Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Ruger no 1 9.3x74r or ruger no 1 45/70 help me decide

Pros, cons I'm craving a thumper. There happens to be one of each available locally.

Probably easier to find brass & bullets for the .45-70. Both are effective killers. I stumbled across a black pad .45-70 a couple years ago, and like it a lot. It shoots well with stout loads of H4198, under the Barnes 300 gr TTSX.

But if I found a 9.3x74 with really nice wood, I'd probably buy one of those, too It probably would shoot flatter with top loads, than the .45-70.

I have a Ruger #1 in 45-70 which I like a lot, but do not have, nor have I ever even fired, a 9.3X 74, so I can't compare them.

That's not much help, but that's all I have.

Steve

I own both. The .45/70 is obviously more "practical" but the 9.3 offers more ranging ability and there's something about the romance of the 9.3x74R....

I have both... (In fact I have two in 9.3x74R...) I would bet that they made far more in .45/70 than in the 9.3... Therefore, logic tells me that the more rarer one would be the better buy. If you decide at a later date, to buy the other, the .45/70 would be far and above easier to find...

GH

9.3 x74R

I had this 9.3 up for sale a year or so ago.

The 9.3x74 hands down, 9.3mm bullets are much more sleek than 45 cal slugs so would be better in the wind. I never realized how much the wind pushed around the 45-70 until I had a very nice SS laminate No 1.

Grasshopper makes a great point too....

FWIW, I have tried .45-70s in several different iterations over the years and have never warmed up to them. However, I am primarily a hunter and not a shooter, so it may just be that they don't suit my needs. I have a No. 1-S in 9.3x74R that is my primary elk rifle. It does suit my needs. One of these days, I will take a deer or two with it, just for the hell of it, but it really doesn't work for the way that I hunt deer and pronghorns. If I ever get back to Africa, it damned sure will go with me.

IF anyone is in need of dies, brass and bullets for the 9.3-74R,send me a PM, I've got a pile. I sold my rifle a couple of months ago....Loved it, just had no need for it any longer.

Much obliged for the replies thus far. The 9.3 has better wood. The 45/70 is one of the latest production runs and the wood looks like a packing crate. I have no interested what so ever in loading the 45/70 up to full power loads. There are also the unseen 9.3x62s slated to come out, but I think the rimmed version screams single shot.

Much obliged for the replies thus far. The 9.3 has better wood. The 45/70 is one of the latest production runs and the wood looks like a packing crate. I have no interested what so ever in loading the 45/70 up to full power loads. There are also the unseen 9.3x62s slated to come out, but I think the rimmed version screams single shot.

I agree that a rimmed cartridge does scream single shot. The 9.3x74R is one that I would love to play with. One of our late members, Timberline, did a write up of an antelope hunt with just such a No. 1. Ever since that story the 9.3x74R has been on my radar.

Timberline's 9.3:



I had the good fortune of putting it to use one fall when I was hunting with my boys- (and had the further good fortune of sharing that event in some detail with Timberline):



It does scream 'single shot', even 'single shot #1' perhaps, with that long sleek rimmed case. (I had no trouble loading and emptying 3 cartridges when the time came for business either. )

I have loved my 45-70 longer:



.........and it has been on more adventures:


It was my first #1 which I acquired new in the '90s. I'm pretty certain the 45-70 was more or less a standard caliber for 20 years or better and they were as common as dirt for awhile. I really like both of these #1-S rifles. They feel so 'right' in my hands and are hard to tell apart in balance though I'd probably give the nod to the fatter bore in the handling department - just by the slimmest margin. In the light 'S' platform they can both come backwards pretty hard but the 45-70 does provide a deeper sense of punishment than the 286 grain bullets common for the 9.3.

The 9.3 gives you similar characteristics to the 375, but in a handier package. Brass for the 375 is much easier to find, of course, and less expensive. I also prefer to bang away with the 375 since the #1 version has better recoil damping than the lively 9.3.

One day I'll probably use my 9.3 to land a moose. I had a 286er on the launch pad and ready while my 10 year-old aimed two 140s at this moose with the 270 he was using:



His bullets sailed true however so I never even warmed the barrel of the 9.3 that day.

That is certainly a good use for his former rifle. That grizz looks to have been a very old bear.

I always had the impression that in the past, Ruger tended to use nicer wood on the 45-70's than their other chamberings. At least when there were multiple No. 1's on the rack, the 45-70's generally had the best wood. That said, I have one in 9.3x74 and wouldn't trade it for a 45-70. I do have 45-70's in other rifles and wouldn't be without one. In the No. 1, I prefer the 9.3...

The observation that Ruger wood has gone downhill is accurate but not really a problem. Last year I purchased a 450/400 that actually went on safari. It looks new but the wood was really plain. Found a 45-70 from 1976 that had great wood along with 10 coats of spar varnish. The hardest part was getting the AH fore ends stained to match their "new" buttstocks. (different bbl channel size).
The 45-70 went down the road at a break even price to a hunter who could care less about figured wood. The 45-70 stock, refinished and checkering recut now graces the 450-400. No doubt the only red pad 450-400 existing.

If you want to see about the ultimate factory No.1 wood (that got away) go to the Amoskeg auction site, look at the 5/17 auction's featured items, #694.

I'm sure the hammer price will fill my stein with tears.

I've done something similar - decided I needed a No. 1 in 375 H&H. Called around and located one about a 4 hour drive away and was told it had "nice wood". Made the drive and walked up to the row of No. 1's - one really stood out from the others. It was a 45-70 and the 375 was right next to it with very plain wood. I was disappointed, but ended up buying both. The forends matched very close so I swapped out the butt stocks and sold the 45-70. A few years later I traded the 375 for a 450/400 with very plain wood and the shop I worked with let me swap the wood as part of the deal with a small fee for their gunsmith to verify the fit of the wood.

Get the 9.3x74R. Much better than the .45-70 all the way...!!!

You might be on to something...



My .45-70 on the far right, helping guard an original Hepburn

That has NOT been my experience. I had always thought that very plain wood was the norm. I have owned an obscene amount of No: 1's over the years, and most have been very plain. Probably about 10% of them had nice wood. But of the 20 or so in the safe, most are fairly plain. But then I never bought them to look at. I bought them to use.

I have one chambered in 9.3x74R that has nice wood, but it is an assembled semi-custom rifle. I bought one in .270 with badly abused wood. Stripped it for the action and had it rebarreled with a tapered Octagon barrel. Custom schnable fore- stock, and a nice factory buttstock. It is one of my favorites. And I built it before Ruger pulled a fast one on me and factory chambered that caliber. In fact, I'd have made a sizable bet that Ruger would NEVER have factory chambered the 9.3x74R. Seems like every time I build a custom in a chambering they don't make, they come out with it. Like the 9.3x62... Such is my luck...