Allure of the Ruger No1

[Forrest Halley]

I just recently acquired my first Ruger No.1, in .30-06.
She’s actually a Ruger No. 1S, with the Alexander Henry forend. She has the Ruger rings, but a lackluster 2-7x32 Vortex scope in them. I’m definitely getting a new scope for it.


HawkView attachment 429119
View attachment 429120

I think it looks just fine! For a pretty, skinny young lady as evidenced by the black pad. Congratulations!

I'd love to have a .30-06 in a tropical model with a 28" C weight barrel. That would be smooth and something one could shoot maybe ten times quickly before the barrel got too hot. Great for groundhog hunting. I'd have to have open sights. These just look better with them and it would be the perfect safari practice rifle.

 

[Rell]

Ruger #1 in 35 Whelen, took a couple of boo on this trip in Quebec just before the heards cratered. Was a custom gun that Carolina Precision Arma put together and the best it ever did was 2.5 inch groups. Second worse shop I have ever used. Being rebarreled to 6.5CM with a 26 inch tube by a good smith now.

 

[Petey J]

I found a No. 1 the other day that almost made me cry. Chambered in 404 Jeffery, and for sale on Gunbroker. Unfortunately, I am not in a position to afford. And even if I could, I can't justify the expense at this time as any DG hunt would be several years down the road.

The stock on it is beautiful.

There's also a 450/400 3" on there.

Ruger No.1 No 1 1-H Tropical RARE 404 Jeffery Not 45/70 458 - Single Shot Rifles at GunBroker.com : 912628399

Buy Ruger No.1 No 1 1-H Tropical RARE 404 Jeffery Not 45/70 458 : GunBroker is the largest seller of Single Shot Rifles Rifles Guns & Firearms All: 912628399

www.gunbroker.com

I have no vested interest in these guns, other than I wish I could buy them.

 

[Forrest Halley]

I found a No. 1 the other day that almost made me cry. Chambered in 404 Jeffery, and for sale on Gunbroker. Unfortunately, I am not in a position to afford. And even if I could, I can't justify the expense at this time as any DG hunt would be several years down the road.

The stock on it is beautiful.

There's also a 450/400 3" on there.

Ruger No.1 No 1 1-H Tropical RARE 404 Jeffery Not 45/70 458 - Single Shot Rifles at GunBroker.com : 912628399

Buy Ruger No.1 No 1 1-H Tropical RARE 404 Jeffery Not 45/70 458 : GunBroker is the largest seller of Single Shot Rifles Rifles Guns & Firearms All: 912628399

www.gunbroker.com

I have no vested interest in these guns, other than I wish I could buy them.

Don't worry, you don't really want it. They screwed up cutting the chambers, left them short and it really isn't something to write home about.

 

[Doug3006]

Looking for guidance from those that have owned a Ruger #1 for awhile….and reloaded for them. I have one in 303 British. I measured the distance between the cartridge base and rifling using a Hornady OAL gauge. Using Barnes 150 grain TSX bullets. The distance between the base and where the bullet ogive meets the lands is approximately the same as the distance between Dover, UK and Normandy! Its impossible to seat the bullet within 0.010 of the lands. Given that TSXs are longer than lead bullets of the same weight means the problem is worse with lead bullets. Is this the norm with #1s?

 

[WAB]

Looking for guidance from those that have owned a Ruger #1 for awhile….and reloaded for them. I have one in 303 British. I measured the distance between the cartridge base and rifling using a Hornady OAL gauge. Using Barnes 150 grain TSX bullets. The distance between the base and where the bullet ogive meets the lands is approximately the same as the distance between Dover, UK and Normandy! Its impossible to seat the bullet within 0.010 of the lands. Given that TSXs are longer than lead bullets of the same weight means the problem is worse with lead bullets. Is this the norm with #1s?

I have owned and loaded for three No 1’s (.22 hornet, .275 Rigby and 9.3x62). While they have all had longish throats, allowing me to seat the bullets out, nothing like what you are describing.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Looking for guidance from those that have owned a Ruger #1 for awhile….and reloaded for them. I have one in 303 British. I measured the distance between the cartridge base and rifling using a Hornady OAL gauge. Using Barnes 150 grain TSX bullets. The distance between the base and where the bullet ogive meets the lands is approximately the same as the distance between Dover, UK and Normandy! Its impossible to seat the bullet within 0.010 of the lands. Given that TSXs are longer than lead bullets of the same weight means the problem is worse with lead bullets. Is this the norm with #1s?

@Doug3006
The old military 303 was the same but I've never had an issue with bullet jump in the 303 even with the little 125 grainers.
Just seat it at one caliber into the case and have fun.
Remember the No1 is a lot stronger than the SMLEs so you should be able to get 2,900 fps with it.
Bob

 

[dougfinn]

Looking for guidance from those that have owned a Ruger #1 for awhile….and reloaded for them. I have one in 303 British. I measured the distance between the cartridge base and rifling using a Hornady OAL gauge. Using Barnes 150 grain TSX bullets. The distance between the base and where the bullet ogive meets the lands is approximately the same as the distance between Dover, UK and Normandy! Its impossible to seat the bullet within 0.010 of the lands. Given that TSXs are longer than lead bullets of the same weight means the problem is worse with lead bullets. Is this the norm with #1s?

I had a tropical in .458 win mag that had a .600” throat. Couldn’t get it to shoot light bullets accurately till I loaded it to the max. I was hoping to make it a brush gun but had to give up on that idea.

 

[WAB]

@Doug3006
The old military 303 was the same but I've never had an issue with bullet jump in the 303 even with the little 125 grainers.
Just seat it at one caliber into the case and have fun.
Remember the No1 is a lot stronger than the SMLEs so you should be able to get 2,900 fps with it.
Bob

If you have to load that far off the lands you may want to go with a conventional bullet. That is not the ideal situation for a Barnes bullet.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

If you have to load that far off the lands you may want to go with a conventional bullet. That is not the ideal situation for a Barnes bullet.

@WAB
I loaded the 150gn tsx one caliber deep in my old SMLE. There was enough jump between the projectile and the lands to worry a hurdle racer but it still shot one and a half moa with that bullet.
Bob

 

[WAB]

@WAB
I loaded the 150gn tsx one caliber deep in my old SMLE. There was enough jump between the projectile and the lands to worry a hurdle racer but it still shot one and a half moa with that bullet.
Bob

Great to know. I am more of a conventional bullet guy, Speer hot-cor, Swift A-Frame, etc. After all the stories I’ve heard on No 1’s I must be very fortunate. All three I have owned have approached 1/2 moa. I’ve still got two of the three and am unlikely to part with them.

For those who enjoy good triggers, the jard trigger is a huge improvement over the Ruger trigger. Ya gotta wonder why Ruger doesn’t adopt it, as it is a much simpler design and would be less expensive.

 

[Forrest Halley]

Today was a very interesting day. Spike from 40 yards with a .458 Lott on the run. Express sights. 400 grain Speer SPRN absolutely destroyed his lungs. He continued on for about 20 feet and collapsed. It swings just like a shotgun and yes I felt the gun recoil during the shot and it was a lot lighter than in practice. I remember thinking I still felt that and marveling at how the deer folded up and skidded to a stop. I can't wait to do it again.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

After our recent hunt my former Ruger No1 375 H&H has now shot one eland, two buffalo, two zebra, one warthog one sable and I think five impala. Chalking them up. The new owner, my good buddy, couldn't be happier.

 

[VertigoBE]

After our recent hunt my former Ruger No1 375 H&H has now shot one eland, two buffalo, two zebra, one warthog one sable and I think five impala. Chalking them up. The new owner, my good buddy, couldn't be happier.
View attachment 438205

Love it, your ruger n1 is in a good home!

 

[Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy]

Today was a very interesting day. Spike from 40 yards with a .458 Lott on the run. Express sights. 400 grain Speer SPRN absolutely destroyed his lungs. He continued on for about 20 feet and collapsed. It swings just like a shotgun and yes I felt the gun recoil during the shot and it was a lot lighter than in practice. I remember thinking I still felt that and marveling at how the deer folded up and skidded to a stop. I can't wait to do it again.View attachment 438193

Nice work! No such thing as too much gun, right?

 

[Forrest Halley]

Nice work! No such thing as too much gun, right?

In this case I'm thinking maybe, possibly even, but it was a fun reintroduction to deer hunting.

 

[Monsai52]

I'm another big fan of the No1. I just picked up a nice Tropical in 375 H&H, and have had a 1V in .223 for a few years. My first No1 was a 458 Tropical that I bought back in the late '70s, and stupidly sold or traded off for something I can't remember now.

Unfortunately the open sights on the 375 are a little fuzzy for me now, so I'll be ordering a ghost sight from NECG this week.

Best regards,

 

[VertigoBE]

New member of the Ruger No1 reporting in!

Just came back from the store, with in hand a used 270 Win Ruger No1 (€600 / $660). It is apart from some dents in the wood from the safe, brand new. It is also very short, overall handling very fine. For the first time handling a Ruger No1 I was very impressed! The serial number puts it around 1997 production)

I had a used 300WM Ruger No1 (€520 / $572) on the counter for a long time too, it had even nicer wood, and a red recoil pad, but in the end I decided against it (as I already have a rifle chambered in .300WM). Hopefully I will not regret leaving that one behind... (I'm a bit starting to regret it though, let's give it a few days.)

There were also some used Ruger No1's in 22-250, 243 and 280, all immaculate, all for around 500-600EUR (=550-660USD). The 22-250 I do not really know as a caliber, and it did not have irons and quarter rib. The 243 is one caliber I really do not like (even before being exposed to @Bob Nelson 35Whelen .. ). The 280REM also was with a bull barrel, no iron sights, but with quarter rib and is not a very common caliber over here.

So now I'll be off going through the AH threads in search of how to make this little Ruger No1 truly a custom rifle. I'd like to scope it too, but don't know yet what route I want to go there... a Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9x40 perhaps? Don't want to put too expensive glass on this rifle.

Now I need to create some hunting opportunities with all these recent investments!

Cheers!

V.

 

[F. Vaccaro]

Congratulations, that’s a pretty rifle. The stock is above average of what we see here. I don’t know what scopes are available to you, but you won’t go wrong with a Leupold.

 

[Monsai52]

That's a nice looking No.1. Congratulations!

Best regards,