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Old October 6, 2017, 03:16 PM   #1
Old Stony
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Why I like the Ruger American!

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.

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 !
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Old October 6, 2017, 03:21 PM   #2
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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.
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Then crossing the fields to emerge again
Under the trees at the turn of the road,
And only pausing to fire and load.
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Old October 6, 2017, 05:18 PM   #3
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Very nice!
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Old October 7, 2017, 12:21 AM   #4
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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.
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Old October 7, 2017, 02:46 AM   #5
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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.
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Old October 7, 2017, 04:51 AM   #6
Old Stony
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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.
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Old October 7, 2017, 08:13 AM   #7
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Ruger Americans are the best value in a bolt action rifle.
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Old October 7, 2017, 08:15 AM   #8
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Quote:
Ruger Americans are the best value in a bolt action rifle.
This x100

I hate that they gouge you on the price of extra plastic magazines though.
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Old October 7, 2017, 08:27 AM   #9
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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.
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Old October 8, 2017, 05:19 AM   #10
Old Stony
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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.
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Old October 8, 2017, 10:27 AM   #11
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Good to see an American company manufacturing an accurate rifle that is affordable!
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Old October 9, 2017, 10:42 AM   #12
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Agreed!

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

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!
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Old October 9, 2017, 11:01 AM   #13
Don Fischer
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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.
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Old October 9, 2017, 08:22 PM   #14
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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.
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Old October 9, 2017, 08:27 PM   #15
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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...
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Old October 9, 2017, 09:08 PM   #16
Rmart30
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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.
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Old October 9, 2017, 09:11 PM   #17
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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...
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Old October 10, 2017, 11:07 PM   #18
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I love my Ruger American in .243 Winchester. I put on a Nikon Prostaff 3x9x40.
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Old October 13, 2017, 11:07 PM   #19
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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.
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Old October 14, 2017, 08:43 AM   #20
reinert
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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.'
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Old October 18, 2017, 05:59 AM   #21
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I carried my American in 300 Blackout around in the truck while bouncing around in “old Green” with Stony for a couple of months this summer. I had occasion to take hogs at 100 yards with the little rifle and love everything about it but the mag. With the shorter 125 gr bullets the OAL of the cartridge caused a nosedive for the first few rounds which resulted in double feeds or general havoc. With a 150 gr bullet seated at the suggested OAL the mag worked better, trying to single feed a 125 gr was an experience by itself athere is no feed ramp and an inch or so of space before entering the chamber.
Loading three 125 gr rounds usually fed ok but the whole issue left me a bit angry with Ruger engineering.
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Old October 18, 2017, 06:45 AM   #22
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I just shot my Ruger American in .300 Blackout yesterday using 125 grain MatchKings and they all fed fine. Initially I did have an issue with the first round feeding correctly. For me, it was only the first round out of the magazine. But it seems like the magazine "wore in" and it doesn't do it anymore.

Like you say, this was never an issue with longer bullets such as when I use subsonics (Hornady 208s or 220 grain MatchKings). It was only an issue for short bullets and again, the problem seems to have taken care of itself.

I have enjoyed this rifle so much that I have easily shot over 500 rounds out of it. Probably a few hundred more than 500 but I haven't been keeping track. And at this point everything is running great.
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You know the rest. In the books you have read
How the British Regulars fired and fled,
How the farmers gave them ball for ball,
From behind each fence and farmyard wall,
Chasing the redcoats down the lane,
Then crossing the fields to emerge again
Under the trees at the turn of the road,
And only pausing to fire and load.
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Old October 18, 2017, 08:45 PM   #23
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Shot my RA .223 yesterday and again today. Yesterday with a 20mph crosswind I was able to consistently hit a plate at 300, but was never able to hit 400. Or at least to tell if I did, really.

Today someone left a dozen clays on the 300 yard berm and I had enough fun busting those and never tried 400.

This rifle does exactly what I bought it to do, and I love it.
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Old October 20, 2017, 03:28 PM   #24
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Hi Old Stony,

That's one damned impressive target. Deer will be in big trouble come opening day.

But there's a downside: a rifle that shoots as fantastically as yours has taken an excuse for a miss from you. You won't be able to blame your rifle ;-)

BTW, many years ago, a friend told me to never sell a rifle that's a shooter, and your rifle easily qualifies for that category.
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Old October 22, 2017, 01:10 AM   #25
Ibmikey
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SA1911, No problems with Stony missing shots as that is a rare occurrence. He can see and hit a hog in the shoulder with the night vision while I am still trying to determine the shape of the animal. Most of his shots taking deer are done in the neck so waste is kept to a minimum, I would say he has easily more than 1000 hogs to his credit, trapping and single shots at two in the morning as he outwaits the big boars.
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