Ruger No1 accuracy
 

The other thread about Ruger No1's has me wondering and I didn't want to sidetrack the discussion in that thread.

I've always read about troubles getting Ruger No1's to group, but have never had experience with one.

I have a couple of actions I picked up quite sometime ago, for one of them I have a buttstock done and a International forend for it, I just need to get the barrel done.

What do you need to do to get them to shoot?
I'm thinking this one maybe chambered in 20 vartarg or a 17 cal and used for rabbits and hares.
To do that I would want decent accuracy...............Kiwi

manlicher??????? that said it's your boat to float. my 218 bee shoots in the .3's, it has a moyer trigger and a hicks accurizer.

Ok changed it to "International"

I already have a 17 Ackley Bee, 17 HeBee and a 218 bee on a '92 Win, given how hard it is to get Bee brass I'm not eager to add another one at the moment, but have thought about a Hornet based cartridge or Donaldson Wasp...........kiwi

i thought of a no 1 in a 17 velociraptor, aka (17 vha). thought it would be perfect for varmints up coon sized critters, 3700 fps with 20 gr vmax and 10-11 gr of powder or 4050 with 15.5 ntx. shot a lot of ground hogs and armadillos with the cartridge over the years. the little round kills way out of proportion to it's size, uses 5.7x28 or the (preferred)4.6x30mm brass.
i also considered the 1885 browning re-barreled to the same cartridge with a 22" barrel.
https://i.imgur.com/QdozCOV.jpg?1

#1 accuracy
 

Good question on how to make them accurate. I’ve owned five of them. I owned two heavy barrel in 22 ppc, a heavy barrel in 223, and a 1B in 22 hornet. I could not get any of them to consistently shoot 1” groups. I had after market triggers installed, tried various forend schemes, and it was a total waste of money. I said I’d never buy another. Well, I lied. I bought a #1B red pad in 218 Bee about a year ago. I had the horrible factory trigger replaced with a Jard, 2.5 pound. And I had the forend floated so it does not touch the barrel. It has promise. I’m pretty consistently shooting 1” or very slightly better five shot, 100 yard groups. I think your full length forend is the wrong direction if you’re looking for accuracy. Good luck.

Instead of a Hornet based cartridge you might consider a 22 Spitfire/5.7 Johnson made from M1 Carbine brass. Rim size is very close to Hornet. Very simple to make the brass, just anneal new carbine brass lightly, form in FL die then re-anneal and go shooting. I have 3 of these now and after waiting almost 2 years for Shooters World SBR-SOCOM to show up again have a pretty darn good load of CCI 400, 16.5grs SBR-SOCOM and 40 V-Max .020 off lands for 3350fps and bughole groups. Best brass I have found is Starline. Graf & Sons had some really good brass but they are out of it now and manufacturer is out of business so don't know if that option will materialize again. Other powders would be Alliant 300MP and possibly Lil'Gun but haven't used it.

I've had mixed results with my #1 rifles, but by hunting buddy picked one up in 204 and it shoots as good or better than my CZ527

Being well aware of all the No.1 stories related to mediocre accuracy, I purchased my No.1 Varmint 223 for the paltry price of $450 from a neighbor who claimed "it wouldn't shoot" worth a hoot some years ago. He was not a handloader.

Short story, I glassed the forearm hanger, floated the barrel, glassed the buttstock to the action, installed a Canjar single set trigger and cleaned the crap out of it.

Now using my "utility load" that I use for my bolt guns in this caliber, the No.1 shoots its load of the 40gr NBT or VGN into consistent 1/4" groups, and is the only rifle I've ever owned that I went 100/100 one fine day in a huge alfalfa field in N CA, hitting every rat the rifle was aimed at. I was in the field alone, so couldn't even brag to anyone there (true nonetheless). Every time I ponder selling this No.1, I think about that day and remove the thought of doing so.

So they CAN shoot, just depends how much grief you're willing to endure to get there. :cool:

N0. 1 vs. Contender?
 

I’ve had two Ruger No. 1’s in the far past. Both would vertical string to 1-inch plus and sometimes keep going groups. The first was a .243. The fired brass showed stretch & internal cracks near the head. Ruger said the head space was in tolerance. The second No. 1 was a .22 PPC HB with the same vertical stringing. I had every trick done to this rifle I could find at the time. Froze barrel, forearm floated and spring tension button, glass, trigger, & etc. Little to no improvement.

I purchased a T/C Contender in .223, it is a T/C Custom Shop barrel. Ugly vertical stringing.

I started reading on Mike Bellm's forum on Contender/Encore case head spacing. This Contender now shoots 1/4 to 3/8-inch groups in routine with proper Contender/Encore head spacing using Mike’s knowledge.

I’m not going to buy another Ruger No. 1 to test this idea, but I often wonder if this could be a big problem with the No. 1, proper case head space?

Has anyone corrected a No. 1 testing for proper head space?

Mike Bellm is also such a nice guy to deal with.