Ruger No. 1 45-70

[Leadmine]

I was thinking about a buying a Ruger #1 in 45-70. I'm new to both rifle and cartridge. I'm looking for help with your opinions on both.

I'd like to get a nice 45-70. It doesn't have to be a No. 1 but after looking at whats out there, it seems to be the closest to meet my needs. My question is, are they accurate with 45-70? If not, is there another rifle that you folks can suggest in the same price range?

Also what seems to be the best cast bullet to use in these rifles? I'm looking mostly for good accuracy, but there is a good chance I would hunt with it too.

Thanks for your help!

[45 2.1]

The Ruger #1 in this caliber is very nice. With just the iron sights, it is a very nice stalking rifle. Fatter boolits are better with this rifle also. Loaded correctly, there are no flies on accuracy in this rifle. We are running a group buy for a 0.461" diameter 360 gr. boolit that should be excellent in this rifle.

[Dale53]

I have a Ruger #3 in 45/70. The #3 is no longer produced. They are both VERY light for the caliber. That is great for carrying but not so good for shooting. I suggest a really good recoil pad. They are both so strong (as strong as a good bolt gun) that quite possibly, recoil will determine your top smokeless loads as opposed to pressure.

The early Rugers had an adjustable trigger. The new ones are too heavy. However, you can buy either an adjustable trigger (similar to the early factory ones) or a single set trigger. Both are available from Brownell's.

They are both drilled and tapped for scopes. You can also fit an aperture sight, if you prefer. I have age induced poor eyesight so a scope is preferable for me.

These are fine rifles for reasonable prices.

Good luck!
Dale53

[fourarmed]

Beautiful rifles, and one was for sale in an area pawnshop. The owner handed it across the counter to me, and I just handed it back. I didn't even shoulder it. 'Way too light for such a potentially hard-kicking round. Later I had a chance at a .458 for a ridiculously low price, but I had just bought an Anschutz rifle 3 tables down. The .458 was the weight that the .45-70 ought to be.

[PatMarlin]

I don't think they're too light. I picked this one up in a hawk shop for $350 bucks few years back. It's sports a Leupy now, and is in 300 Winchester Mag.

I can stand off hand and put factory loads in 3" at 100. Kicks plenty but not rediculous, but what an nice balanced work of art. Pics don't do it justice.

I would love to have one in 45-70, and thought of rechambering this one someday. Heck my 1895 Guide Gun is lighter. I wouldn't hesitate gettin' one.:drinks:

[fourarmed]

I think you'll find that the #1 .45-70 is at least a pound lighter than your .300 mag, maybe two. What weight it has is in the butt and action, so it's not going to be the offhand rifle, either. I don't know why they put such a short, light barrel on it.

[45 2.1]

I think you'll find that the #1 .45-70 is at least a pound lighter than your .300 mag, maybe two. What weight it has is in the butt and action, so it's not going to be the offhand rifle, either. I don't know why they put such a short, light barrel on it.

Until you've owned and shot one for awhile it will not be apparent what it is like, but it will grow on you. The #1 is a really nice stalking rifle, unlike any other 4570 out there including the #3. It has a factory rubber buttplate that handles recoil nicely. Factory loads are no problem. If you absolutely want to shoot thumper loads, you will have to weight it or put a recoil absorbing recoil pad on it. Try to find somebody with one and try it. It is a lot better offhand rifle than you think.

[fourarmed]

Well, shoot! You mean I really should have bought it? Maybe Mrs. Fourarmed doesn't remember what I told her about it.

[45 2.1]

Well, shoot! You mean I really should have bought it? Maybe Mrs. Fourarmed doesn't remember what I told her about it.

Well darn, I wouldn't want to be blamed for this, so try before you buy and make sure she doesn't remember, or else i'll probably be cussed along with you. :roll: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

[ruger4570]

The Ruger #1 in 45-70 is pretty much fine the way it is. If you want to shoot the hot loads, it will kick the snot out of you the way it is set up. For the "standard" 45-70 loads it is no worse than the guns that Custer et al had to shoot in the 1870's. It will take down game just fine even with a lot of drop. I have shot some 500 gr bullets at close to 458 velocities and they just aren't fun other than to see how hard they can hit. 405 Gr bullets at anywhere from 1200 to 1400 fps are pussycats for the most part,,, well, you do know you pulled the trigger and it went off if nothing else. If a person is recoil sensitive, the 45-70 may not be for you, even light loads let you know you just lit up a cartridge. The 45-70 is not for recoil sensitive people, you would be better off with something like a 308 or less.

[Blackwater]

Leadmine, you don't say what you want it for, only that you're concerned about its accuracy. FWIW, John Barsness wrote an article in a fairly recent Rifle magazine that pretty much summed up the accuracy tales re the #1 and #3. The new #1's (they don't make the #3's any more, do they?), are much more consistent in accuracy now that Ruger's making their own barrels, and they're hammer forged, which some believe to be a superior way to make barrels. I think the tales of bedding problems with #1's thru the years are at least partly due to Ruger's having used jobbers' barrels on their rifles, where some lots of barrels just weren't up to par. Many were, but some just weren't.

Hanging that ejector on the forend hanger DOES at times make for some spotty accuracy, but that ain't no big problem for anyone who knows how to bed one. Do a Google search for R Bertalotto, and you'll find some pretty good instructions on how to bed a forend, should you encounter any problems of that type. Not really a big deal at all.

A buddy got a SS/gray lam. stocked #1 early last year, and his shoots like it has eyes. It'll do 1" or better almost any day you want to shoot it. He's using 300 gr. Sierra JHP's and Rem. 300 gr. JHP's, and the Rem's actually best the Sierras in his gun, believe it or not! Half the price, too, when bought in bulk of 500 or more. Next to a REAL bullet, cast yourself of lead, this is purdy good news. If it'll do that with red bullets, it ought to do about as well with silver ones, I think. Only condition is just doing the testing to see what your rifle will like.

Now as to recoil, this buddy with the SS/Lam #1 was severely injured a number of years ago in an industrial accident, and was left with a torn spinal sheath, which really caused a LOT of burning pain. He wouldn't give up deer hunting, but had to go to a .223 because of becoming VERY recoil sensitive due to the accident. He's better now, but he's still a bit sensitive to long strings, and about the most he can take is 5 to 10 rds. of .270 from a sporter off a bench. Still, though, he has no problem shooting those 300 gr. bullets at up to 3150 fps. More than 2150 fps., however, and he's beyond his limit. I can shoot 300's at 200+ out of my Marlin Guide Gun or my #3 that I slimmed the grip and forearm on, and put a thin and not terribly soft pad on, getting rid of that silly plastic buttplate of the #3 (that it shares with the 10/22).

No two of us is quite alike in our ability to handle recoil, and especially so in long strings, but there should be no problem in using a #1 in .45/70. All you have to do is find your own personal comfort zone, and maybe your upper limit with each bullet wt. you use. That's easily done, and adhered to, and the funny thing about the .45/70 is that in the field, the game doesn't seem to be able to tell much difference between the hellbenders and the more sedate rounds. As a friend of mine once opined, "you can load it with jacketed bullets, cast bullets, ash trays or feather pillows, and it'll STILL kill whatever you shoot at." That ain't far from the truth, too ... well, not TOO far.

FWIW, I think the open sighted #1 Ruger in .45/70 is one of the most nicely balanced and handling rifles a man can take afield. Seems to be something about the wt. distribution, with all that metal bored out to make the big hole in that 22" barrel. Almost handles like a "bird gun," which if you're from the South, you'll understand to mean "real nicely" in yankee talk. I traded off my #3 for a M-99A Savage in .308, mostly because I really wanted to rebarrel that #3 to .50/110, but just didn't have the heart to do that after the work I put in it on the stock and all, and because I just didn't need 3 .45/70's, and WANTED a .50 of some stripe. I'll get another #3 and do the rebarrel, and that one WILL be configured to weigh a lot more than the #1 in .45/70 because I know that sooner or later, I'll just HAVE to see what a .50/110 in a Ruger can "really do" when heated up a bit. As I've gotten older, I've learned to keep the really hard kickers, or those I know I WILL, sooner or later, MAKE into hard kickers, a tad heavy.

For a .45/70 with any sort of sensible and pleasant load, though, the #1's stock helps tame what recoil there is, and I think you'll find it very pleasurable to shoot, even without the extra wt. of a scope on board. That's my 2 cents' worth, anyway, based on my experience.

[Bucks Owin]

I can't think of a better single shot .45/70 than a Ruger #1....

(Of course I wouldn't mind a B-78 or a Winnie High Wall either!)

Dennis

[PatMarlin]

I almost bought a real nice number 1 in 45-70 for $450, and backed out. Just couldn't afford it back then. Wish I had bought it now.

[9.3X62AL]

My #1 in 45-70 and the CZ-550 in 9.3 x 62 Mauser are by a good margin my favorite cast boolit rifles.

The #1 in my safe uses what is termed the "Government Ballseat", which has a very short throat (@ .459") and abrupt rifling origin. Throat matches the groove diameter, and the pattern is 8-groove with 50% land/50% groove, and land diameter is .449". Thanks go to Buckshot for helping get that info a while back.

The rifle weighs 7-1/4#, and currently wears an NECG aperture sight assembly. I have scoped it once, and will do so again shortly for some load tests using castings processed with new case handling tools. The rifle is capable of 1"-1-1/4" groups with j-word and cast boolits with loads it likes, and its best work to date has been with factory-level or black powder cartridge loads.

Any load exceeding 1873 ballistics gets old in a hurry from bench rest.

These 45-70's with larger-than-standard groove diameters/throats pose a few problems with standard loading dies. My RCBS expander stem only measures .454", which may be fine for .457" j-words.....but it is NOT good for .459" boolits, shaving lead if GREAT care isn't exercised in boolit seating.

[fourarmed]

7 1/4 pounds, eh. That doesn't sound so bad. I would swear that the one I handled couldn't have weighed much over 6. Do they chamber more than one version in .45-70?

[9.3X62AL]

Last time I looked, there was only one variant in 45-70, "1-S" with light/medium taper 22" barrel. It is field-handy as all get out, nice to carry for sure. An extra pound of barrel out front wouldn't hurt it on the target range, but I bought it to hunt with and to amuse myself on paper during the off-season. No large critters have fallen to its bark, but jackrabbits are dealt with decisively--to say the least.

[Frank46]

leadmine, i own a ruger #1 in 45/70 and love it. My only complaints are that the bbl is way too short and light and with me anyway I had to go to conetrol for rings and bases to get the scope back far enough as to where I can see through it. Oh yeah, mine doesn't really have what you would call a throat. Where the chamber ends the rifling starts. The standard 300 gr soft point factory loads at about 1800fps kick way less than in a friends marlin guide gun. Guess the ruger stock design has a lot to do with it. It alos shoots the lyman 480 gr gas check bullet very well but since they only cast .459 One day I'd like to get a mold that would run at least .461 as I feel they would shoot better. Just my two cents worth. Frank

[Four Fingers of Death]

You are asking us if you should buy a rifle? That's like asking a temperance preacher if you should give up the drink!

It will be a bear off the bench, stick a bag of lead shot between it and your shoulder and make sure your back is straight so the you roll out of the way. You won't notice it in the field on game (you might notice a bruise when you are having a shower later though :-) .

[Bucks Owin]

7 1/4 pounds, eh. That doesn't sound so bad. I would swear that the one I handled couldn't have weighed much over 6. Do they chamber more than one version in .45-70?

The Ruger #3 carbine was also chambered for the .45/70....

I'm sure it backs up as smartly as the Handi Rifle does. I'd bet both weigh around 6 lbs...

Dennis

[Four Fingers of Death]

What was Newton's (I think it was him) Law, 'For every action there is an equal and opposing action.' If yer wants big action at the front of the gun, your gonna get an equal action at the back. Weight soaks it up, but you are in a trade off situation. I think I'd rather have it whomp a bit once or twice a day on the odd days that I actually get something to shoot at rather than give me fallen arches and stretched arms for all of the (much longer) times that I am just carrying the piece. Besssides! the 45/70 doesn't have to be loaded to buffalo/elephant levels to be serious whoompum for american game. I haven't hunted there, but from what I can gather, grizzly is about the only game you'd want 10/10ths loads isn't it. Just plain ol' stay away from those polar bears, they are mean muthers. MIck.

[Bigjohn]

G'day, another aussie tuppence worth, mate,

I'm afraid to say the closest I have come to shooting 45/70 in a lite weight rifle is with my Martini Enfield converted carbine. Being able to load this just short of the recommended Ruger loads and weighing about the same; I know when it has gone off but the body doesn't feel like it's been kicked by a mule (apologies to all the mule enthusiast's on this forum [smilie=1: ).

I one match I shot with this rifle; 20 rounds rapid fire is the longest stint with it and I didn't feel like I had been in the ring for a bad round as Mike Tyson's punching bag. Projectile weight was 420 grains pb, powder was SR4759 Charge weight escapes my recall.

I have even launched some 512 grainers with the holy Black from it's bore without feeling like I just shoulder fired a 105mm. :-D

Now, this Martini ain't prutty to look at but I sure do like it, trying to line up a deer hunt down here to 'blood' the rifle.

In closing, I recall reading many articles by Paul Matthews about using the Ruger #1 and #3 in 45/70 and .458". These might be worth following up to read.
If I had the oportunity to buy a Ruger #1 in 45/70, I would be jumping in with both feet, but that's my opinion.

Best wishes;
:drinks:
John.

[Bullshop]

4fingermick
Where I live there are a few comon threats. The one everyone thinks of is grizzly. In the Alaska interior they are generaly not too big being on the average 300 to 500 lbs. Thats fairley large but there are many cartridges under 45 cal that can handle them.
I live plumb in the middle of the winter bison range so they can also be a threat. We will ocasionaly run into one that has been wonded by wolves and seperated from the heard and at those times are totaly unpredictable. They are scared and you just never know what to expect from a scared animal.
Have also be caught by surprise a couple times by a heard barreling out of the timber while I was walking the edg of a clearing. Sure enough you can hear them comming but its hard to tell just where exactly they are until they come crashing out.
The biggest threat we have by far is moose. At about mid September a big bull wants to mount or fight anything he see's move. A big bull can go nearly a ton weight so could need all that a 45/70 can put out.
The greatest threat however is a cow moose with a calf. You would think that something as big as a moose would be hard not to notice but as we go about our normal daily business we often rather clumsily bump into them. If you carelesly come between a cow and her calf you have big 500 to 800 lb problems. Human fatalities are not uncomom from such encounters. The cow will rear up on her hind leggs and swatt repeatedly with her front feet. One solid hit is all it takes.
I once had an encounter with a mad cow. I found a dead yearling calf and knealed down to look at it. I had leaned my trusted old B-00 first year Marlin against a tree beside me when I looked up to see the cow trotting in and stopped about 20 feet from me. She looked dead at me with red in her eyes dropped her head and came at me. I had just enough time to grab the gun point and shoot.
I happened to be using a new to me boolit at that time being the 325gn RCBS. Cant remember the load but will say it was near but not absolute top end or about 2000 fps.
The bullet took her dead center in the forhead but missed the braid going low. She was stuned by the hit and totaly disoriented. She reared up on her hind leggs, turned a quarter turn and came down in a clump of diamond willow brush. Ther she was hung up for the few seconds it took her to break loose and gave me the chance to get clear. When she broke loose she had nothing left and was pretty sencless not seaming to care about me any more. She was blowing a bloody mist out her forhead like a whale's blow hole with every breath and just as I was about to finish her she fell over dead.
The boolit had penitrated the skull and come out in the throat passed down the wind pipe and cut off the big arteries from the top of the heart. It was not what I expected from a hit to the center of the fore head but did knock her stupid enough that the threat was over.
So I do agree with you that I would rather have to put up with some recoil in cases like this and not sacrifise any of that big punch that nocked her sencless. For plinking I like the wee little ones but for wandering the bush here I will have the 45/70 loaded full tilt.
BIC/BS

[PatMarlin]

You autta be writing a book Daniel... :mrgreen:

[waksupi]

I agree with the cow moose with a calf being about the most dangerous thing around. We had a cow/calf pair hanging around camp all weekend, and had to herd a few of the dumber homo sapiens away from the area.

[JudgeBAC]

Leadmine: If you have a chance to buy a #1 in .45-70, buy it. The #1, in my opinion, is one of the most elegant rifles on the planet bar none. It's also affordable unlike some other single shots. My Ruger loves 300 gr. Hornady Hollowpoints powered by 3031. It will consistantly shoot 3 shot groups into less than an inch at 100 yards off the bench. My only complaint, and it is a minor one, is that ring spacing makes scope choice a critical issue. You must make sure the scope of choice has plenty of eye relief and will fit in the factory supplied rings. I found a 4x Burris mini that fits the bill perfectly. This is a small scope with plenty of eye relief. I haven't worked up any cast loads in it yet. I'm currently working out loads for a 1922 vintage Savage 99G in .300 Savage.

[PatMarlin]

I had another scope on my Number 1 and it popped me in the eye a few times. Went to Leupold and that took care of that.

I truly agree it is one of the most elegant and quality rifles made... :drinks:

[cabezaverde]

I have 4 Ruger #3 rifles that I put #1 wood on. That makes for a nice looking rifle in my opinion, and is easy to carry.

[pahoghunter]

I just saw a RUGER #3 in 45/70 last night at a local shop in PA I believe the tag on it was $395.00.

[Bucks Owin]

I just saw a RUGER #3 in 45/70 last night at a local shop in PA I believe the tag on it was $395.00.

I'd grab it iff'n it was me....Hell, just for the collector value! I don't see many of them in these parts...

FWIW,

Dennis

[Four Fingers of Death]

Great story Dan, hell of a way to fill the freezer though. Cold or not as it gets in Alaska, I bet you had a sweat up after that. Mick.

[PatMarlin]

I'd grab it too.

I wish I woulda bought the one I had a chance to, as it was as nice as my 300 win mag, and in better condition.

Ruger Number one's ROCK!