Ruger No. 1 shooters?

[Kilo Charlie]

Does anyone here shoot a Ruger No. 1 rifle?
I just picked one up (in .30-30 Winchester) and was curious what everyone's experience has been out of the box.
I see from my reading that they seem to be a dependable and strong firearm with decent accuracy; they aren't famous for being tack-drivers.
I put a Leupold 3.5-10 scope on mine and fired off a few shots to sight in; my best 3-shot group at 100 yards was about 1.75 inches with Winchester Deer Season 150-grain ammo; I plan to try a few handloads this week.
If anyone has any experience with shooting them accurately, please share.
Kevin

[sawbill]

I've had two of them. My 6mm Rem was a tack driver right out of the box with either my handloads or the one box of factory that I put through it. The only critisim I had was a rather boring piece of wood on the forearm and butt. Unusual for Ruger to say the least.
My other, a 280 Rem suffered all the bad traits that you'd expect from an untrained dog. Erratic groups, stringing of shots and worst of all, an unreliable latch that allowed the lever to drop open at any time. I worked reloads and was able to obtain acceptable hunting accuracy, 2" moa at the very best. I read all the articles and tried all the solutions but I was never able to improve on its characteristics. The only improvement on accuracy came when I placed a shim on the end between the forearm and barrel. On the plus side, the wood matched that of the older Belguim Brownings of the '60's.

[Fenelon]

I can only comment based on a friend who had one in 308. I was an early 1970s model and it never shot well. Apparently the pre1976 guns had crap quality barrels on them. I believe Ruger started making their own barrels in the 90s. There are also issues with the forestock screw. Lots of stuff online about people cursing the screw, and tearing their hair out trying to get their gun to be accurate.

[Badenoch]

I hunted for many years with a Ruger #1A in .270 Winchester. Initially it was a frustrating rifle. Three shot groups would be around 2" with five shots expanding out to around 4" or more. Different ammo and handloads didn't change the grouping.

After repeated attempts to improve its performance I noted that the groups while not small were predictable. The first shot from a cold barrel went to the point of aim, the second shot was within a half inch, the third went 1.5-2.0 inches high making an elongated triangle, rounds four and five expanding the group further.

It occurred to me that it is a single shot rifle that fired the first two bullets to the point of aim and that repeated shots were not likely. The rifle's excellent handling and ergonomics more than made up for any shortcomings in accuracy and I hunted with it quite happily until selling it in a moment of foolishness.

[Highlander 61]

I currently own five no1’s a 30-06, 270, 375h&h, 300 wtby mag, and a 450 marlin all of them are fine shooting guns I’m shooting 1/2-1 groups with all of them at 100 yards. Up until 2 years ago they were never on my radar until I bought one and fell in love with them. 4 out of the 5 that I own are made post 90’s with beautiful wood. My 1 pre 90’s is a 270 international. Out of the 3 that I shoot regularly I’ve used Hornady ammunition and they seem to like it. I have done a lot of research on them and most of the shooting problems have been with the older models with the red butt pad, other articles I’ve read say that some are picky with what ammo you use but I haven’t found that with the 5 that I own. Wish I could help more, if anything I would just tinker with your ammo. If you want to get rid of it just let me know LOL

[Highlander 61]

Correction 1 1/2-1

[Deer Hunter]

I had one in 7 mm Rem Mag.
Accuracy sucked, wood was plain and it felt like pointing a economy 2x4 to boot.
I don’t have it anymore.
I guess you love them or hate them. Haha
Good luck with yours I hope you love it.

[Sam Menard]

When I decided to go all in and use a single shot, I opted for the Browning B78. It’s not for everyone and is not as popular as the Ruger, but it’s a rack driver.

[Kilo Charlie]

When I decided to go all in and use a single shot, I opted for the Browning B78. It’s not for everyone and is not as popular as the Ruger, but it’s a rack driver.

Yeah, I had one of those in .30-06 and one in .38-55. If I had been able to get that action in .30-30 I would have bought an 1885.

[Muskyhunter]

I have on of the full stocked versions in 270 Win. It likes hot ammo and is a tack driver. I took it to Wyoming Antelope hunting a couple of years ago and took 2 with it. It is too nice to take into the Ontario deer woods on a rainy day.

Years ago I had one in 375 HH and wasn't a big fan of it so it didn't last long. The trigger was very poor.