Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Why a Ruger #1?

Please don't think I'm trying to cause a fuss. This is a question asked in ignorance.

I've only seen one Ruger #1 carried into the deer woods. It was also the only time I saw a deer hunter wear a strap-on recoil pad. I forget the chambering.

Very few Ruger #1's ever show up around Cincinnati. I've seen a couple at the range over the years. I have a buddy who has one that's been in the closet for 40 years. However, he's a retired gun editor and an old friend of Bill Ruger, so I can't say he even counts. I'm sure whatever it is, it has a low serial # and has a whopping good story attached to it.

From what I can gather, Ruger #1's are something you either get or you don't. I don't know if it's a recessive gene or early training or what. From what I gather, they're not known for excessive accuracy. They cost about twice what a normal bolt gun costs and they don't have any magazine. However, those who own them seem to love them.

I'm asking this from a fellow who's in his 60th year and still hasn't gotten the joke. What's up with the Ruger #1? Why do they cost so much? Why do I want one?

I have been shooting my Ruger No.1S in 45-70 since 1993. Yes the cost was about twice as much as a good bolt gun. Why did I buy it? It just appeals to me. I can't really say why. I always admired this rifle and also have a strong interest in the 45-70 Gov. So to me that rifle and caliber are just about perfect. I'm not saying it is the best choice for every body but for me it has always been a very enjoyable set up. Some guns(and calibers) just appeal to certain shooters. Why do some shooters still shoot lever guns with iron sights? Why do people still shoot single action Colt revolvers? Why not just get a Glock 17? As for hunting, I hunt with my No.1 every other year rotating back and forth between that rifle and my 30-06. As far as cost goes I do not know. You would have to talk to the manufacturers. We all have that certain type of firearm that seems to call out to us. That's part of the fun.

It takes a certain degree of confidence for folks to go out with a single shot. Mine have done well on deer, elk, and pronghorn. One factor I like is their simplicity.

Own and use several bolt actions as well. Typically, I just put a round in the chamber and get with it.

Now I have to explain my desire for No. 1 in 22LR to Cookie. She wants another camera though that will cost about twice what the rifle will run.

Why a Ruger No. 1? Hell if I know - guess I just really like single shots... but then again - why not a Ruger No. 1? I've never felt handicapped in the field, nor have I ever felt like a poser.

This 375 H&H IS known for excessive accuracy



No cherry picking - all at 100 yds with 4x magnification and will do it "all day long" (or until my shoulder gives out )






When I really feel like a "poser", I prefer a Ballard with blackpowder...

If you have to ask all those questions, stick to bolt guns. Obviously, only fools and posers buy No. 1's.

I don't think it's all that obvious. There are a lot of folks on here I respect, and quite a few own #1's. I also wouldn't say that owning a #1 is foolish in and of itself. I'm just trying to understand.

As to the poser comment, I just couldn't see bringing out a rifle that required a recoil pad for a whitetail deer. It was obvious to me this fellow was just trying to show off. Deer are not all that hard to kill.

I own one #1 in 9.3X74R and it's every bit as accurate as the 375 shown above. In fact my best groups are about 1/2 of what his 375 is doing. It has become one of my favorite hunting rifles and I have killed a bunch of game with it.
I had a 270 years ago that was also a super good shooter. 5/8 to 3/4 was what I could expect.

I had two #1s in 243, one shot about 1-1/4"consistently but the other shot about 4". Sometimes it would shoot 2.5" but you could not bank on it. I was going to re-barrel it but a friend wanted it for a project gun so I sold it to him cheap. Both of my 243s were made in the 70s

So #1s can be hot or cold as far as how they shoot. I do not hear the complaints of inaccuracy today that I used to hear 25-35 years ago. The older ones had Wilson barrels in them, and the quality was all over the place. Some very good and some very bad. Later they used Green Mountain blanks with FAR better results, and I am told now they use barrels of their own making, also quite good.

I worked on a 22-250 for a friend in a neighboring town and he thought it was a lemon, but we found it was just finicky as to what loads it likes. I tried a few different powders and charge weights and it came right in. So that one seemed inaccurate at first, but it really was not. With the right load it shoots about 3/4"

Call me a fool and a poser I reckon............

I was sitting at the base of very large tree, monitoring a trail, camoed head to toe, probably snoring, something woke me up, opened my eyes and he was staring at me, leaned forward, elbows to knees, crosshairs under his nose.............. bang flop!

Yep, they don't shoot worth chitt either.....................

.275 Rigby Improved......... no extra recoil pad though.

There! I went and edited the original post as a sign of my complete and utter repentance. I guess you had to have been there. I didn't think that fellow was a poser because he carried a #1. He WAS a poser, and he just happened to have a #1. I forget also what it was chambered in. It was probably not all THAT big a shoulder buster. The point was he felt he needed a recoil pad. However, now the reference is deleted. I apologize to anyone who thought I meant that Ruger #1 owners were posers. It was not my intention.

Well, I don't see many in the woods either, but I tote one almost every year and make meat with it pretty much every year, I think that keeps me out of the poser class, but I might be a bit of an elitist.

The rifles carry well and come to the shoulder easily, at least for me. Also in spite of what you may hear most are plenty accurate for most hunting, especially the ones made in the last 20 years or so. Some are exceptional, hopefully DF will post his .277 O'Connor targets.

I don't know about the guy with a recoil pad, maybe he was shooting a 300 magnum or bigger? I've only used 7x57, .243, .257 Bob, .223 and .22 Hornet, no recoil problems there.



And besides, there is a lot of cool factor:

I want one. I'm thinking 7mm-08. I'd like to hear what El_Numero_Uno thinks about this thread.

I have had four No. 1s and I still wish that I hadn't traded them all away. I have killed elk with No.1As in .338-06 and 9.3x74R, and whitetails and mule deer with RSIs in .243 and 7x57.

They are elegant rifles, easy to carry and everyone that I have had was acceptably accurate. Unfortunately, they came and went during a period of 18 or 19 years when I was trying a little bit of everything and not holding onto any rifles for very long.

However, I know where there is a very nice black pad 7x57 RSI that will be mine when the present owner gets tired of it.

There's a new 7-08 in the safe, if the wind cooperates I'll range test it in a couple of days. I expect greatness.

Good luck with your 7-08. As far as the expectation of greatness- many #1 owners have had the same expectations, only to have them dashed to earth by the reality of #1's. Some shoot out of the box, some don't , and some will require days, months, or years of fiddling and fussing with stocks, handloads, bullets, powders, etc. to get theirs to show acceptable accuracy. I happen to have one of the latter......

I didn't say out-of-the-box greatness

For me I have hunted with a Ruger no.1 now for over 20 years I may own plenty rifles,i guess I just like my custom #1 in 257 weatherby mag to hunt deer or antelope with. there is just something about these fine single shots that feel good and look so unique,heck I even had a custom picatinny rail put on top so I could use a nite force scope on this gun,the barrel is a bunx custom put on,gave my son the exact gun in a 257 w.mag too,my son in law I gave him a 7 mag no.1 he loves it,got no.1`s put away for all my grandkids too. it just such a nice safe gun to load and unload and all hunters need to make that first shot count. I also target shoot and hunt with a army sniper he too hunts only with a Ruger no.1. if your hand loader and like guns many switch to a Ruger no.1 just because I guess ,its just a classy type gun.my old friend and hunting partner new Bill Ruger well I got to hear a feel stories but sure wished I would have met Mr. Ruger wonder what ever happen to the 400 Bell Ruger no.1 John built Mr. Ruger ?

I currently have a #1A in 35 Whelen, one of the most accurate hunting rifles I own, like JGray's 375.
And a #1RSI in 6.5 x 55. Not Whelen accurate but certainly more than enough for an range I'll shot
while hunting. There have been others that I have lost interest in, not for inaccuracy, and parted
with.

I drew a Nelson Bighorn Sheep tag in Nevada in 1991. I had also recently reread Jack O'Connor's book, Sheep and Sheep hunting. In the chapter "Notes on the Sheep rifle", he devoted a few lines to the Ruger 1. He called it an excellent lazy man's sheep rifle.
So I had the tag, a nice Ruger 1 .270 and qualified as a lazy man, so I sallied forth after my first sheep!
Now my guide through non verbal communication let me know that he thought I was also not so bright to bring a single shot rifle after what many consider the most sought after creature in North America. We subsequently hunted many times together because on that sheep hunt I took a 170 pt. Beautiful ram with one shot from the single shot Ruger.
So why do I use a Ruger 1? Multiple answers are on the wall of my game room!

For Shaman; get you one and you will either "get it" or you won't. Only way to find out if you don't know. Anything we say won't make any difference.

I am a very slow learner. I have had four of them, all in 22 caliber cartridges. All had poor to marginal accuracy. I sold them all after spending lots on various accurizing efforts. I still think they are a cool looking gun, but will never own another.