257Deland,
I like the looks of that rifle with the front sight removed. Did you just remove the sight, or did you shorten the barrel to remove the sight?
I like the idea of having sights as backup in the event of scope failure, but they can be a PITA. They catch in the lining of a soft case, and they stick up into the FOV of the scope. Actually, scope failures are rare, and it would take time to remove a scope in the field and require a screwdriver. So maybe I'll have the sight removed from my #1A 7x57. Only problem is it would decrease the value should I decide to resell.
Another thing I dislike about the #1 is the screwey quarter rib. The thing weighs a ton and makes the scope sit higher than necessary (I like them low). But you can't just take of the quarter rib because it leaves unsightly threaded holes in the barrel exposed, not to mention those ugly pins that hold the rib in place.
I have this idea to replace the quarter rib with a mount of my own design. The mount would use the existing threaded holes and pins in the barrel, but it would be very low profile in the front thus allowing a scope to be mounted lower without the object bell hitting the rib. I would contour it the same as the barrel so it lays flush with the barrel. It would stay low profile from front to back except it would be raised in two spots where the Talley vertical split scope rings attach. Both rings would be positioned about 3/4" to the rear of where the existing Ruger rings attach to the quarter rib. The rear ring would sit directly above the receiver ring. This would allow the scope to be mounted about 3/4" farther back than it is now in the standard rings. This new base would be machined from aluminum to conserve weight, anodized gloss black of course to match the blued barrel and receiver.
Another thing I want to modify is the safety slide. I dislike the stock unit that blocks cartridges from ejecting clear of the rifle, and looks crappy the way it gaps up from the receiver and moves around freely. I really like the safety mod that is dome by Hamilton Bowen, but I'm not sure i would go quite that far. Maybe just shortening the front extension to allow cartridges to eject free of the rifle would be sufficient.
Sorry to ramble.
