Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Age of No.1 owners

I have seven #1's and a number 3. Was in my 30's when I got my first one( #1AB in 7x57). I just bought a #1S in 300 H&H.

Turned 70 in January.

Steve

Unfortunately I have sold the only #1 I owned a few months back--just too many gremlins to get it to shoot reliably accurate. I will own another before the end of the year. I am 27yrs old.

Bought my first one at 34

I'm 57 but have been interested in them for over 30 years.

OTOH, one of my friends who is about 30 bought his first last year.

I was 29 when I bought mine.

I am 34 and bought my first No. 1 about 6 months ago. This gun is awesome. I don't know anyone else who has one.

46 yrs old now, got my first #1 at about age 30 if i remember correctly.....been hooked since.

Bought my first, a .25-06, in my '30's. Still own one, a custom .280 Imp., in my '60's.

I'm 39 now--at least for another two months. Bought my first #1 at age 16, well dad bought it . Killed my first deer that fall using it. It was a 1V in 6mm Rem. A tackdriver even with my early handloads and less than perfect bench technique. I foolishly sold it a few years later but last year I found another 1V in the same chambering but with better wood. It won't be up for sale any time soon. It brings back memories of those early days of deer hunting every time I heft it.

I'm 72 now but I was 37 years old back in 1975 when I bought my first Ruger #1, a "B" model in 30-06. I really wanted the "S" model in 06 but couldn't seem to find one, and honestly, I've only seen three "S" model to this date. All three were in .300 Win. mag. and I bought two of them. The third one was at cabelas and looked like it had ben through a couple of wars and lost both times. I thought the asking price of $900 was way out of line.
Since I got the first one, I've acquired 20 more to keep it company, plus a custom of sorts I found at a gun show where somebody put a Remington M7 barrel on a #1 action and restocked the whole mess. Damn thing doesn't shoot worth a damn but I'll keep tinkering with it. I should refinish that stock too as they did a very sloppy job.
FWIW, I really like hunting with them but they are starting gain weight as they age.
Paul B.

Age 64 here, I got my first about 15-18 years ago, a 22 hornet, then found a nice little 1a in 7x57 used at a gun show. It looked bad, the wood that is, metal was fine. Wood finish was clouded and missing in spots. After some careful scraping and careful sanding and lots of coats of oil and wax it is the prettiest #1 i have. It was followed by a couple of tropicals, then a 30-06.

This has been a very interesting thread! I just tallied up the responses so far and here's what I cam up with:

Average age of 1st time #1 buyers:..29.95 years!


Average age of #1 owners now:...... 50.35 years!


Seems we 24HCF members get our loonieness a bit younger.

GH

Goin' on 62. Currently have three, 22 K Hornet, 218 Bee, 204. Had a few others in the past, including an RSI in 7x57. Probably shoulda kept 'em all, but oh well.

I think your right.I remember in the late 1960's seeing the Ruger ad's wishing I could afford a No.1,but they was always just a little bit out of reach with money.I was in the early 40's before I could afford one.

Yep, No. 1's have always been priced somewhat above the average bolt rifle.

Bought my first one at age 39. Could have afforded one a few years before that, but somehow felt the need to fill out a battery of bolt rifles beforehand.

After hunting with No. 1's for over 15 years now, I don't feel all that much need for bolt rifles (though I haven't abandoned them). I've even hunted dangerous game with a No. 1, and it worked fine. Have owned maybe 15-20 since that first one, and have four right now, in chamberings from .22 Hornet to .450/.400. I'm 57.

bought my first at 54 and played around with 3 of them. I am down to a 7x57 with a 257Bob pending at the age of 57. Wish they weren't such a crapshoot.

I am going on 61. Have more than five, but less than 20. My hunting arm of choice for most applications........

I have had one since I was 57, and I'll be 60 in September, if I don't buy another #1 and die at the hands of my wife.

I want to get a Bodington in 375 Ruger or 7x57mm. However I have another rifle on layaway now so I may be 54 before I can get myself a #1.

Patrick James;
Thanks for the interesting thread, I�d not really considered that before but it makes interesting reading.

When my No. 1 came to live with us permanently I was 37 to the best of my recollection.

The reason for that adjective is that about 12 years prior when a friend who was a year younger than I was, so 24 at the time, wanted to take up hunting. He�d gone through the process of getting the required paperwork to purchase a firearm here in Canada, but it hadn�t arrived on the fateful day we bumped into that particular rifle.

So officially I �bought� it and took it home until his paperwork arrived. That was enough time for me to play with it a bit and I rather liked it. I asked him to call me first if he ever wanted to sell it and he agreed.

True to his word, when family commitments required some cash, he called me first. Although I had to send a very clean 1955 vintage 94 down the road to finance the purchase, I�ve never regretted it.

As I�ve aged I find myself hunting with the No. 1 about 1/3 of the time, though I don�t take it on hunts that start out to be long walks on purpose. Oh, according to my BC Driver�s License, I�ll be 48 when it heads afield with me in two months.

Thanks again for the thread and to those who have responded.

Regards,
Dwayne