The DeerSlayer

I've been intrigued by the look and feel of the Ruger No. 1 ever since Chip Koontz brought his to elk camp over ten years ago. The weeks and months following that hunt, I literally became obsessed with the No.1. There was just something about a single shot rifle. Something that that forced you to become a better hunter and be patient for just the right moment to take the shot. It was an exquisitely designed rifle that was a throw back to the rifles of the frontier days. And I just had to have one. Apparently Dad caught on to my subtle hints and the following Christmas, he brought me me my very own No.1 chambered in a 7MM caliber.

Now for those of you unfamiliar with the Ruger No.1, here's a brief description from ChuckHawks.com.

Introduced in 1966, the No. 1 single shot rifle was one of Bill Ruger's pet projects. It was the first of the modern single shot rifles, and sparked the single shot revival which has seen the likes of the Browning 1885, Dakota 10, Mossberg SSI-1, Remington Custom Shop No. 1 Rolling Block, and T/C Encore (not to mention the various Sharps and other replicas) emerge in the market place.

The No. 1 uses a completely modern but classic looking Farquharson-style hammerless falling block action of great strength. The barreled action is finished in a polished deep blue, and the satin finished walnut stock is hand checkered in a borderless pattern. The No. 1 is Ruger's premium rifle.

Like any single shot rifle, the absence of a long repeating action makes the Ruger No. 1 about four inches shorter than a bolt action rifle with the same length barrel. Or, to look at it another way, the No. 1 can have a barrel four inches longer than a bolt action rifle of approximately the same overall length. This maximizes the ballistics of modern high intensity and magnum calibers, and is a considerable advantage for the long range shooter.

The Ruger No. 1 single shot is a high class rifle. It is for the connoisseur, the rifleman, and the traditionalist. The late Bill Ruger was all of these, and he has left us the No. 1 as part of his legacy.

Even the experts agree, the No.1 is a rifle of the finest class. It has legendary accuracy and can "drive nails" as they say, which makes it one of the straightest shooting out-of-the-box rifles that you can purchase. Now I'm not what you call a "gun-nut." I can't sit here and talk about ballistics, trajectory and all that mess. All I care about is does a gun work- does it consistently get the job done and put meat on the ground. I can now testify that my No. 1 does indeed get the job done.

But I wasn't without my doubts. Even though I have owned this rifle for some time now, up until this last fall, I had never even fired it in the field. I was beginning to think the rifle was cursed or unlucky in some way, since every time I carried it, the local deer population went into hiding.

But that all changed on our latest trip to the Bluegrass State, where I killed two of the biggest whitetails in my life with the rifle.

I have to admit, several months ago, I was considering trading in my No. 1, since my wandering eye had suddenly become enamored by the new fancy Thompson Encore single shots that all the rage with the celebrity hunters on TV. Not anymore. After two "wall-hangers" on the ground in less than 24 hours, I now know that my Ruger No.1 is a certified deerslayer.