rollcall for ruger #1 in 45/70

[jballs918]

im looking into one of these and i was wondering who has one out there thanks

[Bullshop]

We have one for sale. Has a Weaver K 1.5 to 4.5X and Pachmayer decelerator pad and sights. $600.00 to the USA
BIC/BS

[jballs918]

bullshop as much of a deal that is, i was just looking for infomation on them is all. if it was later in the year i would of most likely taken you up on that offer

[Bodydoc447]

I have one.

Doc

[axman]

I have 3 2-1s and a lyman cent. that I put 3 shots into .625'' at 100 yards with the 4x tube scope that came on it.

[wiljen]

I have a #1 in 45-70, it's one of my favorite rifles and was a favorite of the gent I purchased it from too. Shoots like a dream with a 300gr cast and 19.5 Unique.

[singleshotbuff]

I have a #3, does that count? LOL

Kills on the front, cripples on the rear.

SSB

[Johnch]

I have owned 2 - #1's and a #3
Always have someone offer me to much $$ when I had bills to pay [smilie=b: [smilie=b:

Still close to my favorit lead launcher

:castmine: John

[charlie / sw mo]

1v got a # 1 in 45-70

[jballs918]

well gentleman the reason why i asked is becuase i was wondering how these do for a long range verse a short range rifle. im looking for something that i can shot with long range. from what you guys say these are pretty good shooters.

[Nardoo]

I use cast boolits in mine exclusively now that I have got the barrel right. It is a ball to shoot with 400 to 500 grain projectiles. You are going to love a #1 in 45/70. You will need boolts around .462" for best accuracy. I beagled my molds early but now use .462" molds from CBE.

Nardoo

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p317/nardoo/100_0229.jpg

[Frank46]

I bought a #1 in 45-70 some years back. Was shooting at 200 with a buddy heavy into BPCR. Cleaned my clock. But had a darn good time. Still wish ruger had went with a longer length bbl on it. Still looks like a carbine to me. They got it right when they designed the cenntennial model. Frank

[Bad Ass Wallace]

I started with 45/70 and went to a 45/120 3.25" case

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/BAWallace/45_120_Sharps.jpg

[9.3X62AL]

I enjoy my #1 x 45-70 very much. It is in my top 4 favorites with castings.

[jballs918]

ok guys anyone out there also shoot anything over yet say 400 yards with this or is that asking to much of the gun. i have a leopold 3x9 that i can use for glass. im just looking to see what im getting into is all. i have read alot about them but never got and real info i was looking for. like are these hard to dail in with the right bullet and also ahs anyone found a bullet that works for all things that they wanted out of it. ei.. hunting, paper punching any multi use bullets. and also is the brass hard to get for this gun. i want a single shot one day and this one is in the lead. and again thanks for all your inputs

[felix]

The real question you have to ask yourself: Do I really want to send that much lead down range? Shoulder wise as well as inventory wise? If so, how often will I do it? ... felix

[Dr. A]

I've got one. It'll shoot anything I give it very accurately.

[9.3X62AL]

The 45-70 is a premier long-range caliber, but goes about its business in a very different way than a flat-shooting varmint rig. You might consult some experienced BPCR shooters, who use this caliber (and other old-time chamberings) to go well past 600 yards. This often involves heavy-for-caliber boolits and sub-sonic velocities, substantial recoil in a 7.5# rifle, and basketball trajectories--but the radial dispersion is still small.

My #1 seems to do its best work with the 400 grain-class boolits at 1000-1400 FPS velocities. Those kinds of loads can be fired all day in the #1--recoil is noticeable, but not uncomfortable. Cases are easy to find.

My #1 has what is known as a "Government Ballseat", which consists of a VERY abrupt rifling leade and very short throat. Any boolit over 400-425 grains needs a bore-rider portion, or too much powder capacity gets eaten up by boolit shank.

[jballs918]

ok let me fish more info from you all. does anyone know teh twist rate on a newer 45/70. as i stated before im looking for as much info as i can get

[SharpsShooter]

ok let me fish more info from you all. does anyone know teh twist rate on a newer 45/70. as i stated before im looking for as much info as i can get

Ruger 1-S is 1:20 Right Hand twist. The 4570 is a well proven long range performer. You must be familiar with judging distance and adjust accordingly, but it is tough to beat for a versatile caliber.

SS

[wills]

ok let me fish more info from you all. does anyone know teh twist rate on a newer 45/70. as i stated before im looking for as much info as i can get


http://www.ruger-firearms.com/Firearms/FAProdSpecsView?model=1399

http://www.ruger-firearms.com/Firearms/FAProdSpecsView?model=1327

[Bob S]

I've got one, but it's not exactly out-of-the-box "stock": (with apologies for the poor picture)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v76/BobS1/BPCR/Ruger45-70LRFL.jpg

It certainly was fun to shoot.

Resp'y,
Bob S.

[45nut]

As usual Bob's rifle is worth looking at.

I sure look forward to reading your stuff, another of the Masters we have in our membership.

[kennisondan]

Kind of late, but I have one, too.. the 50th anniversary model. I shot the 45 70 lever and decided I would drop my beloved 270 and go with that same cartridge in a single shot. Always loved the number ones, always have one.
If you are going to go to extreme ranges I have heard the 45 70 is a great cartridge, but most folks like the modern faster cartridges for really long range work..
I do plan to use mine for a lot of different distances, but I think it will take accurate ranging and a lot more than casual practice to do it really long range like 400 to 600..
doing it the hard way is sort of what it is about : single shot, old cartridge, ... you may decide to use iron sights as well like it was done by the original sharpshooters.
I have the stock irons on mine right now, but may change that over time...if need be...(but heck I like open sighted six shooters too ). no one I know has not liked the 45 70 .. talk to someone who shoots precision long range with large calibers and then you will know what I cannot tell you for sure. good luck with the learning experience.. advise what you decide to do and if it meets your criteria.
dk

[38-55]

jballs918,
I've shot my browning bpcr out to 1100 yards..the cartridge is as accurate as you are.... You will probably need a site with more travel than what your loopey has..
Just get one, shoot it and enjoy.
Calvin

[hivoltfl]

I dont have one of those but if someone was tired of theirs and was gonna dump it in the can I know where a good can is sitting!!

Rick

[Char-Gar]

I have had a No. 3 since the mid 80's and killed several deer with it and those dreadful little yellow thingies. The biggest deer I ever killed was a ten point mulie in the Glass Mountains of Texas. It took a 350 Hornaday over 55/3031 through the lungs and literaly dropped in it's tracks neveer to move again.

It is a very accurate rifle turning in MOA or 1.5 MOA with both condum and cast bullets.

Kicks like hell, but very very accurate and deadly to boot.

[9.3X62AL]

It is a very accurate rifle turning in MOA or 1.5 MOA with both condum and cast bullets.

Kicks like hell, but very very accurate and deadly to boot.

Charles just did a fine job of describing my #1 and its performance.

My barrel has eight-grooves to the right and goes .459" X .449". The abrupt rifling origin makes paper-patched boolits a no-go, but it shoots so well "as-is" with castings that I won't have its leade angle tapered out. Once the barrel wears out (I'm approaching 3K rounds with it) it will get re-tubed with a more gradual throat leade angle. I figure the barrel is about half-done when it gets to 3K--that has taken 11 years--and it gets used a lot more these days.

[felix]

No, Al, no need to get rid of that barrel as long as it shoots good. If you want it to wear in faster, then increase the antimony in your boolits, and reduce the tin amount at the same time. Load these boolits with powder giving 40K plus, while keeping the recoil roughly the same or even lighter. Boolit speed should go down because of the "faster" powder. In compensation, you should see a nicely formed land approach after the next 3K rounds. Might even take longer, though, because that gun more than likely uses 4140 steel throughout. ... felix

[Paul B]

I have one, that, based on the serial number was made in 1978. It has the longer throat of the earlier models and will allow seating of the early Lee 400 gr. flat plain based boollit and the 500 Gr. Lee gas checked boolit seated well out. My favorite boolit in the rifle is the Lyman #457122, the Gould hollow point over 16.0 gr. of SR-4759.
Paul B.

[mdatlanta]

I have one as well. I put a NECG peep on it, so I don't do much long-distance shooting, except some informal shooting at 200yd targets every so often. As others have posted, it is a very versatile caliber for targets or hunting using either cast or "j-word" bullets.

I'll reiterate another point someone else has already said, and that is one needs to be a good judge of distance due to the rainbow-shaped trajectory. I had a heck of a time trying to get on target at longer ranges, but after a bit of shooting it became much easier. As usual, practice pays off.

[MGySgt]

A No 1 45/70 was my second 45/70 nd my first single shot - I do have trouble keeping scopes on it. Weaver Grand slams don't hold up - blew up to of those, a LEPO 2X7 and a Nikon 2X7. Settled on shotgun scopes on my other 45/70's, just can't find the shot gun scope I want for it now.

Cast or Hornady 350's don't matter - shoots them both to MOA.


Drew

[lovedogs]

Don't have a #1 but do shoot real long-range with my Buffalo Classic. It also has a 1:20 twist. Out to a quarter mile or so almost any good shooting bullet will do but if you're gonna shoot real long you'll want a good 500 gr. bullet. We shoot out to a half-mile on our range. Best results are always with the heavy 500 gr. loaded to about 1200 FPS. My best groups so far have run in the 5 to 6 in. range at our longest target, 876 yds., using a Lee Shaver sight. Light bullets don't buck wind well at long ranges. A 500 gr. RN 1881-type bullet will stabilize to 3500 yds. Your main problem using a #1 at long range may be getting a tang sight mounted on it. To use a scope you'll need special mounts due to limited adjustment in them. Maybe this is why we see few of these on the silhouette range. A #1 is probably a fine hunting rifle but maybe not as easy to set up for a long-range target rifle.

[Frank46]

Bob.S, that looks like a redfield international rear sight on your #1. But then I could be wrong. How did you have it mounted??. I have an old redfield adaptor plate for a martini and was figuring on using it on my #1 in 45/70. The factory sights are junk, and even with a conetrol scope base I can't get the scope back far enough to get a decent cheek weld and good view through the scope. I bought a couple of the parker-hale globe sights when sarco had them on sale. They came with a set of lee shaver inserts that work well in the globe sights. I don't hunt anymore but like to punch paper. That's a really nice #1. Frank

[Marine Sgt 2111]

The cartridge is an outstanding performer. During the early '80's while on the 29 palms range practicing for an NRA match, I shot from the 600 yard line with a Shilo Sharps Long Range Express in .45-70. I was shooting Lyman 457125 boolits of wheelweight alloy at some 1300fps.

Everyone was laughing....a big ha ha using "that old gun." The first shot scored an "8" on the "deadly" decimal target, made a sight adjustment, second shot scored a"9" as did the third and the last scored a "10." The laughing had long since stopped.:shock:

Using a custom rear peep sight that I made, I have shot that combo of rifle/ammo/sight out to a mile hitting a 4 foot boulder, at will, until it was boring and the boulder was silver. I did use shooting sticks.

While my .300 Win Mag will shoot 1000yds...it's just not the same.

[HORNET]

Al,
Why don't you quit complaining about the throat on that #1 and lap it to a decent shape ? Finn45 posted his process on that about a year ago under Bullet Casting/Cast Boolits/ Buffalo Classic .45-70... if I do this right I should be able to attach a thread link.....
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=7623 (first try at this so it may not work :-? )
Buckshot probably won't charge you more than 1/2 an arm for the lathe time to make some lapping arbors and you get nice clean sharp rifling origins, unlike fire-lapping. :-D
I've been meaning to ask 45nut to add that post in his sticky library, but couldn't find it due to technical problems with my filing system ( big box full of printouts :roll: ).

[45nut]

All ya had to do was ask.....
I copied it into the "Classics & Stickies" under "throat lapping a buff classic"

[Bob S]

Bob.S, that looks like a redfield international rear sight on your #1. How did you have it mounted??.

Frank:

It is indeed a Redfield International. I built this rifle in 1994, when the BPCR Long Range Rules were still "Provisional", and any iron sights could be used, and you could use the sling. The mount was designed by me and made by a friend with an experimental NC set-up on his Bridgeport. I handed him a floppy with an AutoCAD Release 10 file on it, and it spit out the part. There is insufficient range of elevation on the Redfield sight for 45-70 from 100 to 1000 yards, so it had to have three mounting positions to move the sight up for the longer ranges. It worked quite well.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v76/BobS1/Ruger%20No%201/Ruger45-70LRrearsight.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v76/BobS1/Ruger%20No%201/Ruger45-70LRrearsightbase.jpg

The rules for the game have changed significantly. This sight would not be allowed, because it's not "traditional"; but then they allow artificial support, rifles over ten pounds, set triggers, and they shoot rifle types that didn't exist at the time of the great International matches, so I lost interest in the game.

Resp'y,
Bob S.

[Frank46]

Bob.S, many thanks for the reply. I don't plan on shooting BPCR but just paper punchin. I have a spare international and parker hale globe front sight. Just wanted to shoot maybe 100, 200 and maybe 300yds. And use the stuff I already have rather than go out and buy new stuff. That's one really beautiful rifle. I've said this often, that ruger should have made the #1 in 45/70 with at least a 24" bbl. it still looks like a carbine to me. And looks kinda funny with a scope. Thanks again, Frank

[9.3X62AL]

Felix/Hornet--

If the rifle didn't shoot so well with the paperless castings, I would consider one of those routes. As it is now, it does fine work--so I'm not inclined to take wrenches to things not broken. If I really get the itch to hunt with paper-patched boolits, there is always the 9.3 x 62 that does very well with that class of projectile.

Speaking of scratching an itch......I recently acquired a copy of Lyman #462560 with both HP and short pin assemblies. A previous borrowed mold of this pattern shot VERY well in the Ruger, so I'm looking forward to launching these hammers from the light, handy little #1. Ya never know, the same global warming that is killing off the condors might prompt the mastodon's renaissance. It's good to be ready for such eventualities.