In those days, repeating actions that could house the most powerful cartridges for large game didnt yet exist.

Already the Vietnam War wasnt looking so good: On October 25, then Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara stated, enemy forces are larger; terrorists and sabotage have increased we control little of the population the enemy almost completely controls the night.

In our little world, shooters were still scandalized by Winchesters sea change from pre-1964 to post-64.

Remingtons 7mm Remington Magnum and its Model 700, both still fresh offerings, were all over the pages of gun magazines.

So was the then-new.22-250 Remington along with the.223 Remington, which became the upstart military cartridge, the 5.56 NATO.

Much in the gun news were wild claims about its tumbling on impact, creating an effect far beyond its paper ballistics.

There was another new company, and everybody wanted to know what Bill Ruger would come up with next.

In October 1966 (as today), animated covers were rare for Guns Ammo, so it was a departure when that months cover featured gunwriter Roger Barlow loading a.243 cartridge into a nice-looking falling block single-shot rifle.

This was, in fact, the worlds first look at the Ruger No.

At that time, Americas darling lever action, though still popular, had given up much ground.

The bolt-action rifle was king, the slide action rifle was fading into history, and although semiautomatic sporting rifles had a following, the incredible popularity of the AR platform lay far in the future.

It would be followed by other modern single-shot actions and reintroductions of classics, together creating sort of a sub-culture of single-shot fans.

But in 1966, many people thought Bill Ruger was out of his mind to introduce a one-shot rifle.

Ruger was always extremely pleased with his Ruger No.

That said, the Ruger No.

Sturm, Ruger Company, with production numbers more limited than most Ruger models.

First, in this age of repeating actions, not everyone is interested in a single shot.

Second, the No. 1 has always been a prestige model for Ruger and more expensive to make and purchase than most Ruger firearms.

The company was founded on the semiautomatic.22 pistol and grew quickly with revolvers such as the Bearcat, Blackhawk and Single-Six.

Rugers entire rifle line consisted of its.44 Carbine (1961) and the fairly new (1964) 1022.

Both existing Ruger rifles were good looking and sweet handling, but both were basic semiautos.

From the beginning, the Ruger No.

The No. 1 is an extremely elegant and classic design from buttpad to muzzle and everything in between.

Ive said it often and have no qualms about repeating it: The Ruger No.

This struck me as a teenage subscriber when I saw GAs October 1966 cover, and Ive never changed my mind.

The stock was designed by Lenard Brownell, a well-known custom gunmaker brought into the Ruger fold.

The No. 1s stock and the Model 77 stock that followed were pure Lenard Brownell, American Classic and classy.

As was the case so many times in his career, Bill Ruger was crazy like a fox with his No.

He was a huge fan of fine vintage firearms.

Over time he had in his personal collection a number of English double rifles, shotguns and classic single shots.

Ruger M77 Serial Number Chart