Ruger #1

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

Maybe I'm a bit 'tarded, but why on earth do these things cost so much?

I was in making a payment on my next Handi yesterday,
There was a very nice Ruger #1 in 280 Rem,
Used, they wanted $895.00! why so much?

[Haggway]

Maybe supply and demand. The first one I bought new was 499.00 and the prices have gone up since.

[oldred]

For the same reason ammo is so expensive people just grumble and pay the price, some don't even grumble!

[white eagle]

your paying by the pound

[rockrat]

Because they figured some sucker would come along and pay their inflated price

[stubshaft]

It was always priced high, even back in the day. I am one of the fools that have bought more than one. But to me it has a certain feel and appeal to it and I like shooting them.

[Tatume]

Priced high because it is worth the money.

[excess650]

I seem to recall the new price back in the early '70s as $265. That was a LOT of money then as compared to a Remington 700 or Winchester 70.

The used price you saw seems a bit high to me, but possibly because of an odd caliber or such.

In regards to a Handi-rifle, there is no comparison. The #1 had always been blued steel and walnut until the recent addition to SS and laminated stocks. They are put together with screws, and nicely finished. Contrast that to a Handi- which is a shotgun action with plastic or birch stock, put together with pins, contains sintered metal and plastic parts, and not so nicely finished.

I don't (and won't) own a Handi-. I HAD a TC Contender some 30 years ago, and it was a decent product. I have no desire for an Encore or G2 which I think are both far superior to the Handi, but the switch barrel concept hasn't stuck with me. To each his own.

My "low end" gun is a Baikal 20" double trigger 12ga. Its a solid piece with beech stocks, and a decent value for the $. It does what I need, and I suspect the Handi- does what others desire or need. Its about choices.....

[atr]

yes high, but they are great shooters and easy to carry in the field. I only have one but glad I bought it.

[375RUGER]

Why do AR15s or Parkers or HKs cost so much? I have a few No.1 s and will never have too many. It's a really nice firearm at a decent price, I never felt I paid too much for one. I could have bought 2 No.1 s with scopes for what I paid for an AR10T once. The AR is worth every penny and I don't think I paid too much for it either once I found the bullet it likes and it shoots groups just about caliber diameter.
It's a personal preference.

[Lloyd Smale]

im sure part of the reason is that ruger has just as many machines and people on the #1 assembly lines as they do on 77s and proably sell 25 77s to ever #1 they sell.

[MGySgt]

I have a No 1 in 45/70 - nice piece of wood on it, shoots tiny groups. I can adjust to extract or eject. It is all steel and walnut, not plasic, 'hardwood', and a shotgun type action.

I do have a handi in .223. It shoots nice and I do not regret getting it. But it sure ain't as purty as my No 1!.

[MT Chambers]

I believe that they are more expensive to build, both labor and parts, even a nice piece of walnut costs money these days. The plastic ARs, I'm not so sure about.

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

I realize they are not even in the same class as things such as a Handi. They are beautiful rifles and I am not ripping on them in any way, except I wont ever be able to afford one :D

[canyon-ghost]

They are nice, and if you look at Lyman #49, it tells you that these are strong actions for a 45/70. A stronger action is part of the price.

[DHB]

$895.00 sounds awfully high to me, maybe it is the caliber. There is a 7MM mag on gun broker now for $650.00 which is a d**n sight better than $900.00. A 7 MM in a #1 will kick the daylights out of you though. I'll never own another one. Shop shows. I've seen them at Houston gun shows for $550.00 up. As to why so high, have you looked around at other dealers and or gun shows?
DHB

[Haggway]

The 280 is less common. 895 is the start price for new ones in my area. Ruger has a habit or making a run of calibers one week then switching to another with the #1.
I like them because I shoot left handed and hate finding a rifle with the bolt on the wrong side.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Every one I have had, has been worth it!

Maybe I had to scratch a bit harder, dig a little deeper, but as said, worth it.

Better then average wood, class looks, Strong as a bank vault.

As long as I am able to think about such things, I'll remember sitting on the hill side in SE Wasingtion during elk season with my first #1B - 7mm mag. That would have been in the early 70s.

Didn't get an elk that year, although that rifle put down my first elk, but sitting there with that beautiful rifle on my lap, a dream come true.

Yep, worth dream'in about an work'in for!

Now, a RUGER #1s - 45/70 and 4 critters down with my own cast boolits, including one elk [smilie=w: :bigsmyl2: [smilie=w: Worth every cent and the wait!

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[Lloyd Smale]

ill give this an amen. theres just something about a nice looking gun when hunting and they dont come no prettier then a #1!!
Every one I have had, has been worth it!

Maybe I had to scratch a bit harder, dig a little deeper, but as said, worth it.

Better then average wood, class looks, Strong as a bank vault.

As long as I am able to think about such things, I'll remember sitting on the hill side in SE Wasingtion during elk season with my first #1B - 7mm mag. That would have been in the early 70s.

Didn't get an elk that year, although that rifle put down my first elk, but sitting there with that beautiful rifle on my lap, a dream come true.

Yep, worth dream'in about an work'in for!

Now, a RUGER #1s - 45/70 and 4 critters down with my own cast boolits, including one elk [smilie=w: :bigsmyl2: [smilie=w: Worth every cent and the wait!

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[MBTcustom]

Ruger actions are worth what they are charging. They are still good quality firarms that are finished correctly and made well. No one else makes a single shot rifle of that quality for that price.
Now there is no love lost between me and Ruger, let me assure you. I think they took their barrel making skills and threw them out the window in favor of cheap production so no matter what model you get, your accuracy will be terrible to fair. Every now and then you can get lucky and find an accurate one, or you find one that was made back before QC went to schite. The cheapest after market barrels will tighten the pattern on any ruger product. If your $1000 #1 is shooting 1" @100, then you can certainly get 1/2" with an aftermarket barrel. That's the big turn off for me with Ruger rifles. They are some of the prettiest pieces I have ever seen but you never know what your going to get in the accuracy dept, 'cause their barrels just plain suck rocks. Whats worse is, they know about the problem and dont stand behind the accuracy of their products either.
If you pay $1000 for a brand new #1 and take it to the range and are unhappy that it will only shoot 2" groups @100yrds with any ammo you feed it, and you call up Ruger to see if they will warranty that gun and make it right, you will be informed that the rifle is guaranteed to shoot better than 4MOA and you are well within those limits. That's pitiful.

[dubber123]

Goodsteel, is that 4 MOA quote for real? I've had my share of issues with getting Rugers to shoot well, I've never gotten a truly bad one, but none yet have been stellar. My brothers new to him .338 has started out in the "atrocious" range. Maybe we'll find a magic load for it, maybe not. I like the guns, but wish they shot better on average.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Goodsteel,

Guess I have been one of the lucky ones! :smile::smile:

Then there are the newer RUGER barrels, not to discount the good number older ones that I have had, including my OLD "Flatbolt" 243 that was a good well better then just good shooter waaaaay before I came to own it.

Then there is the 3/8" group from a #1 - .223, shot in 1982 that I just looked at where it resides on my wall with a bunch of other bragg'in groups shot from RUGERS.

And what about my much newer Hawkeye 300 win mag. that shot the slightly over 5/8" group at a tad over 3300fps with a 165gr Nosler Partition.

Likely there were some bad barrels, but it was by no means all of them.

And then what about the browning A-bolt that finally went down the road because the barrel looked like it had been reamed with a threading tap and would not group or shoot consistantly no mater what I tried?

Taking the best/same loads I could find for the A-bolt, the RUGER Hawkeye waaaaaay out shoots the browning!

Sorry for your poor experience with RUGER, but they don't all, by any means, deserve a bad rap.

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[Tatume]

Goodsteel,

Guess I have been one of the lucky ones! ... Likely there were some bad barrels, but it was by no means all of them. ... Sorry for your poor experience with RUGER, but they don't all, by any means, deserve a bad rap.

Of the last six Ruger No. 1. rifles I've purchased, all are outstanding shooters. My Ruger No. 1V in particular is spectacular. Five-shot groups at 100 yards are miniscule, and that's all the time, not just lucky groups. Six in a row is pretty good, and I still have all six, of every model of No. 1. There's nothing wrong with Ruger barrels.

[Guy La Pourque]

Yep. Mine would do 3/4" groups off the bench all day long without missing a beat. I have the big Varminter but in the 25-06 caliber. To me it is the perfect rifle: short as a 30-30, and very handy even with the heavy barrel.

Unfortunately I lost count of how many rounds went down the barrel - and how many pounds of powder I burned in it. Velocities are falling off and the groups are opening up so I am beginning to suspect a re-barrel is in the works. Time for the ol' bore scope I guess...

[Lloyd Smale]

yes it is! and its at 50 yards! I sent my 257 roberts ultra light in because the best group it would shoot was 3 inch and most loads went 4 inch. they returned it with a test target that showed a 2 inch group. I called them and asked them what they shot it with and they told me 117 corelocks. Well i had shot those before on a few occasions and the best they did was 4 inch and i told them that. The service tech told me then that they shoot at 50 yards and consider any gun that shoots under 4 inch at that range good to go. I told the guy that i had 94 winchesters that would shoot 2 inch groups with open sights at a 100 yards and sure would think that a bolt rifle with a scope should at least do that. The idiot made me about flip over backwards when he said the 3030 is an inherantly accurate round and the 94s are allway accurate but the 257 roberts has been know for years to be an inaccurate round. I asked him why they even chambered it then and how come every one they made isnt comming back like mine. He said most are happy with 4 inch groups at 50 yards as thats plenty accurate enough to kill deer out to 400 yards!!!! can you believe that bs. I got the gun back and brought it to the buddys gunshop, told him the story and traded it on a 700 in 7mag.

Funny thing is i recently bought a hawkeye in 264mag. It too wouldnt shoot real well and showed pressure signs even with factory ammo. I sent it to them and they sent it right back with a photo copy of a target again shot at 50 yards with ww factory ammo that had all 3 bullets touching. Well i knew better even at 50 yard that gun would come close to that with factory ammo. I sent the gun back again and said that if they returned it again unfixed i wanted a real picture of them acutally shooting that gun and the actuall target as i knew it was bs. Kind of funny as the gun came back with the barrel replaced and has been great since. come to find out they had a bunch of 264s with bad barrels but the ######## first tried sending it back to see if i would give up easy and save them the expense. the real odd thing is that ive sent back a few other ruger rifles for various things and only once got treated right. But ive sent in a number of handguns and they allways treated me great when i sent those in. I wonder why there such jerks with rifles?
Goodsteel, is that 4 MOA quote for real? I've had my share of issues with getting Rugers to shoot well, I've never gotten a truly bad one, but none yet have been stellar. My brothers new to him .338 has started out in the "atrocious" range. Maybe we'll find a magic load for it, maybe not. I like the guns, but wish they shot better on average.

[Swampman]

#1s are a better investment than many other rifles. As far as .45-70 single shots go they are priced about mid-range I believe.

[6pt-sika]

Over the years we've owned about two dozen #1's in either 1B , 1V or 1H configurations . At the moment we have 18 I believe and so far all of them have shot acceptable deer hunting accuracy .

I will say THE SMALLEST 3 shot 100 yard group I have fired in my 50 years of existance was fired with a Lilja barreled Ruger #1B/V in 22-250AI . While it may be somewhat of a fluke it still put three in one small hole that was .054" over the actual bullet diameter .

Of the others several will shoot below 3/4" at 100 yards for 3 shots . My 264 WIN MAG shot the first load I tried in it at about 1/2" and they were actually rounds I'd loaded for a Remington 700BDL stainless synthetic I had just sold so i could get one of the Ruger #1B's !

I have no qualms shooting Ruger #1's or hunting with them for that matter .

The only other production recent manufacture single shot I care for is the Browning B-78 od mid 70 to early 80 vintage . And I happen to have one of those in 25-06 with an octagon barrel that shoots very nicely as well .

[softpoint]

I've only had a few #1's, They were all accurate enough, a 270 that shot an inch or under, 2 45/70s that shot 1.5 to 2 inches, Most of the time. I now have an early B78 Browning that shoots a tad better than either of those #1's, but, it has a heavier barrel, too.
I never had much luck with the 77's though. I had one of the medium-heavy 280's that shot pretty good, and a friend has a .220 swift that does pretty well too, but I've owned them in 7x57, .338, 6mm, 22/250, .308, and two of the little ones in Hornet, one a standard blue model, the other a stainless laminate heavy barrel, and all of those were traded away as mediocre shooters. I've heard that their barrels are better these days, and to be honest, I haven't owned one in ten years or longer, but I'd probably still be a bit "gunshy" of buying one. Maybe I should trade into another one, I sure like the looks of the little short ones they are making now....

[Shooter6br]

I agree with MGySgt. Other guns I have fall into the same class. Smith Mod 25-2 (45acp) Smith 657. Browning O/U and a few benchrest guns I had,They are guns I always wanted.

[Chief]

I have had a couple of #1B's in varmint calibers that shot extremely well. I used to worry about accuracy issues with these things until I shot them, not any more. A bit high priced but I am still buying another when I find the caliber I want...

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Hey Chief,

BE'in as how ya live in Ideeeeho, make that next #1 a 45/70.

AWESOME critter getter!

CDOC

[Ragnarok]

Let me ask all you Ruger No.1 rifle gurus a question......Does the Ruger No.1 B come from the factory with a dollop of plastic bedding material in the forearm inletting where it attaches to the forearm hanger?

I ask this because my .243's forearm inletting doesn't look quite right....almost looks like somebody either carved on the 'U' shaped inlet to make it deeper....or tightened the forearm so tight it crushed itself deeper...or tightened the forearm so tight a dollop of bedding material crushed and fell out!

I cut a shim from a credit card to fit..and think it could use another shim(or glassbedded)...one shim brought the group size down noticably.

As far as the OP's question regarding No.1 cost....yes...new Ruger No.1 rifles are expensive!.....I gave substantially less than new price for mine however it's a well used somewhat battered specimen. I always figured these cost so much because they are so popular and pretty...very European looking sporting musket.....all this really means that I don't know why they are so costly....

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Ragnarok,

Can't say that they don't come with a, "dollop" of plastic bedding material between the forend and the under barrel hanger, But I have NEVER had one which had that treatment from the factory.

My first thought would be "NO" in answer to your question, but??????????

Sounds like you may be already started on the bedding job, it just needs to be properly finished.

However, my #1 - 45/70 is bedded at the point of the screw attachment, and 2 places (one on either side) back towards the action, and every one that has passed through my hands for quite awhile has had that treatment along with barrrel floating.

I come down very hard on consistancy of point of impact, and any wood to barrel contact on any typical hunting weight rifle is likely to cause a change in that point of impact.

AS I have said in the past, there is no time allowed for "sighters" when hunting, so therefore I must know where that first shot will hit come rain or shine, hot or cold and no matter how or on what the rifle's forend rested on or held.

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[oldwood1]

About the price, " remember how much you are saving by not shooting a semi-auto" !! Nothing like a Single Shot Gun.

[Chamfered]

As others have said, it's a matter of what the demand is willing to pay. Ruger #1's and Rugers over under shotgun both used to be around 450 bucks, at a time when an AR could be built for under 300.

[Tom W.]

When you shoot one, you'll know.

I have two, one that I had rechambered to 30-06 A.I. and the other a 7mm Rem mag.
I had two Handi rifles, one a .270 and the other a 30-30. I traded the .270......
Both the handi's were very accurate, but the #1's are both accurate and beautiful...

[Chief]

Hey Chief,

BE'in as how ya live in Ideeeeho, make that next #1 a 45/70.

AWESOME critter getter!

CDOC
yea, that could be the next, tough on Wolf hides tho.

[gandydancer]

Hand guns of all types are selling faster then gun companys can't keep up with demand. Ruger is so far behind in hand gun production that it put a hold on some long gun Mfg # 1's red label and others. My son wants a Ruger BH Bisley in 45 colt any bbl length my dealer called 7 distributors today and found 1 vaquero not what he wants. that nasty blast we have in the white house and others in DC has people scared so there buying anything. GD

[Potsy]

I've got 2 #1's and would love a couple more. They're kind of an addiction.
The worst my 7x57 ever shot was a 1.5" 3 shot group at 100 yards. Best was a little under an inch. Given what I'm going to do with that rifle, that'll work.
My .45-70 made a ragged hole with three 405 Remington J-words at 50 yards a couple weeks back.
That with the fact they both point like quail guns, and just plain look cool, I love mine.
I'm sure Ruger (like every other manufacturer) has built rifles that wouldn't shoot. My Bro-in-Law had a stainless 77 in .260 Rem about 10 years ago that wouldn't hit a basketball. We swapped scopes, took it apart, put it together, the whole 9 yards. He traded it as opposed to sending it back. Never did figure out what was wrong. I've been around a bunch of Rugers, and thats the only diseased one I've ever encountered.

Save your money and shop around. If you want a #1, there's one out there with your name on it.

[JDL]

I've got an awful hankering for a No.1A in .30-30! It should be a most excellent boolit launcher, plus the fact I'm set up with all the reloading equiptment and several molds.

[nanuk]

you won't find a new Ruger 1 up here for under $1100, any caliber any style.... and you'd be lucky to find one at that price

[Chief]

Hey Chief,

BE'in as how ya live in Ideeeeho, make that next #1 a 45/70.

AWESOME critter getter!

CDOC
Ok Geezer, I picked up a 45/70 #1. Now what do you suggest I load it with. Why do I listen to people...:grin:

[PanaDP]

Ok Geezer, I picked up a 45/70 #1. Now what do you suggest I load it with. Why do I listen to people...:grin:

What do you want to do with it?

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Awesome Chief.

Personally, I'd suggest a good and over 400gr cast boolit with a WFN.

I just lubed some boolits this evening with a couple different lubes so I can test what effect the lube has on groups.

I am, as posted in other places and times, pretty much a one boolit for one rifle and as such pick a boolit suitable for the lightest to the biggest game I am likely to hunt with it.

CDOC

[Chief]

i am thinking Whistle Pigs...I might need a 500+hard lead for penetration. I do wish this thang had a magazine for follow up shots...don't want to get hurt ya know.

[AKtinman]

About 1980 I owned a #1V in .300 Winchester Magnum, not a common item. The recoil was a bit much for me, even with a good Pachmayr pad.

When Ruger cataloged the #1V in .280, I called to see if they would re-barrel my .300, but they declined, referring to the caliber change as “custom work”. I swapped the .300 off.

Never did get a #1 in .280, but last week I picked up a nice used #1B in .30-06 for $625. It should be a fun shooter with cast boolits.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

I hear ya Chief!!!!!

Laugh if they wish, but folks from lesser states, can't possibly know just how big and dangerious an Ideeeeeho Whistle Pig can be.

Place your shots well, as you only have one before that critter is in your face ![smilie=w:

CDOC :veryconfu