Doug stopped by for some fun...

We shot a few different pieces to practice and test. One odd rifle he brought was a unique Ruger #1 Doug bought used as a whole kit with dies and brass, bullets. Old JD did it a while back. We've had several GNR reworked No.1's and it was interesting to see what JD did. This one is basically just rebarreled. I think it may have a mercury recoil reducer as it weighs exactly 10 lb. 2 oz., admittedly the balance is spot on. Word is there were two in this caliber .450 No. 2 Nitro Express 3-1/2", JD still has the other. It's no real improvement over the plain .450 NE except the brass case is shored up and superior as to life and pressure mitigation. It achieves .458 Win. performance at very low comparative pressure due to the huge case. Oh you could boost it in this modern rifle to near .460 Wby. if you wanted, but no need for such excess.

The gun itself is nicely blued with the receiver a slight plumb hue as typical. The barrel looks to be very high quality with a chamber brake and lots of small holes, like I've seen on shotguns. The sights are sturdy steel with a rear island. There are no provision for any optics at all. The nice, away from your hand in recoil, barrel mounted swivel stud is missing and a prominent in the way UM stud was placed on the forend. Must make a note to self before firing, ouch.

The one round we had for testing was loaded with 95 gr. RL15 under a 500 gr. Woodleigh. Recoil was not bad with minimal muzzle rise. (that's Doug's long hair not mine) The weight and brake seem well suited to this platform. Luckily there is an ample supply of Jamison brass as it is a little hard to find. I plan to fix Doug up with some fun hog shooters in the form of 500 gr. RNGC and moderate charges. It will be a unique fun gun.