Indulge me...Ruger no 1 thoughts

[Red Leg]

@Red Leg That 270 is nicely done however the 300H&H is stunning.

I didn't know you had a Bradshaw. I concur on the caliber and the just plain definition of what a stalking rifle should be.

They are very special things.

 

[rookhawk]

A No. 1 may be a lot of things, but a toy it is not.

I love single shots, and consider them to be in many ways the ideal "stalking rifle" for deer of any species - but particularly whitetail, red stag, and roe deer. I have never had a desire for a big bore version for dangerous game for all the reasons that @Scott CWO mentioned. And as others have noted, the recoil from a No. 1 in such a loading can be rather brisk.

As @rookhawk notes, more than any other production rifle of which I am aware, the basic No. 1 represents a canvas to create really unique firearms. I have posted these photos elsewhere, but these two No. 1's were purchased almost forty years apart.

The first started life as a .270 No. 1 B purchased through the Rod & Gun in Wertheim, Germany in 1975. I used it over the next five years to take a large count of roe deer, several red stag, and probably a dozen wild boar while stationed there. The engraving was done in Ferlach, and was a gift upon my departure to the States. A couple of years ago I had RJ Renner rework the forend and add sights and barrel band to give it a Germanic stalking rifle look that now far better matches the engraving.
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The second is in .300 H&H that I found at Hendershots some years ago with an unfinished stock. A great stock man in Virginia finished it, and I then had color case and rust blue metal work done by Turnbull. I think the result is very turn of the last century English stalking rifle, and I think it would fit in very well with any Gibbs with which it shared a gunrack. I have hunted it quite a bit as well.
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I would be remiss in not giving credit to what I believe is the finest single shot made today. My current favorite whitetail rifle is a 7x65R by Baily Bradshaw. It is long, elegant, and supremely accurate.
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So yes. Do find a great single shot. I would simple suggest it be in a chambering that will get a lot of use.

You missed one in your glorious battery, @Red Leg ! Would you mind showing off your 1980s Heym built Ruger #1?

 

[Red Leg]

It is a lovely and very accurate rifle - even with a forty years young bit of Zeiss glass. The Ruger action is mated to a Heym octagon barrel, claw mounts and spectacular European walnut. Have often toyed with having it engraved or case colored, but the overall black look always wins out.

 

[Saul]

I feel this is an area of firearms in which I am sorely lacking. I must rectify that at some point.

 

[allranch2025]

My first encounter with a no1 was on the ranch guiding a deer hunter his rifle was a no 1 chambered in 30 06 he carried his rifle with one in the chamber and a spare cartridge between his fingers