Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Mule Deer on Ruger #1s -- A Must-Read

FINALLY!

Only a MONTH after the release of that volume of Rifle did it appear on the shelves here in west-outer BFE Virginia.

Of course, I grabbed a copy, and may go back and get the other 2(!) as well.

Great article; can't say much more about it that hasn't already been said, except that I have to object to JB's last sentence and the advice of his long-time mentor.

Ruger #1s won't break your heart. But, they will steal it.

VAnimrod,

I guess as a 17 time loser, I probably qualify as the Mickey Rooney of #1s! Except, there was only one divorce -- so maybe I'm the king Farouk of #1s. I fit the profile better anyway.

1B

hey
The one I bought the other day was made in december of 99 shipped in 2000 I got htis info from ruger today. I hope it shoots well I really like the way it fits. The artical by MD helped and the info was noted I dont buy alot of magazines but made the exception on that one.
Bearbeater

I borrowed the Nov. Rifle from a friend and read it. I let my mags all expire for several years due to economy and more blah,blah,blah. I enjoyed the read. A friend passed away and I ended up with a #1 in 7x57 that appeared unfired----hence my interest in the article by Muledeer. I bought a box of Rem 140s, as I like to use a factory round for comparison to start. They shot like crap--5 inchs with 2 groups at 100m. I lightly relieved some of the wood where it touches the action to get a more even fit, but not enough to keep from touching.
I have now loaded some 120 and 140 Balistic Tips and will try again Sat. I am hoping that I have one of the newer guns with a genuine Ruger barrel. I measured the max oal for the 140 BTs at 3.130", so am inclined to think it is not the "Deep Throat" version. I hope it likes my handloads without a lot of tweaking needed to get decent groups.
Does anyone know if the 120 BTs will hold up to pass thru a deer chest?
Anyhow---I enjoyed the articles by MD and others-- a blend of new and old with some common sense rationalization thrown in. I may have to start reading Rifle and some others again.

michiganroadkill;

Try the Federal 175 gr. RNs. They shoot very well in my #1RSI 7x57 and might in your #1 as well. They'll flat hammer a deer, are plenty good for 250/300 yards as well as up close work, and expand/penetrate very, very well.

Give 'm a try, if nothing else, you'll have more brass and another bullet design to compare.

My buddy's wife bought him a stainless/laminated .25/06 for his birthday a couple of years ago. It's a shootin' SOB, with every bullet except the 85NBT, no big deal, the other 4 or 5 .25/06s we've shot (between us) didn't like that bullet, either. It one-holes 75 V-Maxes, and nearly does the same with 115 NBTs. The SS rings supplied with the rifle, just plain suck, though, soft as butter, and about as useful, for holding a scope. Oh, and yes, it's a good looknig rifle, too, if a tad heavy, even with the sporter barrel.

I got lucky and bought my #1 at a hawk shop. It's a well used 1978 with beautiful wood in 300 Winchester Magnum.

Shoots tiny little groups w/150gr Remington Coreloctks @100. What a gem!

3 years ago I sent in my #1A 7x57 in because the little screw that holds in the release mechanism in the lever fell out, along with the release mechanism (while bear hunting). I sent the rifle in to Ruger to have it repaired, as that part is a factory only repair (you can't even buy the part new).

I got a call back from Ruger in Arizona. They told me that because my rifle had a Canjar single set trigger installed, they would not repair it (unless they could install a factory trigger).

I didn't have any choice, obviously. So I got the rifle back in a reasonable amount of time, with my wonderful canjar trigger in a small ziploc bag.

The repair works nicely, of course, plus, they reinstalled the rear sight that had been removed by someone (don't know why, it didn't interfere with the scope). I had asked that they PLEASE adjust the trigger as well as possible, between 2.5 and 4 lbs and as crisp as possible.

They did a pretty good job on the trigger, it's no Canjar (which broke like the proverbial glass rod at 3 lbs unset), but it has minimal creep, backlash and probably breaks at about 3.5 to 4 pounds.

Regards,

Without any specific data on hand to refer to, I did some "woodwork" to my #1. I still get 2 groups with 5 shots, and probably will need to use the Acraglas to do some mending and to move forward in my search for repeatable accuracy <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />. Still hope for the 7x57 to be able to shoot a deer this year with Nosler 120 BTs. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Why was your #1 sent to Arizona vice the New Hampshire facility? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> It was my understanding that all Ruger long guns and revolvers were to be sent and serviced in New Hampshire and all pistols went to Prescott, Arizona.

I just read the article today. I have to say it is a very good read for anyone with a #1. I've had a #1V .22-250 (1978 production) for a couple years now and it has been a fabulously accurate rifle. At the beginning of October I bought a #1B in .270 (1994 production) that seems to be one of the "break your heart" variety. At first it was consistently shooting 1 1/4" groups with a 130 grain bullet and 55 grains of IMR-4350 and the happy, happy joy part was the 26" barrel giving me and average of 3184 fps. I took the foreend off of it because I didn't think it looked very well sealed and I applied some spar varnish to it.

Now these rifles have a rep for being tempermental about fore end tension and this one is living up to it because I haven't gotten good accuracy from it since I put the forend back on. It seems to be either a really bad group or two shots very close together and a flyer 2-3" away. I've tried varying the tension without luck. The only thing that worked was taking the forend off and resting the rifle on the hanger which gave me sub-moa results.

That made me think that the fix would be to free float it like I did with my #1V(it was already very accurate but became more consistent). For some reason this didn't help the #1B.

So to Mule Deer and the other Ruger #1 doctors, my question is, what do you think will help? Should I try relieving a bit more wood from the foreend or put the pressure tip back in? I have to say I took out the bare minimum amount of wood because I wanted a neat looking job.

Other than that, I'm definitely going to try to polish the trigger on my #1B now that I've seen it done. The one on the #1V is pretty good but I'd like to buy a Canjar for it (Ben, are you selling?).

Chuck

Assuming you've already tried quality handloads, of course, I'd try fire lapping on a finicky #1 before I whittled on wood or metal.

I used the Wheeler Engineering kit a few years ago on my .22-250 (pictured over in the Single Shot Forum) and it did the trick.

I've tried free floating Ruger #1's a few years ago, and always came back to adding a touch of forend pressure.

so the message I read from this whole string is don't buy a used number 1 unless you just like to tinker with guns as most likely you will be buying someone else's problem! Jimmy P

I would pressure-tip it again.

MD

Well Mule Deer, if you say to pressure tip it that's good enough for me. Do you see anything wrong with testing it with it shimmed with business cards before trying it with epoxy?

As an aside I was hoping to carry this rifle for deer hunting but then it lost it's mind. What I'm carrying instead is a Remington 700 BDL .35 Whelen that I bedded based on an article that you wrote a few years ago. It always shot well but since bedding it it is very impressive indeed.

Chuck

Yes, but if you read well and find articles like Mule Deer's you can succeed where others have failed, and that's always fun <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

There's a pretty nice .375 H&H for sale that I know of, and while I'm tempted just because of the wood I really don't need another one. The big calibers often get bought as range toys, then are sold as novices discover just how hard they kick.

I like Ruger No1#s I have had 2 45-70 they shot very well. got a 7mag, and never could get iy to shoot 3inch groups at 100yrds. If Ruger made a run of 35 wheels I would line up to get one.JB

My 54xx serialed rifle in .222 must have a Douglas barrel, then...and it shoots wonderfully close. I am the second owner; the first was a suburban 'collector' who apparently purchased the rifle as a decorator, and never shot it. He DID turn it over to a competent 'smith who adjusted the trigger and forend tension. I've done nothing else but shoot it carefully since 1972, when it came into my life. I have to be careful, it's too pretty to take dancin' with the rough crowd. Sometimes I wish it were a .270, but then I recall an article in the Rifleman (Jan. 1970) by retired USMC Gen. Vernon Megee. He found his new .222 to be a 'bumblebee' but had a bit more trouble getting good accuracy from the .270. My experience with the small-bore agrees with his exactly. I also have some experience with '80's era #1's in 6mm Rem and .22-250, both of which were hunting accurate but nothing to be thrilled about. Luckily both of them belonged to less particular shooters than I. P.S.: My hunting pard, a grisly old Maine guide, has a #1 in .45-70 that prints Ballentine three ring signs at 100 paces, but only since he worked up a good 300 gr. handload and installed a Pachmayr Decelerator pad. The Ruger-only .45 loads can kick ya out from under your hat!!

My 54xx serialed rifle in .222 must have a Douglas barrel, then...and it shoots wonderfully close. I am the second owner; the first was a suburban 'collector' who apparently purchased the rifle as a decorator, and never shot it. He DID turn it over to a competent 'smith who adjusted the trigger and forend tension. I've done nothing else but shoot it carefully since 1972, when it came into my life. I have to be careful, it's too pretty to take dancin' with the rough crowd. Sometimes I wish it were a .270, but then I recall an article in the Rifleman (Jan. 1970) by retired USMC Gen. Vernon Megee. He found his new .222 to be a 'bumblebee' but had a bit more trouble getting good accuracy from the .270. My experience with the small-bore agrees with his exactly. I also have some experience with '80's era #1's in 6mm Rem and .22-250, both of which were hunting accurate but nothing to be thrilled about. Luckily both of them belonged to less particular shooters than I.

Mule Deer, thanks for the advice to reapply the foreend pressure to my #1B. Free floating definitely didn't work but putting forend pressure in definitely did. Since I was out of the IMR-4350 that I'd used in my handloads I picked up a box of 130 grain Core-Lokts. Three shot groups are nice and photogenic and ranging from 0.8" to 0.9" with a factory load that was selected for no particular reason other than the fact that it was available. It looks like my .270 is up and running again.

Now I just need to work up a good load with the 110 grain V-Max so that I can try and hammer a coyote or a wolf in the not too distant future. Until I get restocked with powder in a week or so (rural living) I'll try the H-380 that I use in my .22-250.

Chuck