I started this rifle nearly two years ago when I found the Unertl scope at a gun show. After buying it, I decided it needed a rifle. I took this picture just before sending it out to Charlie Grace in Colorado for checkering and rust bluing.

I used a Ruger No. 1 action, a Douglas barrel chambered in .222 Rem. and a Kepplinger trigger. The nice piece of Circassian walnut came from a friend. I made pattern stocks and had Charlie pre-carve the walnut to my patterns. Then I did the stock work to the point shown.

Charlie says I will have the gun back shortly. Then I plan to shoot in our local benchrest matches this summer.

I have a ton of pictures showing the process. I will post same if there seems to be some interest.

I would be interested. It may even give me the momentum to finish up on some of my own projects.

Thanks!

Well done
Looking forward to more info on this project
Mike

Always enjoy a build project. Partial to single shots.
This one looks great.
Chuck

I started with the scope and an action. After I got a barrel, etc, I took it to the local gunsmith and got this back. This shows the metal work partly completed with take-off stocks from another No. 1.

The gun was originally a .458. Now it is a .222 Rem.

The gun in the background is a CZ sporter that I stocked for a friend.

The smith, K.P. Wood of Central Michigan Gunsmithing, is a custom maker himself and a one time member of the ACGC.

I, then, got out the Bondo and reshaped the stocks to my liking. My goal here was not elegant but to have plenty of wood when I got it back from pre-carve to make it look exactly like I wanted. I planned to do elegant at that time (I hoped). It took quite a bit of Bondo to build up the cheekpiece.

This shows the fore end pattern as it looked when I sent it to Charlie Grace for pre-carving. I had to add wood to the front to make it long enough for the varmint rifle that this is intended to be.

I wanted Charlie to install the ebony tip to my dimensions so I got a marking pen and made a fore end tip for him to copy.

Since this was to be a varmint/target rifle I shot it in the pattern stocks before shipping it to Charlie in Colorado. I wanted to see what I had before spending a lot more money on it.

My first competition bench guns, forty years ago, were .222's and I had a fair idea on how to make them shoot. I used IMR 4985 and real benchrest bullets that I had moly coated. I sighted it in at 50 yds. and shot a group. It was excellent, a one-holer, so I went to my 100 yd. target. The group there was about 3/8" and I was a happy camper.

I have had my own 50 and 100 yd. range just outside my office door for many years. It's really handy at times like this.

This was taken by a friend who drove down to watch Charlie machine carve my stock. Charlie had bought the machine from Dale Goens a while back.

I love the look of your Ruger! It's what I think Ruger should offer for the forearm shape and style! And the barrel length and contour is also much better than what Ruger offers!
I dislike the forearm shape my old Ruger #1 has, and seeing yours I think I better get off the stick and cut the end off and add an ebony tip!
That long spacing on the scope blocks should make tiny changes in adjustment even easier!

Lovely, i really like the no.1's and we don't see enough custom builds on them. I for one would love to see more of your pictures.

This shows the detail of the fore end tip just as I recieved it from Charlie. I wanted the widow's peak and I have no way to do that.

This is the fore end when I had it down to it's final shape and ready for finish sanding. Lots of sanding dust here.

Speaking of Ruger No. 1's, is it true they are now discontinued?

You asked that same question in your March 30, 2017 thread:

Ruger No. 1 Rifles Being Discontinued

The question was answered at that time. You can also Google "Ruger No. 1 being discontinued", and you will get the same answer.

No, the No. 1 is not being discontinued.

I do like the .222 Ruger No. 1 that is the subject of this thread, and wonder how the forend attachment was handled to make it shoot as well as it does?

Hoping I can add that style forearm to my Ruger #1 in 7x57 and not get into the checkering. I'd prefer not to replace my forearm, but don't mind refinishing it around the checkering.

You asked that same question in your March 30, 2017 thread:

Ruger No. 1 Rifles Being Discontinued

The question was answered at that time. You can also Google "Ruger No. 1 being discontinued", and you will get the same answer.

No, the No. 1 is not being discontinued.

I do like the .222 Ruger No. 1 that is the subject of this thread, and wonder how the forend attachment was handled to make it shoot as well as it does? [/quote

I have only shot it in the pattern stocks a year ago. I did nothing to them... just shot it. The new fore end is bedded very tightly. I'm hoping that it shoots well when I get it back. It's still in Colorado but should be shipped most any day. I'm crossing my fingers that it will shoot like it did in the pattern stocks a year ago. If it doesn't, I'll fiddle with the fore end till it does.

I'll post a couple of pics taken as I shaped the stock. Here I was working on the grip area. Note the plastic tape I use to protect the metal as I work on the wood.

Shaping the cheek piece. Doing this well requires a level of concentration that can't be maintained too long. The trick is quitting before you screw something up. It's partly done here.

A pair of these have been in my shop and forgotten since the 70's. I bought grip caps from Jerry Fisher back then and sent a couple to a guy in Cincinnati to engrave. I found them a while back and decided to use this one on the gun. It needs a little cleaning up but will be fine.

This is out of sequence but this is exactly what I got back from Charlie Grace after he pre-carved it for me. (Plus the Unertl.) I had asked him to inlet it for me. His machine carving is so good that inletting is fairly easy.

I have done my own inletting in the past but, this time, time was an issue. I really wanted to be able to shoot it in matches this summer and Charlie is much, much faster than I am.

My goal when shaping the pattern stocks was to make sure that there was plenty of wood at this stage. It's easy to take wood off... really difficult to put back on.

We all call him Chuck....

I know... he and I go back about forty years, right after he got out of Trinidad. He's always been Charlie to our gang here in Michigan.

Love your book, "Custom Rifles in Black and White". I'm wearing it out.

I know where you can get a back-up copy~~

I took a lot of pics as I did the stock. I'll add a few of my favorites.

This is a very rare pic with which I did no cropping or photoshopping. The butt stock all ready for final sanding.

When I decided the stocks were ready for finishing, I soaked them down with mineral spirits to make sure they were clean. This is the first time I got a good look at the grain. I was happy with the results.

The fore end soaked witht mineral spirits.

I'm just an amateur at this although I've been doing it a long time. There's a long list of things I can't do which is why the gun is out to Chuck Grace's for bluing and checkering.

However, I'm a fanatic on stock lines. I will pose the gun every which way and just stare. "How can I make this better?" I dig up pics of Jerry Fisher rifles and try to decide why he's so much better.

Here is the gun, upside down in my vise in my messy shop, and I took this whilst I was just looking...

I regard the factory safety as an unsightly lump. After sufficient cogitation, I got a spare and ground and filed on it till I was happy. Then I had Kip Wood checker it for me in 40 lpi. As shown it needs the edges chamfered or rounded off and some polishing. Anyway, I liked this better.

Charlie Grace is currently checkering it for me. Here is picture he sent of the pistol grip.

I don't know much about checkering but that looks amazing to me!

Its looking well. Nice piece of wood too. What trigger do you have in that no.1 ?

That's a Kepplinger set trigger, made in Austria. You can fire the gun with the trigger set or unset, handy in a sporter rifle in cold weather. Unset, the trigger is a crisp three or four pounds... I haven't weighed it. Set the trigger pulls only a few ounces, again very crispy. This is perfect for shooting off a bench when you are being very fussy.

I have had a lifelong battle with Ruger triggers. This is an expensive but really good cure.

Brownells sells Kepplinger triggers.

I think Brownells stopped selling Kepplinger triggers, unfortunately. I can't see a source for them anywhere today. My understanding is Hannes Kepplinger retired, and they have ended production.

I heard the same thing a while back. Brownell's showed they had them in stock so I ordered and got one. ??????????

Interesting Dick? I looked on their site when I picked up the latest #1 and they showed discontinued.

Chuck Grace sent me this pic taken while he was starting the fore end checkering pattern. Getting closer and closer...

Its coming along nicely Dick.

http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/ah264/DickWright/IMG_0939%201_zps3fiicka1.jpg

The fore end checkering nearly done. I'm getting closer and closer to being able to shoot this in a match.

For some reason or other, Photobucket won't let me post an actual picture today... just a link... No idea why.

Note the "W" for Wright in the wood. I think I was intended to have this wood and to make a rifle from it.

Typical of Photobucket! It wouldn't open for me. I've switched to Imgur for free photo hosting, and it's fantastic.

Vall,
Before Kepplinger, I believe Heym modified Canjars to fit their Heym Rugers in the 1970s(extra cost option), maybe you can do the same, if you can find a Canjar.
Mike

This is the last picture I got from Chuck Grace. It shows the fore end checkering nearly done. Not much left to do. Chuck said he would ship it this week.

Dick,

Your #1 reminds me of my very first Schuetzen rifle. Stocked very similar to yours it had a Krieger .32-40 barrel throated for breach seating. It also had a Kepplinger single set trigger. My best buddy spent several hours building a cam type breach seater for it that was a work of art. As is often the case, I sold it long ago. Not the smartest move on my part.

Best,
Ken

Ken,

Like you I would like to have a few guns back that I once had and sold.

There's also a little Berkeley sports car that I owned in college days, a small British roadster that was a pure delight to drive. I couldn't even get into it now but, Lordy, I would love to put it here in my office and just look at it.

Dick

I got this from Chuck this AM. The gun is all done and will be assembled and sent out Monday, the 5th.

Chuck Grace finished the gun and put it together today and sent me this pic. To be shipped UPS Second Day tomorrow.

I should have it Wedensday... Match Saturday. Gonna be a busy boy.

That's a purdy No. 1. Just sayin'.

Very nicely done. I really like your choice of wood & the stock & forend shaping. Very classy & appropriate choices.

The wood looks even better in the flesh. It's an old piece of Turkish Circassian that a friend had and which he agreed to sell to me at a very reasonable price when he saw the project. It's nice to have good friends.

Triple deuce gotta shoot!
Best of luck!

You need some white line spacers and polyurethane on that stock..................only joking, it looks great. Classy without being over the top.

The gun arrived today. Glorya took this right after I opened the package.

I get better pics of the gun without the old fat guy.

That's a masterpiece of great workmanship Dick!

A better pic of the rifle without the old guy.

Very Nice, and it is always Great to see a project completed!

My best pic so far. Gotta quit this and load the car... match tomorrow.

The wood is darker than this, more like the pic above. The flash washed out the color.

That is what a rifle should be; simple, elegant and built with a purpose. Very nice. And by simple, I don't mean plain. The detail touches in this are numerous.
Thaine

This is why I started the project in the first place... I shoot in matches and have since I got out of school. This was taken at the gun's first match Saturday. Since I had only had it for two days I was just fire forming brass. Another match in two weeks and I will have completed fire forming and done load work-up and be ready to compete.

Note the old Porsche in the background with the handicapped plates... There's enough room in back for my shooting stuff.

It's been a while since I've been able to shoot. I was just delighted to be there.

Thanks. I really like your 1885's. Have you done any Ruger No. 1's or No. 3's?

Pictures?

I took this today whilst woking up loads. So far IMR 4895 and the old Remington benchrest bullets seem to work best. This loading bench has been just outside my office for over tweny years.

That just keeps getting prettier and prettier. I like the look of the safety mod. Does it provide enough purchase for use on a field gun?
Thaine

Thanks. The safey has 40 lpi checkering. No problem using it in the field. We only rarely use the safety in benchrest.

I may round off the edges more this winter and re-blue it.

After shooting it for a couple of days, working on loads and practice, I cleaned the barrel and hand rubbed a coat of finish on it this morning. It's in the vise for a couple of days till it dries well. Match again next Saturday.

Comments re: the state of my workbench are not solocited.

This is the first target shot in a match with the Ruger. Shot on 10 June. Range was 100 yds. I started with the sighter bull on the bottom right. There's a sighter bull on each target and you can shoot any number of shots on it. (I always shoot at the sighter first.) The sighter score doesn't count, unfortunately in this case. Then I shot at the bull immediately above it at which time I decided that the gun would be O.K.

Had I not jerked the trigger on the bottom left bull this would have been a good target. Haven't shot a centerfire bench gun in a couple of years is my only excuse. The Kepplinger trigger is expensive and O.K. but it sure ain't the Jewell I am used to for benchrest. I'll get used to it. The other six shots would make for a pretty decent group. I shot the number three bull last and, when I saw the result, considered it a reward for an industrious and virtious life.

Ironically the load that works best so far is the old Remington benchrest bullets and a case full of IMR 4895.

Hey, that might work in a pinch.



Nice shooting

Well done, well done
What fun
and do you remember to pull the scope back before each shot??
I have never wanted to just trust the spring
Mike

Not so far. I check it once in a while and it's always right against the front ring. I had to put a little more tension on the spring before it returned as it should. I lube it occasionally.

So far shooting this thing has been fun. I, also, like just looking at it. This is the first gun I've stocked that turned out pretty much the way I wanted it.

The completed rifle. Since Photobucket is giving me a hard time I switched to Imgur.

I switched to Imgur also Dick. Photocrapbucket has given all users the same thing now. They want $400 a year now to host pictures that will be used elsewhere. Wish I could download all my PB pics, but no luck trying to do so yet.

Lovely wood on that rifle Dick, really sets it off.

I was very lucky. A good friend offered me this wood at the price he bought it for years ago. It's Turkish Circassian. He had always intended to make a gun and never did. I couldn't have afforded to pay what it's worth today.

That's the first thing I thought when I switched to Imgur. However, all my PB pics are stored in my Mac plus a qazzillian more. I can simply drag any that I want to put on Imgur.

Speaking of nice wood... This was my project gun before I started the Ruger. Again, I got the blank from a friend who had it for years and never did anything with it.

The gun is a CZ 452 American in 17 HMR. I immediately started accurizing it when I got it, intending to shoot it in local rimfire matches. There's a small tuner of my design on the barrel.

I kept fiddling with it and shooting it till I finally decided to stock it. This pic shows the results.

FWIW I shot it in a local 50 yd. rimfire BR match a week or so ago and won the match.

Have the same gun Dick, but still original. Had hoped to use it as a mid range varmint gun, but it mostly sits since I purchased it many years ago. Sighted it in and it's very accurate. Just don't seem to get out varmint hunting like I did in years past.

This was the CZ when it was mostly original. I took this in my front yard one fall. Note the tuner on the barrel. Years of rimfire benchrest competition taught me that a tuner is the only way to go for maximum accuracy.

At that time I was writing for Precision Shooting. I took this pic hoping it would be on the cover. Unfortunately they went out of business before I could get it in to the editor.

This is the other side of the Ruger.

For the more technically inclined, I have now been shooting the gun for a while with mostly bad results. but... they are getting better every time. However, I have found that it is very accurate with Isreali 2015 which was only made in 1990 and 1991. Good news since I have a good supply left from my serious benchrest competition days. I have found that, if I jump the bullets .020" rather than jam them hard into the lands, my accuracy improves a lot.

I also screwed up mounting the scope and, after being coached by a former Unertl employee, have solved that problem. The gun now shoots quite a bit better than No. 1's are supposed to.

Due to health problems and advanced old age I can't shoot as well as I once could. However, practice can partially solve that. I'm now happy to go to a match and be, at least, a little competitive. I've been shooting competition since I got out of college and just like going to matches.

How did you screw up mounting that scope? They seem pretty easy to mount, but maybe I need to learn something.

Yes, me also, want to learn
Mike

I took the scope off and found a few small burrs on the front base. I used a fine file to remove them and carefully stoned that area to get it real smooth. The scope was loose on the front base when I took it off. Either it shot loose or I didn't tighten it enough. With those fine threads I'm kinda chicken.

The Unertl guy told me to use a quarter in tightening the scope on the base. Then it would be tight enough to stay put. I did so and it seemed more snug than before. The next match the scope worked perfectly and the POI didn't jump all over the target. It was just minor things but correcting them made a big difference.

Now I need to practice enough to be able to shoot more like I once could. I have a good 50 and 100 yd. range just outside my office. The neighbors are going to hear shooting till I am more satisfied.