The Ruger No. 1 is a rifleman’s rifle. By
that, I mean that the No. 1 is and always has been a rifle that
is understood and appreciated by shooters and hunters who are
confident in their ability as riflemen to get the job done with
one well-placed shot. While a single-shot rifle can be fired,
reloaded, and fired again by an experienced shooter much faster
than most folks realize, most who hunt with the No. 1 or any
other single-shot realize that the first shot is usually the
only one needed. Hunting with a single-shot rifle is a different
concept than that which the common hunter understands. Many buy
a hunting rifle with the highest-capacity magazine with which
they can legally hunt, and some even disregard the legal part.
Hunting with a single-shot rifle is more about the hunt than
about shooting, and the Ruger No. 1 is America’s premier
single-shot rifle.
Introduced by the Sturm, Ruger Company in
1967, the No. 1 is arguably the most elegant single-shot rifle
ever built as a production rifle. The old Sharps design was and
is a fine rifle, and the Winchester 1885 and its modern replicas
also are beautiful, refined, and accurate rifles. However, the
Ruger, with its sleek lines which pay homage to the historic
European single-shots, elegant under-lever, top-tang safety, and
classic pistol-grip stock blend together in such a way that just
looks “right“, for lack of a better term. My personal
favorites are the 1-A, 1-S, and 1-H rifles with their Alex Henry
style forearms and barrel band style bead front sights. The No.
1 quarter rib houses a folding open rear sight on these models,
with a non-folding express style rear sight on some of the 1-H
tropical rifles. The No. 1 quarter rib also serves as the scope
base for the Ruger scope rings, which are included with each
rifle. The Ruger rings hold the scope securely, but detach
quickly, if needed, and remount with no appreciable change in
the scope’s setting. Also on these rifles which have the Henry
forearm, the front swivel mount is on a barrel band, which moves
the sling mount forward and out of the way, and also adds to the
rifle’s classic lines.
The short overall length of the No. 1,
compared to a bolt-action rifle of equal barrel length, makes
the single-shot very handy in the field. For example, the 1-A
with its trim 22 inch barrel has an overall length of only 38.5
inches, barely longer than a yardstick, yet still having a
barrel of sufficient length, giving good ballistic performance
along with fine balance and handling qualities. Ammunition for
the No. 1 is not limited to magazine lengths and design, as are
magazine rifles, enabling Ruger to offer chamberings that are
not available in any other production rifles built in the US,
such as the 9.3x74R, 303 British, 450-400 Nitro Express, 450
Nitro Express, and the 475
Linebaugh. The Ruger No. 1 action has the strength to handle
the pressure of the most modern belted magnum cartridges, and
the geometry to accept the long lengths of even the old Nitro
Express rounds.
Back to the hunter who uses a single-shot
rifle, the men who carry these afield are usually experienced,
competent riflemen. The first-time hunter will normally not
choose a fine single shot, when he can buy a quality magazine
rifle for half the price, which carries a fistful of cartridges
in reserve. Spending hours in the woods during deer season here
in Tennessee, I hear other hunters firing their rifles over on
another ridge at times. Usually it is at dawn or dusk, when most
game is moving in this area. If I hear one shot, it usually
means that a neighbor has collected his meat. Sometimes, I will
hear a shot, followed quickly by another, then another, and
maybe ever a fourth or fifth, telling me that most likely, the
deer escaped, or got away wounded. I like to hunt with a
single-shot rifle myself, when I get to choose. Usually, when I
am hunting, I am using someone else’s rifle, but when I get to
use what I want, it is often a No. 1. I have two friends who
hunt almost exclusively with Ruger No. 1 rifles. One is a Texas
lawyer, Mark Hargrove, who hunts deer and hogs on his ranch, and
has several No. 1 rifles that he uses for such activities. A lot
of animals fall to Mark’s aim, and he has never expressed the
need for more firepower. Another friend is Jim Wilson,
well-known to readers of Shooting Times magazine for many
years. Jim hunts everything on this continent and in Africa
using the No. 1 rifle, and does so with proficiency, seldom if
ever needing a second shot on game. Both men know where to hit
an animal, and place their bullets in the right spot. They are
riflemen, know their quarry, and know when and when not to
shoot.
The No. 1 design is especially dear to
left-handed shooters like me, being as fully-ambidextrous as any
rifle can be. The under lever is centered, and drops straight
down. The cartridges load straight in, right in the center of
the rifle. Best of all, the safety is mounted top-center, just
as God intended. The Ruger No. 1 rifle has a very good trigger,
and is usually very accurate. It also seems that Ruger has
always reserved its best grade of wood for the No. 1, as I have
seen some fine-looking walnut on No. 1 rifles over the course of
the past few decades. Even today, the No. 1 often displays some
very well-figured wood, adding to the enjoyment of the owner of
such a rifle. To some folks, who would be just as happy with a
black plastic stock, this means very little, but to those of us
who appreciate blued steel and walnut on a rifle, good wood
means a lot, and Ruger seems to realize that fact.
Lipsey’s is a firearms wholesaler in
Louisiana, whose owners and employees also appreciate fine
rifles, and have offered several unique variations and
chamberings of the No. 1 rifle for the past several years,
including the 35
Whelen, 30 WCF (30-30), 303 British, 300 H&H, 257
Roberts, and others in limited quantities. The latest such
variation, and the one featured here, is a No. 1-A chambered for
the legendary Six-Five Swede, or more correctly, the 6.5x55mm
Swedish Mauser cartridge.
Though there are many cartridges old and
new that use the 6.5mm or 264 inch diameter bullet, when a
rifleman refers to the Six-Five, he usually means the Swedish
cartridge. The 6.5x55mm was introduced in 1894 as a martial
cartridge for the Swedish Military, and has over the past many
decades built for itself a stellar reputation as a reliable
killer of game in the hands of hunters. The Six-Five Swede uses
bullets of high sectional density for deep, reliable
penetration, and as such, the bullets also usually have a high
ballistic coefficient for a flat trajectory and superb
long-range accuracy. Properly loaded in modern rifles, the Swede
is every bit as good or better than modern cartridges of the
same caliber, such as the 260 Remington, and on larger game such
as elk and moose, tends to perform better than the 270
Winchester class of cartridges.
The rifle shown here, chambered for the
Six-Five Swede, is being produced for a limited time, with a
limited number of rifles being built. The steel is well-polished
with a deep blue-black finish throughout, except for the falling
block, which is left in-the-white. All of the exposed metal
parts are steel, including the sights, quarter rib, and grip
cap, as they should be. The walnut on this rifle exhibits some
good figure, and is hand-checkered on the pistol grip and
forearm. The wood to metal fit is very good, with the wood being
slightly proud where it meets the receiver, but displaying no
gaps. The forearm wood is fitted very closely to the contour of
the twenty-two inch 1-A barrel. The barrel tapers quickly from
1.15 inches where it meets the receiver to a trim .56inch at the
muzzle. The overall length measures 38.5 inches, with a 13.5
inch length-of-pull. The smooth-sided receiver measures 1.49
inches in width. The sample rifle weighed in on my scale at
seven pounds, one ounce, unloaded. The trigger released crisply
with three and one-half pounds of resistance.
I fired the Six-Five No. 1 for accuracy at
100 yards, using the only ammo available to me at the time.
Range temperature hovered around the seventy degree Fahrenheit
mark, at an elevation of 541 feet above sea level. The 140 grain
Nosler ammo clocked 2598 feet-per-second average, ten feet from
the muzzle of the Ruger. Accuracy was very good, firing from a
solid rest, using a Leupold VX-III 2.5 to 10 power scope, set at
the maximum magnification. The Ruger would group three shots
into less than one inch, consistently, at 100 yards.
The 6.5x55mm Swedish No. 1 rifles are
available only through Lipsey’s retailers. As of the date of
this writing, they are in stock and shipping, but as mentioned
above, the Six-Five Swede No. 1-A is a limited production rifle,
limited to a run of 250 rifles, and collectors are snapping them
up quickly, so if you want one, now is the time to order. As of
today, Lipsey’s still has a very few of the 35 Whelen, 30 WCF
(30-30), and 257 Roberts rifles left as well. For the location
of a Lipsey’s retailer near you, click on the DEALER LOCATOR
at www.lipseys.com.
Jeff Quinn