How many of you hunt with single shots?

M

mcrae555

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Nelson, BC
Well the Ruger #1 bug has bitten me hard I have bought two in less than a month:D I picked up a 6mm Remington and a .338 Win Mag and love the look and feel of both these guns. I have never owned a single shot rifle and all my hunting has been done with bolt guns in synthetic stocks. I am wondering how weather proof the Ruger #1 is say compared to a bolt action in a wood stock. My hunting trips are usually a couple of weeks long 4-5 times a year and I see all kinds of weather. I just spent the better part of day trying to figure out how to take the #1 apart and put it back toghther so I can see its not something I want to be cleaning and oiling everytime it gets wet or dirty. As much as I would love to buy a new stainless/laminate one is not going to happen I tried to run that solution by my wife already:p

I also wouldn't mind hearing from guys that actually hunt with them. I primarily hunt bear,deer,moose, with the odd elk hunt mixed in. I will use the .338 primarily and was hoping to here from other single shot users. I suppose the big question in my mind is the follow up shot if needed. In a perfect world you would never need one but we all know its going to happen sometime. I am thinking with enough practice it will not be all that much slower than a bolt gun but would still like to hear from "seasoned" single shot users!
 
mcrae555 said:
In a perfect world you would never need one but we all know its going to happen sometime. I am thinking with enough practice it will not be all that much slower than a bolt gun but would still like to hear from "seasoned" single shot users!
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I had a 45-70 H & R I pounded a few Bears with.......
Worked well for the Price of the Rifle:)
I liked it so much I went on to aquire a Ruger No 1 :cool:
Since my Single shot escapades I've now gone back to Bolt Actions for my Hunting rifles.....no real reason I just prefer them.

No Hunter in NA is undergunned because of a Single shot...you are right, with some practise you do not give up alot of "speed" to an unpractised Hunter with a Bolt action or ????
I never needed a 2nd shot with mine but was well practised in the event it happened.
Have Fun:)
 
Except for this yeear, I hunt with single shots
almost exclusivly!:D :dancingbanana:
My buddy also hhad a 280AI done up in oone of hhis Ruger No.1's annd took four deer with it this fall, one at 200 plus running, one shoot.

I hunt with Sniders , martinis, Winchester Highwalls, etc, and use them for my competitions also.
My favoritte this year is a highwall chhambered in 6.5WSSM, bbut I didn't hhuunt with it.
My main long range rifle that I use when cruising the river iis a 6.5WSM inm a Highwall acttion, and it is a super rilfe and very accurate out to 1K.
Here's a pic of a few of mine
Ruger Noo.1 in 257 Weatherby
9001.jpg

.58 cal Fraser River Hawken
Hawkenandforkhorn.jpg

Assorted singles that I own and hhave hhuunted ( I do not own the Sharps anymore)
singshots.jpg

My long range rig with a mmuley from two years ago.
downontheflats.jpg

Cat
 
So how do the Ruger # 1's compare to all the other makes in the world of single shots?

I see more #1's in my future:)

I actually picked up the 6mm for my wife/son but I imagine I will use it as well. The only real disadvantage for me so far with the #1's is they are a bit on the heavy side. I think the overall cool factor of a Ruger #1 wins out though:cool:

I have also heard the #1s can be a bit picky when it comes to accuracy. I do reload so I imagine this will help. The action seems pretty complicated to me at the moment but I imagine with time it will be easy.
 
A Ruger No.1 in 7mm Rem.Mag. has been my preferred choice for deer and elk for 20+ years. I have seldom needed a second shot and have never lost an animal with this gun. I think hunting with a single shot has made me a much better hunter. I really choose my shots and make the first one count. I do pass on shots that some of my partners take (ie. runners) but I've also spent a lot of time helping them try to find wounded animals as well. I hunt alot on the "wet coast" and have never had a problem with maintenance, etc. I do try to give the gun a good wipe down at day's end but thats it. Sometimes with No.1 you need to experiment with forearm clearance (float) to get good accuracy.
 
For anyone looking to experiment with a single shot rifle, why not try out an H&R or NEF? They are dirt cheap, fun to shoot and you won't mind if it gets roughed up in the feild. I have one in .223 and love it. I am now thinking of going to the Ruger #1...
 
Bear in mind that the No.1 has a screw under the forearm, at the end of the ejector spring, that allows you to choose between ejection of empties or merely extraction for manual removal. I only mention it because I've met quite a few owners who didn't know about this neat little feature.

As far as the accuracy issues go, there's an aftermarket gizmo available from Brownell's that mounts under the forearm and allows you to adjust and finetune the pressure exerted on the barrel by the hanger. Haven't tried one but it seems to achieve the same result as the installation of a "pressure pad" at the tip of the forearm of a free floated bolt gun.

John
 
i hunt mostly with single shots including a #1 in 45/100 Sharps, a 50/90 Sharps, and a 45/70, all 3 are loaded with black powder and I have never lost an animal due to using a single shot or Black powder. I shoot alot(most days) and feel confident with these guns for the all important shot. The Ruger is strong and quite adaptable to rebarrelling if you like. I don't like the fact that it does not have a hammer to decock, and it also is not legal for use in BPCR Sil. Comp.
 
I do almost exclusively. Currently have Fraser .22 KHornet, Ruger #3 .22 KHornet, Stevens .32RF, Stevens .38Spcl., Ruger .416 Rigby, Ruger #3 .45/70, Ruger .500 Buhmiller, Riedl .577 NE, Rem rollers in .45/70 and .50/70, T/C .58. .577 Sniider, .577/450 Martini, countless .22sLRs. Might be other CF I am not thinking of too. Now, thinking on a Ruger to rebarrel to .7.62x39 for shooting surplus ammo.
Nothing wrong with a good single.
 
While not as accomplished a collection as cat or Casull, I have a Remington Rolling Block in 45-70, a Ruger #1 in 458 and a Browning High Wall in 45-70. The Browning was my stand-by rifle while I was living in BC.
 
I don't own one at the moment, but I am a big Ruger #1 fan. I'll give you a heads up of a couple of pit falls to watch out for, if you have not yet discovered them yourself.

First is that if the stock of the .338 is not properly bedded to the action, it will split. If it was my rifle I would send it to a gunsmith to check out prior to firing too many rounds. The replacement butt stock might not match the forend wood quite as nicely as he factory original.

The second little headache is that if you carry these rifles slung you might find that the safety slips into the fire position. This is quite disconcerting, but carrying the rifle with the action out of battery results in lost rounds, and intentionally packing the rifle unloaded is an unnatural act. If there is a simple solution to this problem, I would certainly like to hear it.
 
Boomer, not sure why your safety would come off. I have found side safeties are usually more prone to this than the tang safety on the #1 and older ruger or browning bolt actions.

One thing that I would recommend is removing the safety tab and grinding the forward portion down a bit; this will keep ejected shells from catching on it and bouncing back into the chamber. Slows down that second shot a bit.

Ian
 
Pudelpointer said:
One thing that I would recommend is removing the safety tab and grinding the forward portion down a bit; this will keep ejected shells from catching on it and bouncing back into the chamber. Slows down that second shot a bit.

Ian
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I had exactly that done to my #1A. Now the spent shells come out and bounce off my shoulder, rather than back toward the action and rattling in the breech... much better for the follow up shot.

Mine wears one of those buttstock shell holders for quick reloads.
 
ben hunchak said:
i hunt mostly with single shots including a #1 in 45/100 Sharps, a 50/90 Sharps, and a 45/70, all 3 are loaded with black powder and I have never lost an animal due to using a single shot or Black powder. I shoot alot(most days) and feel confident with these guns for the all important shot. The Ruger is strong and quite adaptable to rebarrelling if you like. I don't like the fact that it does not have a hammer to decock, and it also is not legal for use in BPCR Sil. Comp.
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The hammer thing is something that I really like about the Brownings.
My Rugers are good shooters, but I prefer a hammer to a tang safety, although the Ruger is a good one.

Cat
 
A Ruger No. 1 in 45-70 wearing a Leupold VXII 2-7.

Ruger's recoil pads are like hockey pucks ! Replaced mine with a Limbsaver
( R3 ) but would also have considered a Pachmayr Old English Decelerator
(just wanted to give the R3 a try ) Also didn't like the Ruger safety ... when "off" it protruded into the cartridge raceway enough to stop an empty from being reliably ejected ... had a gunsmith shorten the fron end of it, re-radius and bend it down enough to clear ... no more problems. Also had the trigger pull lightened to just over 3 pounds.

Fun gun. Consistantly shoots into less than an inch off the bench, with a lot of "cloverleaf " 3-shot groups. Lately, I've found the Hornady 300's and H335 powder to be to my liking.
 
I have been a lever shooter for all my life.With extra money and looking for something new I bought a NEF 243 bull barrel to try , I absolutely love it. It has become my no. #1 deer gun this year.My granddaddy always said all you need is one shot when he gave me his Stevens 32 rimfire when I was a young pup. He had another saying as we sat and listened to shots around us in deer season."one shot,deer.Two shots ,maybe deer. Three shots,no goldarned way!"
 
jklutes said:
I have been a lever shooter for all my life.With extra money and looking for something new I bought a NEF 243 bull barrel to try , I absolutely love it. It has become my no. #1 deer gun this year.My granddaddy always said all you need is one shot when he gave me his Stevens 32 rimfire when I was a young pup. He had another saying as we sat and listened to shots around us in deer season."one shot,deer.Two shots ,maybe deer. Three shots,no goldarned way!"
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I shot a NEF in 7x57 a few yeaars back and it was a lot of fun.
When I guided and trapped I used a H&R 158 with a Mannlicher stock in 30-30.

The rifle never failed me on anything I shot with it, be it beavers, chickens, bears or deer!:D
Cat
 
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