Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Ruger No.1 .243 RSI

Its really easy to do with a No. 1...no bolt to remove. Just drop the lever as if you are loading a cartridge. Voila!

Yep. I was at the rang with my buddy the other day and he was having a hell of a time getting dialed in. I said, do you mind if I bore site that thing for you? He said, "of course not". Pulled the bolt and looked through the bore, adjusted it and he was on paper. Before that he was complaining about how much his 300 win mag ammo costs. I think he had about 8 shots downrange before I asked if I could bore sight it for him.

On the OP's rifle, I'm imagining a quick bore sight will tell him if it's even possible to get on paper. If he runs out of adjustment, there's something wrong. That is probably what mathman was alluding to as well.

The bold part is something I would focus on before swapping too many scopes or firing another shot. You may need to swap rings. And if swapping rings doesn't resolve the issue, then I would start looking elsewhere.

I have a 1V that I decided to swap scopes on. Existing scope was a 1" model and I was going to a 30mm. I bought a set of 30mm Warne vertical split rings to try. Installation was easy and bore sighting was straight forward enough, even though it took a lot of windage to get aligned. At the range, doing the fine tuning to sight in, I ran out of windage...just barely...was only about 1" off. Drove me nuts. I tried swapping the rings around a few times--moving the front ring to the back and the back to the front, swapping halves, etc. None of that worked...still ran out of windage adjustment. Had a set of Ruger 30mm rings on hand so gave them a shot. Before installing, I re-centered the reticle to be in the middle of the windage and elevation adjustment range. When I put the scope in the Ruger rings and checked the bore sight, I was nearly spot on. Off to the range--no problems. Been solid ever since.

A different example, a 1A that I bought brand new and stuck in the safe. Finally decided to pull it out last year and scope it. Mounted rings and a scope, shouldered and just could not get comfortable and aligned. Scratched my head, studied a bit, pulled the rings and scope, then realized quarter rib and front sight were not aligned to top-dead-center. The whole barrel assembly was clocked about 10 or 15 degrees to port. Reached out to Ruger, got a return authorization and had the rifle back in a week and a half with a new barrel, rib and sights.

I say all that to echo back to my first sentence....I doubt it is the scope if you are running out of adjustment.

Great advice and post.

Just to put things in condensed terms. Having the problems you are the scope is probably not the issue. Rings, then the rifle itself would be the order I would check.
Good luck to you!
Rick

TTT

? Did you inspect the rail to make sure it's right on the centerline of the bore axis? Using the correct rings? By you TTT, that should come with an explanation of what you found. Like some of us have said, it's not a scope issue. There is a mechanical issue with your rifle and you are the only one that is going to find it. Seeing how there are no pictures or anything like that for us to look at.

So SOUP pm'd me. He is still not able to correct the elevation on the scope on his rifle. I'm suspect of his rings. Although, I do not have any pics. I asked if he used ring alignment bars to check the rings. I have not heard back from him. As I stated before, the Ruger 77's used different height rings. The Ruger #1 used the same height rings. I always check those with ring alignment bars though. Start off with the proper rings and then check ring alignment. That is number uno in my book. If there is a discrepancy, it will be easy to spot at that point. IF you are using the wrong rings, the ring alignment bars will rule that out very quickly. I like soup, we've talked before, so if any of you can help after he replies with more information, that would be cool. I'll keep an eye on this thread to see if he gets this corrected.

he needs to have someone with some ring height understanding i think he has the wrong rings for that #1 like has been posted above .

Folks,
I really appreciate your input.
I had Ruger rings on with the Redfield to begin with, eye relief wasn't there beyond 4 power. Then I tried a pair of Ruger extended rings with a Leupold VX 3 scope and ran out of adjustment, I removed the front ring and replaced it with a Ruger high ring. Also took the scope both windage and elevation to zero then counted back halfway. Using a Wheeler Lazer Bore sighter vs my 50-year-old Bushnell, the windage is dead on with only a few clicks and elevation is about 2" high dead on BUT I'm out of down adjustment.

Think I'll call Ruger about the ring's mis n match and Leupold about running out of adjustment.
Thank you all. I'm still very much open to suggestions!!
Semper Fidelis
Soup

Youth is wasted on the young!

I believe the bold is the issue.

To my recollection, Ruger only offers the offset rings in medium (#4) height. If you replaced the front with a high (#5) ring, then you have mis-matched rings and are basically pointing the scope at an upward angle. This would explain why you have run out of elevation adjustment. You should be able to replace your front scope ring with a standard #4 medium height ring and resolve this issue.

Gents,
Not much is going to happen this week/weekend.
Cardiologist appointments Thursday-Saturday & Monday.
Maybe I can think some of this through along with the helpful knowledge on the Campfire....and still remain Vertical!!
Semper Fidelis
Soup

I don't know about back east but in the desert southwest, when shooting for groups with the RSI I keep it to 3 or 4 shots at a time. And, I wait a couple of minutes between those shots. Once that barrel starts to heat up against that full-length stock, groups open in a hurry.

Also, I am a firm believer that unless a rifle is sick, there is a load for it somewhere. Part of the fun of shooting is finding that load!

Folks,
I'm getting a heart monitor for a couple of days Saturday. Today's test results are a secret. So, I got on the horn first to Ruger. Gave them the story, they told me to use the other extended ring on the front -now I've got 2 extended rings of equal height. He also told me the rifle was made in 85 and Ruger was making barrels then, but it should be marked. I've never taken the forend off. Bore sighted and low and behold I ran out of Down adjustment again with both the Wheeler and 49-year-old Bushnell.
Called Leupold and after a lot of questions from both of us he informed me that scope (VX3-3.5X10X40) doesn't have a lot of internal adjustment. He also advised to boresight it through the bore at 100 yards, bore sighters can be off. So, I asked about a lower X ;5HD or 6HD - 1.5x5 or in that range and he said I'd have more adjustment.
Thats all well and good but about $1100 or so for a new scope and my eye relief wouldn't be much better.
HOWEVER -Almost all the pics I see posted of RSI rifles have regular adjustable scopes, so I've got to go repack this parachute.
Semper Fidelis
Soup

Soup, you keep alluding to it being a scope issue. Is there a way you can post pics of the rifle? The scope mount, rings and scope? We should be able to see something in the picture. Also, as I asked before, have you tried scope ring alignment bars to make sure your rings are correct? I was just out shooting my new to me Ruger #1 today and I'm hoping you can get this fixed. Your rifle should work with a $105 Burris FFII 3-9x40, let alone a VX3 Leupold. No need to invest too much money in a scope, when you have different issues going on with this rifle. Yes, one could buy a Nightforce with 100 moa of adjustment and get you on target, but you should not have to do this. You also mention that your rifle may not have any markings on the barrel. Or did I read that wrong? You shouldn't have to remove the forend to see the Ruger stampings on the barrel. If your rifle has been re-barreled, maybe they improperly installed the scope mount rail??? Pics would be worth a 1,000 words man. Good clear ones, so we can see what is going on.

BSA,
I would gladly post pictures, but I've never done it and have no idea where to start.
Remember I'm no spring chicken. I came home from the war in 1970. When I went to school we used fountain pens, no kidding.

Let me try this, remove the scope and rings, put the Redfield and standard rings back on the rifle. Zero the scope, then boresight at 100 yards. If I can get it bore sighted, I'll try some Nosler 90 or 95 BT or I've got some 100 grain Interlocks loaded also.

My intent for the rifle is Pennsylvania WT deer hunting. Never had a shot over 60 in fact I can't remember one that far!
But I want the best accuracy I can get. The rifle hasn't been re barreled, I just didn't see anything like" barrel made by Ruger" just the normal factory address. It does have a red recoil pad.
Thank you for your consideration!
Semper F

Sounds like a beautiful rifle soup. My dad also hunted PA, where he was born and raised. Grandfather died of black lung working in the mines there. Keep us updated and I hope things start going well!!!

Folks,
I removed the std. mounts from the RSI. Checked the base to be sure everything was tight, then remounted the extended rings.
I zeroed the Redfield 2.5X7X TV screen and it bore sighted with room for fine tuning.
I took a header so no shooting for a few days. I know zero-nothing about Redfield Scopes so if anyone does, please let me know.
Clarity is good. I do know that lots of guys shooting the Redfield's years ago all got scope eye!!!
Semper Fidelis
Soup

Bought my first #1, a 1A in .243, bought it new in 1982 or '83. It had been on the rack for at least a couple of years at a LGS. Scoped it with an old Weaver K4. Bore sighted it and only had one or two more clicks of adjustment left. It shot 12 to 15 inch patterns no matter what load I tried. Put a Leupold 3-9 on it. Same problem. Called Ruger. They sent me another set of rings. Installed them and scope bore sighted easily, right in the center of the adjustment ranges. Still shot shotgun patterns.

Called Ruger again. They said ship it to them, so I did. Got it back about 3 or 4 weeks later and it was shooting consistent 5/8 to 3/4 inch groups with several different loads as well as some factory loads. They never told me what all they did, but I suspect that they changed the barrel. They definitely tweaked the trigger. This rifle was originally built during a time that Ruger didn't make their own barrels and had changed from Wilson or Douglas barrels to another contractor.

Hey Soup,

Id be interested in that rifle if it doesn't shoot (am looking for a #1 to rebarrel)