Converting a Ruger #1 to a smokeless muzzleloader

[reynolds357]

Does anyone know who can do this conversion at a reasonable price? I have seen custom shops doing it for over $2k, but I dont want one even half that bad. I have the #1 rifle already.

[fatwhiteboy]

Why mess with a perfectly good rifle? Buy a muzzle loader kit and build your own.

[DPris]

I can't even imagine what you'd have to do to that rifle to turn it into a muzzleloader.
Who does it at all & how?
Denis

[reynolds357]

The Rifle is not perfectly good. Its a .416 Rigby that has an eroded barrel. Shot some old monolithic solids in it that were supposed to be non-corrosive, but obviously were not.

[James K]

I am not sure of the problem here. Even a badly corroded barrel will often still shoot, and if not, I would think Ruger would replace the barrel for less than the cost of turning the gun into a muzzle loader. But making the gun into a muzzle loader without replacing the barrel wouldn't make the barrel any better.

It is a bit like dealing with a flat tire on my car by making it into a horse-drawn wagon; the problem and the solution don't seem to connect.

FWIW, about any cartridge gun can be made into a muzzle loader by placing an empty primed case in the chamber, then loading the powder charge and bullet from the muzzle. Around 1900 it was common for target shooters to place a case that had primer and powder into the chamber, then load the bullet from the muzzle, a sort of "half" muzzle loader.

Jim

[Jim Watson]

I agree, faking a rusty Ruger up as a muzzle loader won't make it shoot.

But if I were to shoot a breech-muzzle loader I would do like Harry Pope told me to. Put a dummy case in the chamber, seat the bullet from the false muzzle until it contacts the wood plug in the dummy, and only then load the charged cartridge with wax wad.
No way would I put in a primed and charged case before plying the ramrod.

[Wyosmith]

I make muzzleloader to earn my living.
Maybe I could offer some advice.
If you'd like to talk let me know

[BumbleBug]

I might want to buy your Ruger #1 to get the action. Especially if it is a tropical. Contact me if you are interested in selling.

...bug

[Romeo 33 Delta]

Sell it ... lots of us are looking for Ruger No1s and No.3s. I like to buy them for wildcatting projects. If the price were right, I'd certainly consider it, but I'd need to know more about it. I'm not a big fan of "tropicals", just the "normal fore-end" types for me.

Don't mess it up more. If you want a front-end loaded ... make one or buy one, but don't mess up the Ruger.

[Kreyzhorse]

You have a lot of different options rather than turning that gun into a muzzleloader. My first call would be to Ruger about getting a new barrel put on it. Hell, I'd sell it and buy a muzzleloader before I converted it and ruined any value it once had.

[reynolds357]

I am not interested in selling the 1H. Ruger will re-barrel it in .416 Rigby for $450. I do not want to turn the existing barrel into a muzzle loader. I want to re-barrel it. The reason being is the smokeless muzzle loaders built on the Ruger 1 can push a 300gr. bullet 3100 FPS. Its not like turning a nice rifle into a $250 Wal Mart special, there is a legitimate purpose. It would be re-barreled with a .50 Cal Shillen barrel.

[fatwhiteboy]

Get it re-barreled into something manageable for you. If you want a 300gr bullet at 3100fps, buy a Lapua .338 Mag.

[PetahW]

FWIW, I once converted a .45-70 Ruger #1 to a .45cal muzzleloader, in the days before somkeless muzzleloaders - so I can't exactly answer your rebarreling cost question.

When I converted mine, I D/T'd the rear of the chamber for a Remingtom 700M (muzzleloader) breechplug, to which I added a primer conversion , threading the "chamber" deep enough so that the breechplug's depth could be adjusted for reliable ingition with the primer conversion added to the plug.

I used a collapsible RR, that I carried with me, since I didn't want to add side thimbles, etc, to carry one on the rifle.





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[James K]

Hi, Jim Watson,

I had forgotten about that technique; you really jogged some memory cells. IIRC, the dummy cartridge had a large hole in it so the air could escape and not cause a piston effect with the ramrod.

Jim

[reynolds357]

FatWhiteBoy, I already have a .338 Lapua and a wildcat that carries 20% more energy than the Lapua. They are not legal during muzzle loader season.