If you are looking for a sub MOA rifle out of the box Rugers have problems. there are some smiths who have made them work and there are aftermarket parts sources that can help. Singleshot and 38 cal on this forum both have had excellent results with Rugers. They take a little massaging but are a fine base for a target rifle.

40 Rod

fore-end bedding gets a lot of popular attention, and justifiably so for most shooters needs.  However when we are talking about low velocity, lead bullet 200 yrd accuracy in a benchrest context you have to factor in a bunch of stuff.

A lot of the Ruger SS tend to show up in the hands of relatively new shooters for price reasons.  so perceived mechanical problems may be masking skill level issues in our shooting matches.

Ruger factory barrels over the year have had ups and downs in terms of quality.  some good some bad.   Rebarelling to schuetzen calibres opens the door to issues of barrel/installation/chambering quality issues.

The ruger action uses a large heavy internal hammer with a monstrous swing.  that requires a massive mainspring to get it in motion and when it strikes it seems like it should be shaking the guy at the next bench.  hair-splittingly fine accuracy is difficult if the gun wants to jump out of the bags before the projectile leaves the barrel.    Frank Zika has done us a HUGE favor with his competition grade replacement hammer and spring sets. 

the ruger triggers as factory issued leave somewhat to be desired.  tuning and balancing can work wonders but those of us who like the actions are waiting with bated breath for Frank's drop-in trigger replacement assembly.

All of that said; I have a #1 in 22 rf built by Steve Durren  heavy select GM barrel, very tight match chamber that requires a push seater. very well reworked trigger, (sub-2# and super clean and crisp--with all the internal parts still in place) Of course the forend is set up correctly.  It's set up almost exclusively for the 200 yard 22 rf benchrest.  I have yet to break 240 but I am sure that the gun itself in the hands of a more skilled shooter with the right ammo and conditions could shoot a 250.

I'm currently working on a offhand rifle on a #3 action that I hope will prove successful,  but it will be highly custom as well.

ledball has hit the nail square on the head! All the Ruger action needs is a striker breachblock with a Jewell trigger and it will be the very best there is!

Andy speaks the truth. He has beaten me and my DeHass-Miller many times.

Main drawback to any Ruger in competition is the barrel. 20+ years High Power Silhouette never saw one that would shoot from the factory. They are right behind the guy who shows up with his M1A that's a world beater. and can't hit a target with it.

Ones I have seen in Schuetzen rebarreled and re-stocked shoot very well.

Boats

NBY,
I've had the same experience with my Ruger # 1's. they always seem to shoot under an inch. I do have some tuned up ones that will usually shoot half inch and sometimes less, the cost was not all that much when compared to other single shot rifles. Here's what I did.

It's not hard to find a  nice used Ruger # 1 Rifle for around $ 550., put in a decent adjustable three screw trigger, about  $ 75. installed,  put in a speed hammer and spring, $ 60. installed, put on a good Douglas barrel for about  $ 325.,  you now have about $ 1000. into a rifle that if you do your part should shoot under an inch, you should have no problem selling the original factory barrel for about $ 75., and get about $ 40. for an original factory hammer, that will bring your cost down to about $ 875. / 885., even if your gunsmith pushes you to the $ 1000. mark because of ?  it would still be ok, try doing that with a High Wall or most any other good rifle, I think you will be well over the  $ 1000. mark.  

Some seem to think that the problem with the # 1 is the hanger, a good gunsmith will use that hanger to tune the barrel for a very high degree of accuracy.  The Ruger # 1 guys over at the Ruger # 1 Group at   (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)  have been having a shoot every year since 2005 for # 1's only,  they have four different category's that range from the small bores ( 22  Cal ) on up to the big bores ( 45-70 Cal ).

 Some of the guys in that group have written some very good articles on how to squeeze the last bit of accuracy out of a # 1 and are always experimenting with different things to improve it even more. The articles are archived in the Files section of the group for all to read and comment on.

Continued Later.

joeb33050 wrote on Feb 12^th, 2011 at 7:44am:


  Joe B.,
You say,
I have had very poor luck having Rugers built as SS target rifles in the past. 

What kind of accuracy do you want or need from a  # 1, or any other single shot that has a two piece stock  ?.

I also don't think much of the Ruger design.

What is it you don't like about the # 1 design, is there some other design that you think is much better that the Ruger ?.

Let us know about these things and maybe we can find out what went wrong with the ones you had built in the past.
  S-T