Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Ruger #1 accuracy expectations?

Sounds like your buddy knew how to tune them. That is pretty damn good.

No. 1H 375 H&H, 1-4x scope at 100 yds:





Last time shot on paper:



No. 1S 24" 30-06, 1-4x scope at 100 yds:



No. 3 22 K-Hornet, 4.5-14x scope at 100 yds, (5 &10 shot groups):

Man, nothing wrong with them 1's!

Ruger #1`s not accurate ? i think the guys that can`t shoot a Ruger #1 accurate probably can`t shoot any rifle very accurate ?

My only experience with the No. 1 was a stainless/laminate version in 25-06 that I had for my extremely left eye dominant wife. I taught her to shoot lefty w/ it and she shot it great. I ultimately sold it here as she didn’t want to hunt.

That particular rifle shot roughly 1.25 MOA. More importantly it landed the first cold bore shot centered and 1.75” high every single time w/ Fed Premium 115 Partitions. I used the gun on 3 hunts that I recall and it was a buck magnet! On all three trips I had a buck run in front of me inside of 20 yards. 2 of them met the criteria of the day and got a ride in my truck.

It is one gun I regret selling from time to time.

Sounds like an awesome rifle. I bet you regret selling it!!

I've had three Ruger No.1's, all were red pads (in the 1980's into the early 1990's).

1.) A No. 1A in 7X57. It was a nice trim rifle in a round that was ever so pleasant to shoot. The best I could get it to do was a load with Nosler 160 grainers that would shoot into 1 1/2 inches. I loaded a 160 grain Nosler spitzer 'barely' in the case neck... and they never touched the lands due to the freebore - which I blamed for the 'inaccuracy'... If a rifle wouldn't shoot an inch or less it went down the road. Sold it to a friend for his left handed wife... In spite of the poor showing from the bench - somehow she managed to kill several deer with it.

2.) A Ruger No. 1S in 45-70. I shot nothing but paper patched 400 grain pure lead bullets (that I cast), put several hundred through the gun. This rifle, with my maximum handloads would shoot into an inch (often less), but I would sometimes get fliers that would bring it out to 1 1/2 inches (2 would be touching and the third would be out)... Not sure but I felt this might be from (internal) casting irregularities. However it was brutal off the bench... which may have accounted for some of the flyers.

3.) Another trim and handy little No.1A in 30-06. As I recall it shot pretty much everything into an inch. In a moment of stupidity I traded it for another gun. Why oh why did I let this one go?

I've read of accuracy issues with the No.1's, read articles by Ross Seyfreid and others on cures... forearm hangers, forearm bedding, etc. But except for the 7X57, never had an issue... and I still believe that was due to the excessive freebore.

Jerry

Here’s one I KNOW is super accurate…

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1024571142

I Know a couple good shooters that had verified Ruger #1 problems. They also had other good #1s.
Also know of one rifle, new, that shot poorly, but was good after Ruger rebarreled it.

Stuff happens.

Ruger’s were never known for being accurate, I’ve owned a few 77’s and moved them on down the line quickly, no more for me.

Sounds like it shoots pretty good. But how consistent is that?



77's can be made to shoot. If you don't know the ins and outs of them, they need to be passed on to someone else that knows them.


I've had far more good shooting model 77's than I've had poor shooting ones. However, this thread is about Ruger #1's, not model 77's.

#1’s are the worst, exactly why I never owned one.

I owned a #1V in .22-250 for many years that would shoot five shot five-eights inch groups consistently with my handloads. That is with a very long throat as was common in the mid-seventies #1s. My son currently has the rifle and it still shoots well. I also had a #3 that would shoot consistent three-quarter inch five shot groups, again with favorite handloads.

If you've never owned one, how do you know they are "the worst"?

Have posted this before, perhaps even on this thread:

The early No. 1s had Douglas barrels, and grouped well. I know this partly due to owning an early .300 Winchester Magnum, which would regularly put five shots (not just three) under an inch at 100 yards.

The big problem with No. 1s for many years was Bill Ruger buying barrels from other companies than Douglas. One of them made some good barrels, and some that weren't so good.

This changed in the early 1990s when Bill Ruger decided it was time to start making barrels, and after considerable investigation bought a hammer-forging setup from a company in Germany. The first No. 1 I owned that had one of those barrels was a .300 Weatherby 1B--and like that Douglas barreled .300 Winchester would put five shots (not just three) into less than an inch.

Have owned 15-20 No. 1s since that change, and all have grouped very well--including a .22 Hornet that with its best load consistently put five into less than half an inch at 100 yards.

But always "interesting" to hear from those who have zero experience in what they're talking about....

Had a friend who owned several, none of them were under 1” guns, he sold or traded them off, and that is why I never owned not one.

I have at least 8 #1's and a tang safty M77 all of which shoot well some exceptionally well like the #1 in 250 Savage.

"#1’s are the worst, exactly why I never owned one."

"Had a friend who owned several, none of them were under 1” guns, he sold or traded them off, and that is why I never owned not one."

Well, since around 1975 I've bought and collected about 20 Ruger #1s in various configurations from .22 Hornet to .416 Rigby. Only one was bad enough that it had to go back to Ruger. They rebarreled it at no charge. A good shooter now.

I guess a lot of this conversations has to be based on what on considers good. While tiny groups thrill me to no end I consider rifles that do not deliver tiny groups to be just fine if I can get them to at least be a 1.5" gun or less on a consistent basis. I have two out of the 20 something in my collection that fail the test. I have since learned of a few more tricks that just may bring them into line.

I don't hunt varmints on a regular basis other than the occasional jackrabbit of coyote s a target of opportunity so just about any cartridge works just fine for me. I stopped hunting with my #1s in 2021 as the ranch where I did my guided elk hunt would not allow the use of single shot rifles. Not my choice but if I wanted to do the hunt, I had to use a "repeater". Funny thing, that's funny peculiar not funny haha but every elk (6) I took off the place was taken with one shot.

Disregarding dangerous game which I'll probably never hunt, I'm quite comfortable using my Ruger #1s or my one and only Browning B78 on just about any animal that walks the earth

PJ

JB, in another thread, you said that either the black pad or red pad #1 rifles shot better. Can't remember which one it was. Thinking the black pad ones?

PJ, that is commendable. Using a single shot makes you focus more on making that 1 shot count. Something most of us should be doing anyway. I also agree. I draw the line at a consistent 1.5" for a hunting rifle. Sometimes I'll drive myself crazy getting far better than that, but as long as your rifle puts that bullet close to where you are aiming every time, it's all good. I would not deal well with a rifle that has multiple different points of impact though. That schidt just doesn't fly with me. I think I already told the story here, but a few months back I had a nice older gentleman watching as I shot my Ruger #1. I didn't realize he was watching as I shot my groups for load testing. Later he comes up to me and said, "that has got to be the best shooting Ruger #1 I've seen". He said the one he has will start stringing shots when the barrel heats up, by as much as 4 inches!!. He said it's fine for hunting, but he can't shoot groups like I was doing. He really looked baffled too, as my rifle was laying them in there. All in the same area respectively. There was a slight variation in POI due to the differing charge weights, but still pretty respectable.

I need to get out and shoot my #1 again. One of my buddies was asking if I could bring it out the next time we go shooting. He's always wanted a Ruger #1, and always tells me the story about him missing out on a $700.00 #1 270 winchester. He kicks himself in the azz over that one quite often. I'll let him shoot mine, but that may make him go out and buy one. ha ha..

It is very consistent, and isn’t picky about bullet weight. Shot several groups .5 MOA and under, don’t recall one over MOA. And zero stays the same.