Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Question On Hicks #1 Accurizer

Over the past several decades I have owned a score or two of the handsome and intriguing Ruger #1 Rifles.
My experiences with them have mostly been happy ones but now and then I have obtained a clunker - accuracy wise!
On these occasions I often would "tweak" them and bed them and have thier triggers changed and I often went to great lengths trying to discover "the magic handload" that would turn that #1 into an interesting and accurate Rifle!
Then about 12 years ago I changed my policy with Ruger #1's! If they were not able to obtain good accuracy with a reasonable amount of load development and bullet testing then they were sold!
No more trips to the Riflesmiths for my #1's!
Well, today I am considering "modifying" this policy!
I now have a Ruger #1-B in caliber 22-250 Remington that is so beautiful of stock, so perfect and so "COOL" looking that even though its accuracy is FLAWED, I can not bring myself to sell it!
I am now considering installing one of the "Hicks #1 Accurizer" devices in this Rifle!
I have never owned a Ruger #1 with this device on it.
My question to any interested or knowledgeable person is - what are my chances of installing this device with its minor stock modification requirements and it then actually improving my accuracy!
To help with your consideration this Ruger #1-B in caliber 22-250 is stringing shots VERTICALLY!
To the EXTREME!
For instance - the last grouping (5 shots at 100 yards) I made with this Rifle produced a group that had a horizontal dispersion of .628" - I could live with that.
BUT, the vertical dispersion was 3.465"!
The group (5 shots at 100 yards) before that had a horizontal dispersion of .587" and the vertical dispersion was 2.971"!
The load test group (5 shots at 100 yards) before that one measured .296" horizontally and 3.407" vertically!
IIRC, I actually broke down and cried after that grouping!
I have a Leupold 6.5x20 variable scope on this Rifle and the trigger is pleasant and crisp enough!
I have toyed with the idea of buying another Ruger #1-B in 22-250 Remington and swapping the outstanding wood from my in-accurate #1 to the new Rifle and just "starting over".
The money I have in this Rifle and the small amount I will loose when I resell it does not concern me - but one of my concerns is I hate to sell anyone a Rifle that has this significant a problem with vertical shot dispersion!
What do you think my chances are of the Hicks #1 Accurizer system solving my vertical dispersion problem with this Rifle?
Wish me luck and thanks in advance for ANY direction or speculation with this situation.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Have you considered having the barrel floated, saves the looks without a pressure point

The Hicks accurizer does not modify appearance to any great degree. A small hole either in front of forend attaching screw. It is in the the angled screw "mortise" so is not noticable and is quite small.

VarmintGuy,
I believe that the Hicks will help. To see just how much it helped a 308 check out the before Hicks, and after Hicks, pictures in the Files section of the Ruger # 1 Group at: www.groups.yahoo.com/group/ruger-1

If you have the ability you can also drill and tap the front of the hanger for a set screw, that will work about as well as a Hicks

There are many other ways to improve the accuracy of the # 1 but it's way to detailed to go into here, it would be best to check the Files section of the Ruger Group, there are over 10 articles written on how to get your # 1 to shoot like a Target Rifle.

Ruger # 1 Guy

I have used both the Hicks Accurizer and a screw through the front of the forend hanger. Both work, especially on rifles that are stringing vertically. I find the Hicks handier, mostly because it can be adjused without taking the forend off. (And no, it doesn't do anything to the appearance of the rifle, unless you count a tiny, repairable hole through the forend as ruining the looks.

One No. 1 I can specifically remember was a 1B .220 Swift. It shot OK out of the box, around 1 to 1.5 inch 5-sot groups at 100 yards, but acte dlike it wanted to do better. I tried free-floating the barrel, which in this case didn't change anything (though sometimes it will). I installed a Hicks device and the Swift became a consistent 1/2" rifle--again, for 5 shots at 100 yards, not just 3.

MD, I have the screw through the hanger. Any suggestion on the initial tension to apply? Have tried a couple of setting but no real improvement yet. The other thing is that if you have this device should you float the fore-end? Mine is a No1 Sporter in 7mm Rem.

Thanks & regards,
JohnT

I personally do not see much difference between the Hicks appartus and a drilled/tapped hole in the hanger for a adjustable stud to the barrel. Both provide tension to the barrel via the hanger. One you have to inlet to the stock forearm; and the other, one can drill a small hole in the forearm or not to adjust.

One can put an o-ring in the forearm well to act as a dampener as well as a floater for the barrel/forearm. Elmer Keith talked about such years ago, worked ok on my No.1V swift.

Just casual ideas; run a borescope down the barrel to see the barrel surfaces, observe the crown integrity with a glass (can run a q-tip around the crown to check for burrs), check for powder fouling near throat, or even copper fouling throughout.

Shoot a superslow string of 5 shots to see if barrel heat is a factor. The 22/250 can heat up a barrel, especially if a slender tube.

Run a tight patch down the barrel via a cleaning rod guide to feel for tight/loose spots. A lubricated patch should just glide easily down the barrel without any change of speed; any jerks to the movement, one might look further with a borescope.

One might trying shooting the rifle without the forearm, to try to separate territory of issue; is the gun not shooting even without the forearm attached.

Scopes can go bad, mounts can be loose. Most scope reticles spring away from their home position during recoil, and return....the return is the key item here. Posilock type scopes are the exception to this.

Bullet length/weight should match twist. If a 14 twist, a 50-52gr bullet ought to do ok.

Super heavy trigger, not unknown on the No.1. Loose buttstock causing movement during hold or recoil thru the bags. Super heavy hold during firing?

Reloading parameters, olgive touching the lands(can you touch the lands), powder type and proper density, old primers, powder?

Sometimes only a quality barrel, chamber, and breeching will cure some things.

Of course, you have gone thru all of these simple things already....:-)

I have a Ruger #1B in .300 Win. mag. that has the screw through the forearm hanger. It shoots groups in the .375 to .75" range with selected handloads.
I have half baked "custom built on a Ruger #1 action and "custom" wood with a Remington M7 barrel in .223 Rem. that has the Hick's accurizer installed. Before the Hick's was installed, it was a 2" gun at best. Now is about a 1.25" gun so far, but I'm still tinkering with it and the loads for the gun.
I would think that a Ruger #1B in a .22 caliber would have a barrel thick enough that heating would not be a serious problem, at least for a five shot string, not that this make my opinion right, just mine.
I think that if you haven't already done this, I would remove the forearm to see if it it contacting the barrel where it should not or if the tip is exerting too much pressure on the barrel.
I think the Ruger #1 is a fine rifle that sometimes needs a bit more fussing with than most others. My Browning B-78 in 30-06 for example, was a tack driver right out of the box.
One thing I've found out about the Ruger 31 is the fact that Ruger either does not seat the interior wood on their rifles or if they do, it's a down right lousy job. I learned that one the hard way when me and my #1 .300 mag. got caught in a very heavy rainstorn on an elk hunt in Eastern Oregon. Both the rifle and I got soaked and when I returned home, the rifle was shooting 6 feet high and groups were very erratic. It took several years for the stock to dry out enough that I could get the gun to shoot well. Since then, I've checked and sealed every Ruger rifle stock that has come my way, both the #1's and the M77's.
Paul B.