Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Ruger No. 1 barrel change

I have a No. 1b in 7mag. I'd would like to change it to a 257 Roberts

what would be involved?

approx cost?

ked

I, too, am interested. I have one in 300 Win Mag that I would love to rebarrel to 6.5 Swede.

Along with the new barrel, you either need a different extractor or the existing extractor needs to be welded up and re-cut to fit the smaller case. GD

Just found this, but feel free to add any more info.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...2/Re-barreling_a_Ruger_No.1#Post10733742

thanks, ked

Barrels don't always, perhaps ever, index without individual attention. That's probably the biggest deal. Therefore there will be thread-cutting involved to get things lined up. That, of course also means holes in the area for mounting the quarter rib will need to be re-done, or the quarter rib will have to be modified. Changing the smaller parts are a minor deal by comparison.

^^^This^^^

after some reading, it seems that the No 1 is a bit more complex. especially fitting the quarter rib, if desired.

seems like it would be cheaper to sell the 7mag and buy the 257, if i can find one

ked

I worked on a buddy's No. 1 in 7mag once. He brought it to me since it wasn't shooting well. I thought the barrel looked pretty rough and that the crown was dinged, so I took it to my smith who scoped the barrel and told me it was shot out, so not to worry about cleaning or the crown. I asked him what it would take to rebarrel and he said that would be a losing proposition to me since fabricating a barrel for the No. 1 would take a whole lot of his time and effort and would be quite expensive. He suggested I contact Ruger to see what they would do for me. To my surprise, Ruger was very happy to rebarrel the rifle for something like $400, which I thought was reasonable. The only catch was that they would not rebarrel/rechamber for a different cartridge. It had to be the same cartridge/chambering as it originally was. I went ahead and was quite pleased with the work since the rifle, which spent a ton of time on the Alaskan coast, was in really poor shape. They refinished all of the metal, polish and blued, put the new barrel on, and supplied a brand new stock set of very nice wood. And I only sent them the barreled action, asking that they put a new barrel on it. Great service from Ruger, but I learned that rebarreling a No. 1 by anyone else would be quite spendy.

Re-barreling a Ruger No.1 is a bit involved but not insurrmountably so. The new barrel has to be of the same contour if your wish to utilize the existing quarter rib. Many barrel companies will offer barrels contoured for the Number 1. An extractor cut is necessary. The "just in case" clearance groove needs to be cut at 6 o'clock of the chamber. This is "just in case, the firing pin sticks forward if the rifle is dry-fired.
If one wishes to change the scope mounting system, the barrel profile may be changed since the new mount will be contoured to the barrel. For instance, on my own Ruger, I made a new scope mount base to accept Talley rings and contoured the barrel in more of a Douglas contour. The rifle was originally a 220 Swift so I had to cut the extractor back a bit to work with the 303 British rim. On another, I had to weld up the extractor, which was made for a 45/70, and re-cut for the new cartridge. Even easier would have been to pick up the phone and order the correct extractor but I like filing better than phoning so there you have it.
It is the preference of most gunsmiths to install smooth barrels on Remington 700's or Mauser 98's but there are many who can do whatever you want. GD