Allure of the Ruger No1

[MauserDuff]

Actually interested in this gun but seller reviews online are somewhat disconcerting. Have any of you guys done business with guns.com?

I bought it, and except for one small divot in the stock, it was as new. Haven't shot it yet. It has a SSK barrel, and not Ruger, but they're reputable. Second rifle I've bought from Guns.com. Both were better than advertised. First one took some patience to get, this one was shipped on Monday after ordering on Saturday. Picked up on Tues or Wednesday.

 

[Riflecrank]

The standard, not Boddington-ed, straight factory:

Growth rings are easier to count on the other side of the stock.

You know Jeffery was at it in 1896 if he was field-trialing the 400 S. Jeffery by early to mid 1897.
That became the 450/400 NE 3-Inch by the time Jeffery was fielding the 404 Jeffery in 1904.
He did it by re-working the 400 S. Jeffery brass a bit.
The cartridge above the 2017 date is a .410/404 Jeffery Rimless Nitro Express.
That is a joke, it was not progress. It was de-evolution.
It is the 404 Jeffery RNE necked down to .410-caliber and fire-formed in my Ruger No. 1 pictured above, by jamming a backward bullet into the lands.
I do have a CZ 550 Magnum .410/404 JRNE, much to my regret.
Luckily there is a 404 Jeffery take-off barrel from the CZ factory to go back on that rifle.

The 404 Jeffery of 1904 was the first-ever fully adequate magazine repeater DGR.
The 400 S. Jeffery of 1896-1897 was the first ever cartridge to start up the "Nitro Express" class
when renamed the 450/400 NE 3-Inch, no doubt same time the 450 S. Rigby got re-named to .450 NE 3-1/4".

W. J. Jeffery was on the ball.
Maybe industrial espionage allowed him to beat the 450 S. Rigby of 1897 to market by a few month ?

 

[Riflecrank]

The kind of "Forehead Relief" I like on a Ruger No. 1.
To heck with Eye Relief, give me Forehead Relief.

 

[Riflecrank]

Compared to the 450/400 NE 3" Ruger No. 1-H "Tropical" with 0.410" groove diameter,
my .405 WCF Ruger No. 1-S has same weight (8 lbs. 2 oz.)
same barrel length (24") and muzzle diameter (0.750")
same twist (1:14" RH)
6-groove, 0.411" groove diameter.
Groove diameter is 0.001" greater.
Wood is plainer, might be stronger walnut.
Wood is the difference between a 1-H and 1-S ?

Some folks load the .405 WCF Ruger No. 1 with heavier bullets and much hotter than any known lever action can handle. Better "Lion Medicine" for the expert shooter of this Finger-Controlled-Round-Feeding (F-CRF) DGR.

 

[Boone66]

I had a 300 wby that gave me fits, took the barrel off, it's still on my bench, with me trying to decide what I want to make it into.

 

[Goopy]

Riflecrank-
OUTSTANDING addition to the thread! It takes me back to the old magazine articles of load development and play with different/obscure calibers...Very well done, Sir!

 

[Goopy]

Teddy's (one of my favorite hunters and great American in general) writings in African Game Trails almost led me down the path of the Ruger No 1 in 405 Winchester, but my current craving for Ruger Blackhawks, Super Blackhawks and Marlin lever guns kept me away. I still regret not grabbing that rifle for play at a later date and time...

 

[Riflecrank]

Thanks, Goopy. You must be about my age age and of same literary tastes.

Another 8# 2-oz No. 1-H with 24" barrel is the .416 Ruger chambering.
I have owned a couple of the older .416 Rigby Ruger No. 1 rifles.
The first one was used to take one-ton water buffalo at 50 to 150 yards,
as well as fallow deer at up to 342 yards.
Success.
I used the old Barnes X-Bullet, 350-gr/.416, slick-sided, monometal-copper, hollow point, 2700 fps MV.
A 24"-barreled .416 Ruger can match this, no problem.

In the Ruger No. 1, my factory .416 Ruger is one pound lighter than my older .416 Rigbys were, with heavier barrels.
One of those .416 Rigbys became the .395 Tatanka, above.
The water-buffalo-fallow-deer-killer became a .500 A-Square "Ruger No. 1-X" heh-heh-heh.

That is the 0.750" muzzle diameter at 24" length.
The heavier contour would be 0.810" at 24" length and add about a pound, or more.
Next up will be a fatter-barreled Ruger No. 1,
a .458 Lott that was cleaned up easily by use of a 450 NE 3-1/4" chamber reamer.
One less SAAMI .458 Lott in the world is always a good thing.

 

[p.ham]

This is one I re-stocked, it was a 7mm RM 1BBZ.
I made the stainless barrel band, forend mounting hardware, grip cap screws, and had a friend cnc a grip cap for me. I did the stock work minus the checkering. The wood is quarter sawn Claro and an ebony forend tip.

 

[Huvius]

This is one I re-stocked, it was a 7mm RM 1BBZ.
I made the stainless barrel band, forend mounting hardware, grip cap screws, and had a friend cnc a grip cap for me. I did the stock work minus the checkering. The wood is quarter sawn Claro and an ebony forend tip.

View attachment 674587View attachment 674588View attachment 674589View attachment 674590View attachment 674591View attachment 674592

Just lovely. Beautiful work!

 

[Riflecrank]

Quick and easy way to fix a .458 Lott Ruger No. 1-H,
a crude stamping of "450 NE" and an "XXX" over the "LOTT" will do, after the reamer work,
wonderful improvement:

By golly, this one is the one I need to get some laser engraving done on, all over it !!!
However, I would not want to alter the tiny little apology stamping over the "LOTT" nor the Gunsmith's "mark." Heh-heh-heh.
WORK IN PROGRESS.
24" barrel with 0.810" muzzle diameter.
Currently 9 pounds 3 ounces bare weight, may increase if any gold is added.

 

[Riflecrank]

Finally, something more powerful than a SAAMI .458 Lott, a dog than can actually run with the
.458 WIN MAG loaded long.
Start with this:

Use this on it:

Voila !

Another candidate for laser engraving with the proper chambering designation in addition to maker's marks.
45-70 ELKO MAGNUM in some lavish script along the barrel.
Maybe an elk (heh-heh-heh) on one side of the action flats and a woodchuck on the other ...

Holy cow !!! Every one of my Ruger No. 1 rifles could be laser engraved for adornment !
Wonderful blank canvases all !
The .395 Tatanka will definitely need a bison bull, "Tatanka" being the Lakota/Sioux word for bull bison.

Thanks y'all for the inspiration in this thread !!!

 

[Riflecrank]

Above was the .45-70 Elko Magnum Light Rifle Express.
It is a special rifle.
It can be loaded with light and fast bullets like 250-grainers at 2700 to 3000 fps.
Same loads as do that in a SAAMI .458 WIN MAG, but the .45-70 Elko Magnum is about 2 grains of water bigger than the .458 WIN MAG gross case capacity,
when Starline .45-2.6" brass is used.
So you might have to add an extra grain of powder to the .45-70 Elko Magnum load.

Below is another "special rifle," the .45-70 Elko Magnum Heavy.
It uses a BPCR barrel from Pedersoli (take-off).
It works very well with cast bullets and even duplexed BP loads with paper-patched bullets.
But hey, even the standard SAAMI/CIP .458 WIN MAG can do that quite well.

After the failed attempt to make a 20-ga rifle out of another Ruger No. 1-S of 9.3x74R chambering,
I had spare parts. One action and many take-off barrels.
And since I had two sets of B&C synthetic stocks for the Ruger No. 1 in my sordid past, that would mean a total of three sets of spare wood for doodling with.

First idea for .45-70 Elko Magnum Heavy:

Never fear, I used some wood instead, and I have a spare walnut forearm that has no tripod-blob on it:

Where is the Soule Sight on the tang ?
Renner you say ?
I'll look into that !
Once again, inspired by this thread, thanks y'all.
Until then I have to do my Quigley-ing with a scope.

 

[Riflecrank]

Some other scopes I like on a Ruger No. 1 ...

Plenty of Forehead Relief is what I like.
Being another .45-70 ELKO MAGNUM, of course it needs proper chamber marking, and an ELK engraved on it too.
On the opposite action flat, maybe a bison bull instead of a woodchuck.

 

[Riflecrank]

Ruger No. 1 number 11:

Ruger No. 1-H Tropical with 24" barrel length, 0.815" muzzle diameter, factory walnut 13-5/8" LOP:

 

[Riflecrank]

Above is the forearm hanger screw that actually can become stripped and bent with so powerful a cartridge as the .458 WIN MAG loaded long (.458 WIN MAGA) to beat a SAAMI .458 Lott.
Walnut buttstocks not properly glass-bedded may crack with such a powerful rifle.
I elected to re-stock my .458 WIN MAG with the last of my B&C synthetic Ruger No. 1 sets, discontinued by B&C, though other custom makers have been known to offer them.

Above are some 10x32 machine screws to replace the OEM forearm hanger screw, in case of stripping or bending if you let it work loose from the torque of the .458 WIN MAGA.

 

[Riflecrank]

Definitely stronger than the original, through-the-walnut-hole, OEM attachment.

The scope and rings combo above weighs 1 # 3 oz.
J-B Weld your quarter rib to barrel if you want to use a scope on your .458 WIN MAG/.458 WIN MAGA.
I learned this from a .475 Linebaugh Ruger No. 1-S that weighs 6 lbs. 13 oz.
TBC

 

[cash_tx]

This Ruger No. 1 listed for sale on the Cabela's site has some beautiful wood, but I'm trying to figure out if that is a factory forearm with the ebony added, or if it is a custom stock. Is this an AB model? Either way, this is a good looking rifle.

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/101767576

 

[Riflecrank]

cash_tx,
That is a beauty.
Looks to me like both butt and forearm are custom.
Wood matches.
Ebony on tip of a rather full forearm and cheekpiece on butt are custom IMHO.
Butt I am still learning.

Perfect-for-the-rifle, life-time-warranteed, Leupold 1.5-5x20mm included for that price is nice.

In the words of John Wooters in the May 1990 issue of PETERSEN'S HUNTING,
The One-Shot Mystique
"A man who opens a case in hunting camp and lifts out a single-shot rifle makes a statement about himself. It may be quite unconscious, or it may be pure egotistical one-upmanship, but it does project the image of a superior marksman and a hunter of above-average skills."