Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots your custom #1 rifles

Im wanting to build either a fast twist 220 or 22/250 or a 2506.

starting point is the #1vt chamberd in 220.

i was hopeing for all your pics so i can decide how i want to built,

i have decided if its a 22 itl have a 1/8 barrel 2506 will be 1/9 barrel lenght will be 26" and will be fairly close to the vt barrel but probly fluted. will retain factory wood.

heres base for the build. rifle throat is getting long but still shooting well

ive had this for along time

Evan,
I have two #1's that have been rebarreled with fairly heavy straight taper barrels for PD shooting. I see that your .220 has a sling so you might not be wanting a rifle this heavy(12 lbs), but I'll post the pics so you can see what they look like.


This is my .204 Wasp, the cal. isn't the same but I wanted to show the barrel profile. It's a Krieger #18 contour. It's 1.200 dia. for 5" then straight taper to .875 and finished at 26" long. I went with the Krieger for a couple of reasons. The 1.200 dia. was perfect for the scope bases that I like to use without needing any additional barrel turning. I use two #85 Weaver bases about 3.5" apart. I had never had a cut rifled barrel and Kreiger has a reputation for fine accuracy.


This #1 is another wildcat of my design on a 30-30 case, .219DW PDK. The barrel is a Shilen #7 contour. The barrel was 1.25 with straight taper to .890. Turning the barrel to 1.200 gave 5-6" of straight dia. for the scope bases.It finished at 27" long. I had this one glass beaded for a matte finish. Mark Penrod of Penrod Precision in North Manchester, In. did the rebarrel on both rifles. I opened up the forends for barrel clearance with 60 grit sandpaper wrapped around various sizes of 1/2 drive sockets.
I've not had any experience with fast twist barrels shooting high BC bullets. I've read a lot about shooting them, but have stayed with 14" twist .224 barrels shooting 50 or 55 gr bullets for PD's. I'm really impressed with the performance of 39-40 gr .204's at 4100 fps out of the 11" twist Kreiger.
Good luck with your project.
Dave in IN

219dw

those are very good looking rigs. im thinking about going onestep bigger at the muzzle and maybe doing a onepeice pictanny rale mounted to the barrel. or maybe just the ruger VT scope blocks. guess that all depends on the barrel OD for the first 4" or so past the action.

what finish is on those stainless barrels. i like how they look.

thank you for the reply and the pics

Evan

Evan,
The .219 was polished and then glass beaded for a matte finish. For the .204, I told Mark that I wanted it polished but that I didn't want it to look like chrome. It turned out exactly like I wanted. The finish on this #3 is polished with a light glass bead where some of the shine is still there. It's more like a satin finish. The finish on the action is French Grey by EABCO. About 5 years ago I really screwed up and stored this rifle in a gun case that had some moisture in it. The action rusted and was pitted. I didn't think a reblue would look good with the pitting, but it doesn't look too bad with this matte finish. The barrel is a #7 Shilen in .219 Wasp that I've shot 6000+ times since 1994.


Dave in IN

whered you get that handle/lever. man you have all kinds of cool stuff. that finish looks great to.

That one is a Ruger #3, thus the different style lever.

Evan,
I have another #3 that built a little differently than the other Rugers. It was rebarreled by EABCO in Minn. The barrel is 1.200 dia for about 1/4" then steps down to 1.000 dia. for about 4 1/2 inches then tapers to .820. This #3 weighs about 10 lb. or about 2 lb. less than the other three. The Vais brake allows me to see hits on PD's. The cal is .224 BRM which is one of their designs. Case capacity is between .22-250 and .220 Swift. I don't think they rebarrel Rugers anymore, which is alright with me because I wouldn't send them another one. This barrel is highly polished.


The scope base is a steel Weaver style 4 3/8" long that fits on the 1.000 dia part of the barrel. The rings on all four rifles are Burris ZEE rings with the plastic inserts. They installed the base, but I think I've seen them in Brownell's catalogue.
If you want to see a few more pics and a little more info go to saubier.com, forums,project guns, thread is " First .20 cal project". Sorry I haven't learned how to put in a direct link, I tried a couple of ways that didn't work.
Dave

I just posted pics of my latest custom #1 in 300 Savage. I've also done them in 7MM/08 and 300 H&H. You can do a search and see them

I have 3 custom no 1’s and another being made. .338WSM, .280Rem, .338-06, and .35Whelen (under construction). Also ha .257Rib that’s factory. Love’em all

A buddy of mine told me about a custom No. 3 22 K-Hornet he was interested in on the used rack at the LGS. I went down and looked at it and bought it out from under him. Feeling guilty, I sold him my No. 1S 218 Bee to make amends

A bit of old-school flavor:




It shoots well with a case full of Lil Gun and 40 gr V-max's - 100 yd 5 and 10 shot groups:

You can get 14.5gr of LG in there?

I had saved a picture of that rifle a while back. As it is similar to what I had in mind for my no 3 in 30/40 Krag.
Has the barrel been replaced or is it the original minus the front sight?
Jeff

In WW or Rem brass - yes (powder level is about 1/16" below case mouth). I've since switched to PRVI brass which is heavier/thicker and 14.0 gr fills that case to about same level.

Barrel is not original - 26" and a little lighter contour than the 26" 1S contour...

What's the bromide.....

I thought the rifle was chambered for XXXXXX,

Turns out it is chambered for $5 bills.




Ruger #1, 475 Turnbull.



One of a run done by Turnbull Restorations.



ya!

GWB

This one started life as a 1-A chambered in 270 Winchester. Now it wears a 24” 1:9 Shilen chambered in 257 Roberts, a 1-B quarter rib, and a barrel band swivel. Now I have the AH that I always wanted.

I've owned this one since the early '80's- it was built for auction by Guns Magazine, to commemorate their 25th anniversary, with proceeds to benefit the Olympic Shooters fund. I won the auction, and it sat in my gun safe for a couple of decades before I decided to try and see if it was a shooter. It is chambered for 7mm RCBS, but it turns out it shoots .280 ammo with good accuracy. Barrel is Shilen, metalwork was done by Ray Viramontez, stock by Alvin Lind.

Very nice, Bighorn!

This is the rifle that started the "tempest in a tea cup" 1A in 303 craze LOL!
I love this rifle , but it is nothing like the production Rugers in .303.
I have taken critters from coyotes to moose with it, from 20 yards to over 350 yards.
it is to the point where I do not like to hunt with anything else!



Cat

This 1A had a gorgeous set of stocks on it in fiddleback maple, I sold it after shooting a few deer with it because I do not like the cartridge the barrel was chambered in. I maybe should have kept it and put a different barrel on it .
Cat

cat, what caliber was it??

The maple stocked rifle? That one was in 270, and it was very accurate , too.
I just noticed that I stated it was a 1A, it was in fact a 1B!
Cat

very nice looking wood on these Ruger #1`s , but when i think custom hunting rifles i think match grade barrel , a good machinist that chambers rifles , a good trigger, handloads and a extremely good scope like Nightforce and few other brand scopes, a bedded forearm maybe even laminated wood and the Ruger #1 that will shoot better than a inch 5 shoot group at 100 yards. heck a even put a big ugly piece of black moleskin on forearm so its quiet when i put out on a rest. yes i have some safe queen Ruger # 1`s but for hunting i have a working meat gun Ruger #1.

My maple stocked 1B had a Krieger Barrel on it .
However if you go back and take a good look at my #3 custom built rifle by Greydog , you will see that there is nothing original on that rifle .
The barrel is a McGowan that was Chambered by him, and he milled it half round / octagon, with an integral sling swivel and the rib milled right into the barrel!
The trigger is a Kepplinger single set, the Springs are by Wolf, and the rail houses a Leupold 1.5-4x .
This is an extremely accurate and fast handling rifle with or without the scope on it, and the Zeiss QD rings make zero repeatable
Cat

I had a thumper built on a second year of production Ruger No.1. Those early Rugers were factory fitted with an adjustable trigger and some production years had spectacular quality wood. I picked this rifle as a donor largely because of the wood fitted to the rifle.

Build details are :

TSE 1 in 20” twist barrel, hand lapped and finished at 24”
50/90
Styling is like an upsized factory 45/70 but with a different forend. It’s fitted with a Recknagel banded foresight and banded sling swivel. I used a factory scope mount base and open sight assembly.
Weight is 8lb 4oz bare

The factory stock was a real stunner. The varmint style forend was reworked and fitted with a buffalo horn tip. I had a detachable muzzle break fitted, but with full loads it makes no noticeable difference.

Weight distribution is great with the weight between the hands. The rifle swings like a good shotgun.

Hopefully next year it will be used to hunt something large.

those are such great looking Ruger #1`s i would have a hard time using these fine looking # 1 rifles on a hunt on this forum site, but i guess to each their own. i do have some Ruger # 1 safe queens too , but my favorite is Ruger # 1 S.S. laminated stock, custom Brux barrel 27 inches long ,#4 contour , my new 257 W.M. reamer 1st use, Timney trigger , forearm channel trimmed and glass bedded, had a machined Picatinny base made to fit this #1 , Nightforce scope and rings , big piece of ugly black moleskin on forearm ,sometimes a bi-pod used mostly out west ,my handloads and used for around 10 - 15 years i have killed some very nice bucks with this setup out west and in Minnesota. this setup has worked so well i gave the same thing to my son who has also shot some very nice bucks with his #1. this 2021 year son shot his biggest whitetail buck 225 lbs. field dressed, thick black horned 8 pt. with 8 inch browtines and as all of us Ruger #1 lovers know 1 shot kills always ! hope you all have had a safe great season hunting so far,Pete53

Finally got off my duff and mailed off a #1 to Pac-Nor today. Going with 6mm CM, stainless, #4 profile, 24”. Now I need to get busy on the wood and finish filling the grain and get the checkering fixed.

My Ruger gets hunted hard every year and quite often is some pretty gnarly stuff, that is what is was built for , however I don't use it as a club or a cane, I have a walking stick for that! LOL
Same thing as my Westley Richards hammer double that I use for pheasants- I don't buy guns or have them built to hang them on a wall and look at them.
Cat

Catnthehat,

Great pictures, you didn't say the cartridge your #1 is chambered.

Also a very classic cowboy hat your wearing.....who made the hat?

[/quote]


Catnthehat,

Great pictures, you didn't say the cartridge your #1 is chambered.

Also a very classic cowboy hat your wearing.....who made the hat?[/quote]
Sorry, I thought I did!
The rifle is chambered in .303 Brit as suggested by someone here when I originally was asking for caliber suggestions.
I was told because I was a Canuck, there was only one logical choice - 303 British! LOL
as fir the hat, I wear Smithbilts, they have been made in Calgary since 1902 I believe.
I normally hunt with a campaign hat when it is warmer This one just happened to be on my noggin that day!

Cat

Great stuff!!

I got this back just in time for deer season. Barrel is from McGowen, the smith reworked the action and recessed the safety. I used a classic deer chambering, the 300 Savage. I took a doe with it last week and will be out with it during our second season.uncommon unique girl names

That, dear hearts, is incomparably nice!

Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' 'bout!
Gorgeous rifle!
Cat

I picked this up about a month ago from a member here. I was about to send one in for some custom work but this has about everything I wanted.

Can someone tell me how to add the larger pics to a post? I'm a little behind here I guess!

guys i am still looking for a standard Ruger #1 ,1-B 257 Roberts for a gift for my 10 year old grandson. thanks,Pete53

AZ- I had my eye on the rifle. You have a nice one there!

I have located a lipsey exclusive no.1-a (I think new to #1’s) the sporter with case harden receiver in 22 hornet. Nice rifle. I can get it for under $1700
Looking at all these no 1’s it’s really got me thinking to buy it and maybe use it for a build…I really want the 275 rigby ruger shows on their site, however I doubt this is at all possible.
Gorgeous rifles guys, you’re really making my gears turn…I think I’m starting to round the corner from synthetic stocked customs back to blued/walnut and or satin stainless 🤣🤣

Gspfan - gorgeous!

Az- what are the specs on this new acquisition of yours?

What’s the specs on this? Gorgeous!

Iclimb, I was told the work was done by High Tech Customs in Colorado. Other than the cosmetics (custom stock, case hardening) it had the trigger replaced with a Moyes trigger. I still haven't been able to make it out shooting yet

Yeah,
That's my Favorite!

I like it! What barrel contour did you use and how does it balance? I have done some mods to the No. 1 chambered for the 6.5x57R and the 25Krag.
I have the 257R in a 1A and really like it and the performance.

AJD

I honestly don't know what the barrel contour is. The balance and feel reminds me of a British light game gun if it was a shotgun. Weight is just shy of 8 lbs with the scope. It drives tacks with 150gr Accubonds. This is the third #1 project I've had done. The other two are a 7MM-08 and a 300 H&H

You guys need to keep this thread going.
It's really comforting to see others who are as obsessed as myself!!!!!! And I'm 74
Semper Fidelis,
Soup

My latest custom is a bolt rifle so here's the first custom #1 7MM-08. 24 inch tapered octagon barrel. Skelton PG cap, Neidner butt plate

That’s a beauty, for sure.

Beautiful rifles, thanks for sharing.

TTT

6.5-300 BEE ex 458 with Ruger wood. 30 bbl, 3700 w/127 LRX.

Oh man, you just reminded me how much I miss that one! What was I thinking??

Hope you get a chance to take it hunting........

Tim

I bought this wood, thinking I would use it for an 1886...but this thread has me thinking it needs to go on a No 1. Probably the 1S that is currently at SSK becoming a 375 Flanged Magnum N. E.

ok i got a very nice 257 Roberts Ruger #1 for grandson last year and this January 2023 i purchased another nice 257 Roberts Ruger#1 for myself ,i will be 70 by deer season so its time to start shooting less recoil at least part of the season. if you don`t have a Ruger #1 standard or custom your missing out with all the fun . my grandson i let him decide what kind of a rifle he wanted to hunt deer with he tried a AR-15 and shot that well but seemed to complicated for him , bolt rifle seem accurate but complicated too ,then 10 yr.old grandson tried a Ruger #1 and with a big smile said he liked the Ruger #1 much more. the Ruger #1 was easy to load for him , grandson liked the safety too,plus he shot that rifle well too.

Dunno why, but for some reason my first attempt didn't work.
Here is one of the most accurate Ruger#1's I have ever shot, an all out custom for F/O match shooting .
Nine of these were built , ( I have ownede three )in 6mmBR, 308, and 6.5/284, a collaboration between three great Canadians, Ed Begg, Paul Reibin, and Mick PcPhee. Sadly all have since passed to quieter ranges
Kepplinger triggers, CNC aluminum forends with integral 20 MOA rails bedded right to the barrels, and Paul's butt stock on them.

these custom #1`s are sure nice ! i always wanted a #1 in 6BR.

My 6mmbr was crazy accurate right out to1,000
Cat

cool !

check out www.rjrenner.com for english looking #1's -NICE...
Larry

Nice custom Swift that I have no use for in FL

Ruger #3 Sidelever conversion: 30-40 Krag

O Boy-I like that one, Steven!

Love the side lever conversion. Do you know who did it? I remember seeing it done in the past but cannot remember who was doing them.
Kind regards
pavementends

The sidelever conversion was done by the late John Madole a super talented Kentucky metalsmith. It is chambered for the .30-40 Krag.
I stocked and finished the rifle for a client who traded it back to me. I have killed some 17 head of big game with the rifle and taken it to Namibia.
Thee kudu was lying where I killed him just before nightfall. The shot was about 125 yards. By the time we got up the hill it was dark and we couldn't find him until the next morning. As you can see he was tucked down in tall grass and dead branches. I had a difficult night wondering, but there he was the next morning. One shot dropped nearly in his tracks.
Th sidelever rifle is shown in pics in my book Custom Rifles in Black & White.

Such beautiful rifles!!

I got my first number 1 a couple of years ago. It’s a .257 Roberts and that was made in 1999. I absolutely love it! I have a Jard trigger for it but haven’t had it installed yet. It has been very accurate with the Interbonds that I have loaded for it.