I got this in from Buds Gunshop yesterday morning and have spent the last 24 hours wringing it out (so to speak) and the following will be a review/range report on this specific model:
Pictured Scoped with Weaver 3X10X40 Mil-Mil scope suppressed with a YHM Titanium 30 cal direct thread can.
As you can see this is their newest model in their American Ranch Model line and it uses their proprietary Ruger Mini 30 magazines and has a threaded muzzle (in the standard 5/8X24 pattern for American made 30 caliber cans).
The rifle ships from the factory with a single 5 round magazine, a bicycle lock and thread protector along with an instruction manual some stickers and associated paperwork.
Out of the box the rifle was clean with no tool, factory handling marks and the metal is finished in a matte black finish that appears to be durable as any other on a budget rifle in this price range.
The first thing I checked when I pulled it from the box was the muzzle threads and can alignment.
The muzzle end of the barrel has a generous somewhat "belled" shoulder that is square to the bore giving a broad surface for a suppressor to mount too.
Threading my can onto the barrel I immediately noticed that the muzzle threads are a bit "coarse" allowing slight "wiggling" of the can throughout the course of threading until it shouldered.
With the can tightened down on the shoulder it was perfectly centered to the bore.
With regards to the coarse muzzle threads, I suspected there would be an issue with the can backing off/un screwing during firing (reference their coarseness) and on my first two range trips I found this to be the case.
I couldn't get the can tight enough to keep it from backing off during firing and I would end up checking the can ever 10 or so rounds to make sure it was still tight.
I believe a wrap or two of plumbers tape/pipe dope will alleviate this issue.
As previously mentioned, out of the box the fit and finish is standard Ruger.
The rifle was clean with no tool/handling marks metal finish was even and applied properly, the barrel (as one might expect) was not "free floated" the trigger was standard for Ruger Ranch Rifles in that just about any serious shooter would find it totally unacceptable reference its weight of pull.
Reference the trigger, Ruger Ranch Rifles come standard with an adjustable "bladed" type trigger not unlike the Savage Accutrigger.
The one glaring difference between Rugers trigger and Savage's trigger is that no amount of adjusting of the Ruger product will provide the shooter with an acceptable weight of pull.
You can back the trigger adjustment screw all the way out and you'd still have trigger pull that is stiff as a wedding dick.
For those inclined to do a little minor surgery on their Ruger Ranch rifle there is a fix that requires a minimum of mechanical skill and almost no tools administrate and takes about 5 minutes to complete.
Here's a link to a tutorial on how to lighten the Ruger American trigger:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...EDB8&FORM=VIRE
Needless to say after my first range trip I brought he rifle home and immediately administrated this "fix".
While the action was out of the stock (reference fixing the trigger) I figured I'd go ahead and free float the barrel.
All that took was a few minutes "rasping" the barrel channel with a mop handle wrapped in coarse sandpaper and before long a dollar bill would slide all the way down to the receiver.
As far as magazines are concerned, the Ruger mini 30 magazines performed flawlessly with regards to feeding and function (I used 5, 10 and 20 round Ruger magazines).
This rifle using 10 and 20 round mags feeds way more "slick" than either of my Mossberg MVP's from similar sized magazines.
The Ruger American Ranch definitely isn't a butter smooth custom boltgun reference feeding, but compared the MVP's (IMO) it feeds a lot better.
Reference feeding, the Ruger Mini 30 mag followers have a large protrusion on the mag follower that activates the Bolt Hold Open on the Mini 30 rifle and thus on the Ruger Ranch it does the same thing.
When the magazine is empty, the follower acts as a Bolt Hold Open and no amount of force (that I cared to apply) would override it.
That identified, if you're interested in "single loading" the rifle from the bench (or any other position) you will quickly find it is a gigantic pain in the ass.
It can be done but rounds have to be pushed into the magazine through the open action and there isn't a lot of room to manipulate the round from outside the action
As far as inserting mags into this rifle is concerned, the way the mags fit into the magazine well is a little different than how they fit in the Mini 30.
On the Mini 30 (and M1A's, Ak's and such) the magazine is inserted front first and then "rocked" back into place.
On this thing they have to be inserted almost "straight up" into the magwell with just a hint of forward cant.
The magazines fit tight in the magwell but release easily once you've got the hang of how to manipulate them in and out of the gun.
Mags do not drop free upon activation of the mag release and must be pulled from the gun and the big city move of using one magazine to "rake" another out of the gun (ala AK/Mini 14/30) cannot be done on this rifle.
A combat reload with this rifle would be difficult.
Shooting the rifle was a pleasure (the initial poor trigger pull notwithstanding) and I found it to be accurate with Russian ball ammo as well as my handloads (using both .310 and .308 diametwr bullets).
Typical groups with Russian ball ran about 1.5 to 2 inches and now and then I'd get a flyer taking the group out to near 2.5 inches.
Here's a group fired with some Barnaul 123 grain FMJ's:
I'd always get 4 rounds into about an inch and then a flyer would mess the group up.
Coulda been me, might have been the gun, but it was probably the ammo.
Reference my handloads using .308 diameter bullets, I was extremely surprised at how well these loads shot with undersized bullets (Ruger shows the bore diameter on these as .310):
Here a group fired using .308 diameter 110 grain Nosler Varmageddons using 29 grains of Reloader 7:
5 shots at 100 meters (110 yards)
4 rounds practically in one hole
Here's a 10 shot group using a load of 26 grains of H4198 and .308 diameter Nosler 125 grain Ballistic Tips:
That's 7 rounds into an inch and a half with the 3 flyers opening it up to about 2.
I also fired groups using Hornady Vmax 125 grain .310 diameter bullets over the same charge (26 grains of H4198) and that load shot into about a one inch group but I didn't get a picture of the group.
You cats will have to take my word that they shot as well as they did.
The only real issue I had with the gun was that from time to time (mostly firing from the bench) I'd get weak ejection.
This would happen maybe one or two rounds in a 20 round magazine.
When it occurred from the bench I attributed it to me not working the bolt forcefully enough to the rear.
Then I ran couple of 20 round mags through the gun while standing (consciously working the bolt like a grown assed man) and I'd still get a couple per mag that would just barely fall out of the gun.
Pulling the bolt from the gun and rocking a fired case under the extractor showed that the extractor spring was stiff and the extractor was working with no hint of it hanging up or snagging inside the bolt.
I'll have to continue to monitor this issue and see if its a problem on other peoples rifles.
All in all my impressions of this rifle is good.
It's accurate (enough for me) and does what it supposed to do (feed from high capacity mags) and fires an economical round (of which I have many many thousands on hand).
I will share (with those who have read this far) that this is not my only bolt action rifle chambered in 7.62X39.
I have a CZ model 527 Carbine and a Savage model 10 scout both chambered in 7.62X39.
The Ruger compares favorably to both in accuracy and handling and gets bonus points for the extended mags, threaded muzzle from the factory and the economical price (CZ's are near 700 bucks a piece and the Savage Scout is a little more than that).
For anyone wanting a handy, affordable bolt gun chambered in the X39 cartridge you might want to give the Ruger a look.
Dr.
Pictured Scoped with Weaver 3X10X40 Mil-Mil scope suppressed with a YHM Titanium 30 cal direct thread can.
As you can see this is their newest model in their American Ranch Model line and it uses their proprietary Ruger Mini 30 magazines and has a threaded muzzle (in the standard 5/8X24 pattern for American made 30 caliber cans).
The rifle ships from the factory with a single 5 round magazine, a bicycle lock and thread protector along with an instruction manual some stickers and associated paperwork.
Out of the box the rifle was clean with no tool, factory handling marks and the metal is finished in a matte black finish that appears to be durable as any other on a budget rifle in this price range.
The first thing I checked when I pulled it from the box was the muzzle threads and can alignment.
The muzzle end of the barrel has a generous somewhat "belled" shoulder that is square to the bore giving a broad surface for a suppressor to mount too.
Threading my can onto the barrel I immediately noticed that the muzzle threads are a bit "coarse" allowing slight "wiggling" of the can throughout the course of threading until it shouldered.
With the can tightened down on the shoulder it was perfectly centered to the bore.
With regards to the coarse muzzle threads, I suspected there would be an issue with the can backing off/un screwing during firing (reference their coarseness) and on my first two range trips I found this to be the case.
I couldn't get the can tight enough to keep it from backing off during firing and I would end up checking the can ever 10 or so rounds to make sure it was still tight.
I believe a wrap or two of plumbers tape/pipe dope will alleviate this issue.
As previously mentioned, out of the box the fit and finish is standard Ruger.
The rifle was clean with no tool/handling marks metal finish was even and applied properly, the barrel (as one might expect) was not "free floated" the trigger was standard for Ruger Ranch Rifles in that just about any serious shooter would find it totally unacceptable reference its weight of pull.
Reference the trigger, Ruger Ranch Rifles come standard with an adjustable "bladed" type trigger not unlike the Savage Accutrigger.
The one glaring difference between Rugers trigger and Savage's trigger is that no amount of adjusting of the Ruger product will provide the shooter with an acceptable weight of pull.
You can back the trigger adjustment screw all the way out and you'd still have trigger pull that is stiff as a wedding dick.
For those inclined to do a little minor surgery on their Ruger Ranch rifle there is a fix that requires a minimum of mechanical skill and almost no tools administrate and takes about 5 minutes to complete.
Here's a link to a tutorial on how to lighten the Ruger American trigger:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...EDB8&FORM=VIRE
Needless to say after my first range trip I brought he rifle home and immediately administrated this "fix".
While the action was out of the stock (reference fixing the trigger) I figured I'd go ahead and free float the barrel.
All that took was a few minutes "rasping" the barrel channel with a mop handle wrapped in coarse sandpaper and before long a dollar bill would slide all the way down to the receiver.
As far as magazines are concerned, the Ruger mini 30 magazines performed flawlessly with regards to feeding and function (I used 5, 10 and 20 round Ruger magazines).
This rifle using 10 and 20 round mags feeds way more "slick" than either of my Mossberg MVP's from similar sized magazines.
The Ruger American Ranch definitely isn't a butter smooth custom boltgun reference feeding, but compared the MVP's (IMO) it feeds a lot better.
Reference feeding, the Ruger Mini 30 mag followers have a large protrusion on the mag follower that activates the Bolt Hold Open on the Mini 30 rifle and thus on the Ruger Ranch it does the same thing.
When the magazine is empty, the follower acts as a Bolt Hold Open and no amount of force (that I cared to apply) would override it.
That identified, if you're interested in "single loading" the rifle from the bench (or any other position) you will quickly find it is a gigantic pain in the ass.
It can be done but rounds have to be pushed into the magazine through the open action and there isn't a lot of room to manipulate the round from outside the action
As far as inserting mags into this rifle is concerned, the way the mags fit into the magazine well is a little different than how they fit in the Mini 30.
On the Mini 30 (and M1A's, Ak's and such) the magazine is inserted front first and then "rocked" back into place.
On this thing they have to be inserted almost "straight up" into the magwell with just a hint of forward cant.
The magazines fit tight in the magwell but release easily once you've got the hang of how to manipulate them in and out of the gun.
Mags do not drop free upon activation of the mag release and must be pulled from the gun and the big city move of using one magazine to "rake" another out of the gun (ala AK/Mini 14/30) cannot be done on this rifle.
A combat reload with this rifle would be difficult.
Shooting the rifle was a pleasure (the initial poor trigger pull notwithstanding) and I found it to be accurate with Russian ball ammo as well as my handloads (using both .310 and .308 diametwr bullets).
Typical groups with Russian ball ran about 1.5 to 2 inches and now and then I'd get a flyer taking the group out to near 2.5 inches.
Here's a group fired with some Barnaul 123 grain FMJ's:
I'd always get 4 rounds into about an inch and then a flyer would mess the group up.
Coulda been me, might have been the gun, but it was probably the ammo.
Reference my handloads using .308 diameter bullets, I was extremely surprised at how well these loads shot with undersized bullets (Ruger shows the bore diameter on these as .310):
Here a group fired using .308 diameter 110 grain Nosler Varmageddons using 29 grains of Reloader 7:
5 shots at 100 meters (110 yards)
4 rounds practically in one hole
Here's a 10 shot group using a load of 26 grains of H4198 and .308 diameter Nosler 125 grain Ballistic Tips:
That's 7 rounds into an inch and a half with the 3 flyers opening it up to about 2.
I also fired groups using Hornady Vmax 125 grain .310 diameter bullets over the same charge (26 grains of H4198) and that load shot into about a one inch group but I didn't get a picture of the group.
You cats will have to take my word that they shot as well as they did.
The only real issue I had with the gun was that from time to time (mostly firing from the bench) I'd get weak ejection.
This would happen maybe one or two rounds in a 20 round magazine.
When it occurred from the bench I attributed it to me not working the bolt forcefully enough to the rear.
Then I ran couple of 20 round mags through the gun while standing (consciously working the bolt like a grown assed man) and I'd still get a couple per mag that would just barely fall out of the gun.
Pulling the bolt from the gun and rocking a fired case under the extractor showed that the extractor spring was stiff and the extractor was working with no hint of it hanging up or snagging inside the bolt.
I'll have to continue to monitor this issue and see if its a problem on other peoples rifles.
All in all my impressions of this rifle is good.
It's accurate (enough for me) and does what it supposed to do (feed from high capacity mags) and fires an economical round (of which I have many many thousands on hand).
I will share (with those who have read this far) that this is not my only bolt action rifle chambered in 7.62X39.
I have a CZ model 527 Carbine and a Savage model 10 scout both chambered in 7.62X39.
The Ruger compares favorably to both in accuracy and handling and gets bonus points for the extended mags, threaded muzzle from the factory and the economical price (CZ's are near 700 bucks a piece and the Savage Scout is a little more than that).
For anyone wanting a handy, affordable bolt gun chambered in the X39 cartridge you might want to give the Ruger a look.
Dr.