get well soon

[kenbrofox]

Hi Rick, I've just been perusing some old posts and noticed you are due for a last visit to the docs. this month. I'm sure i'm joined by everone else that uses this forum in wishing you a speedy return to full health and look forward to your return to posting some more of your exellent replies. Regards, KB.

[Ray P]

Rick......Same here to speedie recovery and a better year in 2009.
Looking forward to your posts again.
later
Ray P

[Rick in Oregon]

Kenbro & Ray: Thanks mates, that was very kind and thoughtful of you. I'm actually feeling great, just need one more session under the knife later this month to put me all back together and right for the upcoming spring varmint season.

I'd like to wish all here on the 204um the very best of the New Year, and hope "we'll all be fine in 09!"

Just for fun, I thought I'd post a pic of what I'd like to be doing now, and will be doing very soon:



That is paradise to me....sunshine, no wind, an accurate rifle on the bench, lots of ammo, unlimited rodent targets, and good friends to share it all with. That's one of my sons at my bench with my Ruger No.1 Varmint in 223 giving Skippy a hard time. (That is my son who makes the great ghillies; ex-Navy, veteran of the Gulf War.)

A Happy New Year, health and happiness to all here and their familes.

[cracker]

Rick
Hope the new year finds you at 100%, no wind, lots of sunshine, and plenty of targets to keep you busy.
You are a wealth of information on this site and I for one have learned many tricks of the trade from you. Thanks for the great info you are always willing to share with the rest of us.
now get well and enjoy sqeeeezzzzzing the trigger my friend!
Sportingly
Cracker

[kenbrofox]

Rick, good to hear you're feeling good, assumed you might have been done already as you had'nt posted for a couple of days. That picture would be double paradise if you could find anything like it in uk, it's the stuff of dreams. What does the ruger number one shoot like? I had one in 204R laminate stainless with 26" barrel and moyes trigger but it would not do better than 1 moa. I heard theres not a lot you can do, they either shoot or dont. your comments please.Cheers KB

[Rick in Oregon]

Kenbro: Well, in regard to Ruger No.1's, especially the varmint model (but any of them really), they have a reputation of being "so-so" in the accuracy department. It's really unfair though, as there are a number of simple improvements a shooter can do to really make these rifles shoot quite well.

Mine was purchased from a neighbor who said "it won't shoot". He had our local smith tweak it over, but it still refused to shoot less than MOA. I purchased it for $400, and went to work on it in my shop.

I first lapped the barrel, retouched the crown with a .36 cal lead ball and valve lapping compound, then free floated the forearm and glassed the hanger where it bears against the forearm wood, relieved the wood 1/32" around the action so no wood of the forearm touches the receiver (very important on these rifles).

After that, I threw away the factory trigger and installed a Canjar single set trigger and set to work on proper handloads, paying attention to seating depth. Once I found a good load and played with seating depth, the rifle turned in groups as small as .250" at 100 yards. Of course my neighbor wanted to buy it back, but there was no way I was going to part with the rifle by then, and it has accounted for probably 2,000 ground squirrels and prairie dogs since that time, and is one of my favorite varmint rifles to this day.

Here's a couple of shots of her in the field after all the work:



A Nosler 40gr BT getting ready to give Skippy a headache (you can see the Canjar single set trigger):



Scope is a Leupold Vari-X III 6.5-20X with target turrets and fine Duplex reticle mounted in Leupold Ruger 1" rings.

On the shoot shown below, it was the first time EVER with any rifle that I shot a perfect "score" of 100 out of 100 shots in the field and never missed a rat, even to ranges exceeding 400 yards on that ranch. I doubt I'll ever be able to do it again, but the Accuracy Gods must have been smiling down on me that particular day. I've never been able to do it since.



If a fellow has some patience, and willing to spend some time doing a bit of work on the rifle and work up a good handload, these rifles will shoot right alongside a good bolt gun, but they do require the work to shoot up to their full potential. I was fortunate that one of my standard loads using H335 that I shoot in all my bolt guns chambered for 223 and 223AI also worked well in the No.1.

They are among some of the best looking falling block rifles around, usually supplied by the factory with premium wood also, especially in the buttstock. They will shoot as well as any Dakota, DeHass-Miller or any of the premium brand single shot falling blocks if worked over a bit.

cracker: Thanks for the well wishes and the kind words. Most appreciated from ones peers. This site seems to have a close-knit family of good-spirited fellows that I'm proud to call friends.

[Orion2see]

Beautiful rifle Rick, and great story on how you made it a shooter. Hope you remain in "tip top" shape all year and keep us all well informed on this forum. I for one, appreciate all you do. I notice you use a Sinclair front rest - I am thinking about upgrading to one myslef - expensive, but probably worth every penny.

[kenbrofox]

Hello Rick, very interesting post, almost but not quite wished i'd kept my number 1. I'm not able to do my own gunsmith work and GOOD gunsmiths are thin on the ground over here and the best are always very busy (been told by a one that you can't float the forearm on a number one!) I don't reload ammo of any cal. and only use Hornady 32 & 40 grain V Max when shooting 204R, both of which seem to print equally well at 100 yds. I never fire a shot without a sound moderator on the end. Have you or anyone else any views or experience on wether they effect accuracy in any way? Too close to town and more and more people complain about noise pollution so we have to be wary or we will lose more privileges. I think the towns are getting nearer to the countryside. Cheers for now KB. PS. when i go for a walk with a rifle if i get to fire one shot it's been a good day unless i punch paper which i dont like doing...... thats just reminded me of a guy in Los Angeles who used to send parts over to England for us, he always labeled the parcels " Paper Punching Equipment" prob.to stop nosy officials. That was 35 to 40 years ago, he was called Jim.Dukes and he advertised in GUNS and Ammo which was the only proper gun magazine in England at that time. Does any one remember Jim? Regards KB. ....... As someone said to me once..." After that i need to go lie down "

[Rick in Oregon]

Orion: There are some very nice rests on the market now, I had a Witchata for years, then upgraded to the Sinclair with no regrets. On the spendy side, yes, but worth it to me, as it will last more than a lifetime. The Sinclair All Purpose Rest is nice, in that the front bag is adjustable for narrow and wide forends found on both sporters and varmint or BR rifles. There is a nice rest made by Cowan, a high school shop instructor who has the class make them every year and sell over the internet. The proceeds go to the school shop class for equipment and supplies. You can find them with Google. Also a very well designed rest with excellent workmanship and materials.

Thanks for the well wishes too.

Kenbro: I'm no gunsmith, and the mods I described for the No.1 can be done by anyone with just a bit of mechanical knowledge.....even me. Those little tricks really make a No.1 shine, and can be done in an evening at home if you get the urge again.

Moderator/Suppressor: My military contacts all swear by the SureFire supressors, and all tell me they do not affect POI or accuracy in any way, or they'd deep-six them right away. These units are the creme of the crop, not cheap, but considered the very best, and are currently in use in Theatre in the Sand Pit. There are many others, and in order to use them here in the U.S., we must pay a $200 tax to the Feds, as they are grouped together with full-auto weapons and the like. This is byproduct of our old gangster days of the 20's and 30's; a stupid law that is still on the books here.

As for crowded areas, we have an influx of people in this area from Kalifornia, just like most places in the Pacific Northwest. Places near home that I shot rock chucks and ground squirrels for years are now full of high end condo's, subdivisions, and people. Fortunately though, I'm blessed by living on the edge of the alpine mountains & forest to the west, and, and thousands of square miles of BLM land (open range, Federally owned) to the east that is open high desert, and open to all forms of hunting/outdoor recreation, so we can stretch our legs, and the abilities of our rifles any time and not bother anyone with loud rifles. I feel for you in that firing one shot a day in the field is a good day. We forget how fortunate we really are here sometimes.

Have not heard of Jim Dukes, but L.A. is a huge area. I do like his moniker for getting gunny related items in the UK though....very clever. Guns & Ammo now is considered a "newstand rag", and just rehash of old material, with the occasional pieces on new guns. For more technical/interesting reading, I'd suggest both "Rifle Magazine", or its sister publication, "Handloader", along with "The Varmint Hunter" magazine and "Precision Shooting", which are all available in the UK I'm told.

End of novel. Have a great New Year Ken!