August 16/2009

The fabulous 6.5x284 Ruger #1

It has been a year since I started  to develop this caliber and the rifle. To find the right kind of the Ruger #1 with finely grained wood in a caliber to rebore was another difficulty. So I am happy to say that I lucked out on both counts.

Rifle data: 26" octagon barrel. Twist 1-8.5. Chamber has a .295 Neck. OD loaded neck has 0.0015 radial clearance. Neck walls are outside turned to 0.0138". The throat is reamed so a 140gr pointed bullet will have its base at the neck and shoulder junction. The scope is a Kahles 3-9 with a TDS Tri-factor reticle system. Rings are Ruger with the rear extension for better eye relieve.

The rifle started as a 243 Win Ruger #1B, that is a model with a 26" barrel and a standard 1B fore arm. The previous owner had the barrel channel gouged out and for a while I thought I had to replace it. The very poorly executed free floating job and the bedding of the hanger were an eye sore. Perhaps this is news to some, but most inaccuracy problems stem from fore-arms and hanger seats, bedding and poor contact of the fore arm and butt stock to the action..

Note: The Ruger bedding and treatment of the fore arm by itself is very good, and so called experts do more harm by their poor understanding of the vibratory forces of the fore arm and the hanger. Just leave it alone if you please.

After the completion of shaping the barrel octagon, the barrel was  re-bored and chambered to 6.5x284. Then the barrel channel sides were bedded to get that ugly gap hidden with thickened custom colored  epoxy  and the wood trimmed to edge of the epoxy bedding. The fore arm was then shortened  from 13" to 11"and shaped to the Alexander Henry shape and profile and re-checkered and refinished.. The Alexander Henry fore arm adds a very classy look to the rifle, besides loosing a few ounces of weight.

The 1/4 rib required some fitting and removal of metal from the under side, not a big job. The screw holes did not need any rework, except shorten the existing screws. The hanger  was dampened with a wood block and the hanger seat strengthened with Steel Bed. Both the butt stock and the fore arm were bedded  solid against the action. This is very important that the action makes solid contact with the wood surface on both the fore arm and the and the butt stock. I followed my previous Accurizing regimen as described in my other Ruger #1 write ups.

The void that was left from the previous owner free float job was filled with GE Silicon this provides a flexible vibration dampening which makes solid contact with the barrel. The jury is still out on that idea?

I lightened an older Ruger #1 hammer, for faster ignition. Had some problems with that hammer I had from a previous replacement. Hammers are not quite the same and the loading ramp is a shade too high but it works ok. I have to do the milling on the original hammer which was fitted at the factory. Ruger says hammers must be fitted at the factory.

The installation of the new Kepplinger trigger proofed somewhat trouble-some, because the top of the trigger was short by 0.024" reaching the sear extension leaver. I solved this by soldering a 0.025" polished steel shim to the under side the sear extension so the trigger now makes contact with the sear extension, which is the way it supposed to be I believe.

Since I only worked on the hammer notch, it could be that the sear be adjusted to drop the extension for the new trigger to make contact? But since the sear and hammer notch is just guess work by an amateur I left the sear as is. The hammer notch is easier to work on.

By changing the notch angle on a milling machine one thou at a time would be the way to go. That too would be time consuming. One shameful item is that Ruger is not providing a decent trigger for an otherwise fine rifle.

The adjusting of the Kepplinger set trigger takes a bit of fiddling since the set screw function is not very well explained. As right now the primary trigger pull is 32oz and the set pull about 16oz. That is pretty good. I had set it original for a 5oz pull but found it too light for field shooting in cold weather. Turning the screw out or counter clockwise will decrease the set pull weight.

One thing, the sear notch on the hammer will have to be honed to at least 32oz since the Kepplinger trigger does not adjust the initial pull weight. The sear notch is at the top of the hammer at the forward 1/3 by the small impression.

The above picture shows the lightened hammer and the Kepplinger single set trigger. The trigger and the lighter hammer work well with the original hammer spring. The milling of the long slot and the right hole requires carbide cutting tools.

As can be seen the wood has been completely refinished and a new Pachmyer 3/4" Decelerator recoil pad installed.

Worked up several loads with Reloder 22 starting at 50.0gr with 140gr Hornady Interlock Moly plated. Sequence was fire three and clean for 8 sets of three with  outstanding accuracy. It is refreshing to note that Quick Load is so close to actual chronograph readings.

50.0gr Reloder 22  produced 2796 ft and          50002 psi      ( QL predicted 2789ft)

53.0gr Reloder22  produced  2937 and2932 ft  57740psi         (QL predicted 2931ft)

54.0gr Reloder 22 produced 2977/2965/ 2994   60619psi        ( QL predicted 2985ft)

Note: Nosler recommends 52.5gr of Reloder 22 as a max load. Please do not use these loads as they were tested only in my own rifle. Bullets were loaded into the lands 0.015" or more which increases pressure. Loads, powder, bullets were selected with the Quick Load Program. As can be seen from the psi readings the efficiency of the powder decreases as powder is added.  I think I will try a load with 53.5gr of Reloder 22 with a 140gr Nosler Accubond and the 140gr Hornady.