Hicks Accurizer

[dale2242]

Has anyone tried the Hicks Accurizer On Ruger #1 or #3?

I hear the help with vertical stringing....dale

[chsparkman]

Yep. Had vertical stringing on my #1 in .270. Tightened the groups up very nicely.

[Tatume]

I milled clearance inside the forearm of my 7x57mm No. 1A, installed the Hick's Accurizer, and was all excited when the groups shrank to sub-MOA. Then I removed it, planning to try it in a No. 1B, but shot the No. 1A again first. The groups remained sub-MOA, and do so to this day. The Hick's Accurizer now resides in its original packaging in my spare parts box.

[Tatume]

I add that I have a No. 1A, 1B, 1H, 1V, and RSI. All shoot sub-MOA without tuning.

[Lloyd Smale]

are you talking they will shoot sub moa 5 shot groups every time or that they have shot an occasional sub moa group? Ive had quite a few number ones and to be honest ive had better luck with them hands down compared to 77s but have only had only two I would claim were sub moa guns and they took a lot of load development to get there. They were both 1b's. One a 2506 and the other a 280. When I claim a gun is a 3/4 inch shooter that gun will shoot an average of 3 5 shot groups into 3/4s of an inch. Not one 3/4 inch group and two 1 1/4 groups. No fair calling flyers either. Every shot counts because a 3/4 in gun is only a 3/4 inch gun if the man on the trigger can do it. I chuckle at guys that buy a rifle and shoot a couple 3 shot groups and discount flyers and call there gun a sub moa gun.
I add that I have a No. 1A, 1B, 1H, 1V, and RSI. All shoot sub-MOA without tuning.

[Tatume]

My guns meet your standard. Furthermore, I am a professional statistician, and know what an outlier is. So-called "flyers" are not.

[Harry O]

Before there was a Hicks Accurizer, there was information on putting an upforce on the barrel at the front of the forearm to improve accuracy. I machined (not carved, whittled, or hacked out, but machined) a tapered wedge made from walnut to fit there. One side was machined to fit the radius of the barrel and the opposite side to fit on the steel cantilever from the receiver. It did help the accuracy quite a bit. I now have it on three #3's and one #1.

BTW, I have converted all the #3's to what I call #2's. They are standard except the rear stock is replaced by a #1 stock with a 1" rubber recoil pad. I have thought about modifying the lever, but have not gotten around to doing it. After I had to start taking blood thinner, the #3 stocks raised black and blue marks on my shoulder. I first tried replacing the hard #3 buttpad with rubber ones. That did not work. Then I went to a #1 rear stock. The drop was less and the area of the butt was quite a bit larger. They don't raise black and blue marks now. After the first one worked out so well, I converted the others.

One of the #3's is a custom wildcat (30-40 Krag case blown out straight and reduced to 7mm) with a target barrel that regularly produces groups less than one MOA. I sighted it in at 200 yards and at that distance, my smallest group ever was 3/8" and the average group size of about 3/4". It has only shot over 1-1/4" at that distance when I obviously screw up. I don't recall that I have EVER shot a group more than 2" with that gun, even when I screw up. So less than 1 MOA guns do exist. I don't make the same claim for my other Rugers, with their standard barrels, but they don't do too bad.

[Harry O]

I was asked by PM for more details about the #3 wildcat/custom. In case anyone else is interested, it was based on a Ruger #3 in 30-40 Krag. The wildcat is blown out straight and the shoulder moved forward. The neck is 7mm long and 7mm in diameter. The angle is pretty sharp, but I forget the exact angle. It is a near duplicate to the .280 Remington cartridge ballistically.

I use normally 50gr of IMR4350 powder with a 140gr bullet. I have taken it up to 55gr without problems other than slightly less accuracy. I have also experimented with IMR4064, IMR4831, and IMR4895 but have dropped them. My best bullet is one of the Barnes triple shock. It is long so I can seat it out beyond where it touches the rifling. When I close the dropping block, it breaks the bond between the bullet and the case and seats it back a little bit while still touching the rifling. It is very accurate with equal pull from every bullet when fired. This works for me better than seating the bullet 0.010" to 0.020" back from the rifling without breaking the bond. Lead jacketed bullets cannot be set out long enough to do this. The barrel is a heavy contour 26" long stainless steel Lija barrel. It has a #1 style stock and a 6x18 Nikon scope. I have two custom sets of dies from Hornady, one for use and one for a backup.

Most of my groups are 3 shots at a fairly rapid rate. I can shoot 5 shot groups almost as small as long as I wait 5 minutes between shots.

231476

[Tatume]

Most of my groups are 3 shots at a fairly rapid rate. I can shoot 5 shot groups almost as small as long as I wait 5 minutes between shots.

This is likely the most important adjustment I've made to attain accuracy from No. 1 rifles. I wait one minute between shots, which allows enough cooling time for consistent groups.

[Lloyd Smale]

Wish I knew what ive been doing wrong for 50 years of loading and shooting. Guess maybe because I didn't go to college.
My guns meet your standard. Furthermore, I am a professional statistician, and know what an outlier is. So-called "flyers" are not.

[Harry O]

This is likely the most important adjustment I've made to attain accuracy from No. 1 rifles. I wait one minute between shots, which allows enough cooling time for consistent groups.

One minute between shots did not cut it for me. Five minutes is probably more than necessary, but it works. I have other things I can do between shots.

Interestingly, my original problem with heat was with vertical stringing, like others have mentioned here. After putting upforce on the barrel, the shots do not string vertically. They do enlarge the group, radially. This increases the group size, but not nearly as fast (or as much) as when they string vertically.

[Larry Gibson]

I've had much better results improving the accuracy and reducing vertical stringing to zero by bedding the forend to the hanger and essentially free floating the barrel. I do the same to #3s removing the barrel band and reshaping the forend to a semi "schnabel" configuration.

[Lloyd Smale]

that's what ive done to problem #1's. It helps but it sure doesn't turn a 2 inch gun into a sub moa gun and it does help a bit with group size especially verticle stringing is opening up your groups. .
I've had much better results improving the accuracy and reducing vertical stringing to zero by bedding the forend to the hanger and essentially free floating the barrel. I do the same to #3s removing the barrel band and reshaping the forend to a semi "schnabel" configuration.