Why I like the Ruger American!

O

Old Stony

New member
Went to my range today to do a little work with a muzzleloader ( which left a little bit to be desired), but decided I should fire a few at 100 yds to check out my Ruger American in 6.5 Creedmore. I carry it around in my truck almost everyday and it gets beat around a lot, but it always seems to just do it's job quite well. I thought maybe I'd use it for opening deer season this year and then switch to muzzleloader for the rest of the season. I wiped some of the dust off the lens of the scope, leaned it over a couple 2x6 boards and fired this group.
CCS56cCh.jpg

I decided after 5 shots there wasn't any need to fire more. I haven't even cleaned it for about a year or done anything with it but shoot hogs and stuff like that. They built a winner with this rifle !
 
I agree Stony.

I have the .300 AAC Blackout version and I am really having a lot of fun with it. I have owned it for about a month and have probably fired 600 rounds through it. There is just something about it that pulls my chain. I like the size and the feel of the rifle.

Was working up a subsonic load today with the Hornady 208 grain match bullet and started my charges too low. But, I did have one load that shot sub-MOA. So, even when I haven't found "the" load, the rifle still shoots good.
 
I've been quite pleased. I have 3 of them with less than $1000 invested total. The worst of them out shoots everything else in the safe.
 
I own one (.243) that I haven't fired since I traded for it.
And, come to think of it... It still needs a scope!

...But it was tested quite well by the previous owner (family). All I ever saw on his targets were pretty little clover-leafs.
I don't like the stocks. I don't like the magazines. I don't think the bolt is as smooth as it should be.

But they shoot.
 
I really like the shape of the stocks, but they aren't anything fancy. I have to agree that I really don't like the mags either, but I haven't had any problems with mine. Ruger seems to be in a mode to make some really cheap mags anymore and is trying to make it into a money maker for them. They are pretty pricey for a really cheap made plastic mag....but I do have to admit they seem to work.
I have never been one to buy low end rifles as I remember the days when Savage and Mossberg etc.. were pretty crappy products. I wouldn't have gone into a store and bought this American, but I ended up with it from a friend after we were shooting at the range and I was really impressed how it shot right out of the box.
 
Initially I was very much concerned about the magazines. Especially when the factory magazine on the 1st one I bought, a 223, would not feed the last round. I returned it to Ruger who replaced it with one that functions fine. I understand they tweaked the design after some early 223 magazine problems. I've had zero issues since with that rifle nor with the other 2. I've had them long enough, and put enough rounds through them to trust them. They just work.

The stock isn't aesthetically pleasing, but once again very functional. I can't see spending money to replace it.

They've come out with a version in 7.62X39 that takes larger Mini-30 magazines. If they do something similar with the 223 and/or 308 I'd buy another.
 
Ruger has seemed to be off on the wrong foot as far as the magazine dept goes. I have seen some strange things happening with them that has really surprised me...like the fact that they don't make a 5 round .223 mag to fit the Scout rifles, but they do for the .308's. The .223 mags for the Ranch rifles have sharp corners and leave you bleeding frequently if you're not careful, but the .308 mags are a nicely formed plastic version that works quite nice. The Ranch rifle is a very good shooting rifle as well as the American...but cheaply made mags at high prices seems to be Ruger's problem these days.
 
Agreed!

I agree that the Ruger American is the current best value in bolt action rifles by FAR (Fantastic American Rifle :D )!

I agree too that I don't like the magazine... but only when I'm holding it and looking at it. I have the Standard Ruger American in 7mm-08, and I have had no trouble at all getting it to function. New out of the box, the bolt desperately needed CLP, but it's running pretty well now. I can cycle the bolt with my wrist/the heel of my hand in order to catch the brass, and reloading the chamber seems pretty smooth. It's no buttery Mauser bolt, but it was a $380 gun! It groups inside an inch at 100 yds. It's comfortable, light and easy to tromp around with!

I would almost say this is a call out to other manufacturers who are charging a lot more for something not a lot better! You don't hear much of an inexpensive rifle setting the bar, but I think the RAR has set a new standard for quality/affordability!
 
Problem for me with it. To ugly! I don't like plastic stock's to begin with and the stuff they did to that one is really ugly. If they put it in an inexpensive wood stock, I'd be tempted to try. I really don't know why but plastic stock's really turn me off. They don't look good and don't feel good. Just my opinion.
 
I have a Ruger American predator in 308 and it is shoots great. I don't mind the stock too much. I put a muzzle break and a cheek riser on it. if you want a different stock magpul is coming out with a nice polymer stock. that may be some for me in the near future.
.
 
You guys are killing me.
The gun budget is tapped out ... beyond recovery in 2017.
All this talk is going to make me sell something in order to buy a scope for the American that I have sitting here.

Evil enablers... ;)
 
The new one in 7.62x39 will probably be in my future. I like that it takes the mini 30 mags. Will make a good hog/truck gun.
 
The most important component of an accurate rifle is the barrel, and Ruger's volume combined with a half-dozen GFM hammer-forging machines (at a cool one million bucks apiece) allows them to provide consumers with rifles that are "accurate enough" for all but serious marksmen at ridiculously cheap prices...
 
I just picked my new RAR in 7.62x39. I was looking for a quality but inexpensive
rifle to hunt deer with. I haven't cleaned it yet, but I consider it a great value. The fact it uses Mini-14 mags and cheap ammo for practice is a big plus.
 
I'm not in the market these days at all for a new rifle, but if I was, and not sayin' I couldn't be, I would, hands down, get a RAR in 6.5 Creedmoor. I don't know if they're to be had with those cool looking brown plastic stock's or not, but that's the one I'd get. I could settle easily enough with the basic black, though.

BTW, good shootin' Old Stony. Always good to leave the range grinnin.'
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top