
Trop safety? What is that? Post a picture. I am talking about standard #1 safeties. The ends are not bent. Or shouldn't be.

This is an aftermarket safety that is certainly a big improvement on the factory part. It's pricey though. Legendary Arms Works sells them at this point. It used to be marketed by a company or individual named Trop. Is it against the rules to post a link? Seem to recall that. Google this:

Legendary Arms Works Ruger #1 Safety

07 November 2017, 05:10

JeffreyPhD

quote:
Originally posted by Duane Wiebe (CG&R):
Pretty slick way is to recess it

I really like that solution. If I were doing more of a custom gun that's definitely the way I'd go.

07 November 2017, 05:31

speerchucker30x378

I've seen them recessed as Duane has said. They look pretty slick. As I recall it's a simple 1/4 inch wide slot milled about .050 inch deep in the top of the tang and a new safety button made that rides in it. If done properly, the button only protrudes up about .050 inch above the tang line and the ejected round skates right over it with no annoying bounce back toward the chamber.

When I was a kid. I had the stick. I had the rock. And I had the mud puddle. I am as adept with them today, as I was back then. Lets see today's kids say that about their IPods, IPads and XBoxes in 45 years!
Rod Henrickson

07 November 2017, 07:18

Fjold

I was always told that the top part of the No. 1 safety was left long on purpose so that when you eject a round with the gun shouldered, the empty case doesn't come straight back and hit you in the eye.

Frank

"I don't know what there is about buffalo that frightens me so.....He looks like he hates you personally. He looks like you owe him money."
- Robert Ruark, Horn of the Hunter, 1953

NRA Life, SAF Life, CRPA Life, DRSS lite

07 November 2017, 07:36

Craftsman

I never liked the cheap look of the factory safety button either. I do like the function though. If you desire the empty to clear the receiver simply tilt the receiver to the right or left about 45 degrees when you open the lever. If you want to capture your empty hold the receiver level when you open the lever.

07 November 2017, 18:39

Bill Leeper

I bobbed the front of mine, thinned it at the front and heated it and forged it downward. I then re-shaped and re-checkered the button. In the end, It worked out OK. My first Number One, made in 1970, had a safety button which did not perch up in the air so badly as the later offerings. Regards, Bill.

07 November 2017, 23:58

speerchucker30x378

I swiped this picture off the net. I think the nicest one I saw might have been on a David Miller project, but I dis-remember who did it for sure now. It was recessed just like this but instead of the hideous lump, it had a ball about .200 in diameter and about .050 or .100 inch high carved into it about 3/4 of the way up that was checkered. The rest of the safety was level with the tang. It looked a lot like some of the safeties that I have seen on British shotguns.

th by Rod Henrickson, on Flickr

Like that !

safety by Rod Henrickson, on Flickr

08 November 2017, 00:27

Instructor

If the spent shell casing is coming out of the chamber harsher than you like, it's an easy task to take the forearm off, change the tension on the extractor spring to have whatever force you deem as suitable for you. I for one don't want the case thrown on to the ground and have mine set to simply pop it out of chamber and it drops in my hand by slightly tilting rifle. No 1's and 3's have the same extractor system and have them in 22-250, 6BR, 45/70 and 348Win.

Word of caution regarding the extractor part itself, needed one for .473 case head and spoke with Brownells and they only had a few, 3 or 4, and said Ruger not likely to sell them to end users?? I bought two of them for possible use down the road.

08 November 2017, 00:49

JeffreyPhD

quote:
Originally posted by speerchucker30x378:
I swiped this picture off the net. I think the nicest one I saw might have been on a David Miller project, but I dis-remember who did it for sure now. It was recessed just like this but instead of the hideous lump, it had a ball about .200 in diameter and about .050 or .100 inch high carved into it about 3/4 of the way up that was checkered. The rest of the safety was level with the tang. It looked a lot like some of the safeties that I have seen on British shotguns.

Those are beautifully done.

08 November 2017, 00:50

JeffreyPhD

quote:
Originally posted by Instructor:
If the spent shell casing is coming out of the chamber harsher than you like, it's an easy task to take the forearm off, change the tension on the extractor spring to have whatever force you deem as suitable for you. I for one don't want the case thrown on to the ground and have mine set to simply pop it out of chamber and it drops in my hand by slightly tilting rifle. No 1's and 3's have the same extractor system and have them in 22-250, 6BR, 45/70 and 348Win.

Word of caution regarding the extractor part itself, needed one for .473 case head and spoke with Brownells and they only had a few, 3 or 4, and said Ruger not likely to sell them to end users?? I bought two of them for possible use down the road.

I just bought about 10 of assorted sizes from a retired gunsmith. Figured they might come in handy for some project.

10 November 2017, 23:26

custombolt

I read a rumor that the factory Ruger slide was cast. I'm not sure how it would react to heating and/or bending. $79.95 for the L.A. machined piece seems rather reasonable if it's already blued and ready to be installed. Of course fancy custom checkered pieces like speerchucker showed us are the ultimate and should add value to the rifle.

quote:
Originally posted by JeffreyPhD:
Have any of you ever tried bending the ends of the part (with the part removed from the gun of course) so it is more flush with the tang? Would it need to be heated to keep from breaking? Thx.

11 November 2017, 00:53

JeffreyPhD

quote:
Originally posted by custombolt:
I read a rumor that the factory Ruger slide was cast. I'm not sure how it would react to heating and/or bending. $79.95 for the L.A. machined piece seems rather reasonable if it's already blued and ready to be installed. Of course fancy custom checkered pieces like speerchucker showed us are the ultimate and should add value to the rifle.

It wouldn't be too surprising if the part was cast, given that the receiver is too.

11 November 2017, 05:46

Fjold

I stopped worrying about cast parts when I started working with jet engines. If they can cast the high pressure turbine blades that turn at 10,000+ RPM and produce 100,000+ LBF of thrust, I'm not worried about my guns.