Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Ruger No 1S, 7mm Rem Mag

I'd been seeking a smaller bore Ruger hunting rifle to compliment my 375 H&H No 1 Tropical. Came upon a nice example, of a 20 year old rifle which had been shot very little, then cleaned and put away. Price was right, cartridge was known to me and quite acceptable for my hunting. Soon it was in my gun tinkering, handloading & fly tying room. Beautiful condition! Wood isn't fancy, but it's just fine. My 1970's 3-9x Leupold wasn't doing anything important, so was popped atop the Ruger.


Took it to the range, with a box of 140 gr Remington factory ammo, which averaged 3145 fps, and shot right around one moa. Got the rifle dialed in nicely at 200 yards and did a little practice to 300 yards.




Most of my past experience with the 7mm Rem Mag has been with 160-175 grain bullets, and I had some on hand, but this season's big hunting effort will be in Wyoming, for pronghorn and mule deer. I am more interested in lighter bullets at this point, so the handloading commenced with 140 gr Nosler Accubonds, and an old favorite, RL-22. Things have gone quite well. The rifle is still right around one moa, and velocity of the handloads is just shy of 3200 fps, with room for more. Noticed, not surprisingly, that the groups got better and the SD shrank as heavier powder charges were used.



Some things might change. I might tweak the load a bit. I might replace the 1974 vintage Leupold with something newer. Or... I might just do a bit more practice with things the way they are, and call it good. The rifle is tight, feels great, and shoots just fine. I'm a happy man at this point, just hoping to draw the appropriate tags and make the trip to Wyoming once again. Have had excellent success there in the past.

Regards, Guy

I like the No.1 and have quite a few of them. That is one chambering I do not have. Very nice, enjoy it!

I had one, and still regret selling it. Still cannot figure out why I did. Enjoy it.

Have a 1B in 7mm Rem Mag. 25 plus yr old. Mine loves 139gr Hornady BT. Sub moa.

i still have 3 Ruger #1- 7 mag.s 2 are brand new in the box yet. great rifles !

Ya, I wasn't after a 7 mag specifically, just looking for a good open-country cartridge in a good Number One rifle. Kinda stumbled on this one and glad I did.

I like the cartridge & like the rifle.

Guy

I just bought a Tropical that was slightly used in 375 H&H, it came cerecoated and with a Leopold Vari X!!! 1.5x5. It goes with the same rifle in 450-400 quite nicely. I came across a #1A NIB in 250 Savage and that came here as well. The virus has us stuck at home which is costly as both the 375 and the 250 Savage were adopted within a week of each other. I've been loading test rounds and will head to the range this week as temperatures begin to warm up.

Neither gun has decent wood and if they shoot well I'll probably restock the Savage as it will see more field time. I also hope to draw tags for Wyoming this fall.

John Barsness has published some loads which worked really well from my 375 No 1:

260 gr Accubond with 69 grains of Reloader 15, for about 2650 fps and excellent accuracy. More gun than needed for black bear, but it worked really well on three of them I shot over the past ten years or so.

300 gr (pretty much any) with 75 grains of H4350, for about 2500 - 2550 fps & good accuracy.

Those two loads have behaved very nicely in the Number One.

I've told this before; now I'm telling it again...

My brother bought a Number 1 pretty early in their run; serial number around 53XX. 7mm Rem, AH forend, no sights, 22" barrel. Very nice wood. Never seen one like it since. I owned it briefly when he got a hankering for a Sako .270, but dummy that I was (am), I flipped it in short order myself.

The muzzle flash and blast from that little cannon was pretty impressive in those pre-earplug days. He used to buy the 125gr factory stuff. Don't recall him (or me) shooting any groups, but I do remember putting up a target way out across the brushy fields of my grandparents' old farm and hitting it without much trouble.

He later sold the Sako and bought a Liberty 1B in .270, also with lovely wood, and that one was seriously accurate, and pretty dang heavy. He sold it not long before cancer got him. Wish I had that one too.