Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots The next time someone tells you #1's are inaccurate...

feel free to show them this photo:



I bought the rifle used a couple years ago. It came with an older 8x fixed Leupold. I recently replaced it with a VX-3 3.5-10, and started load development in earnest. The load I list is above book, and is a 20 year old lot of powder, so work up to it. Other than taking the buttstock off, checking for rust (none found) and lubing the trigger group, I have done absolutely nothing to the rifle.

Tex,

Most internet cowboys that claim a #1 can't or won't shoot have never owned one let alone shot one at a range or in the field .

Great group , good looking rifle.

Flyer

my 375 H&H will outshoot me. Now I need a 45/70 one

My .35 Whelen will do the same thing...

Are you guys serious in arguing that since your #1s shoot nice groups, all do?

The charge that complainers never have owned a #1 is vapid posturing! Lots of us with lots of experience with #1s can attest to the validity of those complaints.

Ruger at the time that red pad was made told their #1 customers that 3-4 MOA was acceptable accuracy and that their #1s were hunting -- not target -- rifles. (That unsubtle, go to hell, approach has changed in recent years as customers insist on higher quality work for rifles with MSRPs rapidly approaching $1500).

Inaccurate #1 rifles still get sent back to be fixed or are quietly moved on with a 'never again' vow because bad rifles still do get out of the Ruger barn.

And, there is a thriving mini aftermarket industry in making #1s shoot reliably. Are the dozens of articles in the gun rags on how to fix #1s over the years are really all based on wholly erroneous info.? BS.

I have owned upwards of forty #1s. Most shot nice groups, some that didn't were fixable with tweaks ranging from simple home adjustments to expensive professional accurizing, and some -- maybe 10% --only gave shotgun patterns and could not be fixed.

The basic design is capable of the accuracy you site. Custom rifles built right -- I have six of them -- all shoot reliably because of the skilled handiwork in them. But factories are factories and random slipshod craftsmanship, poor assembly and inadequate final checks before shipping are still with us.

When I see posts like these I am reminded of ads by firms that promise to "protect the reputation" of products being criticized -- fairly or not -- on the internet.

1B

Well after owning 32, still have 13, I have had none that wouldn't shoot groups, worst was a red pad .270 1B that would at best do 2" to 2 1/2" 5 shot groups at 100 yds. Best was a red pad 6mm that would consistently do under 3/4".

No patterns yet.

Don't doubt there are some dogs out there.

Were the 10% you had that wouldn't shoot red pads ?

Currently have black pad 222 1A ,223 1B, 257 Rbts 1A, 6.5x55 K1A ,7x57 RSI, 303 1A, 30-06 1A , 9.3x74 1S, 405 1H.

Red Pad 7 Mag 1S , 38-55 1S , 375 H&H 1H, 45-70 1S .

The 405 will do 2" with a peep site at 100 yds with factory Hornady ammo . The 257,6.5 ,30-06, & 303 are all honest 1" to 1 1/2" at 100.

Haven't had 222 out yet.

Flyer

I've never had a #1B that I would call inaccurate - and I've had 7 of them and still have 3. The worst #1 was probably a .375 H&H, but I eventually got it down to 1.5 MOA. That's out of about one dozen I've shot, and I still have 7 of them, total.

I've had 2 different AR's that would only do 3.5-4 inches at 100 yards. I still have a Kimber and a Weatherby that are not impressive. The K should really get a new barrel, but I'm trying to make it work this season.

Yeah I know there are #1's out there that are bad, but I think most of them have been rebarreled over the years - and the ones made by Ruger seems to be at least as good as anything else in their price range.

I believe the standard for "good accuracy" for any center fire rifle should be two consecutive <1 MOA groups at 100 yards.
I also believe Most of the Ruger #1's will not do that, especially those that have changed owners a couple of times.

I have two single shot rifles:
A New Win. 1885 22-250 that shot two consecutive 5 shot groups at < .780" out of the box.

My second hand seventeen year old Ruger #1V 25-06 that I just bought averaged 1.600 " three shot groups. After extensive barrel and fore end tuning now shoots four different bullet loads consecutively at<.800".

As 1B states they don't come easy most of the time.

When I hunt my favorite is The #1V

When your over 80 years old nothing comes easy any more.

I love Ruger No. 1's.

I have owned maybe a half dozen or so, all red pad guns and, with the exception of a Tropical in .458 that shoots like a target rifle, all have taken work to print even mediocre groups.

This last year I saw a 1A in .30-06 languishing on the rack in a local shop. The price was right, so I took it home, hoping for the best. I mounted a scope and went to the range with a handload that has worked well in several 06's and fired a 5 shot group, being careful to let the barrel cool. Let's just say I wasn't surprised that the group measured a little over 6 inches..... all vertical. I suspect with a little forearm work I can get it to shoot ok, but damn, here I go again.

Sometimes I just feel like a dog rolling in cow manure... I just can't help myself.

No one really cares how many No.1's anyone has owned or has not owned. Such means nothing in any helpful discussion.

There are always exceptional rifles of any breed, then are some of the other extreme. If you rifle does not shoot to your satisfaction, that is what hits home locally.

Barrel quality goes a long ways in getting towards decent performance.

The No.1 has its quirks in its design and fabrication, most can be made more pleasing with some effort/$ put forth.

My current 1A in .30-06 will shoot groups like that posted by the OP. It's a laser. I love it. My last one wasn't but it wasn't horrible.

1B is spot on. Ruger accuracy is unpredictable and that's why there's an aftermarket industry devoted to accurizing them. Their 77's are the same way. I've had one that would group and three that shot very erratically, even after considerable professional tweaking by guys who build predictably accurate rifles.

[quote=redz06]No one really cares how many No.1's anyone has owned or has not owned. Such means nothing in any helpful discussion.

Well, having owned several No1s gives a single individual more of a cross section of how they perform, more so than someone who has had only one.
If a person has only one and it's a shooter,than all No. 1 rifles that he can actually speak to personally have been good and vice versa for the guy that got a bad shooter.
I have 1B in 6mm and was ready to give up. I tried load after load and one day found the bullet and load combo and the groups went from 3 inch groups to .75. The only reason I kept it as long as I did is because my dad gave it to me and it's an early model with some good figure.
Then there are the guys who don't know how to shoot,load or shut up and learn. They speak from only second hand opinion and usually are too lazy and arrogant to do anything well. Those are the guys that usually class the No.1 as a non shooter.

Armymark,

Invest in a book on logic.

Your 6mm #1 experience makes the opposite point you assert.

Who buys an expensive,, top of the line product -- car, computer, whatever...-- struggles with it for years to perform its function reliably and then, if successful, declares it a flawless product?

Ruger #1s are not sold with a warning "only for serious reloaders and gunsmiths".

Many -- probably most --of them perform for Joe Average using commercial fodder very nicely w/o resorting to such antics.

The ones that don't tend to piss off proud new owners; send them in search of fixes, and deter them from recommending #1s to others.

Some also -- like you -- are prone to make sweeping illogical and inaccurate judgments based on one experience.

1B

I should post a target photo. I also have a '76 #1, 3oo win. 3 180 accubonds in less than 3/4" on sunday... It won't do that everytime, but alwasys less than 1.5 in, 270 shoots even better.

The 300 is leaving with me for elk manana.

Good Luck!

I too have a Liberty .300 #1B, and unless I have some success getting a Weatherby to shoot, the .300 #1 will go mule deer hunting with me in a month or so.

The reason I posted the thread is, I have recently worked with two different stainless/synthetic rifles(not cheap ones, either). "Accurate rifles don't grow on trees" we've been told; well so far neither stai-syn has matched any of my old Rugers

thanks. I can't claim to be an expert and these are the only 2 #1s I have worked with. The funniest thing for me is that years ago I worked up a very accurate load with the old nosler solid bases for my ancient 270, only to discover that the 1a really likes el cheapo 130 gr win power points- the ones that used to always gon on sale for 10bucks a box. Blasphemous, but about 40 deer and an elk and 30 yrs later, no complaints...

I have 5 No.1's that all shoot well (+/- MOA), but my new 375 H&H really has me grinning.

Final sight-in before season opener:


Other load work:

Sweet!

After the deer opener I'll probably post some pics of "Old Salty" the .375 I have which is a salt wood gun. I finally decided to keep it, and mitigate the problem.

The first time I ever shot my used Ruger #1V 223.

I've been fooling with No. 1's (and a few No. 3's) for around 25 years now. Have seen a few older ones that required some work to get to shoot, but can't recall any that didn't respond to a Hicks Accurizer or similar home-grown modification. Did own one of the very early Douglas-barreled rifles, a .300 Winchester Magnum, for a while, and it shot 1" 5-shot (not 3-shot) groups with several loads, and didn't need any modfications.

Since Ruger started making their own hammer-forged barrels I'd say about half the No. 1's I've purchased have shot very well (3 shots in an inch or less at 100 yards) right out of the box, and all the others would do as well with a little tweaking. Have never had to use a Hicks on one.

Only have three right now, a .22 Hornet 1B that will put 5 shots in 1/2" and except for the trigger pull hasn't been altered; a 1AH .25-06 that shoots several loads extremely well, the only modification epoxy-bedding the tip of the forend; and a No. 3 .30-40 Krag that shot well under an inch the way it came.