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As I alluded to in my last article about the .35
Whelen Ruger Number One rifle being produced for Lipsey’s,
I have also been shooting another limited production Lipsey’s
exclusive Number One chambered for the .25-06 cartridge. The
.25-06 is not a cartridge that gets much press anymore, but it
is indeed one of the better cartridges obtainable for hunting
much of the game available in North America, and elsewhere in
the world. With all of the accolades now being placed on the
"modern" beltless magnums, it should be noted that the
.25-06 is one of the first truly beltless magnum cartridges. If
the word "magnum" had been attached to the cartridge
when it was legitimized by Remington decades ago, its
popularity would surely be greater today. Regardless of
the name, the .25-06 has a case capacity to bore diameter ratio
that makes it a magnum class cartridge. It is very flat-shooting
for long range accuracy, and is versatile enough for varmint and
predator hunting out to 500 yards, while packing plenty of power
for whitetails and pronghorn antelope at extended range.
Furthermore, the .25-06 does all this with mild recoil and
good accuracy. Properly loaded, the .25-06 is very capable
of taking larger animals as well. I find that the .25-06 can do
anything that the much exalted .270 Winchester can do, and do it
better. I will also state that I do not believe there to
be a better pronghorn antelope cartridge in existence than the
.25-06. It is, of course, simply a necked-down .30-06 case, and
has been a stellar performer since its inception, and is even
better today with the ready availability of good premium
bullets, such as the Barnes X and the Winchester
Fail safe. For good all around performance on medium, there is
also the factory-loaded Remington Core-Lokt ammo.
The Number One rifle featured here is the Model
1A-B, which wears a slim twenty-four inch barrel that measures
just .551 inch at the muzzle. The beavertail forearm is slightly
slimmed down as well from the forearm found on the 1-B model.
The barrel wears no open sights, but is equipped with a
quarter-rib base that accepts the Ruger ring mounts included
with the rifle. The wood is checkered walnut, and exhibits some
good grain figure on the sample rifle. The buttstock is finished
with a dark gray synthetic pad, and a blued steel pistol grip
cap, that has a gold-colored Ruger emblem inset into the center.
The sample rifle weighed in at seven and
one-quarter pounds, and with the light contour barrel, balances
very well, handling quickly and feeling about a pound lighter.
The Number One is equipped with sling swivel studs fore and aft,
as every hunting rifle should be. The trigger pull measured just
under four pounds, and released crisply.
For accuracy testing, I mounted a Leupold
VX-III 6.5 to 20 power EFR scope. This is a dandy scope for
target work, as well as varmint and predator hunting at long
range. This scope has target knobs, and a very wide focus range,
allowing sharp focusing on extremely small target as close as
about thirty feet away, or out to as far away as you like.
Seeing a target sharply really helps when trying to concentrate
on accuracy testing.
I wanted to see how well this rifle would shoot
with my favorite twenty-five caliber bullet, so I tried a load
that has proven itself in other .25-06 chambered rifles. It uses
the 100 grain Barnes XLC coated bullet over a good charge of Hodgdon
4350 powder. Setting up and firing a couple of shots at
twenty-five yards to get the scope on target, I then moved out
to the 110 yard range. The Leupold scope allowed me to see the
tiny black target squares perfectly. Firing the first
group, I was disappointed to say the least. The Number One was
grouping more like a shotgun than a rifle! Perhaps that is a bit
of an exaggeration, but three inch groups from a scoped .25-06
does not impress me. Trying again, and again, and again, the
groups were still disappointing. I was about ready to change
ammo, when the trim little Ruger began to really perform. After
about twenty-five rounds, the gun settled in and started turning
in impressive groups, clustering three of the Barnes XLC bullets
into tiny half-inch groups. I was finally impressed. I suppose
it took a few of these coated bullets to season the bore, but
once seasoned, the Number One proved to be a very accurate
rifle.
The Number One is a dandy rifle; a very
efficient and elegant package. If you are the kind of hunter who
likes to have a magazine full of cartridges in a semi-automatic
hunting rifle, the Number One is not for you. If however, you
are of the type who places the most emphasis on that one,
well-placed precision shot, you can do no better than a Ruger
Number One. A hunter who carries a Number One is of a special
breed. I have known a few hunters who were of the type, no
matter what rifle they were carrying. It is a different attitude
towards the sport, the hunt, and the quarry that sets apart the
single-shot rifleman. While a Number One can be reloaded
surprisingly quickly by a practiced shooter, usually, if the
first shot is placed correctly, there is no need. Contrary
to what you might have heard, game animals are not hard to kill.
No warm-blooded animal can live without a heart, except for the
possible exceptions of wives and IRS agents. Any shot that takes
out the heart, produces a harvested animal, be it a coyote or an
elk; doesn’t matter. Placing the shot is the critical factor,
and the weight, balance, handling, and accuracy of the Number
One leaves that task to the hunter. The rifle is up to it if you
are.
The 1A-B .25-06 is available only from
Lipsey’s, and is a limited production rifle. When they are
gone, they are gone. This rifle is also available from
Lipsey’s with the Alexander Henry style forearm, for
those who prefer that type. Have your dealer contact them at
1-800-666-1333, or for the location of a Ruger dealer near you,
click on the DEALER LOCATOR icon at www.lipseys.com.
Check out the full line of Ruger products
here.
Jeff Quinn
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To locate a dealer where you can
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