"I have not been victimized by a swelling or shifting forend to date on any of the many #1's I have owned and do own."
Well, I have 20 various versions of the Ruger #1 and not a single one of them has the internal non-finish portion of the stock sealed againse moisture. I now consider them fair weather rifles.
What made me look into the problem is I took my #1B in .300 Win. Mag. on an elk hunt in Oregon. This was way back when I was back in the early 1980's. While nearing the top of the mountain I got caught in one hell of a rain storm. The wind was such the it literally ripped my rain coat off. Down in the valley at the John Day airport they recorded wind gusts tp 120 MPH.
Probably because I was sheltered by trees I didn't get buffeted worse that I did. Even worse, none of us saw one legal elk on that trip.
On the way home we stopped at a ranch near the Oregon boerder on the Nevada side to hunt a few pheasants. WE'd just got out of the truck when we spotted a coyote running off with a pheasant. I three shots off and none of us saw where the bullets hit and Mr. Yote had a nice meal.
After I got home, I took that .300 Mag. to the range and it was shooting at least two feet over the target backer. That's when I removed the forearm and saw the wood was not sealed. Without making thei sad story any sadder, all I will add is it took almost four years for that stock and forearm to dry out enough that the rifle would shoot to point of aim. I did remove the wood, front and back and stored it in my reloading shed/workshop. Every once in a while I'd put it on the barreled action, run to the range and try three shots. Every time after that when I acquired another #1, off would come the wood and once more, the stock and forearm were not sealed.
So, if you have not had any problems of the type you mention, good luck. Me? If it looks like rain, mine will stay home.
Paul B.
