The early no1 s had Douglas barrels. I once had a model 77 pencil barrel in 22-250 that would shoot 1/2 inch groups at 100 yards. I later bought a Remington 700 varmint barrel in 22-250 and would never match the Ruger.
They were spotty at best. I had pencil-barreled .257 Roberts and .220 Swift M77s from the mid-70s, both had trouble shooting inside of 2”. A heavy-barreled Swift from 1972 shot bug eyes, but I did hear those heavy barrel Swifts got Douglas barrels.
I have actually gotten better accuracy results across the board from Number 1 rifles of various calibers, early, late, light and sporter-weight barrels. The one that remains is a red pad Number 1B in 7mm Rem Mag that’s a consistent .75 MOA rifle and isn’t picky about what I feed it. Roll the bones…
