No.1 collecting

I was just looking for some advice on what to look for in purchasing Ruger No.1's. Are there certain things that are give aways as far as this model being altered? Length of pull, forearm bedded etc. I'm mostly interested in the 1H Tropical model. Thanks

I look for WOOD FIGURE if I buy walnut. Really nicely figured grain is a valued feature if you are going to 'collect' No.1 rifles. Buying to use only then there is nothing wrong with straight grain walnut.
Chamberings can be the difference in desirability, but then some hard to find calibers may not be that popular to everybody. I have a NIB K1A (stainless/walnut) that is a sought after rifle but the 6.5x55 just isn't one of MY favorites.
Affordable price matters, too.
I say just start looking and talking No.1 rifles and before you know it a couple will be in your safe.

Glad to hear of your interest in no. 1's! Great rifle and a fun one to collect. I think your choice of the 1H is a good one to start with as it has probably the fewest chamberings of any of the No. 1 models. I think the most obvious as well common alteration in the 1H tropical would be an added recoil reducing pad and magnaporting . There has never been a factory magnaported No. 1, and all factory pads are either a solid red or solid black with RUGER or the Ruger logo on the back. It seems there arent many of them to look at in gun shops the last several years, but it is good to peruse gunbroker offerings to see some of the different variations and kind of get a feel of what you are looking for and current pricing. Good luck and kjeep us posted!

Ron

I have a No. 1 in .458 WIn Mag, love the gun, it will be 40 yrs old this summer. Great gun, I lucked out and got near presentation grade wood. It's about a 1.25 MOA gun off the bench and has a great trigger.

I did so something to it I really regret. I had it Magnaported very early on and I can't say I think it moderated the recoil significantly.

I did install a recoil pad that works. Did a professional job if I do say so myself.

Good luck in your quest! Don

Are you collecting more for personal satisfaction or investment but sil,might use the #1s?

If so, there are some post factory improvements that improve use w/o necessarily being detectable or permanent. Trigger work; use of a removable rubber/plastic spacer under the barrel near the action to free float it; adding a serious recoil pad w/o altering the stock and keeping the original are a few. Junking temporarily the original crappy iron sights in favor a peepsight system is another.

If however you never plan to hunt or shoot your collectible #1 insist on originality in writing as a condition of sale and slide it into the safe with rest.

wunbe

Thanks for the replies, I can definitely learn something from each of them. It seems like wood figure comes up a lot and that definitely narrows the field, there also seems to be quite a few of these that are middle of the road wood, still real nice looking but lack that pop that the highly figured walnut has. I always have collected for personal satisfaction but try to keep it in perspective that it is also an investment. I've been impressed with the condition of all models of No.1's that I've seen, they seem to be well taken care of for the most part and high condition rifles are available.

I do have one No.1 B in 25-06 that is a second year 133 prefix and a solid 99% rifle. Not a super early gun but still a very nice one. I had it out last week looking it over and couldn't believe I only have one model No.1. As Trapperon mentioned, I thought the same thing about the 1-H, fewer calibers and it should be a good place to start and keep focused. Plus the big bores are something that interests me.

Just had another thought, can one of you give me an idea of the rarity of calibers in the H model? I understand the 45-70 is pretty much unheard of, and the 404 Jeffery is rare as well. On the opposite it seems like there are quite a few 375 H&H and 458 Win. Just wondering where the other six fit in?

I know you are correct about the rarity of the 1H in 45/70. I cant rank them in the order of rarity, but off the top of my head the ones you have not listed would be the 458 Lott, 405 Win., 416 Rem., and 416 Rigby. Then theres the stainless 1H lineup (K1H)!
And remember that most of the fun of collecting is the actual hunt!

Ron

trapperon said:

And remember that most of the fun of collecting is the actual hunt!

Ron

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I'm with you on that Ron.

You should contact El Numero Uno on this site. He knows more about #1 rifles than anybody I know. Ask him about getting a copy of the Clayton book on #1 rifles

Rocdoc said:

You should contact El Numero Uno on this site. He knows more about #1 rifles than anybody I know. Ask him about getting a copy of the Clayton book on #1 rifles

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Thanks Rocdoc, I remember hearing about that. I'll check into it.

There IS a .45-70 in a tropical barrel "C" weight, it's the No. 1sc. 26" barrel with Circassian walnut. Iirc, they did two runs of 125 for a total of 250.

Lee's site is a good resource:
http://www.classicsportingarms.com/ruger-no-1-rarity-tables/

I decided to get one of each model. All mine are red pad (except my RSI). The wood seems to be better on the earlier guns in general. The factory did put a muzzle brake on the NO1 last year with the 450 Bushmaster - thought of finishing the set with one of those but all I saw the stocks were very black rather than showing the laminations.

They are addicting. I showed my RSI 30-06 to a friend and now he wants one real bad. (We are looking) Owning and shooting No.1's is just plain enjoyable.

Bill

woodpuppy said:

There IS a .45-70 in a tropical barrel "C" weight, it's the No. 1sc. 26" barrel with Circassian walnut. Iirc, they did two runs of 125 for a total of 250.

Lee's site is a good resource:
http://www.classicsportingarms.com/ruger-no-1-rarity-tables/

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I have one of the Circassian 45 70 rifles. They are nice.

You won the wood lottery on that one. Most of these (mine included) had pretty plain wood without much contrast in the grain.

And yes, they are nice; much nicer than the lightweight 22" barreled versions. This is a configuration Ruger should have offered from the start.