Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Ruger rumor

Rumor has it that Lipsey's has commissioned a run of the Swede's this year, similar to the special run of the 257 Roberts that happened a few years ago.

Give them a call and see what the status is.

I heard the same, but haven't checked it out.

Some real oddballs there-some only with one made like the .45-100. Speaking of the 7 mm express/.280, I actaully have three boxes of Remington ammo that is marked 7-06. I heard they never actually marked a rifle this way(anybody have one?) but I actually own ammo marked that way on the box and on the headstamp.

Ruger does the reciever casting for C.Sharps' model 75. Kind of like a ruger no. 1 with an external hammer.

The No 1 will probably be less commmon in the future. Too bad, but we must admit that they fill a niche market. They are my favorite arms.

I have been hearing the "Ruger No. 1 about to be discontinued" rumor off and on for at least 20 years.

JB

If I am to judge by recent ads, they just began offering it in 9.3x74R.

Like so many "beautiful things", the #1 has a special place in our heart. I have held my RSI and just looked at it... my eye following the line of the wood down from the barrel cap to the toe of the buttstock... admiring EVERYTHING in between.

What a terrible shame it would be for this beautiful thing to cease being made. But, like so many "beautiful things"... it might one day happen... a sad, but true probability.

Looking at my #1 International is, in many ways, like looking at a beautiful woman wearing something revealingly "sexy"... there's definitely obvious beauty that one can see, but the slightly "hidden beauty" is in how it "IS" when "she's" in "her" own "special" environment... whether it's a beautiful woman looking back at you with "acceptance" in her eyes... or a beautiful rifle on a rifle rest performing its own "special art" at the rifle range or an eager companion in the woods waiting for that trophy buck to wander by.

Of all of my rifles... of all of my "long guns"... my RSI in 7x57 "turns me ON" the most. No rifle is as beautiful... or as "special" to me as its name... the Number One.

I "thank" Bill Ruger, wherever he is, for making such a fine rifle a reality. No other rifle I have... or will ever have... will be able to replace my RSI as my most admired and prized rifle.


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

RonT,

Very well said and written.

Doc

Mule Deer,

Ruger is in a "different situation" today. There are selling off
4,000 acres surrounding their New Hampshire manufacturing facility and offering early buyouts to entise employees to retire. Ruger has never been union yet every production employee
gets payed by piece work. Ruger is removing the piece work and
paying by the hour/week.

Ruger has removed the non-selling fat from their 2007 cataloged products. Ruger is finally " marketing " the #1 rifle with magazine ads. I beleieve this is their last attempt to ressurect
this fine rifle.

25 years of negative press on Ruger rifles because of the Wilson barrels being used requires many $$$$ to re-build consumer confidence in their products.

T/C owns the single shot rifle market and Ruger never saw them coming..as most US manufactures didn't see them coming as well.
The T/C pro Hunter is retail priced almost the same as the Ruger #1 and the T/C rifle outsells the Ruger #1 by 200% tp 250%.

Ruger's rifle market market share has been "eroded" by complacentcy and in-diffenence at Ruger.. Ruger's attitude is we will do it our way and the heck with you..Mr. Gunbuyer.

Bill Sr. is gone, Tom Ruger died of cancer is the late 80's and Bill Jr. has retired and the only Ruger daughter married to one time V.P. Steve Vogel is enjoying her inheritance.

Ruger needs new "management blood".


P.S. John, My last to Ruger #1 rifles that I have bought were influenced by your "Rifle " article 2 years ago. My new #1's
did not "break my heart".

It will be a shame if the cease making the #1. While not as highly finished as some other rifles on the market, it is, in my opinion, the nicest production rifle made.

If only TC single shot rifles were on offer, I would go back to bolt guns.

You can find some craftsmanship and class in the bolt market whereas...in the classic advice about motor scooters -- TCs may be fun but you do not want to be seen on one.

1B

And here I was thinking that the rumor was that pics of your #1s had miraculous surfaced...

Can't say how I know, but trust me on this, they are NOT discontinuing the No1. Only certain models/calibers that don't sell. It always amazes me how willing people are to believe bad news....ah well.

Seems they have made quite a few 450/400s but can't ship anything 'til they get ammo to test 'em with. Also there will be a Cabela's special item 450/400 with color case receiver and circassian wood ala the 45-70s.

SOS

SavutiOneShot,

At you had some good news for us today.

Absolute NONSENSE.

"25 years of negative press???" Where do you get these statistics and what proof can you offer that your claim has ACTUALLY made an impact in the sales of the No. 1?

Since when?

Since when?

You have quite an active imagination. The LIKELY scenario is Ruger is "freshening up" their product line -- as manufacturers of any product often do -- by removing and replacing chamberings and versions that don't produce certain sales volumes and making room in their product line to avoid over-saturating the market. (Forty versions of the No. 1 would be nice, but not likely to happen.) It's also quite likely that a distributor with a large inventory of No. 1s would stand to gain if a rumor of the No. 1's demise gained legs on an internet message board.

Bricktop,

In response to your querrys. Ruger started using Wilson barrels from about 1975 to mid 90's. The Wilson barrels as a rule were long throated and accuracy was either exceptional or mediocre.
It was no secret in-side t the firearms industry or at the consumer level Ruger barrels had quality and there-fore accuracy issues. You can go to other forums on Campfire and the read the stigma of barrel quality still haunts Ruger.

Ruger's annaul production of #1 rifles is about 12,000 guns give or take a few thousand. T/C annual production of just the Encore and Pro Hunter far exceed that number annually. If not. T/C could
not afford its advertising budget.

If your Ruger and you see firearms competator selling single shot rifles whose retail price is close to your product and the annual production numbers are so skewed between the T/C and the
Ruger #1 the Ruger sales team CAN NOT say gun buyers are not buyer single shot rifles. While I understand that comparing the T/C Encore/ pro hunter to the Ruger #1 entails only that both are single shot rifles and in their differences they may appeal to a different gun buyer.

The Ruger #1 has been in production since 1868 and the T/C Encore sinse 1999 and the T/C has a greater market share than the
Ruger #1.


In regards to Rugers complacentcy. The Ruger mini-14 comes to mind. Since its introduction in the 70's it's over-all accuracy performance has not changed. After more than 30 years of production Ruger is finally addressing the accuracy issues. If that is not complacentcy I do not know what is. I asked my friend at Hornady why Ruger waited so long to address the mini-14. His response was "nobody at Ruger gave a sh**.

The next 10 yesrs are going to be very challanging for the American gun industry. That are going to be dramatic changes in companies and products. Remington just got sold...which I predicted last year due to the Walmart situation. You cannot lose almost 18% of your sales volume and pay 28 million an annual debt.

The foreign gun imports are negstively affecting the American gun industry just as the imports have screwed the American car industry.

I was a insider in the gun industry from the late 70's into the early 90's at the wholesale level. I have Paid my dues.

I agree with what Dr. Encore has written.

I, too, have read articles in various gun publications over the years in which many articles about Ruger rifles spoke of their general lack of expected accuracy.

I remember when Ruger rifles were first introduced. In fact, I bought a Ruger 10/22 when they first came out. My rifle's serial number is #9xx... one of the first 1,000 made. I also bought an old (but it was "new" then) 3-screw Super BlackHawk with a 7� inch barrel in .44 Magnum... and a pair of Ruger Bearcats (.22 rimfire) single-action revolvers for my two sons.

When my boys were 10 years old, they got to choose any .22 rimfire rifle they wanted... and my youngest son followed my example and chose a 10/22 like mine while his brother chose a Winchester 9422.

A year or so after they were introduced, I bought a new (but now an "old style") Ruger .44 Magnum Carbine which downed a 190 pound (field dressed) whitetail Kentucky buck with one of my handloads.

I also have a Ruger P89DC in 9x19 as well as my #1 RSI in 7x57... so it's obvious I "like" Ruger firearms.

I haven't bought Ruger firearms for their "accuracy" although I have found their accuracy generally acceptable. I bought Rugers for two reasons... (1) their sturdiness & quality... and (2) because they were AMERICAN MADE!

I've even been "lucky" with the accuracy of my RSI for which I'm still "working up" accuracy loads. Unlike so many RSIs, mine RSI is shooting 3-shot groups well under a half inch at 50 yards with 2 shots often going into less that .2 of an inch at that range... and my RSI is a pristine 1981 model which I purchased from its original buyer.

I also have to agree with the fact that the original barrel (which is still on my rifle-a "Wilson barrel"?) has a VERY long throat. I've set the bullet out of the mouth of the case until it's got only a single "caliber" (.284 inches) of the bullet's length still being held by the mouth/neck of the cartridge case... and the bullet is STILL 40/1000ths off the barrel's lans and grooves.

I'd like it CLOSER... but I don't want the bullets falling out of the cases! However, the accuracy it's giving me is better than I have a right to expect, so I'm not complaining.


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

Ron,

I've had no problem seating bullets around 2/3 of caliber into the case. Don't worry about bumping those things up towards the lands. Your bullets will NOT fall out.

GE

Apparently the point went over your head. The Wilson barrel "issue" is overblown and always has been. It's another internet rumor that keeps growing legs from anonymous wags who have no real experience. Any "damage" that occurred to Ruger sales is minimal at worst; i.e., it's a non-issue.

So?

This is absolutely too mangled for me to process. However, if I can grasp some of your "logic," how do automobile manufacturers stay in business? If each manufacturer makes a similar product at a similar selling price, then how do they compete for the same market? I can't say for SURE, but I think it's pretty safe to assume that not everyone in the market for a single shot rifle is necessarily interested in an Encore. Hence the Browning/Winchester 1885, Ruger Number 1, Dakota 10, Pedersoli 1885, Encore, etc. The same reason not everyone who drives a pickup wants only one brand. Ruger offers a variety of products not offered by T/C. Like the Number 1 Tropical, or the 1V, or the RSI, etc.


Nonsense. Got any figures to back this up?


I wasn't aware that the Mini 14 had ever been marketed as a precision rifle. Silly me, I always thought it was a short-range carbine with rather liberal accuracy requirements. You must be REALLY plugged in to Ruger's pulse.

Not particularly. I'm not seeing a great deal of imports impacting long guns.

And I am so proud you have decided to share your very vast and insightful knowledge with me and everyone else. I know now I'm a better person for it.

Your imagination needs to take a rest. You've offered up several half-assed theories with very little to back them up. I wasn't even going to respond to this thread, but your replies are just too OUT THERE.

Right. You're another of the "I've 'heard'" crowd, but you're also stating that your own experience doesn't seem to back up that rumor, does it? And it didn't dissuade you from purchasing a Number 1 either, did it?

So what? I own a couple of Number 1s, a Red Label (one of the FIRST made, since we're bragging), a GP100, a P89, a Model 77, a Mini 14, an AC556, three 10/22s, four Mark II .22 pistols, and an SP101. I guess it's also "obvious" that I like Ruger firearms. I also like the Sakos, Winchesters, Brownings, S&Ws, SiGs, Remingtons, Savages, and CZs in my small arsenal. Big deal. A firearm's purpose is to please its owner, is it not? I fail to see how the Number 1 hasn't succeeded in that regard.