GOPHER SLAYER
02-16-2010, 10:40 PM
This is another rifle I got in a trade from the same friend who traded me the Win. Hi-wall. I had a German schuetzen rifle that a GI had brought back from Europe after WW 2. It was a beautiful gun with 100% of the case hardning .It even retained the clear varnish that was put on by the maker. Unfortunally the barrel didn't make it across the pond with the rifle. The rear sight did. Usually it was the other way around. The gun was the Martini style and of very high quality. I did get with the gun a barrel that had been threaded but not chambered. Almost all of those rifles are 8.15x46 R. The barrel however was not in very good condition and the bore could only be described as poor. The man I got the gun from was a top notch machinest and he did a great job of threading. When you screwed the barrel into the action the flat of the oct. locked up perfectly with the top of the receiver. One day I was at my friends house and I spied this Ruger #1. It was love at first sight. Well this is the story I got with it. The Ruger was sporting a heavy oct. barrel chambered in a short 30.30 wild cat. The barrel had been made by Barre Darr when he worked at SAECO. It was made of very mild steel and the bore was glass smooth The story went that Barre made the gun to shot in the Cast Bullit Natl Matches which he supposedly won. I didn't know if any of this tale was true but I did want the Ruger. It even has a Canjor trigger. My friend wanted my German sheutzen rifle so a deal was struck and I brought the Ruger home. I should have known that my friend knew something I didn't. I tried for some time to cut off 30.30 cases ,reform them and experiment with loads but I couldn' make the gun shoot no matter what I did. I soon tired of fooling with a wild cat, bought a 30.30 reamer and rechambered it myself. I found out in the mean time that the barrel had a 1 in 15.5 inch twist. All my .30 cal. bullits turned sideways at 50 yards. What was Barre drinking when he made it? I even tried to track him down with no luck. Some time later another friend offered me a .308 Win. Natl Match barrel in excellent shape for 20 bucks. Off came the oct. Darr barrel and on went the barrel you see here. I also chambered it in 30.30. It shoots very well with all my .30 cal bullits. It will shoot clover leafs with that wierd looking 311440 bullit. I have that mold made by Hoch. I did hear later that Darre was using h110 powder in this rifle. I really don't know what difference that would make but then I never tried it. I couldn't even get the barrel to shoot the little 32.20 bullit,311316. The Redfield Intl. Match sight is held on by a mount made by Paul Jones. Don't ask him to make you one, he isn;t interested. Actually if you have a mill they arn't difficult to make.I have made two or three myself, and I am no machinest. I prefer iron sights, I seem to score better with them. When I shoot a scope on the bench I can see the cross hairs move with my pulse. I have some very nice target scopes but they seldom see any use. To finish this tale , after our trade my friend bought the Darr barrel back from me, screwed it onto another Ruger and sold it for 650. I could have killed him. That Ruger #1 had the most beautiful butt stock I have ever seen on one. And that's the name of that tune.