Ruger American Bolt Actions

#Fritz34: I got tired of replacing 22-250 barrels and Bought a Bushmaster Varmiter SS, a 223 will do anything the 22-250 will do on the prairie dog town except go thru barrels like the 22-250. Here is my 22-250 Varmiter replacement.

Delusional.
-SS-
 
Obviously you don't know much about guns. I have shot prairie dogs out to 500-600 yards with both. Prairie dogs do not have a Chrono. They cant tell the difference. The kill the same. I have both and I see no real world advantage other than the cost is higher to shoot the 22-250, brass, uses more powder and short barrel life. Looks better on paper. But in actuality??? Most people believe the 22-250 is a better long range gun than a 223, not true. Most 22-250's have a 1:14 twist and will not stabilize and shoot the heavier better B.C bullets accurately. My 223 has a 1:9 twist, it will shoot the heavier bullets. When you are shooting long range with a light bullet, wind kills your accuracy also you bullet drops faster.
 
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You spoutin silly string Mr Fritz. Just because you may have a gun that you found someplace second-hand doesn't mean a value like an American is any less--especially if you were to actually buy that so-called superior shooter at retail. I get nothing out of your argument other than "whoopie-de-doo, look at me me cause I found some good deals."
 
Value huh?? Answer me this. Have you ever took a Ruger American apart? I have. If you have, answer me one question. I have asked this several times on several different forums. Name just ONE quality made part on the American. No one has ever answer that question for me.
 
Gee, I don't know since I'm not sure what a quality part is. I guess before I attempt to answer your question perhaps you could enlighten us as to what the latest standards are for "quality parts" as defined by the International Institute of Nobody Knows Guns but Fritz?
 
You know something that doesnt look made by Fisher Price or Daisy. I just love the pot metal trigger assemblies and that fine magazine. Hey they are decent but not worth the $379 that they are asking for them around here. Like I said, you can buy a Remington 700 ADL with a scope for that price at Walmart and have a rifle that a gunsmith will actually work on, you know rebarrel it when it needs it or have the foundation for building the nicest custom gun you want. Hey if you want to spend $379 for a disposable rifle, go for it. I just see no value in a rifle that is almost $400 and the minute you shoot it or even walk out the door, it becomes a used gun that you cant even get $200 out of.
 
I have NEVER seen a 700 with scope at any Walmart anywhere for a price comparable to an American--But then again maybe I just haven't looked hard enough. The 700 is indeed a fine rifle--no arguments there. But you are not comparing apples to apples. If you were to instead say something like "If it were me, I'd prefer to save my money and buy a more expensive rifle" that is a valid argument. Nonetheless, manufacturers like Ruger and Savage are generally not in the business of investing huge amounts of time and money into developing products nobody wants to buy--unless, I guess, they count on a huge part of the market being "those that don't know guns."
 
Go to Walmart, 700 ADL with scope $379. Go to Cabelas, everyday price, 700 SPS heavy barreled drop out floor plate Varmiter $450, not sale price. Maybe I sted my opinion wrong, but if it was me I would research prices on other rifles before buying a American. I have been around and shot a lot of them. I DONT LIKE ANYTHING ABOUT THEM, and I am a Ruger fan. In my opinion, if Bill Ruger were still Alive someone would have got fired for even suggesting that gun. When the 77 came out, Bill made it as a cheap alternative to the 700's and model 70's. Now Ruger has them priced about the same.
 
I've never owned a factory Ruger 77 that shot any better than my American Ranch 5.56... and yes I've owned a bunch... plus the Mk IIs had universally horrible triggers. I wonder why Ruger doesn't make them anymore.

The Remington SPS in .223 I had came with a horrible trigger design that Remington it now replacing under recall. I sold mine.

If your dad owns a pawn shop, I'm sure you see all kinds of deals as most won't loan much on a used rifle, regardless of make, and when folks don't come back for them...

I'm glad some folks are still buying the older rifles, but I rather enjoy trying the new stuff and have been very happy with my Americans (3 rimfires, and soon two center-fires).
 
The Americans triggers suck also but I agree, the MKII's have horrible triggers but they can be polished out easily with a diamond stone and a little knowledge, both my 223 and my 280 have about 1 - 1 1/2 lb pull, they are now the best triggers of all my guns. It don't take but about 15 minutes to turn the MKII triggers into a great trigger with a little know how. As far as them shooting, all you have to do is free float the barrel and glass bed the actions on most Rugers to make them shoot extremely good, but this goes with any rifle. I would not hesitate to shoot my 280 Rem against any factory sporter on the market. It is one of the best guns I own. 1/2" groups with 168 gr. Berger VLD's are pretty much the norm for it, if I do my part.

Here is a 100 yard 5 shot group, not a 3 shot like most people shoot with sporters, after I got it dialed in for the Bergers. The two on the left was the first two shots with the new Bergers I just loaded, then I moved scope, a little to far right. After the final adjustment you can see 5 shots out side to inside under 3/4" and that wasn't even letting the barrel cool down between shots.



Here is the load.
 
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"The Americans triggers suck also..."

:rolleyes:

Now you're just making stuff up to support an un-popular opinion.

The triggers on both the centerfire and rimfire Americans are easy to adjust and even easier to tune to that 1.5 pound pull you're fond of.... in fact the Rimfires have easily been taken down to less than a pound without any added expense.

IMO, Ruger has a winner with the American line, except with the traditionalists, I guess.

Have fun with yours, I enjoy mine.
 
Good luck getting a American trigger down to a 1 1/2 lb. LMAO!!! The screw will fall out at about 4lbs I know because my buddy tried to adjust his down and the screw fell out and he lost it. They SUCK. Apparently if you think they are great, you probably never had a gun with a good trigger. If you like them good, I don't. I guess that is why they make so many different guns and cartridges. Everyone doesn't like the same thing. I am done here. ;)
 
A $300 JEWEL

I TINKER A LOT AND LAST COUNT OWN IN EXCESS OF 50 QUALITY RIFLES . SOME OF MY BEST ARE PRE WAR SPORTING RIFLES BUILT IN EUROPE .That said , I decided to see how well I could make an AMERICAN shoot so I chose a 243 to compare to my $3500 6mm Ackley benchrest rifle. Bought a used 243 American for $300 from my local go to dealer. Took it home and took it apart. I loved the design of the bedding blocks. I checked the barrel channel and opened it up some to insure it did not touch then opened the bolt channel to be sure it was not touching. I had 30 minutes invested. Then looking at the crown I noticed it was not razor sharp so a Manson crowning tool fixed that in about 10 more minutes. I reassembled it and installed a 6.5x20 Bushnell Whitetail Classic scope with weaver aluminum rings like I use on my 22's . Loaded some 95 grain combined technology ballistic tips over 41.6 grains of IMR 4350 using CCI benchrest primers. So off to the range to shoot the little jewel. After setting up my Sinclair rest and bunny bag I bore sighted it and adjusted the parallax and focus on the scope . In 3 rounds i had it 3" high at 100 and dead center of the target. So I went to 300 yard and shot it as I would my benchrest rifles. After firing 3 rounds I went down range and was shocked to see 3 shots in a 5/8 " group . So back to the bench and fired 3 more for 3 in 3/4" group. It was a heavy overcast with temps in the 50's. Imagine my surprise. The wind started heavy gusting so we stopped shooting. At 300 yards the wind is tough on my range. I will say this the little American performed way above my expectations and will scare my 6mm ackley to death at 300 and it cost 10 times as much. I won't sell my AMERICAN JEWEL
 
Yeah, when ya' take a production rifle and do a bunch of improvements, doesn't that make it a custom built rifle?
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Lock the doors, they're coming in the windows.
Especially when those custom improvements cost zero dollars--which, drum roll, wait for it--is what attracts many budget conscious shooters to the American and Axis to begin with.
 
Raktrak needs to read more Internet orthodoxy on why his rifle really sucks--he just doesn't know it yet. After reading a few hundred posts along the lines of unflappable logic like "It sucks because I said so and you don't know squat about guns" I am confident that his groups will open up and he will see the error of his ways.
 
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