For Sale Ruger No. 1 458 Winchester Mag Liberty Year

[JeffD]

It is said one should buy the gun, not the story. So here’s the details on this example. This is a Liberty Year No. 1 (1976) chambered in 458 Winchester Magnum. As is evident in the pictures, it has beautiful wood. The bluing and bore are in excellent condition. There are a few light marks on the wood, perhaps most evident of which is on the right side of the forend midway front to back at the top of the checkering. It’s pretty minor. I doubt the rifle has ever been hunted and it hasn’t been shot much. I have taken the gun to the range several times and it groups well with reduced loads as well as factory ammunition. It has not been modified with the exception of a recoil pad, which was added without cutting anything off the wood.

You will probably notice that the receiver is case colored, which isn’t the norm on these, and that brings me to the story I was told when I purchased the rifle some years ago. In 1976 Bill Ruger hosted five well known gun writers to an event during which he gave each of them a Ruger No. 1. As collectors of the No. 1 know, it was Bill’s pet project and he insisted that the rifle be produced even though many did not think there was a market for a single shot stalking rifle at the time. I was told this rifle was one of the five, and the case color does indeed look similar to what Ruger has produced on their firearms with that finish. I have no documentation of the provenance, so it’s unverified. I know that four of the gun writers were Jack O’Conner, Elmer Kieth, Col. Charles Askins, and Warren Page. I don’t know who the fifth was. It’s well known that this event took place, but as far as I am aware, there was no record of which rifles were given to the writers. If this was one of the five rifles, I don’t know which of the writers might have received this example. But it’s intriguing to think about.

$1,950 Shipped in the Continental US. Shipping will be from my FFL to your FFL. I’m not looking for any trades. Feel free to ask any questions (PM is good).

 

[Gerald Boyd]

Fine looking #1, good story also! Good luck!!!

 

[Jager Waffen74]

Gorgeous gun! GLWS.

 

[Dakota300]

It is said one should buy the gun, not the story. So here’s the details on this example. This is a Liberty Year No. 1 (1976) chambered in 458 Winchester Magnum. As is evident in the pictures, it has beautiful wood. The bluing and bore are in excellent condition. There are a few light marks on the wood, perhaps most evident of which is on the right side of the forend midway front to back at the top of the checkering. It’s pretty minor. I doubt the rifle has ever been hunted and it hasn’t been shot much. I have taken the gun to the range several times and it groups well with reduced loads as well as factory ammunition. It has not been modified with the exception of a recoil pad, which was added without cutting anything off the wood.

You will probably notice that the receiver is case colored, which isn’t the norm on these, and that brings me to the story I was told when I purchased the rifle some years ago. In 1976 Bill Ruger hosted five well known gun writers to an event during which he gave each of them a Ruger No. 1. As collectors of the No. 1 know, it was Bill’s pet project and he insisted that the rifle be produced even though many did not think there was a market for a single shot stalking rifle at the time. I was told this rifle was one of the five, and the case color does indeed look similar to what Ruger has produced on their firearms with that finish. I have no documentation of the provenance, so it’s unverified. I know that four of the gun writers were Jack O’Conner, Elmer Kieth, Col. Charles Askins, and Warren Page. I don’t know who the fifth was. It’s well known that this event took place, but as far as I am aware, there was no record of which rifles were given to the writers. If this was one of the five rifles, I don’t know which of the writers might have received this example. But it’s intriguing to think about.

$1,950 Shipped in the Continental US. Shipping will be from my FFL to your FFL. I’m not looking for any trades. Feel free to ask any questions (PM is good).

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Gorgeous #1 from back in the day, notice the checkering pattern on the butt, very graceful, the quality of the early is evident. I owned a 1970 #1 in 6mm Rem that that was exceptional.
Someone will fortunate to own this one.

 

[JeffD]

Dakota 300,

I agree about the workmanship on the earlier guns. I’ve owned quite a few of these from various eras. The checkering on some of the early ones don’t quite tuck in the checkering into the crease between the rear of the grip and the buttock. This one’s good. I’ve got a first year #1 in 6 mm Rem 1b that is exceptional. Handling them, the differences are very evident too.

 

[Dakota300]

Dakota 300,

I agree about the workmanship on the earlier guns. I’ve owned quite a few of these from various eras. The checkering on some of the early ones don’t quite tuck in the checkering into the crease between the rear of the grip and the buttock. This one’s good. I’ve got a first year #1 in 6 mm Rem 1b that is exceptional. Handling them, the differences are very evident too.

JeffD,

If memory serves, 2 gunmaker greats worked for Ruger back then, Len Brownell and Dietrich Apel?
After a while the bean counters pushed them out of there.

 

[JeffD]

A friend of mine knew Dietrich very well because of his association with the German gun collectors Association. My friend was the semi official “bug Mark“ expert for them, among other things. He also maintained their website. Dietrich was quite a character apparently. I think Dietrich’s main achievement with Ruger was designing the way the floating rib attached to Bill Ruger‘s over and under gun. I had not heard that he had any involvement with the development of the number one, although that may be true. Len Brownel was much more involved with the number one development specifically. He did the stock design for those and the Ruger 77. I remember his story that Brownell tried his best to blow up a number one and couldn’t do it. They’re very stout to say the least.

 

[Dakota300]

A friend of mine knew Dietrich very well because of his association with the German gun collectors Association. My friend was the semi official “bug Mark“ expert for them, among other things. He also maintained their website. Dietrich was quite a character apparently. I think Dietrich’s main achievement with Ruger was designing the way the floating rib attached to Bill Ruger‘s over and under gun. I had not heard that he had any involvement with the development of the number one, although that may be true. Len Brownel was much more involved with the number one development specifically. He did the stock design for those and the Ruger 77. I remember his story that Brownell tried his best to blow up a number one and couldn’t do it. They’re very stout to say the least.

A dear friend of mine knew Dietrich, he too mentioned that Dietich was a character.
It's a pleasure communicating with someone is who knowledgeable about the greats of that era.

Regards,
Gerry