I have a ruger #1A in 35 whelen,,, It is grouping two seperate groups first shot is dead on next two are always 2-3 inches higher,,, I have tried different loads same problem... so far i have tried putting a spacer under fore end screw to float the barrel,, removed tip hump and tip bedded the fore end,,, then tried tightning and loosing the foreend screw .. Loosing patience,,, have also removed a little wood at end of fore end so it didn't contact the receiver... so far no solution... Asking for any suggestions.. MB i know you have worked with these Please advise.. HELP!!! Oh and by the way this gun has alreaky wrecked one scope after 20 shots... replaced it with trusted scope no help..

Have you tried shooting a 5 or ten shot group?

Have you tried letting the barrel cool completely between shots. My #1A 7x57 (with it’s favorite load) will put the first 2 shots dead on in about a .75” group then throw the third an inch or two higher if I don’t let the barrel cool off. If I wait about 5 minutes between shots it will group all three within about an inch. This doesn’t really bother me as it’s highly unlikely that I’d be sending 3 rapid shots down range in a hunting situation.
Also, are you firing your first shot from a clean bore? Quite often a shot from a squeaky clean bore will impact quite differently than those from a slightly fouled bore.
If starting out with a clean bore, I always fire a couple of fouling shots, let the bore cool then proceed with my serious shooting. Once I’ve sighted a rifle in for hunting season it doesn’t get cleaned until after the season.

Play with the tension on the forearm screw for starters. The #1s in sporter configuration often have groups that climb because of the angled screw. May #1s were varmint barreled, but I had that issue on my #3 and finally bedded the forearm. Some guys had had success putting an O-ring between the forearm and the screw. Free floating will probably help, but you have to bed the three contact points of the hanger to take all contact off the barrel.

Be sure the back of the scope rib clears the receiver shoulder. Contact there is a problem, so it's said. Never saw it myself.

I wish you luck.
Never could get decent accuracy out of the four I owned.

I've had a couple really good shooters. 2 of them have been rechambered. A 30-06 to 300 H&H and a 243 Win to 243 AI. The latest one is a 275 Rigby. I loaded 10 rounds to just to make sure the first time I shot the load wasn't a fluke. I shot 3 with the magnetospeed to confirm velocity, then shot the lower 3 shots, adjusted the scope up and to the right and fired the last four (100yds). The 25 ring on the target is 1 1/2" in diameter and the lines are 3/4" apart. I'm happy! 150gr NBTs with 48.5gr of IMR 4350 and I'm getting right at 2800fps.

I have. Also besides the two screws holding the rib there are two pins. When removing the rib, listen carefully for a telltale "pinging" sound. If that happens the pins are binding and that also affects accuracy. Simple enlarge the holes for the pins just enough that they no longer bind. Might as well relieve the back of the rib while you have it off the rifle.
Paul B.

My 7 x57 1A would walk them up off the paper with successive shots....fired 5 minutes apart. And it would not return to POA for hours.

I pulled the quarter rib and removed enough material to ge a .003 feeler gauge between the back of the rib and the receiver. Use lots of penetrating oil and soldering iron heat cycles before trying to remove the flat head allen screws securing the rib.....I broke the first one by being too hasty.

I believe if the rib contacts the front of the action that the rib moves/bends slightly when the barrel heats up.

This resulted in a major improvement, and a copper shim around the fore end screw promises some 1" groups. We'll see if I can repeat that.

lol maybe u just cant shoot well if all four wasn't decent.

One other thing about the #1 and this includes the M77s as well. Ruger apparently does not seal the interior wood on their rifles. I got caught in a pretty heavy rainstorm on an elk hunt in Oregon and me and the rifle were thoroughly soaked. Even though I wiped everything dry, the stock and forearm were noticeably swollen. I'm still surprised the wood wasn't damaged by the swelling. I took the wood off the rifle and placed it out in my shed to dry out. I'd put it back on and it was 6 years before that rifle would shoot to POA again. It would pay to seal all the raw wood on those rifles.
Paul B.

grayfox
One other thing I do past what you noted at the start is to put a snug fitting plastic
shim between the barrel and the hanger.

That plus the steps you have taken have worked for me.
If I needed to do more it would be to free up the rib as noted above.

It has been a while since the original post. Any thing to report??????