Finally got Ruger #1 416 Rem Mag

[AZDAVE]

Congratz on the new rifle, #1's a a fine rifle and the older ones have much better wood than the recent production. I have had good luck with the Kickeez brand of pads. On #1's make sure the rifle fits you well in the LOP department. I have a looong LOP and before I learned about proper fitting of a rifle/shotgun I hit myself in the nose with my right thumb on a heavy loaded 45/70 #1. Be careful on keeping the correct balance of the rifle where the balance point stays between the hands. I tried on several #1's to put a reducer in the butt and weight the forend with lead powder/epoxy. But always found that to mess up accuracy and just learned to deal with the recoil... Soot off the bench only to develop a good load then do all your shooting from sticks. It will be a great hunting rifle.

 

[Cleveland48]

Congratz on the new rifle, #1's a a fine rifle and the older ones have much better wood than the recent production. I have had good luck with the Kickeez brand of pads. On #1's make sure the rifle fits you well in the LOP department. I have a looong LOP and before I learned about proper fitting of a rifle/shotgun I hit myself in the nose with my right thumb on a heavy loaded 45/70 #1. Be careful on keeping the correct balance of the rifle where the balance point stays between the hands. I tried on several #1's to put a reducer in the butt and weight the forend with lead powder/epoxy. But always found that to mess up accuracy and just learned to deal with the recoil... Soot off the bench only to develop a good load then do all your shooting from sticks. It will be a great hunting rifle.

Thanks! Glad you mentioned the LOP cause when I picked it up it seemed a bit short. Being this is the first #1 I've ever handled i didnt know if this was common or not. Also noticed my thumb was pretty close to my nose too, ill have to keep an eye on that.

 

[JPmbogo]

Always loved the looks of the #1 rifles. Picked this 416 Rem Mag the other day. Have 300 gr TSX and 350 TTSX to try out this weekend. Will keep my 350 speer mag tips for my 416 taylor improved. Recoil pad is hard as a rock haha, but maybe load development will go quickly. Any tips for the #1's will be greatly appreciated, this is my first one so I'm new to them. View attachment 373728

I would suggest installing a CH mercury recoil reducer in the butt stock. Order the largest model. It comes in at 16 oz. The diameter is 7/8" which is the same diameter as the access hole in the butt stock for the attachment bolt. You will have to remove the decal from the recoil unit to get a proper fit. I would also suggest a Limbsaver recoil pad. You can order one that has the same butt plate dimensions as the existing Ruger, which is worthless. I did all of this work on my #1 in 450 Nitro Express. Ruger produces some unique chamberings in their rifles, but the guns are typically way too light in the larger calibers.

 

[Cleveland48]

I would suggest installing a CH mercury recoil reducer in the butt stock. Order the largest model. It comes in at 16 oz. The diameter is 7/8" which is the same diameter as the access hole in the butt stock for the attachment bolt. You will have to remove the decal from the recoil unit to get a proper fit. I would also suggest a Limbsaver recoil pad. You can order one that has the same butt plate dimensions as the existing Ruger, which is worthless. I did all of this work on my #1 in 450 Nitro Express. Ruger produces some unique chamberings in their rifles, but the guns are typically way too light in the larger calibers.

Thanks for the info. It does seem pretty light.

 

[WAB]

Congratz on the new rifle, #1's a a fine rifle and the older ones have much better wood than the recent production. I have had good luck with the Kickeez brand of pads. On #1's make sure the rifle fits you well in the LOP department. I have a looong LOP and before I learned about proper fitting of a rifle/shotgun I hit myself in the nose with my right thumb on a heavy loaded 45/70 #1. Be careful on keeping the correct balance of the rifle where the balance point stays between the hands. I tried on several #1's to put a reducer in the butt and weight the forend with lead powder/epoxy. But always found that to mess up accuracy and just learned to deal with the recoil... Soot off the bench only to develop a good load then do all your shooting from sticks. It will be a great hunting rifle.

Spot on, a mercury cylinder may throw the balance way off. Proceed with caution!

 

[BeeMaa]

Congratz on the new rifle, #1's a a fine rifle and the older ones have much better wood than the recent production. I have had good luck with the Kickeez brand of pads. On #1's make sure the rifle fits you well in the LOP department. I have a looong LOP and before I learned about proper fitting of a rifle/shotgun I hit myself in the nose with my right thumb on a heavy loaded 45/70 #1. Be careful on keeping the correct balance of the rifle where the balance point stays between the hands. I tried on several #1's to put a reducer in the butt and weight the forend with lead powder/epoxy. But always found that to mess up accuracy and just learned to deal with the recoil... Soot off the bench only to develop a good load then do all your shooting from sticks. It will be a great hunting rifle.

I'm interested to understand how adding a recoil reducer will change accuracy.
Is this specific to Ruger #1's?
Is it the harmonics of the rifle?
Direction and velocity of the recoil?
Different results with where the weight is added?

I've had several rifles with recoil reducers and never noticed this.
Although none of them were a Ruger #1.

 

[AZDAVE]

@BeeMaa the recoil reducer won't affect the accuracy. I really dislike a rifle or shotgun that isn't balance. With just a reducer the ones I have done are very butt heavy. So to compensate for that I have removed the forend and drilled some small holes in the wood and filled with epoxy and tungsten powder to restore proper balance. It is the weighting of the forend that has messed up the accuracy in the rifles I tried it on. the way the forend attaches and the extra weight effect the harmonics is my guess. I never really did a detailed research other than the groups opened up so I restocked the rifle and dealt with the recoil. The 500 NE I had built was sporty to shoot But the 458 down was fairly easy to manage off sticks. But I also state that I have been shooting big bore since I was 14 so I am not a good person to judge recoil tolerance from.

 

[WAB]

@BeeMaa the recoil reducer won't affect the accuracy. I really dislike a rifle or shotgun that isn't balance. With just a reducer the ones I have done are very butt heavy. So to compensate for that I have removed the forend and drilled some small holes in the wood and filled with epoxy and tungsten powder to restore proper balance. It is the weighting of the forend that has messed up the accuracy in the rifles I tried it on. the way the forend attaches and the extra weight effect the harmonics is my guess. I never really did a detailed research other than the groups opened up so I restocked the rifle and dealt with the recoil. The 500 NE I had built was sporty to shoot But the 458 down was fairly easy to manage off sticks. But I also state that I have been shooting big bore since I was 14 so I am not a good person to judge recoil tolerance from.

The balance on the 22” barreled No 1’s is really bad when you put a mercury cylinder in the stock. Perhaps with a longer (heavier) barrel you could get away with it?

 

[Forrest Halley]

Change one thing at a time.

 

[JPmbogo]

Spot on, a mercury cylinder may throw the balance way off. Proceed with caution!

Actually, on my N0. 1 450, the extra weight in the butt stock improved the balance. Besides Ruger No. 1s are not exactly a fine Purdey 20g game gun!

 

[WAB]

Actually, on my N0. 1 450, the extra weight in the butt stock improved the balance. Besides Ruger No. 1s are not exactly a fine Purdey 20g game gun!

I’m sure it’s based on your barrel weight. I put one in a 22” barreled No 1 in 9.3x62 for my wife. It completely ruined the balance so I took it out. Ultimately I bought her a highland stalker so the No 1 is officially a safe queen! Shame as it’s an absolute tack driver!

 

[BeeMaa]

@BeeMaa the recoil reducer won't affect the accuracy. I really dislike a rifle or shotgun that isn't balance. With just a reducer the ones I have done are very butt heavy. So to compensate for that I have removed the forend and drilled some small holes in the wood and filled with epoxy and tungsten powder to restore proper balance. It is the weighting of the forend that has messed up the accuracy in the rifles I tried it on. the way the forend attaches and the extra weight effect the harmonics is my guess. I never really did a detailed research other than the groups opened up so I restocked the rifle and dealt with the recoil. The 500 NE I had built was sporty to shoot But the 458 down was fairly easy to manage off sticks. But I also state that I have been shooting big bore since I was 14 so I am not a good person to judge recoil tolerance from.

I too am a big fan of properly balanced rifles & shotguns.
My CZ550 was balanced at the magazine with a 16oz Kick-Eez in the butt.
Both our R8's also have recoil reducers and balance at the magazine.
What do they all have in common?
That's right...a heavy contour barrel.
This makes them barrel heavy from the factory.

I have not added anything to the forend of a rifle.
Appreciate your insight.

And I'm a wuss when it comes to recoil.
I'll deal with the weight of rifle over the punishment.

Good luck with the Ruger #1 416RM.
I'd say it will be "sporty" to shoot as well.

 

[Cleveland48]

No groups today, I just got it on target and did a work up to look for pressure signs. I'll post that after taking my daughter trick or treating. I did have a box of factory hornady 400 DGX. And honestly I thought they weren't bad at all, I couldn't tell the difference between them and 400 grain in my 416 taylor improved. I will say when I started approaching 2900 fps with the 300 TSX recoil did get a bit sporty though.

 

[TOBY458]

I had one in 458 Win Mag. It was the first truly big bore rifle I had ever owned other than a 45/70. I was shooting Hornady "Heavy Magnum" factory loads which were supposed to produce 2260 fps. (Not sure if they actually did or not). However the rifle was not that bad to shoot at all. So, your 416 should be just fine as is.

 

[Cleveland48]

I had one in 458 Win Mag. It was the first truly big bore rifle I had ever owned other than a 45/70. I was shooting Hornady "Heavy Magnum" factory loads which were supposed to produce 2260 fps. (Not sure if they actually did or not). However the rifle was not that bad to shoot at all. So, your 416 should be just fine as is.

Yeah pretty sure I'm not gonna mess with it. I guess I had myself psyched out that it was gonna be worse than my other one. Gotta few powder charges I'm gonna load up tonight, and try to post some groups tm. I loaded 10 rounds in 1/2 grain increments today to look for pressure signs. I think I stopped about 1.5 grains from max from what barnes emailed me for the 300 tsx. I made it to 2874 fps, but prolly gonna try some loads in the 2750 fps range tm. That will be plenty flat enough for all my deer hunting lol.

 

[Cleveland48]

This is all I did today. Gonna pick out a few charges to try. I know the first three charges grouped under an inch. With my magneto speed attached though the higher charges all went over the target. Should of known that and set my target lower, my magnetospeed attached makes all my rifles shoot 8" or so high.

 

[bruce moulds]

shots 567 look like a good velocity node, with 6 being the pick.
this does not meant it is the best grouping, or the worst.
it would be interesting to see how that load shoots with no chrono attached to the barrel.
bruce.

 

[Cleveland48]

shots 567 look like a good velocity node, with 6 being the pick.
this does not meant it is the best grouping, or the worst.
it would be interesting to see how that load shoots with no chrono attached to the barrel.
bruce.

I made some more up of those I believe to try tm. Atleast two of those for sure, and one lower charge. Can't remember off hand, since its all packed in the truck now lol. Tomorrow I will do some groupings, and hopefully have some good results to post back.

 

[Cleveland48]

Today went pretty well, every load was plenty accurate enough for this rifles purpose. Which my whitetail ranges are powder burn range to about 125 yards haha. Problem i ran into with these 300 grain loads, was my leupold scope ran out of adjustment. With the scope maxed out my loads are about 3" to 3 1/4" high at 100 yards. Which is still usable, but a bit higher than I prefer. So I'm gonna have to figure something out with this. I did not have this issue with the 400 gr factory loads, but the 300 gr handloads in the 2850 fps range were over a foot and a half higher than the factory 400's. Are the rings on the ruger #1 supposed to be the same height or is it like the m77 where the back ring is taller than the front? Cause my rear ring is taller than the front, and I'm not sure which is correct for the #1. Anyways here are the groups from today.

 

[Cleveland48]

Well I just took rings off, and they are the same height. Guess my eyes are playing tricks on me. Guess I just ran out of scope adjustment