Concerned about my Ruger number 1 rifle and it’s lack of consistency in hitting the target where I am trying to make it hit, I put a thread out on my favorite outdoors forum, Utah Wildlife Network.  Check them out sometime.

Anyway, it didn’t take long for one of the older members of the forum to come back with the fact that the forearm mounting screw just might be too tight.  I don’t know these pork gun issues as well as perhaps I should and so I went on line to see if I could find anything out there to support this guys claim as one of my rifles possible  issues.

What I found was that a whole bunch of Ruger No. 1 owners have experienced the same thing as I have and that the mounting screw seems to hold the key to making them more accurate.  More pressure means some tension against the barrel, which when fired, causes the movement of the barrel to be inconsistent…harmonics it’s called.

I kept digging and found an article printed in 1977 in Rifle Magazine.

http://www.riflemagazine.com/magazine/PDF/ri51partial.pdf

It was around that date that Sherry picked up my Ruger rifle and so to have an article written at that time explaining the issue makes a lot of sense.  The Ruger No. 1 rifle was like the coming out of an old rifle action, the falling block, and putting it on a new fangled stock and in modern calibers.  I fell in love with the lo0ks of the rifle and the fact that it was a single shot rifle made it even more intriguing, since I’m very big on saving bullets and making that one shot count.

So too for others who bought the rifles in various calibers and I’m sure some of them have never fired their guns, they just bought them to say they have them and to show them off to their buddies.  But for those of us who bought them to use them, we quickly found that although they could produce some tight sighting in patterns, the consistency in those groupings  from year to year was lacking.

I worked with a fellow who also bought a Ruger No. 1 in 308 caliber about the same time as I got mine and his comments were that his first shot fired at the range would go wherever it wanted to go and then after that the bullets would begin to pattern.  Mine is the same way and so I don’t clean it if I am planning on using it within a month or so.  Did Soda Grizz learn this the hard way too and that is the reason he doesn’t ever clean any of his guns?

Bears Butt

August 4, 2013

Weasel and I headed out to shoot our rifles again today.  We went to the Three Mile Creek range West of Perry…they were open, but had no range master.  I called the Box Elder County Sheriffs office and asked them if it would be ok to shoot without the range master present.  They said no.

So there we stood for 45 minutes waiting for no-one.  Meanwhile another shooting enthusiast came and we left him after he had been there over a half hour.  We decided to head over to the Logan range.

These sight in mean a lot at this time of year.  For one, my 7mm was not sighted in the last time because I had forgotten to take a tool to open up the vertical adjustment locator.  After shooting that time, I came home opened up the adjustment port and cranked it down 20 clicks.  I figured at 1/4 inche p/click it would put it down the 5 inches it was too high.

So, back at the range I expected to hit right about an inch high above the 100 yard bull…BLAM….7 inches LOW!  I mean below the paper low!  My mouth dropped open.  I cranked it up 10 clicks, shot 2 shots, and hit about half way toward the bull.  I cranked it up 5 more clicks, shot 2 shots and it was still hitting low, but a bit closer.  I cranked it up 5 more clicks, shot 2 shots and it was just over top of the bull about 2 inches but all the shots I had taken today were to the left about 3 inches.  So I moved the sight to the right about 5 clicks.  Let the barrel rest and cool down a bit and then shot 4 more shots, all of which hit between 2 and 3 1/2 inches high and right over top of the bull.  I don’t think I can do any better than that the way I shoot.  I consider it sighted in.

So, my biggest question:  Why did it not shoot exactly where it ended up shooting last time out?  It was shooting 7 or 8 inches high last week and I lowered the adjustment down those 20 clicks, which should have been 5 inches of adjustment downward.  I shoot and it’s wayyyy low, I end up cranking it up those same 20 clicks and it’s right where I want it…I don’t get it!

The mounts have been checked and they are all tight…Too tight?  Is there such a thing?

I was not resting the barrel on the wooden block, I was holding the stock in my left hand and the hand was resting on the block, so barrel float is still ok (or should be).

Do they make scope adjustments that are in bigger increments going in a downward direction than when adjusting upwards?  I would think not.

I don’t get it!

Anyway, we also had my 17 hmr to put to the test and it too was way out of adjustment, now it is almost a tack driver at 100 yards.

Then over to the 22 range and 50 yards to sight in the Ruger 10-22’s that both Weasel and I have.  Mine required just a bit of adjustment to bring it home at the 50 yard line.  Weasels adjusted in quickly from its newly mounted scope and bore sighting.

So, all the rifles are ready for action.

Bears Butt

August 3, 2013

So you just finished reading “Where to Shoot an Elk”, I’ll tell you the answer…”Right next to the road”!  That’s where you shoot an elk!

So all day long and I suspect from now until the hunt begins I’ll be thinking about this hunt..I’m pumped…All the advise I’ve been given so far is just incredible and I’m sure glad I didn’t listen to some of the Nea-sayers because the “pump me up” people are so adamantly in favor of it, I guess I just can’t think of any reason not to be enjoying this ride.

Not only is the fact there that I could potentially shoot a magnificent animal, but I’ll be in some of the prettiest county in the USA to do it.  So, even if I dont’ fill my tag, so what?  I’ve already been in contact with people that have helped to pump me up and that alone is worth the price of the tag.

Speaking of which, I received it today…Tracker…do you want me to “show you the tag”??

There you go!

Bears Butt

August 1, 2013

Still more information being received about the San Juan Late Elk Hunt and more and more it looks like I made a correct decision on  accepting the tag.  I can’t let you know everything about this hunt and the information I have gotten, but I can tell you my attitude about this hunt is growing more and more positive all the time.  There are some very knowledgeable people out there who know this area very well.

As for me right now, I have a tough decision to make regarding shooting the first bull I see when on this hunt.  Maybe I need to consider my muzzleloader a little more as well.

Yesterday some discussion was had on where to shoot a big bull elk once it’s within range (say under 200 yards).  The key to shooting a big bull, according to my source, is to anchor it right where it stands.  His experience has been perfectly placed shots to the lungs and heart area which resulted in him having to track it for miles before he found it piled up.  This, according to him, happened more than once with one traveling 5 miles before he was able to get a second shot in it to put it down.  Upon cleaning the animals, the first one had both lungs collapsed but no hit to the heart.  The second on had one collapsed lung and no heart hit.  When you think about how big an elk is and the size of the chest cavity, you would have to know exactly where the heart sits in relation to the rest of the vital organs to make that shot especially if you were in a hurry to take the shot.

So, his advise is to shoot higher on the shoulder and hope to break the shoulder bones and possibly the backbone.  I’ll be dreaming about that shot for the next few months.

Bears Butt

August 1, 2013