New Ruger American rifle

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charlesb
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New Ruger American rifle

Post by charlesb » Wed Jan 18, 2012 1:55 pm

Most interesting!

New design from Ruger.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H_bZMFs ... AAAAAAABAA

Said to have features of Savage, Tikka, Ruger of course, and Sako.

Jimskater11
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Re: New Ruger American rifle

Post by Jimskater11 » Tue Oct 02, 2012 8:00 pm

charlesb wrote:Most interesting!

New design from Ruger.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H_bZMFs ... AAAAAAABAA

Said to have features of Savage, Tikka, Ruger of course, and Sako.

I've watched a lot of youtube reviews and read several others on this Ruger American Rifle. The only negative review was from a guy who clearly talked poorly about this gun because he is only interested in "high dollar, high end" guns. (then why did you bother reviewing it in the first place?) I am thinking about grabbing one of these in 30-06 for white tail hunting. Does anyone out there have good reason for me not to buy this? Local dealers in the Midwest are selling this for $340.00 + tax. Seems almost too good to be true. Thoughts?

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Post by charlesb » Tue Jan 15, 2013 6:32 pm

My son bought one in .308 Winchester a few days ago. He says that I am welcome to help break in the barrel when the snow melts.

The action is very slick, cycles very smoothly. The outside of the hammer-forged barrel is not smoothly finished - but the inside is like a mirror.

I like the trigger, and found that the stock fits me well. It feels good on my shoulder. The rotary magazine is impressive, that's a nice feature.

When I get a chance to shoot it a little, I'll report here.

The most outstanding first impression was about how light and handy it is.

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Post by charlesb » Mon Feb 04, 2013 8:13 pm

I sadly must report a problem with my son's Ruger American in .308 Winchester.

When I mounted a scope, the point of impact was way, way off - beyond my Bushnell Banner 3-9x40's ability to compensate.
At fifty yards, the point of impact was close to 20" low and to the left.

The group was good, though.

I tried several different sets of rings I had laying around with the same results.

Now I have ordered a set of Burris Signature Pos-Align rings and a set of offset inserts which I expect will cure the problem. - Hopefully with the scope's adjustments centered, or close to it.

The Weaver type bases that came with the gun appear to be installed properly, so I haven't messed with them. They fit the curvature of the receiver and the screws are tight.

This will be a good test of the Burris Signature Pos-Align system.

Another thing about the gun... Cheapo military type .308 ammo chambered, but it took a good bit of force on the bolt handle to do so. I'd hate to have to do that fast, from the shoulder. On the other hand, Remington and Winchester hunting loads from the factory had no such problem and chambered easily.

As long as I can get it to behave with the Burris rings, I'll be happy. My son really likes the gun and bought a good quality bipod for it.

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Burris Signature Pos-Align Rings and Inserts

Post by charlesb » Sat Feb 16, 2013 5:49 pm

The Burris Pos-Align system fixed the problem with the Ruger American that was shooting 20"+ low and to the left at 50 yards.

The rings come with two-piece plastic inserts that prevent the scope from being pinched or scratched, when you tighten the screws. - For that reason alone, they are worth-while.

But if you have an alignment problem, as I had, you can order inserts that are thicker on one side than on the other. Then, you put the thin side on the direction that you want to scope to move.

The set of three Pos-Align inserts that I ordered came marked 5+, 10+, and 20+ sizes, the larger numbers being thicker/thinner on opposite sides.

The first thing I did was to center the scope's adjustments. Then, I used a laser sighter-inner to see where the gun was pointing with the "Zero" inserts that came with the rings.

Then, I took off the top of the front rings, and loosened the rear rings so that I could install and try out a pair of the + inserts, up front. By judiciously fooling around with the inserts, putting it all back together to test it with the laser and then taking it down for further adjustment, I was able to get the laser dot within two inches of the cross-hairs - and called that "close enough", as the scope's internal adjustments could handle that.

After some trial and error - the problem was fixed!

At the range, I tried my new barrel break-in procedure with Hoppe's #9, and a bore-snake, cleaning every three rounds. By the time I finished up a box of Winchester silver-box .308 Win 150 grn spire-points, the Ruger American was printing the proverbial one-inch groups.

My son's groups were better than mine. He was proud of the new gun, and I was proud of him.

The Burris Signature rings are great, even if you don't have a serious alignment problem... If you do though, the Pos-align inserts for them can save the day without breaking the bank, or requiring gunsmith services.

I recommend that they be used in conjunction with a laser "sighter-inner" that pokes in the end of the barrel. They are real ammo savers, no doubt about it.

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