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OK, time for me to wade into this debate with some data from a first range trip with my Ruger No 1 .303 last weekend...

The action feels quite precise, and crisp when moving the lever... however it rattles a little when clicked home. Annoying.

Feels surprisingly light and very handy with a 22" barrel but because of this balances a little too much towards the butt.

Barrel appears to be very good quality... very smooth when pushing a patch through, and looking under a loupe at the muzzle the bore appears to have been lapped! My barrel slugged at .313" with a very consistent 'feel' as the lead slug made its way down. So far, so good...

Mounted a Zeiss Conquest 3-9x40mm in standard factory mounts (which are a little too far forward, may source some Talleys later).

I ran in the barrel with a one-shot then clean routine for the first 5 shots, then 3 shots and clean, then 5 shots and clean. Don't really know if this makes a difference, but the Ruger is my first brand-new rifle for a while and I thought I would do what most barrel manufacturers suggest.

I then bore sighted it and got it on paper at 50m using Remington 180gr Corelokt factory loads... then the first test at 100m. The first 3 shots 'walked' vertically about an inch apart... I deliberately didn't let the barrel cool and fired reasonably quickly. Fore end was held in a benchrest bag just in front of the action.

Adusted scope, let the barrel cool off, then fired two quick shots... then cool off a little, then two more. Both of these two shot strings landed within an inch of each other, with a flyer (probably me).

Time for some handloads!
150gr Hornady first... I tried 40.0gr and 41.0gr ADI 2206H, all loads lightly crimped into the cannelure. The latter load is one grain under max listed but no pressure indications. Max 42.0gr is listed at 2780fps in the ADI load data. The 41.0gr load was much more accurate, with the first three shots from a cold barrel grouping about 1.25" before opening up to 1.5" and then the final shot opening the group up to 2.5".

So far, all loads display varying degrees of vertical stringing... as the barrel heats up it generally prints each subsequent shot 1" away from the last.

I also tried out a few 215gr Woodleighs, using 39.0gr of ADI 2208 (chronied at 2110fps) but these wouldn't group at ALL. No idea why at present... bullet was seated to match OAL of an original MKVI Ball reference cartridge.

After the range trip I did some tests on what I had heard about the Ruger No 1's freebore.
Seated a Woodleigh 215gr bullet 3mm into a partially sized neck and chambered the dummy round.

When ejected I marked the neck to bullet relationship with a finepoint marker, and double checked it when it seemed to have just 6mm engagement! The degree of freebore is ridiculous, when a 215gr bullet is barely held by the case neck to reach the lands

I also tried a 180gr Corelokt seated 3mm into the neck but it didn't even reach the lands...

Given the extreme amount of freebore, I will lightly crimp all future loads into the cannelure to try and give the load some chance to 'develop a head of steam'... seemed to work with the 150gr Hornady loads.

So, early indications are that my Ruger No 1 .303 is reasonably accurate, with a groove diameter within expected dimensions. Chronic vertical stringing and 'walking' of shots as the barrel heated up seem to point to a bedding issue... too much upwards pressure between the barrel and the fore end? Not sure, but will start investigating this lead...

Overall, it was an enjoyable rifle to shoot... ideally it should have had a 24" barrel and MUCH less freebore

Quite a pleasant change to see fired .303 cases that weren't potbellied (ex-SMLE) or banana-shaped (ex-Martini Enfield)

Will keep you all posted on developments...

Edited by CptCurl (18/09/11 12:52 PM)

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