Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Gun Show Ruger 1B, Scope question

I recently joined the Ruger #1 fraternity, when I came across a very nice Ruger #1B .243 from a private seller at a gun show. The rifle is a red pad, 131 prefix, made about 1978. The stock has nice figure in the wood, has virtually no wear on the blueing and just the slightest signs of use on the stock. It had a very pristine V9II Weaver El Paso steel tube 3-9x40 scope on it (very similar vintage to the rifle). It also came with a very nice Cobra style leather sling with swivels (looked new), an extra set of offset Ruger rings, a box of Remington Premier Accutip factory ammunition, and the original instruction manual. Rifle has the accurizer installed on the hanger and has some sort of aftermarket trigger on it although I'm not sure which one it is. Trigger pull is very good and crisp. I think this combo was priced very fairly at $950. Unfortunately, and before I realized how well suited the Weaver scope is to the Ruger #1 platform, I sold it to a vintage scope dealer in Montana. Now I'm kicking myself, but I will need to find a suitable scope to put on it. I shot a few groups at the range with a different scope on it (one I have to crawl into) and got 1.25 inch groups with the factory ammo (including another box of Hornady 90 gr. ELD-X that I found at Sportsmen's Warehouse). I really love the way the rifle shoots, the way it looks, and everything about it. It's a bit heavy for a hunting rifle but sure is nice to shoot from the bench. Any thoughts on what scope would be best? I have a Meopta Meopro 4.5-14X on another rifle, and looking at the dimensions it looks like it might work. Eye relief is advertised at 3.5 inches. Any others that I should look at?

Leupold V3 (of whatever vintage) 3.5-10x40.

Not responsible for the crappy erectors. I’d look for a used old one with friction adjustments.

I have a Hawke Endurance LER 3-9x40 with 4.5” of ER and illuminated reticle you could have cheap, if you’re not allergic to Chinese food. Just took it off a Hawkeye .223 for something with more Xs.

Thanks Pappy. I will send you a PM.

I had a similar combination once - a classic Ruger #1 with a classic Weaver Steel Lite II V7 scope. For now, that V7 sits back in its original box. I may be willing to let it go if it's something you might be interested in...

I thought all Vari X iii through current 3 stuff to have been click.

Vari X ii was friction.

AZ Southpaw, thanks for the offer, but I bought Pappy's Hawke 3-9X and will see how that works out on the 1B.

I've owned a couple 1B rifles and used Vortex Viper scopes. They have about 4" eye relief.

The Hawke 3-9x40 that I bought from Pappy348 has solved the issue for me. It has a lot of eye relief and a pretty good eyebox. Quite a nice scope for the money - I was using it side by side with a SWFA 3-15x42 that day and I found the optical clarity better on the Hawke.