Ruger #1 for LR?

[Mountain Man]

a buddy of mine here has a ruger 1 in 300wby. its not the normal LR gun, but he's partial to the ruger, and decided to give it a go to see. he bought an accurizer to take stock contact away from the barrel, and although it tightened groups a little, it only took it from 1 1/2" down to 1-1 1/4". i do his loading, and although not perfect rounds, i'm sure they're better than 1 1/4" groups- each trimmed to length and loaded within .1gr of powder. we've tried a few different loads, but theres an obvious problem with the handguard, and the pressure the accurizer uses to float the barrel.

my response was 'sell it and buy a remington' which he agrees would be a good start on more accurate groups, however, like i said, he's partial to the ruger 1, and would like to give it his best go before getting rid of it. not touching 1k wouldnt bother him much, but 500-600 is what he's hoping for at least.

any opinions if the rig is worth trying to get it set up, or anything to do to get better accuracy? or is switching to a bolt pretty much a cut and dry issue?

-brian

 

[Sheldon]

I had a buddy with a Ruher #1 in 7-300 Weatherby. He dropped a lot of cash trying to make a LR gun. Finally replaced the barrel again and added a muzzle brake and he could still not get the gun to shoot any smaller than an inch or a little over that. He finally sold it for peanuts and bought a new Remington SS. He has never looked back....

 

[Brent]

I had a Parkerized #1 in 378wby that had a 28" Douglas barrel and a KDF brake. I got it from my brother... only because it shot real consistant 1/2 moa groups with the 300gr Barnes X bullet.

I never had a problem with groups size maintaining that size and probably should have naver sold it. It had a fat forend in the Tropical wood, very beautifull wood. The only reason I sold it was to get my son his M70 308win Classic Compact for his first moose hunting gun.

I had several offers of around 900 bucks at a gun show for it and a 4-12x40 AO Nikon, I turned it down looking for at least a grand and more like 1100... It had such beautifull looking wood is why, talk about turning heads there all day!

Now, that said, I have since heard the accurizing problems they can have and I may have gotten lucky with the one I had. Most I've heard of never shot that consistant or tight of groups.

I would never go that route if I wanted the most out of a rifle from an accuracy standpoint. I'f I wanted a really long barrel in a short package for out to 800 yards and could live with the fact that 1 moa might very well be as good as it would ever get, then the #1 is a go. You might get lucky like I did, but the point is, I wouldn't count on it... I've just heard too many opposite reports.

 

[jmbn]

I have two #1's; both made in the 70's. One is a 243 AI with a stock barrel and shoots reliable .75 groups with either a 70 Gr Sierra hollowpoint and a 90 gr Sp[eer. The other is a 280 RCBS (30 degree shoulder) with a Marquart barrel and it shoots even better; often 1/2"

The 243 was my first #1 and I was initially disappointed in its grouping, and eventually found the secret, which is to completely free-float the barrel. The forearm should touch only the forearm hanger and the receiver, and make sure the ejecter toggle doesn't touch the barrel when the gun is fired. That happened on the 280.

I don't quite go for the common opinion that bolt actions are stiffer, possibly because of the one-piece stock, because most Rem 700's that have been tuned have completely freefloated barrels, and I think many are piller bedded, which really lets the action move around quite a bit, and of course the barrel is not supported at all. The Ruger #1 is a pretty massive chunk of steel.

I'm in the act of trying to determine what chambering to get in a new barrel for my #3 that needs a new barrel. I'm planning something in the area of 28" for a deer gun. Maybe I'll try a 270 Weatherby mag, or the new 270 WSM.

jmbn

 

[MAX]

Agree with the posts above. Have 2 #1's that have been TWEEKED to the hilt, had a #3 with the same treatment. All will shoot long strings in the 7's which is representative of their potential I think. All have factory barrels but shoot as well as one I've seen with a Lilja tube. Love 'em but they're not LR guns, least not on small targets. Deer etc, maybe 500-700 yards, tops, with a rest a calm day, a short prayer and a rabbit foot in my pocket. JMO

 

[Mysticplayer]

Sorry, the odds of success to make an accurate LR rifle is not good with the Ruger#1. I know a guy who has tweaked his in every way possible. The best is can do is consistent 1/2 MOA with vertical stringing.

The design simply does not work well for the BR type accuracy.

Suggest going with your direction of a bolt action rifle. Will save a lot of time and headache in the end.

Jerry