Ruger no 1 accuracy fix

Jeronimoe83

Jeronimoe83

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Good day

I have a lovely 300 wm ruger no 1 that wont group consistantly. It is the older model with a red butt pad. Ive read a few helpful articles. Any suggestions? I do hand load, but there is always one shot that likes to string.


Jesse
 
There are all sorts of complaints about Ruger #1 rifles having issues with consistent accuracy.

I have seen some of them that are absolute jewels. That doesn't apply to most of them. That doesn't mean they don't make fine hunting rifles.

One thing that really exacerbated the accuracy issues was that Ruger went through a period of hit and miss barrels. For some, the only fix was to replace the barrels.

Even that wasn't always the answer.

I have a couple of them and I like both of them. One is rebarreled to a 338-06. It shoots the first three bullets acceptably out to 300+ yards. After those first three, POIs start to wander.

IMHO, a lot of the problems are due to the rigidity of the rear scope base. I went so far as to fill the factory base with Titanium Putty and screwing it down to the bbl before it hardened. That scope base is never coming off, without ruining it.

This rifle has a medium weight, sporter match grade barrel on it and it should shoot well. The first bullet is about 1 moa high and the next is on POA, the third is close to touching the second. After that the group opens up substantially.

IMHO, shooting consistent strings or groups, was not the intent behind the design. As a hunting rifle, it's fine.

I have a friend with an early one in 6mm Remington. It has a heavy 24 in bbl and shoots like a dream. It's one of those jewels that shoots everything well, albeit with the groups having different POIs with different brands of factory ammo or handloads. It's got close to 5k rounds through it and still maintains its accuracy.

I have a 223rem with a 22 inch heavy profile bbl and it also shoots just about everything into nice tight groups, depending on bullet weight and shape. Hates boat tail bullets.

I've done everything from installing a set screw into the fore end tang to put pressure on the bbl and make sure the fore end isn't touching any part of the receiver or barrel. Nada.

I've bedded the butt stocks to the receivers, Nada.

Done trigger jobs, lapped barrels. All of the usual fixes. Just to get mediocre at best results.

Like I said, like every other type of rifle out there, some of them are real jewels.
 
I have had about a dozen ruger's over the years and like bearhunter says some are winners an some are loser's but I loved them all. Evan a couple in African calibers that kicked like mules. A 25-06 that stayed with me for many many years would shoot bullets meant for 25-20 up to 120gr sierras into about in inch. and all to the same point of impact. It was a gem. A 280 not so much. Right now I only have a 6mm Rem. that shoot's very nice it has a floated barrel And a #3 in a little home made varmint cartridge (shortened 221 case )
It has a Lilja barrel so that may be considered an upgrade . The forstock is glass bedded with a card stock shim at the front.
Also have one in .22 rim fire with a Hart barrel it shoots good ,but that is another kind of cat.
I have found when shooting a Ruger single shot off the bench best results were to have the front rest as close to the receiver as possible . That seemed to help the stringing issue common to #1's.
Even the bad one's shot with what I would consider hunting accuracy.
Remember it is a single shot, its where the first bullet goes that counts.
 
Free float the barrel except glass at the rear where the wood touches the action... and glass the front of the hanger with a washer so you don't have to cut away so much wood.
 
I had one that I also struggled to get shooting as well as I wanted. It shot better with the for-end removed, so I put a plastic spacer near the fore-end screw to hold the front end off the barrel. I was able to get 3-4 rounds close to an inch at 100M. Now sold. I would own another, but would rather try a Russian double I think.
 
This gun is sentimental so selling it is out of the question. 100-200 yard shots would be fine wit the groups Ive shot for hunting, I would just like consistent 1” groups out this #1.
Thanks for the input guys, keep it coming.
 
I've had 6-8 no 1's, all delivered acceptable hunting accuracy, a few were tack drivers. My first, a very early 1B in 7mm Rem mag was a real problem child, very inconsistent. One day I was looking closely in the muzzle and saw copper fouling in a rifle that I thought was clean. Yup, with a bright light I could see copper all right and I could also see tooling marks on the top of the lands all the way down!. If kept squeaky clean it shot well for 5-10 shots then started throwing fliers. After about 1000 rounds it would hold accuracy for 15-20 shots. My son eventually won a 1000 yard hunting rifle match with this gun with a three shot group under eight inches.
The easy fix has been to install the forend mounting screw with an O ring under the head and experiment with the tightness, they normally shoot best with the forend clear of the barrel except near the action. Accurately glass bedding the forend to the receiver sometimes does wonders as well. And as mentioned, from a rest the bag should be as close to the receiver as possible, possibly avoiding forend pressure on the barrel. It's a very fine hunting rifle but it isn't target quality, as a single shot it is just fine.
 
John Barness had several articles in Rifle and Handloader magazines over the years about this. About the simplest, that worked well on my 1A 7x57, was a dab of epoxy right at tip of fore-arm to "cradle" about bottom 1/3 of the barrel - seemed to keep the fore arm more "stable". Also, he mentions the wood contact at rear of fore-arm / front of the receiver - do not want that "tight" - may accomplish the same as recommendation above to glass bed that point - to get it the same every time. I am on my 4th one now - certainly not "plug and play" for top accuracy - all have taken some fussing, but i have taken many head of game with No. 1's since about year 2000 - always with Leupold fixed 4x or 6x scopes, in Ruger Low (#3) rings, if that matters.

Current one is different - a Lipsey's in 275 Rigby. The rifle's comb or my face is fatter - the iron sights look very good, but I can not get down low enough on the stock to line them up. Decided to go with 2.5-8 x36 Leupold - so have used the #4 height rings with the rear one as the Ruger offset ring. Have not shot game with it, yet, but should work fine.
 
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Thanks guys. Ill have a good look at the barrel, receiver and forend. I had big plans for this rifle but just havent been confident enough to take it out. I go elk hunting quite often and have shots that reach pretty far out there.

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I have never seen a Ruger No.1 which didn't shoot best with five to seven pounds of upward pressure at the forearm tip. This reduces the tendency for vertical stringing. Another big improvement is to lighten the hammer. This reduces lock time and reduces the vibration set up by the vertical swing of the hammer. The third thing I like to do is to ensure that the breechblock is fully up when the lever is closed. I accomplish this by installing vertical pins, of the appropriate length on the upper surface of the lever, immediately beneath the block, so the block is held in place positively. This way, the firing pin strikes center and does so consistently. Also, the breechblock is no longer driven upward by the hammer.
 
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The factory spring. The hammer is lightened on the periphery. If one prefers, there are aftermarket hammers which accomplish the same thing.
 
Jeronimoe83 said:
Good day

I have a lovely 300 wm ruger no 1 that wont group consistantly. It is the older model with a red butt pad. Ive read a few helpful articles. Any suggestions? I do hand load, but there is always one shot that likes to string.


Jesse
Click to expand...

How does it shoot with factory loads? Do you wear hearing protection and shoulder pad while sighting in? How do you mount the rifle while targeting,padding under the forend or under the barrel? Any one of these can cause fliers.
 
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