Ruger 1B Questions for the Experts

[1Longbow]

Well ,I pulled the trigger on a Ruger  1B in 204 Ruger (HAD to have one).
Having been a bolt guy my whole life,and free floated many barrels,I have noticed that this gun is real tight,as to the barrel and the forearm.Is this normal?I can't slide a dollar bill between the two. I took it to the range,and got about 1.5moa with it ,but as the barrel heated up ,it started to vertically  string the shots. I'm open to all comments for you guys that own and shoot the #'1s. Man ,this is a good looking rifle!--Thanks 1Longbow

[gofish]

Yup . I have the same rifle . Mine was like yours , took 400-500 rounds to break in , prarie dog shooting trip . If you reload your own ammo look in the hornidy load book and you will find a load that uses 27.3 grans of rl-15 powder behind a 40 grane v-max using remington 7 1/2 primer. Turned my 1-b into a tack driver.

[Darrell Davis]

Afternnoon 1Longbow,

I have a thing about barrel pressure, have for YEARS, so years back I started glas bedding and floating any #1s which come my way.

With the under barrel hanger, you bed to the part where the forend screw attaches, and a couple places - one on each side - back toward the action.

Then you float as normal.

This does away with barrel pressure issues, as the forend is now tight to the under barrel hanger and the two other spots - one of which is the post where the ejector spring adjustment is located - and not touching the barrel at all.

When I say I bed to the under barrel hanger, I do not mean I bed to the full length of the hanger, but rather just to the nose portion where the forend screw attaches.

If your vertical stringing is a barrel pressure related issue, this should take care of it.

Keep em coming!

CDOC

[1Longbow]

Thanks for the answers. I've been reading a lot lately,and it seems many believe that the stringing of shots is due to different harmonics between the barrel and other parts of the gun(forearm,etc). Now while I know that they are uglier than sin,has anyone tried that Sims thing that slides on to the barrel to quell vibration? just wondering---Thanks -1Longbow

[Darrell Davis]

1Longbow,

Have you tired the "Sims things" yet??

Try bedding/floating your forarm, and I think you'll like it plus it will still look classy!

Keep em coming!

CDOC

[sportclay]

Take a look at the quarter rib and see if the back end of it is touching the receiver or if there is a small gap.  .002"-.003" gap is good.  Touching sometimes not so good.  The rib can cause vertical stringing  The screws holding the rib are gorilla tight and have a lock solution on them(heat from a small tipped electric soldering iron will help loosen them).  Tackle the rib only if all other attempted remedies fail. Take the forend off and look to see if there are any shiney marks where metal meets wood.  If there are, are they symetrical?  If they are not even i.e., one side matching the other, you might have a bedding problem.  The forend screw is supposed to be about 6-7 ft.lbs some times it needs to be a tweak tighter.  Take a look before you start removing wood or adding epoxy(or soft bedding with a silicone product). I currently own 19 #1's & #3's most have been excellent shooters, a few are of them are vault queens and have not been shot.  A couple have been mildly to hair pullingly frustrating.  All were solvable.

Oh, on the Simms thingy...save your money.  been there, done that, didn't work for me.  And it's ugly.

[gunnut69]

One can tune the barrel harmonics quite easily. Drill and tap a hole thru the forearm hanger either just behind the turning forearm mounting screw hole or just in front(little room!). I use a headless set screw with a point and an allen wrench hole. Drill a clearance hole thru the forearm to access the screw with the forearm in place or adjust it with the forearm removed. There needs to be a brass (anything that won't rust) captured between the underside of the barrel and the point of the set screw. A small dimple will allow the point of the setscrew to hold this bearing in place. Firing with the forearm removed will let you know what the rifle will do with the barrel free floated.. Loosening and tightening the setscrew adjusts the tension of the barrel, altering the barrel harmonics and it's not affected by the weather.. There an appliance available at Brownells that will do this for you with no drilling. It works fine though it cost more that a set screw. If the screw length is watched carefully a jam screw can be installed behiond the tension screw though adjstment is hampered. A jam screw can be installed from the side (cup point and a lead shot to avoid damaging threads) to preclude variation of the tension adjustment.

[RWK]

All this stuff is great, but a picture is worth a thousand words.

[DEACONLLB]

If you wont to tune the barrel look up the hicks thing I think midway carries them then with it installed you can ad or reduce preasure I have never used one and of all my number ones the the 76 american Liberty in 06m was the only one I could never get to group.
Deaconllb