Ruger no 1
 

For years iv'e waited to buy a Ruger No 1 and will be in a position to get one in the next couple of months. I want it mainly for mid to possibly long range shots on woodchuck and coyotes. The varmint model I'm looking at can be had in 223, 204, 243 and 22-250. My questions are, how many of you have used or own a number 1 and what is your impression of them and which caliber would you suggest? I'm leaning toward the 223 or the 243 because Iv'e used guns chambered for both of these and I'm familiar with them. Don't know that much about the 204 and the 22-250 may be just a little more than I need. Suggestions?

I've never shot one but it's a beautiful rifle. If you get it .243 you just might wind up taking it deer hunting also.

jhilde,

I prefer to shoot nothing but Ruger #1 rifles. I have one in a 22-250 and it's a shooter it will put a hole in a hole at 100yds. It took me awhile to figure out that it had a 14" twist in the rifling so I had to play with ammo to get it to shoot like that. I personally like the 52 grain hornady Amax in my rifle. It will prefer the lighter bullets for accuracy.

I think my next varmit barrel ruger no 1 will be in a 25-06.

Get the Stainless model you'll love it.
My collection of em contain
22-250 rem
270 win
300 win mag
375 h&h

Blackelk, very good answer. I had heard awhile back, something about some times the accuracy was questionable, but who knows what the situation was. So thanks for your vote of confidence. The .243 sounds about right to me. Don't know if I'll get another to go with this one yet or not. Iv'e got an 06 and a .300 short mag so with this one in the medium range I'll probabely be pretty well set. What are you using for scopes on your .22 centerfires?

Centaur, your right, they are a very attractive rifle. I just recently bought a used Browning High Wall in mint condition and a very good friend has talked me out of it already so I have to replace it and what better than another beautiful single shot......it's true what they say, life's too short to use an ugly gun...

WARNING
I wanted a No.1 for years before buying one. Within the next year I had purchased 2 more and now I own 8 plus an action and a couple extra sets of wood! The No.1 can be addicting!
I have No.1V rifles in 223, 22-250, 220 Swift , and 6mm PPC.
If you are buying a newer No.1 you will want to have the trigger worked on OR if the budget allows get a set trigger for those long shots at varmints.

Hairtrigger-----, the triggers just come a little heavy? Do you prefer them pretty light? I haven't seen one anywhere in my area for sale out of five different gun shops so I was planning on just ordering a new one. Is the factory trigger just too heavy or can you live with it?

I just went to the Ruger website to look at barrel twist rate. Twist rate in most rifles is just a comprimise, the heavier the bullet the faster the twist rate has to be. Most manufacturers use a rate that'll stabilize the heaviest commercially available bullet. The problem is that it's too fast for the average weight bullet to attain the best accuracy. It's clear that Ruger calls this rifle in 22-250 a Varminter. I bet if the twist rate was fast enough to stabilize a 77 grain deer bullet that you wouldn't put all of you varmint bullets in the same hole.

I'll be more clear mine 22-250 is in a 1B standard 26" barrel with a 14" twist barrel thus doesn't shoot heavy bullets well unless you drop the velocity way down. It wasn't made to do that. Same model 1B in a 300 win has a 1 in 10" twist. And with 165 gr speer boat tails it too stacks them on top of each other. Damn my luck for picking a good rifle.

The Ruger factory trigger is too heavy for my taste for a woodchuck rifle.
I have both Canjar and Kepplinger set triggers, the Kepplinger is a bit better but more costly. The Canjar is no longer made. Either set trigger can be adjusted to 8oz set weight

I have the #1 in #1B with the 26" barrels and a #1 RSI with the 18" barrel . I like the looks of the RSI but the 1B is a much better feeling rifle to shoot .

I have owned a Ruger No. 1 Sporter in 7x57 for about 25 years. It is extremely accurate and has become my favorite deer rifle. I handload for it. I also have a Ruger No. 3 Carbine (discontinued years ago) in .223 that is a tack-driver and what I use for feral cats and other varmints. Both guns are a real joy to use. I got both lightly used from local individuals who advertised in our local paper and feel I got huge bargains in both. I got the No. 1 with scope and two boxes of ammo for $295!! I think the No. 3 cost me about $150. I get a kick out of showing up with my single shot rifle for deer camp and generally never carry more than 3-5 rounds of ammo with me and wonder why I carry so many.

I have a thing for the full stocked sporters and was not aware until recently that the number one was offered that way. In view of the fact that there have been a few reports concerning the mounting of the forend and that in some cases it can contact the barrel and possibly affect accuracy, I would think that the full stocked version would pretty well eliminate that concern. I know my CZ 06 with the mannlicher stock is a straight shooter so why not the Ruger? My only concern with this model is the 18" barrel. In say 22-250, 223, or maybe the .204, could you still end up with a tack driver at reasonable ranges for that barrel length?

My RSI is average in the accuracy department in my opinion , I have it in 243 Win and had the 30-06 for awhile . I like the full stocks myself amd got a real bargain on mine or at least I thought I did until I read DocHunters post .

Back before I started hunting with muzzeloaders exclusively my favorite rifle was a TCR-83 Aristocrat made by Thompson Center. A single shot rifle and features double set triggers and interchangable barrels. It is a very sleek rifle and accurate. T.C discontinued this fine rifle years ago.

I use nothing but No.1's and muzzleloaders. I have a 7X57, a 7mm Rem Mag., a .30/'06, and a 375 H&H. All are MOA or better shooters with the right ammo.

I had the Ruger #1 in a 22-250. I had issues when mounting a scope. The eye relief was a little short on my Weaver Grand Slam and even when I purchased some offset rings , it wasn’t to my liking. Ended up selling the rifle...

I've owned several of them. The 1V that I owned was in 25-06. Never could get that gun to shoot up to my expectations, regardless of what I fed it. The fore end bedding can be an issue with some of these guns, and can be hard to cure. Nonetheless, there are many good shooters out there, and I think you should go ahead and scratch your itch, for if you don't you'll always be wondering if........

Remember, that #1 purchase was about 25 years ago. That $295 would probably be worth about $1000 in today's devalued money. I think the #1 was selling new for about $395 back then.

You'll love the #1. They multiply. Get the 25 06, and then you have a all round for varmints and deer.

Well, I'm thrilled to hear from all you number 1 addicts. You have all helped convince me that I'm headed in the right direction. I really have my heart set on the full stock model in 30-06, [ my favorite caliber ], even though I already have one. I can barely afford this one and some of you are telling me to be careful, they multiply? To be honest about it, eventually I'll probabely get one in .243 or possibly the new .204. Can somebody tell me a little more about the .204, I would think it would be a real flat shooter and very accurate.............John

how many of you have used or own a number 1 and what is your impression of them
 

I wouldn't give you a dime for a truckload of them.

Call Ruger and ask what their accuracy warranty is.....I'll save you the time.....it's 1.5 inches at 50 yards.....yea 3 MOA

Not to say your gun won't shoot better but they won't fix it unless it shoots worse than 3" at 100 yards.

I had one......a varmint model in 6mm Remington and finally had to send it to a smith in Arizona and pay to have it fixed.

I don't own any Ruger long guns anymore and never will again!

Hey its a free country VD ,personally I dont think much of Remingtons long rifles myself . I do have a half dozen or so of thier shotguns though .

If there is an accuracy issue with some of the number 1's, and it is due to the pressure from the forend as Iv'e heard, can't that be corrected pretty easily? Or, do a number of you just believe that it is simply not an accurate barrel? Seems that Ruger would be aware of the problem and correct it on a rifle that retails for over a grand and to protect their reputation as a builder of strong reliable rifles. I understand that from time to time, you can end up with a long gun that just will not shoot well, but you would think that a major manufacturer would cut that to a minimum rather than allow a model in their line up to continue to fall short in the accuracy department. How do they do with the heavier calibers?

Have just 4 currently, .22-250, .30-06, .405 and .45-70. The -06 will become .300 H&H sooner or later. The .405 has yet to be shot. the other two shoot great! Didn't buy the 2nd, 3rd and 4th because the 1st one was a dog. There'll be more.

Possibly but if it is "merely that" one would have thought Ruger would have "merely" fixed it on at least one of the three times I returned it to them.

I owned two M-77 rifles....one in .243 and another in 7 mm Mag that Ruger failed to fix as well.:rant:

Glad we get all three sides to this story. :wink:

Guess ole' VD is not a Ruger fan. LOL. :confused0024:

Nor is he a Savage fan nor is he a Weatherby fan.

I've had good success with Remington and Winchester rifles as well as Mossberg and Marlin and Sako.

I recently bought a Howa and the jury is still out on that .223 rifle.....it's coming around and shooting just over an inch right now.

I guess there is no telling what any rifle will do until you shoot it. I have two rifles that shoot better than you might expect, from what you read on forums. One is a Ruger No 1 in 220 Swift. By hand loading from easily available loading charts, it easily gives 1 MOA at 100 yds. I have not shot it at greater distances yet but next spring, I plan to dial in 200 yd. loads and even 300 yd loads to see how well it can shoot at those distances.

My other rifle is a Martini large frame sporter with a barrel by W.A. Sukalle in 22 LR. Though the trigger is rather heavy, it is remarkably accurate (about 1 MOA) at 100 yds. This is in spite of other Martini owners saying it should not shoot that well. Perhaps it is the barrel, after all, Bill Sukalle was the cover boy for American Rifleman June 1950. They called him Bill the Barrel maker.

Right now I am looking for a .17 HMR rifle and am considering either a Browning T Bolt or a Savage Model Model 93R17BTVS. I figure either will be excellent 100-150 yd. varmint detonators and cheaper to shoot than even hand loaded 220 Swift.

The 7x57 is one sweet gun. Only problem i had was scoping it, little trouble with eye relief, need extended rings.

I have a Ruger No 1 in 220 Swift. It is a great shooter but Ruger no longer carries the Swift. According to what I have read, the Swift is inherently more accurate than the 22-250 but you may not be able to tell the difference. I had a Winchester Model 100 in 243 but had magazine problems, so I shot only 80 rounds through it, before I sold it. If you wantr to hunt deer, the 243 is ok but the 22-250 is not, so you might think about that.

I have a question for the other number one owners--my new .204 is failing to eject the cases. Iv'e had it out to the range twice and I'm having a problem with sighting it in, partially due to wind, chilly weather and the range has been jammed with deer hunters both times. Iv'e gone thru almost two boxes of the Hornadays and it only ejects about one in ten. The gunshop owner says he has heard that the Hornadays stick and to try some Federals or Winchesters. Is this a problem with the smaller calibers in the #1's? It ejects live rounds fine. It will pull the spent case out about 1/2" and that's it. Then the case has to be pulled out by hand. Would honing the chamber help? Anyone else hear of this problem?------------------John