I have already indicated I want / will buy one, Clay, so please do not count this post as one more, although it would be nice to have 2.
If I read correctly, essentially the majority (???) of the posters on this thread are prepared to purchase, at or around $1,300.00 Cdn from Clay / Prophet's, a standard Ruger #1A (22" thin contoured barrel with rib & sights) chambered in .303 British, with rings (all 5 of my Ruger #1s, be they 1A, 1B, 1S, or 1H have come with rings from the factory), perhaps with a special serial #, (likely a C to indicate Commonwealth so we can interest our fellow Commonwealthers, ie ANZACerS, Zud Afrikaaners, limeys, potato savages & porridge savages (I'm a little bit of each so can call myself any or all of the above endearing terms), in addition to us Johnny Canucks (but if you want to think / believe it stands for Canada, feel free to do so. This is being done, I believe, in order to expedite the reaching of the magic number of 250rifles, to get the ball rolling with Ruger.
No other calibers / chamberings, barrel lengths, etc. etc. that may or may not be available across the counter from Ruger, are being discussed to muddy up the waters, correct?
All we need is 250 people prepared to part with ~$200.00 Cdn deposits (& eventually the rest of the money) for the above described #1A.
That seems quite plain & simple, yet I have observed many posts in this thread from people talking about what they would rather have (Ruger 77's, Ruger #1's in 7mm Rem Mag., 308 WCF, 26" barrels, .303 British but in .308 groove, as opposed to .311" or .312", to scope or not to scope the rifle), as opposed to the other general threads on sporting firerarms / Rugers, etc. where these valid topics may be discussed at length in their proper forum.
All of which, I tend to think, is messing up Clay's count of how many people actually will walk the walk, in order to get the ball rolling with Ruger, hopefully in the not too distant future.
Thank you to both DANCESWITH EMPTIES & Clay for imagining the project, & getting the idea this far. I do not think I am the only poster on here who has wished for a Farquharson, but simply could not justify the $8-10,000 to caretake one for the future.
The reason I have vented my spleen is that I am taking my son to South Africa on a p.g. safari in the fall of 2010 & I would dearly love to take over my Ruger #1A in .303, instead of one of my Lee Speeds, or one of my 30-06's, & the longer it takes to get a firm order to Ruger, the longer it will take for them to be delivered.
(BTW, ANY Serial # is fine, except 666.)
Thanks