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Ruger #1 problem

liljake
I bought my dad a ruger #1 chambered in .204 last christmas. He took it out shooting for the first time a few months ago and experienced the same problem with the first three shots. The brass was splitting almost the entire lenghth of the casing. The ammo being used was winchester super x, then we tried hornady ammo and had the same results in 3 out of 5 shots fired. The gun hasn't been fired since because we had to pry all of the casings out of the chamber after each shot and did not want to cause any further damage. It seems that the throat may be too narrow for the cartridge causing higher pressures in the chamber??? Not sure-any input would be great.
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6 comments

Date Votes
  • duckhunter
    Call Ruger.
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  • nononsense
    liljake,

    You're great son for caring so much about your father to buy him a rifle.

    This is a factory problem that needs to be handled and paid for by Ruger. Call them first thing Monday morning to explain what the problem is and they will tell you how to send it back and to whose attention. There is nothing you can do to solve this, let the factory handle it.

    Best.
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  • haroldchrismeyer
    Does the barrel say 204 on it?? If you haven't looked, and just assumed because it came out of a box marked 204, it may be a different caliber.
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  • makindu
    You can't always go by what is 'stamped' on the barrel, either. In the fall of 1996, I bought 6 Winchester Model 70 Classic Featherweights in .270 Win with the BOSS device. Didn't sell them none too quickly. When the last one finally sold, I was relieved. However, the last buyer kept complaining that the gun would not site in properly. He went through three different scopes (same exact model) and experienced the same problem. Bullets going everywhere, but not grouping, and not following the scope reticule adjustments.A very sharp taxidermist examined one of the spent shells, and noticed that the .270 Win brass was getting 'resized' into .30-06 brass. This guy had a really sharp eye for the little details, and he noticed that the shoulder angle was not correct on the fired brass. Well, turns out barrel was stamped .270 Win, but barrel was actually chambered for 30-06 brass and had a .300 caliber bore. So the darned .270 bullet was moving all over the place inside that barrel. Hence, the buyer couldn't get a decent grouping.
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  • beantownshootah
    quote:Originally posted by liljake
    I bought my dad a ruger #1 chambered in .204 last christmas. He took it out shooting for the first time a few months ago and experienced the same problem with the first three shots. The brass was splitting almost the entire lenghth of the casing. The ammo being used was winchester super x, then we tried hornady ammo and had the same results in 3 out of 5 shots fired. The gun hasn't been fired since because we had to pry all of the casings out of the chamber after each shot and did not want to cause any further damage. It seems that the throat may be too narrow for the cartridge causing higher pressures in the chamber??? Not sure-any input would be great.

    I agree with the earlier answers.

    Assuming you're using the correct ammo for the gun, then you've likely got an out of spec chamber.

    There are multiple possible explanations as to exactly how or why, but those aren't really important.

    All you need to know is that this is potentially unsafe (so don't shoot the gun anymore) and you ought to send it back to Ruger to fix it.

    You're not likely to be able to fix this unless you are a competent gunsmith, but even if you were, I'd still suggest you don't try. Why void the warranty and take on the risk yourself?

    A new gun shouldn't do this. Let Ruger handle it.
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  • tsr1965
    liljake,

    You have very good taste in firearms, and are the kind of child a father dreams about. Every good dad wishes he had a young one like you.

    I will side with the others, as this sounds like a problem for the factory to take care of. Make sure you call them and tell them, and also write a nice letter, explaining the problem to send with the rifle. When you talk to them, they will likely give you a return authorization number, and shipping instructions. Make sure you do not send the scope with it unless they say to do so.

    Best
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