Made a trip down to the range last week to try out a used Ruger No. 1 in .300 Win Mag and sight in the scope I had put on it. I had loaded up a couple of boxes of ammo with CCI Magnum Rifle Primers and Accurate Arms 2700 powder - not the best choice but sufficent for the purpose.

The gun is probably 5 -10 years old and in near new condition. For $375 I just couldn't pass it up.

To my surprise I got a number of hand fires - perhaps a fraction of a second and one round that failed to fire. It appeared that the firing pin was not hitting as hard as I am used to with a bolt gun but I've never had this problem with a No. 1 in any other caliber. One the round that didn't fire I clicked on it several times. The primers was indented pretty well but again not totally beat into the flash hole like a bolt gun would do.

Primers are some years old but should be O.K. - I'll try them in another gun.

Any thoughts or similar expereinces with a No. 1 and magnum primers?

I tend to think it's the primers but you'll have go through all the possibilitys to see.
Like you said try that ammo in another rifle and also try loading some more ammo with differant primers for the #1.
Sometimes these things are a combination of things that add up to a problem. You may have old primers that work just fine in a Mauser but the fireing pin strike on the #1 may be too light for the primers. On the other hand some fresh new primers may work just fine in the #1.

The firing pin blow delivered by the Ruger No. 1 has a reputation for being quite weak. None of mine have misfired or given hang-fires, BUT CCI primers have thick cups, and might just cause a problem in a Ruger No. 1 with a spring on the weak side. It would be because they are CCI primers, not because they are CCI Magnum primers. I would change to Federal primers for that rifle and see what happens.....and maybe even install a new spring! At $375.00, you can sure afford to spring for a spring!!

I had the same problem with one of mine. Wolff springs makes a HEAVIER than normal spring for the Ruger No. 1 (and No. 3). It is available from Brownells for less than $10. It solved the problem.

The #1 design is a little lame in this regard.
It has a small transfer lever to transfer the blow from the hammer to the firing pin. You might try Federal #215s or #210s. They always work in my rifles.

If the primer options don't fix the problem you might take a look at the trigger/safety adjustments. If an aftermarket trigger has been installed that might be the reason for the weak hammer strike and misfires. Same thing happened to my #1 after installing a Moyers trigger and a little additional filing fixed it.

Thanks for all the help everyone!

The striker blow looked light to me; I guess I had forgottten about the CCI primers being hard - I must have known it at one time or another. It had been a while since I loaded for Runger No. 1; most of my reloading had been for bolt guns. I did note when I had one of my .458 Ruger No.1s apart it did have a very small firing pin for an interia type. The gun in question is 100% stock just as i got it. It may have been on a hunt or two but was nearly new. It has the red recoil pad; I'm not sure when they changed.

I hope I didn't load any of the CCI primers in any of my .458 Win Mag loads; somehow I forgot to mark the primer on the box.

Two of my Ruger No. 1s are in .458 Win Mag - I bought one as a barreled action back in the early 70s when complete rifles were still hard to get. I bought the second at a gun show here in AK for $350; like the .300 Win Mag I just couldn't turn it down at the price.

I also have a .243 light rifle with a SN in the 4xxx range I bought four or five years ago for around $300 or so. Unfortuantley it does not have the orginal wood; I have a fantastic figured blank I've got to get someone to put on it. The workamnship on the early No. 1 is really nice, probably the best Ruger ever put on any of their guns.

quote:

The workamnship on the early No. 1 is really nice, probably the best Ruger ever put on any of their guns.

Absolutely correct! The first No. 1's were above the rest!

you definately need to change the spring on that #1. i'm no expert on #1 but i've had a few and have one now and never had a missfire problem. maybe the previous owner "lightened the spring" a new spring from ruger will likely fix your problem.