A guy traded a like new K1B into the shop yesterday and I had to have it. It's chambered in 243 -- one of my favorite cartridges.

I've always been attracted to the No. 1's, but never took the plunge. I could see me building a pile over the next few years. Besides, I need something to collect. They're unique rifles. This could get expensive.

For those of you in the know, what should I be looking for? Any time period models more desirable than others? Things I should avoid? Models I should lust after?

Cant help much there SAS but the1-A in 7x57 seems to have quite a following and I am personally lusting after a 1A in.222 manufactured last year only.( Hint, hint....to those of you in the gun biz....)

I could fix that in less than 20 steps from my office....

Darrick, you might PM member 7x57 Steve...he has a rack full of them, and knows his stuff...even lent me a 1S in .38-55 to shoot a pig with

Pretty skookum if you ask me.....

Let me know if you can.....

Darrik,

I'm far from an expert like Steve, but have owned a few dozen from the very early Douglas-barreled rifles to the present models. Will send you a few short essays on what I know, but based on experience you made a smart buy.

Thanks John!

Tom -- I have one on the shelf. Shoot me a PM Tuesday. I won't be back in before then...

I think I have 13 or 14 around here, and have owned a few others. The very early ones with Douglas barrels are usually very good, as are the ones with black pads, which will have Ruger-made, hammer forged barrels. But some of the red pad guns had good barrels, and when you find one, it's awful fine


I offered to loan this one to Ingwe for some reason, for a hog hunt, and he had some sort of excuse, I forget why



Ruger #1's are a lot less fussy, when they have good barrels

I've had a few...I let this one go, though. Still don't know why.
Bob

10-4!

ingwe,


Hello my friend, and many thanks for the kind words.

I'm glad you got to hunt with the 38-55 #1S. And I very much liked the picture of it you posted concerning hog hunts.

Everything I've shot with the rifle has been a one shot kill. It's easy to load and to shoot and it is pretty good looking, especially for a lefty.

Steve

I'm on my 4th one, a .45/70, now. The first was a rare 22" barrelled 7mm Rem with an AH forend and no sights. Killer wood too. 4-digit SN about 5000 or so. That one's high on my What-was-I-thinking list.

The new one's very pleasant to shoot with 350gr Laser Cast over 16gr of TB, but recoil is a bit stiffer than I expected with 300gr bullets at 1800 fps or so. Got to shoot those standing up. Guess Mr. Barsness was right about getting old and recoil.

To the OP, if you go to Ruger's website and check the product history, there is an astonishing list of calibers that have been offered in the #1. I think all the caliber and model variations would number in the hundreds. I've barely scratched the list with my experience, though I've had a good range of them.

There is supposed to be a limited run this year of several new variants. One is a K1V in .223, with 26" barrel, 1 in 8" twist. I'm real interested in that one. Also a #1B with 28" barrel in .257 Wby. Wood is supposed to be upgraded this year, too.

Of variants that have been made in the past, I'd like a .270 Roy and a .30-30 1A. The latter is very difficult to find for sale.

You just wanted to see me squirm while I made a lame excuse not to use your .270.

It was mean spirited, high smelling and low down.




But still, a beautiful gesture on your part!

Actually I was going to hand you the ammo & rifle, tell you it was a .280, and then tell the truth after you shot a pig. But I screwed up writing .270 on the target...

I see tex n cal using double offset rings to get the scope back a bit. My biggest aggravation with the #1 is the way the scopes are mounted. The one ingwe was lusting after and wanting to shoot, seems to have that issue addressed pretty well.

I had a four digit .243 that I let get away.

DF

I bought my first one about Christmas time in 1966 ; that one eventually got away, but i've still got my second one -------
The non-prefix rifles w/ 4 digits or less are the jewels !

Rich

You can avoid the offset rings, either with a long scope tube, or use one of the straight tubes, like the 1.5x5 Leuppy, but otherwise, yeah I'm using the offset rings.

When I brought this rifle home, I mounted a 6x42. I quickly decided that wasn't going to work. I mounted a VX2 3-9 today. The tube is longer and gets far enough back for me. I can see where the extensions would be needed on some scopes.

I'm already on the lookout for my next 1....

Think you could talk Ruger into a distributor special run of #1s in Hoosier legal deer chamberings? 358 Hoosier to start.

I've read that the #1 isn't a robust profit maker like some other Ruger offerings, not too unlike the 99 Savage. I hope Ruger sticks with it and it doesn't go the way of the 99 due to production costs.

DF

A fast twist .223 #1V, and #1B .257 Roy have been announced, and I will jump on immediately once they are available. If I find them with good wood, of course!

Would a .357 Maximum be legal? One could rechamber a .357 mag #1A for the longer cartridge. The downside being the .357 mag #1's are fairly rare and collectible.

Yep, the Max would be legal. I'd probably just rechamber to the 358 Hoosier (think shortened 358 Win).

Give me some other ideas. Which cartridges are currently legal?

I'll hop on the phone and see what I can do.

I mounted a 2.5x20 Leupold Ultralight on my .45/70 using Leupold low ringmounts. They are a little thinner than the Ruger rings which helps a tiny bit with placement, but even the almost 5 inches of eye relief is barely enough to work. It would take two extension rings to gain any and I wanted to stay with the lows. The 3x from the custom shop with its longer tube would be a better fit, but is $130 more and takes about a month to produce unless you pay a premium to an optics dealer for the convenience of not waiting.

The main rules are that the case has to be no longer than 1.8" and the bullet has to be .357" or bigger. Shape doesn't matter.

The most common/popular are the 44 Mag and 357 Mag. IIRC Ruger has done the 460 and 500 S&W in a #1 previously. Both are now legal and getting some use. Most of the real 'fun' ones are wildcats, but in the OTC world a 45 LC (or even the 454 Casull) would be neat. Though by rule the case is 0.1" too long, the 35 Rem would be a good one too. Brass is hard to find, but a 357 Max in a 20" light sporter would be pretty darn slick too.