the Ruger 1 303 .......

im sure there is a tonne of threads on here, all of which i will slip through in the next few hours..

im wondering if anyone STILL owns one of these Factory Ruger 1 s ???

I Do...........
recently relegated to the rear of the safe.. ive also had it for a long while, almost 10 years? bit less? whenever they came out not long later.

im aware of all the oversizeness to it,
but im keen to hear what is actually working for yours ??


i had ok with jacketed for hunting open sight an also 2-7x scope out to 200m, but then i went commercial cast and have had dramas, il touch base on this more later.

id like to have it used for plinking with cast, as the Woodleigh an Speer are $$ when shootin dirts

I have 2 number 1s currently. A 1V in 220 swift, that has taken a lot of woodchucks over the years. I bought this rifle in 1980-81. It is capable if hitting woodchucks at 500 ydsIf I do my part. its at roughly 2500 rounds and the throat is getting long and rough.

The second is a 1B in 300 win mag ( my hunting rifle, Very good shooter and good looking wood on it. It has very few rounds threw it. handles and carries well, A decent weight for this size round.

I like the classic lines of the rifle. the balance point and feel are right. Also the action is shorter so you can have a longer barrel in the same length as a repeater.

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A Ruger #1 chambered in .303 British is much rarer here than in countries that formerly had .303 service rifles, like Canada & Australia (where AFAIK most went to)

So (while I've had numerous #1's) I don't have much for you except for these threads on the subject:

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...in-303-British

http://rugerforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=171938

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...in-303-british

https://www.303british.com/id37.html


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I do not have a 303 #1 but have a few #1s and a couple M-99 7.7s The 7.7 is pretty much the same as the 303. I just found one of my 308 cal., 180g Lyman spire point molds that throws .311 size bullets and load the 7.7s with those bullets as cast and 10gr of Unique. I use a cut off case with a pan of lube to make a lube cutter. They shoot about an inch. I keep about 40 rounds loaded for the M-99 as a backup.

I've got one. I'm hunting with it this week. I started working up cast loads a couple months ago, go sidetracked, and never finished. I'm at the camp so I can't look up what I did. The loads I brought use the Hornady 150 grain Interlock. The rifle wears a Weaver European 3-15 scope. I was told not many were sold here. I bought mine used a few years ago for a super price. The gun shop owner said the 303 wasn't popular there and neither were single shot rifles that couldn't be used in primitive dear season.

I don’t have a Ruger, but have Lee Enfields,I am using Cast Bullet Engineering moulds,four different moulds from 190 grain to 240 grain,like them all,28 to 29 grains of 2206 powder with a Dacron filler.
Cast Bullet Engineering have a lot of 303 moulds.

ahhh very interesting!

Yeah ok , i find alot of info on Canadian forum and anyone who is familiar with the Ruger 303 particularly would understand or have better knowledge on what im chasing....... cos they are pigs in most instances.


150gr jacket shoots ok hornady i think at .312, an woodleigh 215s at .312 , a speer hot cor at .311 works fine but is shaped like older traditional long nosed 303 rounds... this may help the accuracy side of life.

hard to load with .3135 + barrels :)

Alsoo- i was using 308 win Data to load mine as the Ruger can withstand the extra Horsepower over smle load data.

I have a #1 in 303, bought it new. For jacket bullets I have used mostly the Speer 150 HCSP you refer to. I am not shooting them real hot, 2600 fps using Varget powder, CCI 200 primer. This load does "ok", by getting 5 shot groups of 2" or just over. I have killed at least 6 white tail deer and 3 elk with it. Never had to shoot one twice with ranges from 25 yards out to 200.
Like you, I believe the Hornady bullets that measure .312 will do better than Speer at .311 but I have not tried them yet. Hornadys are not as common around here it seems. I have got my hands on some of the 150 grain spire points but I haven't tried them yet.
For cast loads I use a NOE 316299 mold. My alloy is 70 percent coww and 30 percent soft lead, plus a bit of tin. According to my notes it looks like SR 4759 was best powder, with 2400 next best. I have tried light charges of Varget too but my notes are not reflecting stellar results with the cast.
For fun plinking loads I like using cast 32-20 bullets. My favorite so far is another NOE mold, 314008. These make great ground squirrel loads but don't load them too fast, about 1500 fps max. Should add that I size cast too .314 and lube with BAC or my rendition of Simple Lube (there is a recipe in the stickies for that).
I would like to try some of those Woodleighs!!
I am sure there are some more members from Australia that have #1's in 303, maybe they will chime in soon. Although mine is certainly no target rifle I enjoy it anyway and I hope some of this is of use to you. Good luck and keep us posted.

HD.375,

Based on Pietro's links, NOE's 314299 copy - listed as the 314-210-RN with it's .314" diameter body and .303" nose - would be the ideal choice. . .if indeed yours is a .313" groove and .303" bore. The 316299 / 316-213-RN version at .316" and .305" is the chubbier option - probably more appropriate to the aged surplus barrel, but it's worth having on your radar scope depending on what measurements your gun gives you.

I have a gunshow-bought pamphlet on Lee Enfields that says the following:

"BARREL GAUGING: New barrels must measure from .301 to .304. Used barrels must allow a .303 gauge to pass the entire length of the barrel and must not allow a .307 to pass. A .308 gauge must not enter the muzzle and a .310 gauge must not enter the breech"

So, potentially, the military guns have an ACCEPTIBLE range of 0.005" on the bore, and thus you have to figure to find them with groove diameters from .311" all the way up to .317".

I don't know what Ruger did for their bores, but (my speculation here) the Brits seemed to run on the 5-land, offset approach to rifling and were relying on a fair amount of displacement and slugging up to seal the bore.

I know none of that probably does anything for you except to tell you where the minefields are, but a combination of pin-gauging, bore slugging, and chamber-pound-casting will give you the answers you seek. Also, if Ruger has gone for 5-R offset lands, V-block micrometers are your friend.