ruger #1s: are they accurate?

Had one in K hornet that drove tacks, had 2 others that would have been better hanging in the garden hose section of Walmart. Would seem to be hit or miss, more miss than hit.

Andy
 
Apparently some shoot well and some don't. There's some tweaking that they can benefit from. I think since they started manufacturing their own barrels the out of the box accuracy has gone up. My 458 shoots quite well with iron sights. Never shot it with a scope so I'm sure that would tighten groups some.
 
When I owned a #1A in .270 it wasn't terribly accurate by bolt action standards. The long lock time and two-piece stock didn't help. But the rifle always put the first round from a cold barrel right to the point of aim. The second one went in less than half an inch away. The third shot always went about 1-1/2" high and the fourth and fifth shots tended to expand the groups to around 3 inches. Not great accuracy but for a single shot that first round going the same place every time with the second round right on top was more than enough for me. What the rifle lacked in pure accuracy it more than made up for in ease of handling and compactness.
 
I just picked up a #1 in .375 H&h, and with the iron sights I was getting about a 2.5 inch group off the bench with iron sights. It probably would have been a lot smaller but I was flinching after about the fourth shot.
 
I must have got lucky. I have a #3 (basically a #1 with a different lever) in .45-70 that easily shoots under 1 MOA, and thats even with serious pitting in the last 6 inches of barrel !! IIRC I read that the tension on the forend screw has a lot to do with it's accuracy, and I believe good improvements where gained by putting a thin rubber washer under the previously mentioned screw.
 
My dad had a 1V in 22-250 and it was nothing lees then a tack driver, with Leupold 3.5-10X40 Vari-X III, it shot one hole groups @ 100 yards every time out. As far as I am concerned, great gun, great action, great quality and great, consistant accuracy.
 
I have never seeen a No.1 that I couldn't make accurate
( except for my first, a 243)
And now , 22 years later, if I still had that barrel, I would give it another go.

All the others I have had or worked up loads for are very accurate, as accurate as most bolt actions, some as good or better than the best bolt actions.

Cat
 
Given your interest in the Hornet and Bee, I would say the Ruger can be very accurate for a varmint rifle. There is quite a bit of knowledge on tweaking the front hangar to help with consistent barrel harmonics. The stocks can be bedded to eliminate any play there.

There is little reason that a well tuned Ruger can't shoot sub MOA. Seen a couple that were true 1/2 MOA shooters but were tweaked to no end. The odds of getting one to shoot in the 1's and 2's is not that high. At least, the shooters that were trying to tweak lower gave up.

Only thing that might limit its appeal is the trigger. I am unaware of being able to get the trigger pull under 1lb. If that matters to you, you should consider a bolt action.

Jerry
 
The trigger on my #1 .416 was pretty good. The rifle was more accurate than I could hold, and if I did my part it would stay within 1.5 MOA. There are reams written about accurizing the #1, and unless there is a problem with the chamber or crown, I think they will shoot with a little effort on the part of the owner.

My issues with the rifle lie with the bedding of the butt stock to the reciever, the POS fold down rear sight, and the fact that there is not multiple scope mounting points on the quarter rib.
 
killer bee

Hi there I own a ruger No1 in 218 Bee. This rifle is just stunning. I home role my own cartridges and receive sub moa out to 200yard with this. I am using a healty dose of hodgen lil gun and a 45gr ballsitic tip. When I go a varmiting I use a 55gr fmj. The only thing I have done with this rifle is put a hell of a good leupold scope on it. Sounds like a Ruger commercial to me.

James
 
I have a Ruger #1 In 45-70 It will shoot well under a inch with just about any load.mabey I got lucky its the only one that I have owned so I don't have anything to compare it to.
 
I love the look of a #1 action and hunting with a single shot is just better, do or die. Just don`t think I should have to do much tweaking to a $1000 plus rifle to get it to shoot. Still hit or miss in my opinion.
 
I had a #1V in 22-250, it was a really good shooter. I built a varmint\target rifle and only kept the #1 around because I did not want to give up an accurate rifle. My dad was looking for a varmint rilfe so I sold it to him; it is nice to keep the rifle in the family.

Since I had the cash from selling the #1V, I decided to buy another rifle; I got a #1H stainless in 375 H&H Mag. It is not as accurate as the #1V I had, but that may just be due to the lack of experience with a large amount of recoil.

The benefits I find to them are the looks, the strength, the quality, the weight for the size of barrel, and the fact you are hunting with a single shot. The drawbacks are, a bit of a shifting zero due to humidity (~ 1/2" @ 100 yards), the trigger usually needs work, and the fact that you are hunting with a single shot :).
 
I have a 7x57 International. It shot ok, good enough for hunting. I buggerd up the wood near the muzzle so I cut the forend down to a regualr lenght. It shoots realy well now and is one of my most accurate rifles.
 
Before I traded it back to Hornhead, my 7X57RSI broke clays at 20o meters, 50 yards, 25 yards, and 100 yards in that order, with a the NECG peep site on it.
The man behind that particular rifle is an amazing shooter however, and not your everyday run of the mill type of rifleman.
And no, it was not I!
Cat
 
ruger 1

Ive had several in many calibres but dont have any now and dont want any more LOL. They havent been great for me. Bolt action rules for me. Just my 2 cents.
 
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