Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting single shot deer rifles

its just another thread / post about all single shot deer rifles . myself i hunt with my handloads i developed and a Ruger #1 , i like the challenge of one shot , i have used my Ruger #1 out west and in my home state of Minnesota for 25 some years and have done well . i let my young 10 yr.old grandson try 3 different types of rifle actions a standard bolt action ,AR-15 and a Ruger #1 in a 220 Swift ,grandson shot all 3 very well . i thought my grandson was going to pick the AR-15 well i was wrong grandson choose the Ruger #1 and that was a surprise to me . i think the reason he choose the Ruger #1 was the simple way to load and unload that grandson liked ? so i purchased a very nice Ruger #1 257 Roberts Ruger #1 for him , and i am in the process of developing a load for him with 75 gr. Hammer bullets / RL.17 to keep the recoil down. Pete53

You grandson has style!

I love my #1. It's a 9.3X74R.
It's over-kill for deer and antelope, but I don't care. I have only ever killed 2 elk with it, but I have killed a PILE of antelope and deer with it.
I think I'd like your grandson. He shows confidence and class.

I really enjoy my No. 1B in .308 and have been very successful with it. Recently, I picked up a No. 1S in 7X57 and am looking forward to load development and hunting with it. It will probably be first in the rotation this year.

My favorite ss that I have used hunting are actually several guns in different chamberings. " Only one gun and they are Shiloh 74's". From 50-140 to 40-70 bn love them. Allways been a member of the brought enough gun club..mb

When Ruger first brought out the #1 I went crazy wanting one in 25-06. Several years last and I found exactly what I'd been looking for, $265 brand new. Picked it up and fondled it a bit and the wanting went away. Haven't lusted for one since! Boy they are one beautiful rifle but I'm pretty well confirmed bolt action guy!

I’ll say

your grandson made a good choice!!!

i wanted a Ruger #1 in 7x57 for years. instead, i got a 1973 Ruger #1 in 270 Win and with it came a pile of deer. because the gods won't let me, i have had three Handi-rifles in 45-70. first one (and many others) was because i had to pay my lawyer for a divorce. second was given to my friend's boy and the third went out of state with my son.

i have a TC Encore with 23" MGM barrels in 20 Vartarg, 444 Marlin and 500 Linebaugh. i sold the 22-250AI (27" MGM barrel) and the 6.5 Creedmoor (15", 16 1/4" and 23" MGM barrels).

i have also a TC Contender in 7x30 Waters (14" muzzle brake barrel), 30 Herrett (10"), 357 Herrett (10") and 22 Hornet (10").

i think the reason grandson likes the Ruger #1 it is a rifle to understand how to use it very easy and it does have nice wood so its pretty.

I like to be a little different. I started with a Ruger M77, so gravitated to the Ruger #1 when I started to expand the line-up. I've owned them in .223, 25/06, 7x57, 30/06 .338 Win. Mag., and 375 H&H. I think a Ruger #1A or RSI in .257 Roberts would be perfect for most of what I do. But, by the time those configurations came around my funds had to go toward feeding two boys.

Now, the prices are a little past my shift in priorities, so my lone #1 in 30/06 will have to do. But actually, it does quite well. It's a 4-digit #1 from 1968 that some say should sit in a safe to collect value, but I think it can collect value while it collects honest use as well, so we hunt every chance we get!

I really like my Ruger no 1 chambered in 7x57mm.

Talking about my No. 1’s, forgot to mention my Encore. That has killed a small truckload of deer with both the .50 inline ML barrel and with the .25-05 AI barrel

I could cheerfully hunt with single shots for the rest of my days.

Rugers: 6.5x55, .270 Wby Mag, 7x57, 7mm STW, .30-40 Krag (No. 3), .303 British, .338 Federal, .338 Win Mag, 9.3x74R, .45-70, .475 Linebaugh

Browning 1885 Low Wall .260 Rem

Winchester 1885 High Wall .325 WSM

H&R 258 .30-30 Win

Henry H015 .350 Legend

T/C TCRs: .32-40 Win, .375-06 JDJ

T/C Contender Carbines: .25-35 Win, 6.8 Rem, .357 Herrett

T/C Encores: 7.5x55 Swiss, .405 Win, .500 S&W

Martini Custom 9x57R

My Contender Carbines are deeply stained with blood.

Could say the same about my Ruger #1's from days gone by. Have a Highwall that is drooling for a chance in the woods.

Some day when money is better I want to buy a Remington rolling block in 7X57MM with a 30" barrel. Not a safe queen, but a good shooter. But I have telling myself that for a long time now

Ruger #1 RSI. Have one in '06 and another in 9.3x62. If I could afford one a Dakota Model 10 or a Merkel Stutzen would be added to the stable.

Love hunting with single shots. Mine are all on the cheap end, H&R and Encores.

If I were to upgrade within my price range, a pair of No. 1s in 35W and 6.5x55 would be my choice.

My fantasy would be to have a pair of Blaser K95s in 25-06 and 35W.

pete53, Your grandson has excellent taste in rifles. A Ruger #1 in 257 Roberts will be sweet!

As a right-handed person who shoots left, I favor ambidextrous falling block rifles. Their simplicity appeals to me & I really enjoy hunting with them. For the type of hunting I do, they work really well. The fact that they come in an eclectic variety of calibers doesn't lessen their appeal.

6.5x55 - Ruger #1 A
275 Rigby - Ruger #1 RSI
303 British - Ruger #1 A
303 British - Uberti 1885 Courteney Stalking Rifle
9.3x74r - Ruger #1 S
375 H&H Magnum - Winchester 1885 Safari Octagon
405 Winchester - Winchester 1885 Traditional Hunter
44 Magnum - Browning 1885 Low Wall

My Ruger #1 in 303 British is a sentimental favorite for nostalgic reasons. But don't ask me to rank the rest of them in favorite order. I would be hard pressed to pick my least favorite if I was forced to get rid of one. It's nice to be able to reach into the safe and have interesting choices to pick from. Usually the particular round & the scope or iron sights combination determines the selection based on the location & state I'll be hunting in. The last deer I put into the freezer was taken with my 303 off of my "wrong" right shoulder at 156 yards because I couldn't rotate enough in the tree stand I was hunting from.

very nice rifles in that vault ! i was also very impressed when grandson said he wanted a Ruger #1 to hunt with for deer ,Sunday is his birthday his 11th birthday he is to young to understand how lucky he is to already own a Ruger #1 and in his future many more rifles too .

Well I have never owned a Ruger #1. But I do enjoy shooting my TC stainless pro hunter. I have MGM barrels chambered in 7mm 08 and 45 cal smokeless powder muzzle-loader. They are accurate and cover the bases for what I hunt. I bought a youth stock for it here in the classifieds. It has been a great gun for my daughters and grand kids to shoot.

I am single-shot curious.

Let me repent. When I started hunting back in Regan's 1st term, my mentors were definitely against going afield with only a single shot. I had a Vietnam vet and a WWII vet among my close friends. Their philosophies were boiled down to laying in enough rounds to assure the game was down. I started deer hunting with a Remington 742.

It is from that background that I grew as a hunter. My philosophy has always been to take the shot and then strive to get back on target for a second shot as quickly as possible. I never wanted to get caught up in Golfer's Syndrome.

But here's the thing: I'm looking at 40+ years of experience now. The last time I actually got a chance at a second shot was 2010, and I have only a few other incidents (2002, 2005 and 2006) where I had to take more than one shot at an animal to put it down. Normally, by the time I get another round jacked in and get the crosshairs back on target, I'm met with 4 feet sticking up in the air.

It is only recently that I started to reconsider all this. Those 4 incidents mentioned:

2002: I put several into a small doe at less than 20 yards. All were in the boiler room, but the animal kept walking. See Ode to a 30-30 PT 3
2005: I put 3 into a large buck that just stood there and stared at me. He finallly went down as I was chambering the 4th round. See Hubert D. Buck vs Mister Whelen
2006: I put 1 into a buck that immediately bedded. I got down from my stand and put in a finisher. See The Shaman Backs into a Buck. . .
2010: I shot at a buck about 100 yards out. He acted unfazed and walked over to a barbed wire fence at the edge of the field. I lit him up a second time as he paused before jumping. See The Shaman Bags and 8-Pointer

In all these cases, the animal was dead after the 1st shot. They just didn't know it. I maybe saved them a little time putting in any follow-up.

I am left to conclude that I could have easily spent the last 5 decades hunting with a single-shot rifle.

I have used more single shots in more than 50 years of hunting ( some traditional cap lock muzzle loaders) than any other type of action.
The vast majority have been 1885's, B78's and No's 1 and 3's.
Out of the last 33 deer I have taken, 31 were taken with this rifle, built for me in 2010 by Greydog.
It's a Ruger #3 in .303 Brit , totally reworked from the barrel to the trigger guard , and he did a super job on it!
I have taken animals with it from inside of 12 yards to past 350 yards, about half of them with the irons on it.
I can switch from scope to irons and back ( and have) without fear of needing to re-zero
Cat

That is one of my favorite #1's..

Beretzs, although this rifle was the inspiration for Ruger to do their .303 British 1A run ( very interesting story!), it is actually a #3!
Cat

Very neat. Didn't catch that.

No worries,very easy to mistake it, as most associate the looks of that rifle with a #1 not a #3!
I think the story of this build is in the single shot forum.
Cat

NEF handi in .45-70, plastic shotgun stocks, NECG banded front ramp sight, No-Dak Spud ghost-ring peep, 'smithed trigger, 6 pounds/7 ounces, well-balanced, compact, accurate ...

I've had a bunch of H&R Handi Rifles. I really miss my 450 Marlin. Only Ruger #1 we ever had was a stainless 458 Lott.

i own a few Ruger #1`s these single shots have always fascinated me, i wished i would have started using them 40-50 years ago instead of 30 years ago ,have shot some very nice bucks out west and in my home state with these single shot rifles. years ago i had 2 Ruger S.S. Laminated #1`s still new in the boxes rebarreled with a Brux barrel and both chambered in a 257 Weatherby mags. son got one and i use the other one both are accurate and have work thru all weather conditions. with this cartridge the 257 Weatherby mag. out of my Ruger #1 i have kill nice bucks and antelope from 30 feet out to a measured 700 + yards and the funny part is my biggest Whitetail buck shot in a Tamarack swamp was the 30 feet buck with my 257 W. MAG. Ruger #1. great pictures and stories thanks,Pete53

like my browning b78 25-06

Have had a few , the sweetest being a Browning hi wall in 45-70 , then there was a New England buffalo gun that I thought highly of .
And a T/C carbine in 7-30 waters that was ok , but the pistol version with 14” barrel would out shoot it
Had an H&R in 22 hornet that was a shell waster
And a New England in 17HMR that shot pretty damned good
A few 22’s , a suhl snd Annie that was lights out
Kenneth

I have used several TC Contender Carbines over the years. 223, 7x30 Waters, 30-30, and 35 Rem. My current is a 357 Maximum and a couple of 22lr match.

Patiently awaiting the dies 9.5x 47R

My Ruger No.1 257 Robert's has worked well for dear as have my TC Encore in several calibers. The Encore is a useful too. The Ruger is a looker.

i was 16 or 17yo when i shot my first single shot buck. it was a Handi rifle in 45-70. then in early 2000s, i bought Ruger #1 in 270 Win and it killed a pile of deer. in 2010s, i got two TC Encore in 20 Vartag, 22-250AI (27" MGM), 6.5 Creedmoor (15", 16 1/4" and 23" barrels), 444 Marlin and 500 Linebaugh, they are 23" MGM barrels.

this year, i am going to with my late dad's TC Contender. i bought 10" barrel in 30 and 357 Herrett. my dad had a 14" muzzle brake 7x30 Waters barrel that killed alot of deer. i like the caliber but hate the brake. besides, my dad always wanted a 30 Herrett.

I’m a big fan of 7mm cartridges, and for years I always wanted to pick up a Ruger #1 in 275 rigby. If I’m not mistaken Lipsey’s did a special run on the 275, so I don’t think there were that many made. I believe one came up for sale here in just the last year, but you don’t see them for sale very often. As usual, I was late to the party, and the rifle had already been sold. To me, with the Ruger #1 and the 7mm cartridge both being inherently accurate, it would be one great rifle.

You don’t see them very often. When I see a Ruger in .275 Rigby, they’re more often an M77 in either a regular bolt action or an RSI version.

In 2004, Ruger did a run of one hundred #1 RSI rifles for the Dallas Arms Collectors Association chambered in 275 Rigby. They’re uncommon so I was surprised to see two for sale this past year after not seeing one since 2020. Every now & then a model 11399 1-A with a 24” barrel from 2016 will pop up but they’re pretty rare too. You’ll generally have better luck with the more common 7x57mm. Right now there’s both a 1-A & an RSI on GB in that caliber.

A .303 British with iron sights & a .275 Rigby with a Leupold 3x Big Bore are both good single shot deer rifles:

I remember when the Ruger #1s came out. I would hit the various gun stores just for the chance to see one. It took ten years before that happened. For some reason they just didn't make it out west. Then, in 1975 I saw my first #1, a "B" model in 30-06. My wife screamed bloody murder but it came home with me. I dd a lot of deer hunts with that rifle. Have a chance to hunt elk out of state, I ordered a #1S in .300 Win. mag. The LGS called me and said my gun was in but when I got there is was a "B" model. I complained so the LGS called the distributor and was told that the "B" was the only one they could get in .300 Win. Mag., take it or send it back. Well, I took it. It went on a couple of out of state elk hunts, Nevada did not have an elk season back then, and it had a couple of hunts here in Arizona. Since then I have acquired three more #1s in .300 Win. mag. and passed on fourth. All four were "S" models an two were "Liberty" models. The one I passed on was just too rough for me to mess with. Looked liked it spent most of its life in a scabbard on a horse. Really really rough.
Currently I have a small collection of Number Ones ranging from .22 Hornet to .416 Rigby. There's a 45-70 buried in that pile as well. I love my Number Ones.
PJ

My Ruger No.1 257 Robert's has worked well for dear as have my TC Encore in several calibers. The

my last purchase on a Ruger #1 was a another 257 Roberts 1-B , i refinished the stock after i glass bedded the back part of the forearm about 3 inches , then a recut / ground the barrel channel some so the rest of the barrel is floated .with 75 gr. Hammer Hunter bullets and Reloader 17 this rifle shoots close too 3400 FPS and the 3-shot groups at 100 yards are 1/2-5/8 groups. i don`t need 5 shot groups with just a deer rifle for me and grandson , this rifle is now ready for deer season,Pete53

I hunt with a 7 Wby Encore & an 1885 300 WSM.

I tried a number 1 but the stock geometry’s didn’t fit me, thought it the worst recoiling rifle ever. Been well pleased with my contender carbines and adore the CVA scout. The Scout is about the perfect hunting rifle in my mind, just wish it came in a few more mainstream rounds…not that my .350 Legend hinders me at all in the hunting I do.

The most elegant and accurate single shot rifles I've owned were Blaser K95 rifles.

I’m going to give the Sharps 50 2 1/2” a wack at deer if I can get my stuff together.

I have liked Number 1's since reading Shooters Bibles years ago. I have owned a few, next thing I want when I grow up is a Blaser K95 .