Ruger American?

What's up with the picatinny rail on these rifles? It makes them appear cheap to me. The olive drab, plastic stock doesn't help either. Makes the Savage Axis II look elegant, by comparison. Anyway, that's the only 22-250s in stock around here, at the moment.?

Trapperkeck, I have the green Ruger American in 22-250. Mine shoots way better than it looks. I use factory ammo and it's impressive. I would buy one again.

X2...especially with that ugly magazine further blurring the lines

They are accurate budget rifles.

I just wish Ruger would come out with that Ranch rifle in .308 and 4 more inches of barrel, just for me.

It’s a cheap rifle that shoots like a high dollar rifle. Mine seems perfectly balanced and shoots a 3 shot group at 100 yards you can cover with a nickel. Shooting .308 and my som shoots 7mm/08. He’s made DRT shots at 275yds with a rest and watched him freehand a deer at 180. Those guns shoot. My next purchase is a 7mm/08 for me and a .243 for CJ. Top them with nice optics and you’re set.

They are priced good enough you can afford to top them with good optics.

Why buy an ugly rifle that's accurate, when you can buy a pretty rifle that's accurate?

Jim

The deer/hogs don’t seem to care if they get shot with an ugly rifle so I really don’t care.

Fair enough. Guns are tools, among other things.

Jim

I have the American .22mag target model with the gray laminate stock. Trigger is pretty good and it shoots pretty much one hole. Also have the 22-250 American predator but haven’t shot it yet. Most of my yotes are killed under 40 yards.

Very pleased with the 204 ruger American. Looks and feels like a cheap rifle but it’s a tack driver.

I don’t abuse my tools, but I’d hate to scratch up a nice pretty rifle.

if your referring to the Picatiny optic rail , try one , the very first thing I do with a rifle is toss the junk mounts it came with and mount a EGW rail or extended rail on only one rifle so far I have not had to do that because it came with a pick rail from the factory.

it is incredibly helpful in getting the optic were it should be , not possible to get the optic far enough forward with the 2 piece bases and vertical rings for proper shooting

I picked one up in 300 black out. With the threaded barrel it is perfect for the only thing I think the black out is good for as far as a 30 cal. It can easily be loaded sub sonic with great projectiles and made quiet. I have a wide variety of 30 cal cartridges to choose from for other stuff. I'm just getting my M1A super match dialed in.

I traded mine in .22-250 for a Tikka T3. I'm much happier with it.

The Remington 788 was a ugly plain but great shooting rifle, looks ain’t everything a guy doesn’t mind banging around a ugly rifle like he would a fancy one.

Love mine in 450 Bushmaster.

So I can buy decent optics and still not spend as much as a "pretty" gun.

Plus I don't get nauseated and teary eyed when ol ugly gets dinged or scratched

I just recently got the ruger american predator in 22-250, love it so far. I am going to re-sight it in as I put an ar scope mount on it and the scope was sitting high, first groups were 5/8". I just put on medium height weaver rings. More natural to aim now. Will use it for seal hunting and winter hunting. Ugly as the rifle may be to you it is a nice shooter. Long as it gets the job done and ain't afraid to get dirty it will work. I would imagine many pretty rifles will not want to get scratched up and dirty.

In the words of the late Col. Townsend Whelen, " the only interesting rifle is an accurate rifle". My RAP in 6.5 creedmoor is one of the most accurate rifles I own. Every time I think I want to put a pretty wood stock on it, after I shoot it I say to myself, " why in the heck would you want to change anything on a rifle that shoots as good as this". I rest my case.

I was trying to look online for the ruger american predator in 22-250 to see if i would be able to convert the magazines to aics. Has anyone ever done it? Not really able to get a definite answer looking online

Were you able to make an AICS mag work with your 22-250?

I've recently stepped up to a chassis for mine, but can only get 6-7 rounds to sit in a 10 round .308 mag.

Had a 788 in .222 best shooting ugly cheap gun money can buy

^^^^^^^ I had one too and rue the day I traded it.

Mine's not my best shooting rifle, but it does fine for my tree stand gun. Shoots about a 1 1/4" group usually. The only thing I don't like is that it doesn't have a bolt lock. I have one in .22 and .308 and when I have them slung over my left shoulder, the bolt always releases and opens. Drives me nuts squirrel hunting with the .22. I love the guns though, my ,22 is a tack driver.

I agree with James on this. There is a slew of new, inexpensive, ugly, highly accurate rifles on the market. If you want one go for it, but my preference is for an accurate rifle that is also well balanced and good looking. To me, the Ruger American is neither of those things.

Are you saying the Ruger isn’t accurate? Or just ugly and not balanced?
Which model and caliber did you shoot?

I just finally found a Ruger Compact in .243 for CJ. His birthday is next month and I think he’s going to be surprised!!

Boys you know when you've got money...you can't let somebody have a "better" object than you.
Got to keep up with the "Jones"...can't be outdone...lol

My issue is, as it was already mentioned, I look at guns as a tool. Now I don’t abuse my tools and keep them in great working condition, but I don’t think I’d feel comfortable taking a nice purdy expensive tool out in the rain or swamp and getting it dirty, especially when an ugly tool will perform the same.

Yep

Nope and yup.

Everything I have heard about the Ruger Amer with regard to accuracy has been very good. The one I handled I did not like the balance or the look of. That's my subjective opinion and it sure won't keep an accurate rifle from being an effective tool in the field.

At this point in my life I can afford a rifle that both shoots well and is pretty to look at and I don't mind taking one in the field. Several years back I bought a used Rem 700 BDL in .270 Win built in 1986. It's traditional walnut and blued steel with nice checkering and an ebony end cap. Just what I like. Cost me $625 and shoots 5 shot groups under 1/2" at 100 yds with 140 gr Accubonds. After replacing the factory trigger with a Timney I was at $750 all in on the rifle. That's more than a Ruger Amer costs but it suits me quite nicely without breaking the bank. 40 years ago when I had young kids the extra few hundred $ would have been an obstacle, but not now. From the time I graduated college until I retired I was never out of work and I never drew an unemployment check. Same for the wife. Hard work has paid off and I make no appologies for enjoying the benefits.

Haha! I thought you meant an expensive gun…$2-3K+ My scopes cost as much or more than your gun, lol. By the way, I work hard too.
Now where I don’t mind buying expensive is shotguns…but they are working guns that last even if I leave it laying in the bottom of a swamp between hunts.

I have some more expensive rifles and I take them in the field too, but I thought the used Rem 700 made a good example of getting something that is nice to look at, well balanced, accurate, and doesn't break the bank. I'm not picking on the Ruger Amer, none of the slew of bargain rifles get my interest except for the inovations the mfgs have made to make them so accurate.

I have a Ruger American that I put a magpul stock on. I know it's like polishing a turd but the factory stock is like holding onto a wet noodle. The magpul stock also comes with a functioning mag which wasn't the case for the factory stock

I’ve heard that about their magazines as well, but with 3 different calibers in the American, all function flawlessly. Granted their stocks do look like they belong on a pellet gun, the accuracy and balance in mine makes it a keeper all day long. Could be the Leupold scope that helps too.

Bought one in 6.5 went home started running bolt up and down and the cheap green plastic stock made a noise like a train trying to stop. Okay took butt plate off and filled empty stock with spray foam. Help a little but not nearly as much as I like and I noticed the bolt has quite a bit of scratches on it so sent bolt into the Ruger factory to get it smoothed up and polished. Still was noisey so got rid of it before putting one down the tube. I shoot Ruger 77 .280 and love it.

had a batch of Ruger All american 22 rifles the grooves in the bolt made noise as you moved it back and forth.

slop the bolt with some grease and work it about 500 times and they get much better and decently smooth.

you didn't want a 6.5 any way , then you would have to go around telling people about it then you would be that guy at the party telling everyone about how awsome his 6.5 was and how it was bang flop and everyone would have already heard how you shot that deer at the last party.

I’ve got a M77 MKII in .280 as well. That gun is scary accurate. Shooting from a rest where all you do is line up the crosshairs and pull the trigger and it will put 3 holes that a dime will cover at 100yds. You miss with it and I know it wasn’t the rifle or scope, lol. Don’t use it much, basically a safe queen until time to check zeros on them all before firearms season, then back in the safe it goes. Like to make sure every rifle is on just in case anyone needs to borrow one.

I was not a fan of the Ruger American until my son bought one Green stock in 6.5 Creedmore I bought him a 3-9 Leuopold Fredom to put on top and He began to stack deer and coyotes up like cord wood.

I needed a new truck rifle so I bought one just like it. It certainly does not feel as " beefy " as any of my wood Remington 700's or 788's but it shoots straight and deer are dropping as if hit by the hammer of Thor himself.

My Ruger American in .22-250 wouldn't cycle rounds up out of the magazine consistently. It's not even close to the gun the M77's are, like comparing a slingshot to a Kimber.

I have found the after market magazines to work better than the origianl factory. There is also a you tube video that shows how to take the mag apart and give the spring one more twist of tension This should help or even elimiante your issue

I already eliminated the trouble. I traded it in on a Tikka T3.

Smart move adc I’ve got both these rifles and love both of them but the 200 dollar difference is incredibly worth it

For Christmas 6 years ago our children bought me a .243 Ruger American (left hand bolt). I have not paid that much attention other than shooting, did the ugly and none dependable aspects start after or before 6 years ago?

Bryce

I wanted a truck gun and at the time they were the only .223 available for under a grand. They’d be perfect for that. I doubt you could beat it down. I’ve also always preferred Ruger rifles for their reliability. I went ahead and added a custom chassis to it. Now it’s become my thermal rifle. I can’t complain, it was dropping some pretty small and big critters out quite a ways last year when it was -20. Goes bang every time. I’ve never been to caught up on looks as long as what I want dead is dead.

@WadeRyan, which chassis? And what mags do you use? Thanks.

I would also like to know if it will work with the American ranch in 5.56 because it uses ar mags

Sorry haven’t been on for a bit. Indian Creek Chassis they’ll fit most of the Ruger Americans. You can go with the AR mags if you want. I went with the MDT Polymer 10 round mag. The guys at Indian Creek will tell you exactly what you want based off your specifications. Great customer service.

https://www.indiancreekdesigninc.co...-american-short-action-centerfire-rifles

Thank you, Wade.

If you’ve got something against the Indian creek or you just don’t like the way they look you can get an mdt chassis that will allow you to use the ar mags

Thanks wade sorry I just woke up and didn’t read much just started typing I should read more lol