Many in this thread seem to lump all Number 1's in the same pile, being inaccurate.
I remember reading some articles from John Barsness, one of the few writers that I pay attention to. He contends that the newer black pad Number 1's shoot better. My personal experience bares that out. Ruger in the red pad days bought cheap barrels except for a brief period when they bought Douglas barrels. I bought a beautiful #1 in 7 Rem Mag, I never achieved a better than 1 1/2" 3 shot groups. Most of the red pad #1 rifles I shot or knew about were not very accurate but I did know of a couple exceptions that shot very well.
On the other hand, most of the newer black pad rifles I have shot do very well. I have 2 Lipsey #1 rifles, a .257 Wea. which comes by the way with a 28" tube and a Lipsey .264WM. The 257 will shoot the fact 100 gr factory loads into 1/2", 100TTSX loaded ammo will do as well.
The 264 will group 3/4"-1" with several loads. My brothers 45/70 will shoot sub MOA over and over with the 325gr. Leverevolution fact.
load. And I know that a few of the black pad rifles are not shooters.
To me, these Number 1 rifles that shoot well are good hunting rifles, in the way that Deer, Hog & Black Bear hunters use rifles, in other words, in applications that are not set up as long range rifles, the same way most of my bolt action hunting rifles are.
But in keeping with the fact that this is a Long Range Hunting site, I would not advise and I did not set up these rifles for LONG Range hunting. My 257 and 264 are point and shoot rifles. The max I can shoot in my area is short of 500 yds, the ranges are known before hand and there is no time for clicking, "powerline right-of-ways". Those 2 are keepers.
For my Western hunts, I use bolt guns set up for that. To me, 600-800 yds or more call for a solid bedded rigid stock, great barrels and triggers and optics that will give me accurate adjustments in the field. The stock has to be forgiving when it comes to using a bipod or
resting on a pack which may be rested on different parts of the stock in the heat of the moment. This is where the #1 stock design is not helpful. To me, a Long Range rifle is a different animal. I have 2 300WM and 1 6.5 PRC for that.
So, for a normal hunting rifle, I am at home with the #1 as much as my bolt guns. For a long range hunt, I will go with a properly set up bolt gun.
