To lighten a Ruger No.1
...I have a Ruger No.1 SST laminated stock with 26 inch barrel...any suggestions on how to cut down on the weight?...I really like the way a Merkel K1 weighs...???
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Probably swapping the stock for a lighter wood, or removing the butt pad and drilling holes in the butt stock 0 -
I sometimes see stock sets for the old #3 Carbine version of the Ruger Single Shot rifle for sale; they are a straight-grip walnut buttstock, w/the butt & fore-end w/o checkering; they would be a bit lighter - will fit the #1. 0 -
As a frame of reference Merkel K1 is under 6 pounds. I think you probably "could" get there with a Ruger, the question is just how "crazy" you want to get in the process!
FWIW, the "light sporter" and "international" (20" bbl) versions of these weigh 7.25 and 7.00 lbs, respectively. So if yours is one of the heavier versions, you could try to swap for a lighter one.
You can try going with the lightest possible weight scope and mounting rings. That might save a few ounces. If you can shoot with iron sights. . .even better yet! [;)]
You can reduce the length of barrel to legal minimum (16"). That will save a few ounces, plus make the gun easier to handle and maybe faster to point (but quite a bit louder, and also decrease your functional muzzle velocity).
And of course you can alter the stock.
As Dokey says you could partially hollow out the inside of the stock. Another way to accomplish a similar effect is to dish out the right side of the stock. If you're bold enough, you could even skeletonize a triangle out of the whole middle.
Realistically, a lightweight synthetic aftermarket stock is probably your best bet; I'd expect to need some fitting to make it work with your gun:
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/307184/bell-and-carlson-carbelite-classic-2-piece-rifle-stock-ruger-1-synthetic-black
Custom stock is also possible, how deep is your wallet? (Then again, no matter what this costs, its still probably going to cost less than a Merkel!).
Edit: Oh yeah, you can also probably take some material off the forearm too. How much and where depends on how "crazy" you want to get with respect to appearance, and maybe what your tolerance is for a non-standard sling mounting location.
But you could, for example, remove a few inches from the front of the forearm, re-contour it, and remount the sling mount. That's pretty easy to do and would also potentially save a few ounces.
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Edit, responding to below:
quote:I can't cut the barrel..."Can't" or "Don't want to"? Either way, suit yourself. This is one of the only things that can be done to reduce weight, and in fact, its probably one of the easiest and cheapest. If you want to keep blast down and velocity up, you could cut it say from 26 to 22" or 20" instead of going all the way down to 16".
quote:On a scale of 1-10...what would you rank the Bell and Carlson ?Never tried it, so I can't give you feedback on it. But this is one of the only (if not THE only) aftermarket off-the-rack synthetic stock options for this rifle, so if you're looking for a simple/low cost stock solution, short of butchering the one you've already got, this is probably your only bet.
quote:Nononsense: The only way to lighten your rifle is to switch out the plywood stock for something lighter and cut the barrel shorter. There is literally no other place to save weight. You might squeeze out a couple of ounces by drilling lighten holes in the lever and trigger guard but the rest of the weight is in the action.Well, its probably **POSSIBLE** to safely shave some metal off the action too or drill holes; I actually typed this possibility in my missive above, but then deleted it before posting, deciding it probably isn't practical here. For the benefit of maybe saving a few ounces, you'll ruin the guns warranty, possibly render it unsafe, and potentially reduce/ruin its resale value. Personally, I wouldn't even consider this at all; if you wanted to anyway, certainly not until after you've done all the other things first AND test fired the gun!
Barrel fluting/recontouring. . .again, these things probably *could* be done, but for a normal configuration barrel like this, it would be a lot of effort and cost for really very little weight savings. Lopping a few inches off the end of the barrel would save more weight for less money/effort.
Personally, I agree with the opinion that if you can't get "there" with just a few simple mods like stock swap, barrel chop, and lighter accessories, then you're probably better off in the wallet and final result just buying a whole new rifle designed from the outset to be light. Ruger #1 simply isn't that gun.
EG, you didn't mention the caliber of this rifle,but single-shot NEF "Superlight" Handi-Rifle in .243 weighs only 5-1/3 lbs out of the box, and can be had for under $300. Its no Ruger #1, but that's a cheap, handy, light rifle.
Also, to beg the question a bit, have you ever shot one of these ultra-lights? The sub-6 lb guns are nice to carry, but not so nice to actually shoot. Recoil in a real centerfire caliber (eg .308ish) gun under six pounds is punishing, and the light weight tends to make the gun a bit "floaty" in the hands. That may or may not be OK, depending on what exactly you're going to do with the gun, but there are reasons why these things are "niche" type guns.0 -
I can't cut the barrel... 0 -
quote:Originally posted by beantownshootah
As a frame of reference Merkel K1 is under 6 pounds. I think you probably "could" get there with a Ruger, the question is just how "crazy" you want to get in the process!
FWIW, the "light sporter" and "international" (20" bbl) versions of these weigh 7.25 and 7.00 lbs, respectively. So if yours is one of the heavier versions, you could try to swap for a lighter one.
You can try going with the lightest possible weight scope and mounting rings. That might save a few ounces. If you can shoot with iron sights. . .even better yet! [;)]
You can reduce the length of barrel to legal minimum (16"). That will save a few ounces, plus make the gun easier to handle and maybe faster to point (but quite a bit louder, and also decrease your functional muzzle velocity).
And of course you can alter the stock.
As Dokey says you could partially hollow out the inside of the stock. Another way to accomplish a similar effect is to dish out the right side of the stock. If you're bold enough, you could even skeletonize a triangle out of the whole middle.
Realistically, a lightweight synthetic aftermarket stock is probably your best bet; I'd expect to need some fitting to make it work with your gun:
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/307184/bell-and-carlson-carbelite-classic-2-piece-rifle-stock-ruger-1-synthetic-black
Custom stock is also possible, how deep is your wallet? (Then again, no matter what this costs, its still probably going to cost less than a Merkel!).
Edit: Oh yeah, you can also probably take some material off the forearm too. How much and where depends on how "crazy" you want to get with respect to appearance, and maybe what your tolerance is for a non-standard sling mounting location.
But you could, for example, remove a few inches from the front of the forearm, re-contour it, and remount the sling mount. That's pretty easy to do and would also potentially save a few ounces.
On a scale of 1-10...what would you rank the Bell and Carlson ?0 -
pwillie,
The only way to lighten your rifle is to switch out the plywood stock for something lighter and cut the barrel shorter. There is literally no other place to save weight. You might squeeze out a couple of ounces by drilling lighten holes in the lever and trigger guard but the rest of the weight is in the action.
If you don't want to cut the barrel then you're limited to the stock solution only. Don't think about fluting the Ruger barrel. Get a new, lighter rifle or live with the design parameters of the Ruger.
Best.0 -
You would have to really work to get it that light.
Trade out the wood for plastic/fiberglass
Cut the barrel down and turn it down to a thinner profile or go to a Christensen Carbon fiber barrel like these;
http://www.christensenarms.com/products/barrels/barrels/
Then you could keep the 26" barrel and get rid of a lot of weight.
I think you would have to get a Gunsmith/Machinist to mill metal off the receiver and lighten the scope mounts and rings.
By the time all that was done you would have some serious coin in it.0 -
Thanks guys....I'll let you know my decision.... 0
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