Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Stalking rifle

Looking to build a new "stalking rifle" light and compact
deer to 200yds
minimum 38-55/375 Win Perfect world find a Ruger no 1S 38-55
like my Encore 405 but really want a hammerless
just cant warm upto the Ruger no 3
rimmed straight wall case WFN lead bullets
hold out for No1 38-55? anyone know were theres one for sale?
Ruger No 1 in 460?
can i rebore a Savage 219 to 38-55/375?

How much is in the budget? I can think of a couple routes to take but they wouldn't be particularly cheap.

love to be in at 1000 but im assuming 1500. cheapest No 1 I can find and then a re-barrel?
really take the dive another 800ish and send it to Renner for a "diet"

One candidate is the "Courteney Stalking Rifle" now available from Uberti. I have posted elsewhere my experiences up to now with mine. It is chambered in 303 Brit which is certainly adequate for deer if not larger game. I was able to buy mine for less than the list price shown on the Uberti site and am well pleased with it. The action is butter smooth, wood finish and fit excellent and pleasing to the eye. My only criticism has been the clearance between scope and hammer when using a rifle scope. The stock and sights align perfectly for use with the iron sights and I think a tang or receiver mount peep would be good, but, for old guys with old eys, a scope is required. Accuracy so far with loaded Federal ammo is a 5 shot 1 3/4 group. I am trying to beat that with reloads. If you like the 1885 Winchester form, it fits the bill.

Never saw a Ruger .38/55. There have been some .30/30s. A 1A seems like the easy way if you can make do with a small bore, or a .45/70 which are all over the place. Probably gonna run about 8.5 pounds scoped.

Ruger made a limited run of 1S in 38-55....be a challenge finding one
45-70 great cartridge already have a couple
REALLY want to stay away from hammer gun, already have a variety of T/C Sharps 1885's
Had a T/C TCR but for whatever reason it just DID NOT fit me and could never get very good accuracy

Check with Wayne York of Oregon Gunsmithing. He does lots of H&R single shots for the guys on Graybeards.

I may have missed it, but what is our desire caliber-wise? If you want a "light" #1, there are a lot great factory options - any of the #1A's or RSI Internationals would be cool stalking rifles. Either one in 250 Savage or 257 Roberts would be high on my list. Was your goal to go bigger bore? You mentioned a 38-55, and I see you already have 45/70's, but there are some factory 35 Whelen #1A rifles out there as well if you want to throw more lead.

I know you said that you can't warm up to a #3, but I think they are a perfect woods stalking rifle. This one is in 223 and is great for carrying it in the woods after deer. I think a 30-40 Krag would be even better for deer. I have considered getting this bored out to 257R or 338fed, but it is so much fun to shoot in 223. The scope in the picture (VX3 4.5-14) turned out to be too much scope for that rifle so it now carries a Leupold FX-II in 4x. Accuracy wise, it will shoot 55 grain soft point in under an inch at 100 yards and 65 grain SGKs just over an inch which is plenty accurate where I hunt.

no doubt what soever the quality of a No 3, and the lightness and compactness should be exactly what im looking for....but....they just dont feel good to me.

Caliber wise im looking for flanged straight walled medium caliber 38-55/375win or 405. Ill push WFN lead bullets at moderate velocities.....just what i like.

A No. 3 fitted with No. 1 wood feels nice. The No. 3 stock is as clunky as the factory stock on the 10/22.

I got that #3 with the intentions of restocking it. I got a semi-inletted stock that I fitted, and shaped but never finished. I also have a factory #1 stock that needs refinished, and looking for a factory forearm. Problem is that factory #3 stock is growing on me.

Renner's No. 3 conversion package to a "saddle rifle" gets rid of the barrel band and really trims up the stock, including cheeks on the buttstock at the receiver similar to the No. 1. I had my 30-40 Krag done with a Schnabel forearm tip and it's really slick. Might be competitive cost-wise if you don't already have the No. 1 or its furniture and No. 3s are available in 375 Win on the various auction sites. The metal butt "pad" is another consideration for the No. 3.

For an out of the box light and compact .38-55 there's the Winchester 1885 Trapper model with a 16" barrel. Length would be 32" and from what I gather on the net weight is right around 6 pounds. Of course, style wise you're kind of looking at a Ruger #3 with a hammer which you said you didn't want but these cock on opening so it's not a separate step.

They can still be bought new on gunbroker for the $1200 range but that seems to be following the current price bubble, maybe some other places cheaper but I haven't looked. They were never a huge seller and just a couple years ago were being discounted for around $900 IIRC.



Other than the Ruger #3 .375 and 1885's from various manufacturers there isn't much out there in a single shot .38-55 and 99% of those will be long and heavy except for this model.

Have an 1885 in 260 thats an absolute delight to carry and shoot

Once upon a time Ruger offered the #1 in 357 Mag. I wonder if one of those could be re-chambered to a 350 Legend to get that little extra range you're talking about?

Be easier to open a 357 Magnum to 357 Maximum

hadnt thought about the legend.....interesting idea

I just had a 38-55 built on a Winchester High Wall action and couldn't be happier with it. Seems I saw on either Guns International or Gun broker a #1 in 38-55. Also I recently added a #1 in 35 Whelen and just doing barrel break in and load development. Looks promising so far.

They're still available from CDNN