Hey All, My first post, So first off "hello" and thanks for having me.
I have recently acquired a Ruger No1 with four digit serial number, red butt pad and scope mounts (no sights)....not sure where to measure from for barrel length but from dropping block to tip of barrel is 26inches and it is chambered in 280 Remington.
Not looking to sell it but wanting to get an idea of it's worth (ballpark). I know it hard without pictures but it's in fantastic shape other than a small nick on the left side of the stock.
I appreciate all feedback and thanks again, Dave67
Sounds like you got a nice one, but without more information and/or photos, it's extremely difficult to quote a price or price range. Unfortunately, the prices for these great early, non-prefix Rugers have suffered quite a bit recently. Most likely because most other firearm prices seem to be soft, and I suspect the attrition rate (i.e. passing) of true Ruger No. 1 collectors has been accelerating in the last few years. A friend just sold (or tired to) a bunch of nice non-prefix No 1s on Gunbroker and I was shocked at the low prices they brought, if they sold at all!
Your 280 is not a common chambering for a non-prefix No.1, so that alone should help with the value. I suspect it's a BB (i.e. same as today's 1B), but again without more info it might also be a much rarer variation.
yep, that's a BB. You lucked out in getting the rare vertically split rings which are worth a fair bit by themselves. That's also a perfect era correct B&L scope for the rifle too. I can't tell from your photo, but the forearm should have a third checkered panel on the bottom. If not, it's not original to the rifle. Inside the forearm inletting, there should also be a date stamped or in permanent marker and the fore-end hanger might also have "BB" scratched into it's side.
As best as I can figure out by the serial number charts, I believe it was manufactured in 1967 (SERIAL # is mid 1900s).
If anyone has anything else to add, I would be eternally grateful. This is my one and only No.1 and I find the build and craftsmanship quite interesting.
Based on some reference material I have (printed out from classicsportingarms.com a while back...maybe it's still posted there), there were about 75 non-prefix BBs made in .280 Remington.
I'm not an expert by any means but I have owned some non-prefix guns and pay attention to what they sell for. If you found a Ruger collector who wanted/needed this caliber for some reason, you could probably get $1400 or so for the rifle. The vertical split rings typically add a couple hundred bucks on top of that. But if you had to sell the rifle quickly and the buying audience wasn't particularly impressed by the relative rarity of the rifle and rings, you would be lucky to get $1000 for it. And that would be a shame.
Just one man's (slightly informed) opinion. Take it for what it's worth.
According to my latest Chart it shows 25 known and Projected Total of 90 but without the Complete SN that could change. If you sre going by the SN Chart on Ruger's website it is just a reference & not the actual dates of production. To get the actual Date would require a letter of authentication from Sturm Ruger.
No Ruger Firearms were ever built in SN order. The only time the SN is recorded is when they are shipped from stock.
The SN is stamped on the Action's at the start of production and that's the only time they are in order. During production it would be impossible & costly to keep track of them. This Info from Tom Ruger & several Factory Supervisory Employees.
If you can supply the full SN by PM or other means I can let you know more.
Thank You for the Info, I have added to my Ruger Data List which I have been working on since 1970.
I have accumulated the SN for 2393 of the 7918 Non-Prefix SN for the Ruger No1.
Here is how yours stacks up in Data.
There are now 26 known with 94 Projected for your Caliber Model Configuration.
The 280's are numbered from SN 21 to 5517.
There are 232 sets of Vertical Rings known The Supervisor of the Castings Dept at Ruger told me and a friend when we visited Ruger in 2001 that Bill Ruger told him to Melt the remaining Vertical Rings and he reffered to it as a Ton of them, which I take that to mean several thousand sets.
There are 2 Duplicate SN's 61D & 1710D
From my data which shows the actual Ship Dates until 2012 when they stopped supplying them & started charging for letters most of the 280's were shipped in Oct & Nov 1967
