I'm not as experienced as others here, but I'll take a stab at some of the questions;

1- If you already HAVE a Martini or Ruger, it's probably not a bad way to start.

2- Two "favorites" that come to mind are the .32 Miller, or .32 Dell (both, I think, are .357 Maximum cases necked/tapered to .32), or the .32-40.  If it was ME, I'd pick the .32-40, since there's over a century of load data out there, and NO shortage of experienced shooters to help.

3- Not a clue who's "best", but Buffalo Arms wouldn't be a bad place to start shopping.

4- I'm still a little suspicous about this whole "breech seating" thing... so I'd go with Fixed to start. But that's just me.


Back to #1:  You might consider a Uberti or the forthcoming (in a couple weeks, supposedly) Pedersoli High Wall in .38-55.   The Uberti's are said by some to have slightly "non-standard" bore and groove diameters, which would give you fits getting a bullet off the shelf to shoot with.
Those options MIGHT get you into the game faster and cheaper than having a Ruger or Martini re-built.

Others have more experience than I do, but I hope this helps!
Paul F.

Where did you order this rifle from and may I ask the cost?

Gary,

     There's the rub, a custom caliber in a Ruger #1 requires custom gunsmithing.  The rifle in question was custom barreled with a Douglas barrel some time ago and has been a "starter rifle" for several of us! 

     If I were looking for an off-the-shelf starter rifle, I would indeed look at the Ruger #1 in some "normal" caliber, such as their .375, which is a modern version of the .38-55.  You might wish to go back and reexamine a couple of recent threads on gunsmiths and gunsmithing the #1.  I might also look at Uberti or Pedersoli replicas of the high-wall Winchester in that same .38-55, and at the CPA Stevens copies of the Model 44 1/2 in whatever caliber fit my needs best.   

     Your question about multi-use suggests that maybe a single rifle to do all things is in your mind, be aware that multi-use means compromise.  If you want to shoot BP cartridge events, I would maintain that anything under .38-55 will probably come up short for you, but then the big .40s can be downright brutal for long days of Schuetzen, so the .38 seems to fill in as an all-around caliber, not the very best at any one thing, but able to do a creditable job at a variety of things. 

     Finally, the word "inexpensive" means different things to different people.  If your budget is in the $500 range, one of the tip-up rifles built on shotgun type actions may be the only thing available.  In the $1000 range, we start seeing the rebarreled Rugers, Italian copies of 'walls, etc, and at about $2000 the selection broadens out considerably.  "You pays your money..." 

     Whatever you decide, welcome to the wonderful world of single shots, and whatever you pick for a rifle, there will be other folks there that made the same choice and like it, and others who will be bound and determined to "convert" you to some other choice... that's just the way we are!

Regards,
Charlie Shaeff
the Green Frog

PM me with your email address...I'll be glad to send photos of my No. 3 in 30-20 that's quite manageable from the bench, and very comfortable offhand, with no buttplate or buttstock changes.   

David
Montezuma, IA

Brozbows wrote on Jul 20^th, 2008 at 8:28pm:


I'll try to do some pics a day or two after I receive it. like Green Frog said and I agree, it's a compromise type rifle, not a full bolwn Bench Rifle, not a full blown offhand rifle, but it can be used for both and it's a lot better than what I had which was nothing. This will get me started and most of my shooting with it will be Bench.
Shooter

Hammer47 wrote on Jul 20^th, 2008 at 10:10pm:



Not a problem, the extractor and the ejector are the same thing on the # 1, it's spring loaded and will work with rimed or rimless cases. In fact if you do a 32-40 I think the 270 extractor will work just fine. For a 32-20 you may need a 218 Bee extractor.

I think there are only four different ones, and thoses four will work for anything from 22 Hornet up to 45-70, if you have to buy one they are about $ 5.00 from Ruger, at least they were last year, but the way things are going they may be $ 10.00 now.
  Shooter

Sharps 54 who post on this board has a nice already converted Ruger for sale.  32 Miller I think.  He moved up to a CPA

Boats