While they may not be target rifles, Ruger No.1's are a fine rifle. They can shoot sub 1/2" groups at 100 yards. I own them from 22-250 to 375 H&H. Even the 375 H&H will shoot clover leaf groups at 100 yards. I'm a bit bias but for the money you can't buy a finer rifle out there. I've won a lot of regional matches with them to 600 yards and that's with the same hunting load I use. 600 yards is more than most people will ever attempt in a hunting situation.

The benefits of the No 1:

You won't find a better off hand shooting rifle on the market. A well balanced rifle quick and comes up like a shotgun. While some will disagree sub MOA groups right out of the box. (Keep in mind some Ruger No 1. calibers have slower twist rifling's this is where I believe most screw up in picking out a rifle for a particular job). Triggers are better than most bolt action triggers straight out of the box.

The con's of a Ruger No. 1

Trigger has some creep. I've never minded the No.1 triggers. But I've had one worked over at the gunshop for $65.00 and man that is a sweet trigger. The rest go in for work during the off season. Simply amazing after work is done.

Forends. Yes I have shimmed all my forends on my No. 1's. I did all of these myself from brass. Basically you are spacing the ejection bar away from the forend, creating more relief away from the barrel. Very simple and it did improve accuracy where a situation put added stress on the forend stock. The newer models have a raised burr at the end of the forend for some reason. File it out or use a dremel it's quite simple enough. But they did shoot under 1" before all this work. After work I did notice more consistent groups after heating up the barrel.

These rifles are tailor made for the reloader. And they like velocity. I have one 300 win mag that shoot 165gr bullet at 3244 fps and clover leaf groups at 100 yards. Up to 15 consecutive shots without impact change. That's some heat. I have tried that reload in some other friends rifles, lets just say you better have a rubber mallet with you to get the bolt back open while the Ruger No.1 shows no effects or problems shooting it. Food for thought.

I'm bias it's the only rifle I care to even look at. But I've also been called old school so take it for what it's worth. I'm a believer.