Ruger American Rimfire Review

[Harv24]

We'll I got to the range with my RAR Target. I went back and forth between this and the CZ455 Tacticool, but when I could snagged this for $300 from CDNN, I had to go for it.

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Here is the rifle decked out with Medium Weaver rings with a Mueller 8x32x44mm target scope. I installed a Picatinney rail on the forearm to mount a Atlas Knock off
Bipod. A cheapo stock pack is also mounted on the stock.

Here is the Ammo I used
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First rds on paper using Federal 40 gr Champion Blue box

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The scope was 10" low, so I may have to get different rings or base to get some elevation back. The scope performed great... tracked correctly...very clear... precise 1/8MOA clicks, very happy with this scope



First rd of testing after running a dozen or s rds thru the barrel

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The SK and ELEY grouped the best....

Once I got warmed up... I went back thru the different ammo again and shot 10 rd groups at 50yds...

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Again the ELEY really grouped the best... by my caliper measurement, subtracting .22 from the groups widest measurement, was about a .377" group.

The trigger was not modified in any way other then I turned out the set screw a bit, but have no way to measure, my guess around 3.5-4.5 pds.

I did punch the barrel after each rd of testing and then ran a few dry patches thru.


Overall, I am pretty happy with this set up. I have less then 100 rds thru it, so time will tell how the barrel performs. I will have to try a few other types of ammo to see if there is anything else out there she likes.

The action is smoothing out a bit and I expect it to get better. The stock works well for what it is, but I may swap it out this winter to a tacticool...

I may also remove or shorten the trigger spring to see if that brings down the pull weight.


Oh and a big shout out to Mueller... when the scope arrived on Monday, there were no flip caps as per there advertisement on there web site... so I called them and left a message and they called me back on Tuesday and said "yup, you're right, our bad" and they sent out a set ... which were sitting in my mailbox when I got home from the range....

Thanks Mueller.... and I like your scope.

 

[NWnewguy]

Sweet set up for the cost. I looked at one of these at Cabelas recently and was fairly impressed. I would have bought one for $300 as well. Good to hear about the Mueller scope being a good value as well. My only recommendation, and it's worth what it costs, is that I would clean the barrel significantly less. I can't get my rimfires to shoot their best for several hundred rounds after being cleaned. They really do like to be shot well seasoned!

 

[Harv24]

Thanks, that's good advice, I will try that. I'm going back out in the morning to see if turning the rail around fixes my elevation. I had to crank up the elevation on the scope to get a 50 yd zero. If that does not help me gain back some elevation, then I will be getting a 25 MOA DIP rail for it.

 

[SporterII]

Clean the action and bolt. The raceway in the bolt may need a clean up , super sharp edges... touch of grease there.

 

[steve123]

Ammo makes a big difference!!!

I might try a 17hmr in a RAR.

 

[Harv24]

I was very hopeful when I got the Ruger, my expectation was that it was not going to be as out of the box accurate as the CZ. I knew ammo was going to play a big part and it sure did. The bedding blocks Ruger uses seem to work out well, I went over the rifle pretty well when I first got it, took everything apart and cleaned and re lubed everything. The bolt was stiff at first, but now it is smoothing out quite well. The thing that put me on the Ruger besides the price was the fact that it already had an extended bolt handle and a Rail to mount a scope vs. the Tacticool where I knew I would need to get a 11mm dovetail /rail adapter and at some point,an enlarged bolt handle. and the fact that it uses the reliable Ruger rotary magazine which I already have several off. I picked up a BX15 15 rd Ruger mag from Midway USA as they are sale pricing them at $14.99.

There was a CZ455 by me that was running $525 and the Rugers were running $425. A poster on Rimfire central posted about 25 Rugers that were shipped to CDNN from Ruger that Ruger was marking as Used. CDNN inspected them and other then the bores being dirty, they looked new and had all the packaging and full warranty. They were blowing them out at $289. so $309 shipped to my FFL.

There was some small scratches on the barrel , but other then that and the dirty bore, the gun looked brand new.. The bolt was clean with no powder or dirty residue on it at all.Once that post went up and I bought mine, they had 14 let in stock, by evening of the next day... all gone... so I was pretty happy to finally score a deal on something gun related. I'm guessing they were returns to Ruger or as CDNN suspected, they were pulled for additional testing off the line and then marked as used due to the additional testing. I have no clue, just happy to have the deal.

While the stock is nice, I think this winter, I may switch over to a Boyd's Tacticool stock and bed the action.

I did pull the main trigger spring and snip off a coil and a half. made a big difference on the trigger pull. very crisp, no drag or creep. Now, I'm just going to shoot it and see how the barrel settles in.

 

[Norcal911]

I want to love this gun. Its a ruger and while that doesn't scream "fine firearm" (my V-22 will do that in about a month), it means a good reliable value to me. I love the magazine and have a dozen of them already and i love tinkering with my 10/22's. Here's my hold up.......what's it take to put a descent barrel on this thing? I hit up one of the 10/22 whisperers on RFC and he won't touch one. No fault of his own, he's got enough 10/22 work to keep him busy for 2 lifetimes. Who has one of these than can comment on what it would take to put a good barrel on it? Can a 10/22 barrel be adapted? Is it going to take $600 to get a good barrel on there? Thx--Nocal911

 

[Norcal911]

Oh.....forgot one thing.....does the 22mag or 17hmr version of these shoot worth a damn?