Ruger No. 1 problem

[jims]

I have a Ruger No. 1. Shot it last year, cleaned it and put it away without any issues. Today I went to open the breech with the under lever and it would barely move and went down really not at all. The safety also will not engage to off or fire. Any thoughts? I could remove the forearm thinking that might let me see better what the issue might be. Open to suggestions. Thanks

 

[southdakbearfan]

Sounds like a lot of rust, maybe penetrating oil will free it up but you will most likely need to take the rear stock off to get a look at the action/safety, the forearm will only show you the forearm hanger and the bottom of the barrel. The guts are hidden by the rear stock.

 

[John0313]

Sounds like a lot of rust, maybe penetrating oil will free it up but you will most likely need to take the rear stock off to get a look at the action/safety, the forearm will only show you the forearm hanger and the bottom of the barrel. The guts are hidden by the rear stock.

This was my thought as well. Many years ago I had a Number 1 that turned into a rust bucket almost over night. I sent it back to Ruger, and found out they also had salt wood issues with some of their rifles. They restocked and reblued the rifle, and it looked like new when I got it back.

 

[jims]

Put just a slight amount of Break Free on it, two days later and I was able to get it free. Would not say it was a rust issue but the prior owner Kreocoate or some such product put on it. That was a bit rough and thick and got into places it should not have. I will clean/polish those areas up or try to remove the coating where not needed, thoughts on product or how to do that?
Also once that is done I make use a very thin application of Never Seize to hopefully help. Thanks for the inputs.