Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Ruger 1A accuracy dilemna

Here is the dilemna. Had two 1A's at the range to sight in yesterday. A .243 and a .257 Roberts. Using factory Hornady and Remington ammo. Had that feeling when I opened the case on the .257 Rob it was not going to be as easy as the .243 for some reason.

The .243/Leupold 2x9 VXI was on at 50m with holes touching and holes touching/quarter size groups at 110m using either Hornady or Remington 95gr. 8 shots dialed in 1.5" at 100m right on for the 210m metal targets.

The .257 Roberts/Leuopold 3x9 vxII was on at 50m with quarter sized groups but at 100m I had a different result. At 100m there would be groups with two shots 1.5" and then the third shot 3" off the first two. The Hornady 117gr loads did not produce good groups the Remington 117gr loads resulted in 3" group at 100m. I verified the scope and mount were torqued. Cleaned the bore after every 5 - 6 shots and let the barrel cool to ambient temperature during the process. I am leaning toward the cause being the barrel and ammunition combination based on the improved results with the Remington loads compared to the Hornady.

I compared both rifles, the forearm fit at the barrel seems OK, the attachement screw is snug not over tight. I did have a problem with the mounts on the .257 Rob the first go around one was way out of line so I swapped front/back and checked barrel alignment to mount it was 100% on. Like most there is contact with the barrel/foreamr at the front. I have seen this type result with ammunition differences, the Hornady .308 does not work well in my Rem 673 (4" POI varriances high and left from POA) but the Rem .308 loads shot quarter size groups at 100m all day.

Before I get to crazy with barrel floating and add-ons what am I missing on the rifle that I should check out?

Thanks in advance

I would pur a washer or oring around the forearm screw before getting excited. It is a cheep easy place to start

Does the 257 group run vertical? If so, it's probably the rib touching the receiver. If you let the barrel cool off between shots how does it group?

Same as the other two fellas!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

When i have a No.1 that isn't grouping right away, I sometimes take the forend off and rest it right on the tang, especially if it is doing a vertical thing, buit I woulod check the rib, also.

sometimes they don't lshoot well with the forend touching the barrel, so a thin washer or "O" ring behu=ind the forend screw helps.
If you think the forend needs stressing, you can wedge a small piece of wood between the hangar and the barrrel to stop the forend from vibrwaswting too much.

If things improve you need to get one of those forend thingeys or D&T the forend hanger

Catnthehat

Pull the forearm off entirely and see if the groups improve. Then reinstall and try different tensions on the forearm screw, washers etc, A little judicious sanding on the forearm where it meets the action and the barrel, before full floating, real the wood of course ... and then the serious work begins.

The #1a light barrels are a lot more 'whippy' than the B standard barrels. I have around a dozen of those heavier barreled #1s and even they need accurizing to shoot MOA all the time. A free floated barrel with a set screw between hanger and barrel, trigger work and a Wolf speed spring, and work to stabilize the vibes in the quarter rib are in the basic accurizing package I use,

I live near you and will be glad to avise you on further work if you decide to go that route.

1B

I have a 7 page artical scanned from Shooting Times that deals with accuracy tips for the #1. It explains how to do a home version of the Hicks Accurizer.
PM or Email me if you would like me to email it to you

Thanks for the info.

Yes the strings were vertical with the significant rise after the second shot. I did allow for barrel coolong to near ambient temp, cleaning, and clearing shot.

I will start with the simple option, the washer to increase the space. 1B thanks for the offer on the assistance, I may need it.

M

I've had 3 No. 1's that I hunted with. Two of them had this vertical stringing issue when shooting groups from the bench. The grommet or washer trick in the fore-end worked to some degree but didn't completely solve the problem. I took the last one I had to the range along with some other guns and took 1 shot every 15 mintes or so. The result was about 1 1/4" group vs the 2 1/2" vertical string. After that I decided it wasn't a problem for me since accuracy was repeatable with a completely cold barrel and hunting with a No. 1 is all about making the first shot count.

Very true, some barrels do not perform well after the 1st shot. That seems to be true with this one. My Savage 99 is great for two shots then it gets loose shots.

There were marks on the side of the barrel (1.5") starting at the receiver and on the front along the sides and the bottom. I lightly sanded the wood to improve the fit, that with the washer has a nice float.

I will give it a try at the range (with and without the forearm) but need to consider ammunition alternatives. Just may not like the Rem and Hornady.

I get to learn the habits of another #1 as I picked up an older rifle in 220 Swift over the weekend!

I improved the barrel to forearm 'float' by sanding and then installed a washer between the hanger and forearm. The results were noticeable.

Good to hear Mike!
I must have a mental block with my #1 in 22-250.
On paper I get sub moa groups but I have missed 4 woodchucks this spring. All misses have been around 200 to 245 yards.
I think once I bloody the rifle I will get consistant hits!

I know what you mean. The third range visit did the trick. Settled on the Georgia Arms ballistic point 117gr, decent groups at 100m, with consistent hits on the 200m/plates. Even with the barrel nearly to hot to touch the hits at 200m were right on. Ammo testing, the forearm work, and rounds through the barrel seems to have done the trick.

Now I have a selection of .257 rob ammo to try in my Virgin Valley/Contender pistol since the Ruger doesn't do well with anything but the Georgia Arms or Remington.

The things that can cause problems with the No. 1 are almost endless. Generally I start by making sure neither the 1/4 rib or rear of the forend are bearing hard on the receiver.

Sometimes the 1/4 rib can shift around during firing too. In some rifles there's just a little slack in the screws, etc. Sometimes this can be cured by shortenting the screws 1 thread and retightening.

I have done the washers, and forend hanger screws, and Hicks attachments. All work, particularly the hanger-screw/Hicks arrangements, but lately have been having a LOT of luck just glassing the tip of the forend, so that it does not shift sideways or up and down on the barrel when the rifle is fired. I just tighten it like normally after glassing. Seems to work about like firend-tip pressure on a bolt rifle.

A good friend (who is a benchrest builder/shooter and has won the Super Shoot, so knows something about rifles) says he gets the best results with No. 1's by free-floating the barrel entirely, which is also easy to do. I have not had great luck with this on lighter-barreled No. 1's, however.

Once in a while you also run into a rifle that just doesn't have a very tight connection between barrel threads and receiver. The thread-shank on the barrel is pretty short on a No. 1, and if this connection isn't good the barrel will flop around big-time. Which is probably why any method that puts some pressure on the barrel tends to help so often.

MD

Mule Deer,

Your observations on the quarter rib sometimes being loose is an interesting new insight. Ruger's quailty control has slipped a lot recently and this could be worth checking on new #1s or even old ones that chronically won't shoot honest groups after all the other fixes are tried.

In the past I have heard form several smiths including Mike Ruggiero at BCRW that some of the factory ribs are not made "true" that is dead straight, He checks them for this fault and machines any errant surfaces so that they fit the barrel as they should. This is part of his accurizing package, or used to be. Several of mine --a .280 and a 25-06 -- had this streatment and they are very reliably accurate shooters. (All mine are free-floated with set screws by the way.)

There is also a "fix" that involves making the front screw holes into a north-south slot. The theory behind this one is that it allows barrel whip to occur w/o a varying binding effect from the quarter rib. I never had it done, just noting the idea.

My regular smith goes into paroxyms mumbling about the job of removing those quarter ribs because the screws are so tight in most of them, He has made up two -- in 300 H&H and .338-06 in B profile -- for me now. The latter, surprisingly to me anyway, is a nasty kicking rifle with factory WBY fodder.

Regards,
1B

I do a lot of work on #1/3's, two things come to mind. 1> check scope for parallax(or use the other scope). 2> heavier bullets cause more dispersion than lighter.3> try FEDERAL ammo! Before removing any wood, put shim(s) between f/end hanger and f/end until bbl floats. Yuo sometimes will get smaller groups with up/pressure, howener zero is much harder to maintain.
Check for any contact between maingspring and wood/metal, clear if necessary, even the ejector spring, if it has not already been removed.(the noise the ejector makes spooks game and does not slow reloading appreciably). Any contact will cause dispersion. I had one (Several) instance where the f/end screw was replaced with AHCS and I/we would torque the screw to 100 "oz., then back off 1/6 turn! I try not to have to do things like this, will refit f/end to achieve the same groups . IF hunting in very wet climes, I will bed the butt & f/end with TI devcon.

good luck,

I could go on & on!

Guys: I've been thinking about getting a No. 1, but, after reading this stuff about the accuracy problems I'm having
second thoughts. Should I just stick with my M99's and
contenders? I was interested in a No. 1A in '06 or a 45-70.
My neighbor has a No. 1 45-70 and has no problems shooting
'cloverleafs' with it. Also, the guys on the 24 Hour 'Big Bore'
thread don't talk of their 45-70's 'walking'. Also, do the No. 3's
experience these stringing problems as much? (If they don't,
I'd like to find a .45-70, or possibly a .30-40 or .375.) I suppose good luck in finding one of those. It's been a while
since I handled one, but, I bet the .45-70 kills at both ends.

i dont know what you are using for a rest but i had #1 in 7mm STW and it did the same thing with a standard front and rear rest, but putit ina bull bag where the action and forend were both supported together and it shot like a champ. i sold it because i want a bolt gun and the guy i sold it to washered it to float it a bit more off the forend and it now shoots very tight clover leafs

Did I say I have 12 -- nope, now 13 -- #1s? And that I am something of an accuracy "nut"? And take most of my game with #1s, with one shot ?

I have only sold one off, becasue the barrel tended to copper foul at the drop of a hat.

Does that tell you anything about the basic soundness of the rifle and the relative certainty that you can make them shoot?

You can by the way fire many run-of-the-mill .45-70s w/o any grief from the number 1, which you cannot do from the lighter #3. The really stiff loads are another story -- they are safe to shoot in the number 1 and bump into .458 Win Mag range in terms of velocity and recoil.

1B

I wouldn't get my panties in a knot about the "inaccuracy" of no.1's , because it is all relative.

Most are good hunters right out of the box.
I have seen less problems from the get go with no.1's than some out ofthe box than some turnbolt rifles.

It's just as 1B states, we tend to be accuracy nutz and would be messing with ANY rifle we picked up! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

We just know what works fast and easy with the No.1's, is all!
Cat