Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots How accurate are your Ruger #1's?

Looking at a Light sporter. Don't like the feel of the trigger right out the gate but love the rifle. I haven't owned a #1 in 15 yrs.

Anyway, how are yours working out for you right off the shelf and what are some of the things you've done to help improve accuracy.

Never hand loaded for one and I feel confident that hand loads will get me to MOA. But It is on my mind.. Trigger right off the bat..

Thanks guys

I think a book could be written on the subject

Describe the rifle you are considering. Caliber? Black or Red Pad? If you know the s/n you can look it up for date of manufacture.

Brand new. Not in my hands yet,

#1 Light sporter in .280rem

http://www.ruger.com/products/no1LightSporter/models.html

Brand new, it will likely be MOA-ish, from what I've seen with mine, and heard from others.

Ruger has realized that good barrels sell, and for the past 20 years or so, since they started making their own, their barrels are usually very good. If you like the rifle, jump on it.

To elaborate, I don't think the 1A's are quite as accurate as the B's or V's, on average. But I'd only worked with a A in .30-40, and a #1S in .45-70, both black pad, Ruger-made barrels. Both of them are around 1 to 1.5 MOA with selected loads, and that's what others have reported for similar rifles. Several of my B's or V's are sub-MOA with their best loads. And I have a 1S in .475 Turnbull that is about the most accurate big bore rifle, of any style, that I've ever seen.

I have bought (4) Ruger #1s, all of them thinking I would rebarrel them.

All were too accurate to rebarrel.



I got this #1V 223 made in 1999 used of an on line auction in 2007 for $500.
I was full of Copper fouling.
I cleaned it out and sighted it in with mixed brass handloads 15 gr Blue Dot 35 gr Vmax.

It shot real well at 100 yards.

I give up. None can be rebarreled. They all shoot too well.

I have 3 light barrels. They're fine (less than 1.5") until the barrel heats up. If I allow the barrel to cool completely between shots, 5-shot 1.5" or less groups are the norm. Definitely not a target rifle, but for the first 3 shots, it's OK.
Bob

I have a few No. 1's but my most recent is a 375 H&H that out shoots them all.

As is out out of the box with 4x magnification at 100 yds:

Last time on paper and final sight in...


Other load work...

.475 Turnbull

Ruger in .303 British

I only have 1, but it is a #1B in 280. Half MOA with the right load.




JGray, that rifle is a "Keeper"!!

Can you tell me about the scope, rings, bases?

Thanks

My 1A in .35 Whelen could put three in about .750" with loads she liked (especially fond of full power Hornady 250 SP).

My 1H (.375 BERNIE) is a consistent Sub-MOA with most bullets and could get darn near 1/2 MOA with a couple of loads.

Both were bone stock with Vortex Viper 2-7 scopes.

Have owned 3. The first shot excellent patterns with all loads. New barrel fixed that. 7x57

The other two were consistently in the .7-.8 range at 100 yards with a variety of loads though the .257 flat refused to shoot anything longer than a 85 gr. BT. (.22 Hornet/.257 Roberts.) Both required the fore end hanger mod and trigger work to get there. The Hornet was so boring I put 21-22 shots into .77" one morning. Bob put 9 in a 1.5" group one day. Offhand. Then I shot the last round and made it just over 3". Lucky me.

A #3 in .22 Hornet with new wood would shoot any load, any bullet into .7", any day of the week.

They are good guns, probably better with more recent production. I do wish Ruger would put proper twists in their barrels.

Would I be thought a smart aleck if I just said "Accurate enough"?




Seriously, the 1A is a bit over 1", the 1V will do 3/4" when I'm on my game and the No. 3 is finicky but capable of 1".

I think I'm a bigger detriment to the groups than the rifles.

The scope is a VX-3 1.5-5x20. Rings are Ruger offset, 1" medium height - which is pretty much what I prefer on #1's, unless I have a long enough scope to use standard rings.

And most important, gloss finish to match the rifle

This is the .270 Liberty, which I mentioned in another thread.



Last weekend I was just double checking zero with it, and at 50 yards it put 3 into one hole. And I mean one hole; with the 3.5-10 scope at 10x, the group looked like one bullet hole.

BD,

IIRC, Mule Deer had a 1V in .22 Hornet that was superbly accurate. Ruger might have been onto something there!

I'm with SOTG. I didn't buy No.1's for BR.....

As long as they were minute of animal I was happy. I was actually pleasantly surprised at the accuracy of mine, especially without any tinkering. One of these days I got to get me a nicely figured RSI in 757. Been on my bucket list for awhile...

Were not ever any 1V Hornets; it was a 1B.

Love my restocked #3 with reshaped lever and new barrel (22 K-Hornet).



10 and 5 shot groups at 100 yds

Thanks! I think I agree with you - it's a standard #1 with "Boddington" series wood, apparently left over from that run.

Oh my.

Yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about! YEE HAW!

sweet! I like the look of custom #3's like that one

I'd been shooting #1S 218 Bee when a friend told me about this custom #3 he saw at the LGS on the used rack. He's a lefty and the single shot interested him but he pondered on it too long (I was afraid it was going to get away ). Out of guilt for buying it out from under him, I sold him my 218 Bee.

I saw a K hornet like that in California, but it got away before I could amass the funds.

I have a #1B now in .218. Assuming I can ever find brass (or enough .25-20's to reform) I'll look forward to shooting it.

How much brass you need to get it running? I might be able to help - I came into 800 pieces of once fired when I had the Bee. My friend got most of it with the rifle but I kept a bag of loaded rounds intending to pull bullets and give him the rest of the brass which never happened. Initially, I had some issues getting the K-Hornet shooting and was considering going back to the Bee with it so decided to hang on to the brass. I'm pretty sure I still have it packed away somewhere, but not sure how much (want to say at least 50)...

I've been tempted a couple times to try and get the Bee back - he doesn't shoot it and I have a #1A 7x57 he wants. I probably could work a trade and end up with a large bucket of brass. Dang - now the wheels are turning...

50 would be excellent to get started, at least let me determine whether or not it's a shooter.

Just dug them out and have a bit more than I remembered. PM an address and I'll gift you 50 (Campfire goodwill and all ). That will leave me some to maybe play with a Bee again someday. This now has me envisioning a tapered octagon 218 Bee barrel on my #1A...

The latest #1s are definitely the best IME. My current black-pad 7x57 is a tack driver.

I have a #1-B SS Lam in 7mm STW, with factory ammo, Nosler 160 Accubonds, my last range trip I shot a 3 shot group of .78 inches at 200 yards. My dad has a #1-B Sporter in 243, he can take a ten shot group of factory Remington 90 grain Scirrocos at 100 yards and cover it with a nickle. Just a matter of finding what load each rifle likes.

Mine is a #1H in 405 Winchester, but it shoots just fine for my liking. 100 yards with a 300 grain Barnes XFB.



The rifle is not much in the wood dept., but it shoots.

Nice - I think I'd really enjoy one in 405. I did pick one up in 450/400 NE but haven't worked with it much, other than reduced loads and cast bullets.

Even the 405 comes back with full house #1 style loads. I was getting 2450 to 2500 ft/sec with a 300 grain bullet, which is about 200 to 250 ft/sec over factory.

I imagine the 450/400 would do likewise.

Agreed - with similar weight bullets, I wouldn't expect much difference between the two. I do have a 405, but in a Win 1895 (repro) that is easily my favorite lever action.

My is early 80's vintage 1B in .280 Rem. Right out of the box it was giving pretty much full-choke patterns at 100 yards. After bedding the area where the forearm screw goes in, tinkering with screw tightness, and messing with seating depth it is now shooting 1-1.25 3 shot groups with 140 Sierra GK and 175 Speer GS.

My faux #1 AH in 257 Roberts

Will do this quite regularly, and it loves 110gr Accubonds.

A mid 1970s production #1V in .22-250 with a very long throat shoots consistent 5/8inch five shot groups. My #3 in .223 shot 3/4 inch five shot groups. I have since sold the #3.

257Deland,

I like the looks of that rifle with the front sight removed. Did you just remove the sight, or did you shorten the barrel to remove the sight?

I like the idea of having sights as backup in the event of scope failure, but they can be a PITA. They catch in the lining of a soft case, and they stick up into the FOV of the scope. Actually, scope failures are rare, and it would take time to remove a scope in the field and require a screwdriver. So maybe I'll have the sight removed from my #1A 7x57. Only problem is it would decrease the value should I decide to resell.

Another thing I dislike about the #1 is the screwey quarter rib. The thing weighs a ton and makes the scope sit higher than necessary (I like them low). But you can't just take of the quarter rib because it leaves unsightly threaded holes in the barrel exposed, not to mention those ugly pins that hold the rib in place.

I have this idea to replace the quarter rib with a mount of my own design. The mount would use the existing threaded holes and pins in the barrel, but it would be very low profile in the front thus allowing a scope to be mounted lower without the object bell hitting the rib. I would contour it the same as the barrel so it lays flush with the barrel. It would stay low profile from front to back except it would be raised in two spots where the Talley vertical split scope rings attach. Both rings would be positioned about 3/4" to the rear of where the existing Ruger rings attach to the quarter rib. The rear ring would sit directly above the receiver ring. This would allow the scope to be mounted about 3/4" farther back than it is now in the standard rings. This new base would be machined from aluminum to conserve weight, anodized gloss black of course to match the blued barrel and receiver.

Another thing I want to modify is the safety slide. I dislike the stock unit that blocks cartridges from ejecting clear of the rifle, and looks crappy the way it gaps up from the receiver and moves around freely. I really like the safety mod that is dome by Hamilton Bowen, but I'm not sure i would go quite that far. Maybe just shortening the front extension to allow cartridges to eject free of the rifle would be sufficient.

Sorry to ramble.

It's a re-barreled 1A with a 24" Shilen chrome moly 1:9 chambered in 257 Roberts with a 1B quarter rib; made myself an AH. Weighs 7-11 with a VXII 2-7 in Burris low rings.

When did they began making better barrels and which is supposed to be of later vintage, red or black pad ?

Black pad is later vintage. Not sure when they started making better barrels. My K1A in 6.5x55 will put the first two shots into the same hole at 100 yards. The third shot will be about an inch away.

Black pad denotes a Ruger-made, hammer forged barrel, which began in the early 90's

I have several, and have no complaints about accuracy. I truly believe they pretty much shoot as well as my bolt guns. But then I'm not shooting them a half mile either.

Thanks for the replies guys.

I have a Lipsey 264WM that is shooting quite well!

The little I have shot my #1 .300 H & H, it seems accurate.. Only tried a couple groups.. It is on the to do list for this spring..

Accurate enough!















maddog

Here's my new 9.3x62 last week. Pretty happy so far.

At the range yesterday sighting-in my new 9.3x74R. Very good accuracy with 285gr PRVI bullets and H4350 at ~2450 fps MV -


Ruger No.1-S 9.3x74R and Leupold VX3 1.5-5x20mm scope


285gr PRVI group at 100 yds


Chrony reading for 285gr PRVI bullet


9.3x74R / 308 Winchester

My R#1A in 7x57 consistently shoots three 150s at 1/2" to 3/4" at 100 yds.

I -relieved the wood at the rear of the fore arm to not touch the action.
-Put some bedding in the front of the fore arm.
-Put a hard plastic shim snug between the barrel and the hanger.

Holds poi without shift over time and weather variations.

Did same with R#3 in 223 and same results.

jmho
Tim

Ruger No 1a 6.5x55
relieved forend,shimmed and floated the barrel



130gr Accubond

British 303



150 gr hornady

1/2 MOA at 200 yards. This group is cherry picked, but it is consistently 1 MOA for three shots. Starts to walk vertically until you let the barrel cool after that. Definitely an accurate rifle for hunting. Not for shooting strings of 10.

I have a fix for that...shoot while it's 12 degrees like i've been doing...hard to heat the barrel