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Ruger American

Old 01-01-2017, 11:10 AM
  #1  
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Default Ruger American

I thought I'd go ahead and post a review of the Ruger American; the one I owned briefly was a .308 win. First off, however, I'll admit that my review might not be altogether fair, as the gun I bought from Cabela's was defective. That said, I've generally been a believer in an axiom I once heard: ""You can spend $500 on a rifle that will kill an elk at 300 yards; and you can spend $2500 on a rifle that will kill an elk at 300 yards." - true to an extent. I'm more of a hunter than a shooter, and as such see firearms through the lens of what will be practical in the field.

I can tell you that I was looking for an affordable "mountain rifle", something I could shoot big game with an not mind carrying for miles and miles in Pintlars, Pioneers, and Saphire Mountain Ranges where I do most of my hunting. The Ruger American stood out in a lot of the internet posts and articles I'd read as being light weight, accurate, and affordable. What I got out of the box was, in fact, affordable and very light weight. I gave it a good going over and was impressed with the overall simplicity of it. The bolt is a one-piece, 3 lug design with very little to malfunction. The action was basically smooth, although not notably so, and oddly seemed to make a lot of unnecessary racket when opperated. Did I mention it was light? Weighed around 7lb's w/ the scope on it. That's good, in that it was a feature I was looking for. It's magazine fed, and although I was leery of the plastic magazine, it seemed to work fine. The hardware was well machined, sturty, and lined up right.

Now a few things I didn't like. It was light, yes, but the stock is hollow and knocks loudly if bounced off the handle of your knife sheathed on your belt, for example. It was also a bit more flexible than I felt comfortable with. Maybe that's really not a problem, but it just somehow [I]felt[I] like I was carrying an airsoft rifle when I handled it.

The trigger was adjustable (reportedly 5 to 3 pounds), good feature I suppose, but I sincerely dislike the trigger inside a trigger design that we're starting to see on lots of economy rifles. Savage calls it "accutrigger" Ruger calls it "marksman trigger", but to me they seem like gimmicky junk intended to imitate the feel of a two-stage trigger (which I'll admit I'm not fond of anyway). When cocked, the "marksman trigger" sticks out quite a ways from the rest of the assembly. I could easily imagine a random branch hitting it inside the trigger guard while the rifle's slung and I'm negotiating my way through a jungle gym of deadfall, and breaking or bending the inside part. It's flimsly - no other way to put. The whole trigger assembly could wiggle side to side and, when firing, there was still some creep and drag in the trigger even after the inside part is pressed into the larger part of the trigger. So, to summarize, I did not like the trigger. Not at all.

But I thought maybe I could get used to it. So I went to the range and the accuracy was awful. In several trips to the range, I tried four different types of ammo with similar results. I talked to Ruger and they were pretty good about sending me a box to send it to the factory, where they had it for less than a day. Litterally the day after Ruger received it, they returned it saying, "repaired muzzel crown".

So, here's where my part in this becomes unfair. I didn't shoot it again. By that time I was so frustrated by the range experiences and the annoyance of having bought a defective product right out of the box that the things I didn't like about the rifle (mostly the trigger) had become glaring in my mind, to the point I just didn't even want the silly thing anymore. I wasn't sure I could develop a lot of confidence in shooting it with a trigger system like that, especially when the hunting rifles I'm used to (a Vangaurd II 300WM and a Remington 600 .243) both have crisp, single stage triggers. I took Ruger's word for it that they'd fixed the gun, then I sold it back to Cabela's, shelled out a little more cabbage, and ordered a Tikka - which is probably what I should have gone with in the first place.

Last edited by Sage of the Sage; 01-01-2017 at 11:15 AM.
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Old 01-01-2017, 02:14 PM
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Sucks you got a defective one. I got a ruger amercan compact .243 for my son. The trigger is not as tight as my accutrigger nor as adjustable, but it is very shootable and I can hold 1.25MOA or better out to 300 yards with it pretty easily with the nikon on it. I agree the plastic stock sucks but so does just about every other plastic stock in the price range. The Tikka T3 stock is a bit better and feels a bit less "airsofty" so you should like it.
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Old 01-01-2017, 02:46 PM
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I know they have there place but I have become to really dislike cheap plastic stocked rifles.As such I have been sellin off the ones I have.
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Old 01-01-2017, 06:47 PM
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I read the OP and have to ask why in Haydes you purchased that rifle in the first place when you didn't like so many features the way you dissed it! Did you not handle it before hand and try it out as much as possible in the store before you bought it? It doesn't sound like it and if you bought it sight unseen like it sounds, then IMHO you should have and you probably wouldn't have made the purchase. If you did and still bought it, then again IMHO it was your mistake for buying an economical rifle like the Ruger American is and expecting to get a Tikka or Sako for that little bit of money that Ruger wants for it.

Last edited by Topgun 3006; 01-01-2017 at 06:59 PM. Reason: spelling
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Old 01-02-2017, 06:18 AM
  #5  
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Yeah, I consider it a mistake for having bought the rifle. I handled it and dry fired it before I bought it, and had some doubts at the time. I was taken in by the economical aspect and generally positive reviews and decided to compromise - but the product just didn't win me over. My mistake, sure, I've made a few others in my life and will probably make a few more.

Anyway, not meaning to dis anything or anybody; just giving my opinion on the rifle as a pragmatic hunter. It might work out fine for somebody else, but for me, my opinion was solidified on the goofy trigger system especially. I will never buy a rifle that has it. Thought I could learn to like it, but I don't think so now. Call it a learning experience.
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Old 01-02-2017, 01:05 PM
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Originally Posted by Sage of the Sage
Yeah, I consider it a mistake for having bought the rifle. I handled it and dry fired it before I bought it, and had some doubts at the time. I was taken in by the economical aspect and generally positive reviews and decided to compromise - but the product just didn't win me over. My mistake, sure, I've made a few others in my life and will probably make a few more.

Anyway, not meaning to dis anything or anybody; just giving my opinion on the rifle as a pragmatic hunter. It might work out fine for somebody else, but for me, my opinion was solidified on the goofy trigger system especially. I will never buy a rifle that has it. Thought I could learn to like it, but I don't think so now. Call it a learning experience.

Sage,

Sounds to me like a honest assessment all the way around;

including yourself.......................

Big props for that bud !!!
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Old 01-02-2017, 01:27 PM
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Originally Posted by Sheridan
Sage,

Sounds to me like a honest assessment all the way around;

including yourself.......................

Big props for that bud !!!

I hope your post doesn't in any way infer that I was saying his assessment wasn't honest because IMHO it certainly was! It's just that the things he mentioned about the Ruger could be the same things said about other manufacturer's rifles that are even higher in price. It sounds like Ruger promptly found and corrected the problem that they felt was causing the poor grouping and it's too bad that the OP didn't at least take the rifle out and shoot a couple groups to see how it did before he got rid of it.

Last edited by Topgun 3006; 01-02-2017 at 01:30 PM. Reason: spelling
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Old 01-02-2017, 03:34 PM
  #8  
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No inferences TopGun - I try to stay away from them !!! LOL

Actually I was complimenting Sage that he knew he had a negative precognition toward the gun & he admits that in his 2nd post.

Takes a big person to admit their mistakes IMO.
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Old 01-02-2017, 04:10 PM
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Originally Posted by Sheridan
No inferences TopGun - I try to stay away from them !!! LOL

Actually I was complimenting Sage that he knew he had a negative precognition toward the gun & he admits that in his 2nd post.

Takes a big person to admit their mistakes IMO.
I wouldn't know about that, as I've never made one, LOL!
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Old 01-03-2017, 05:37 PM
  #10  
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One thing I forgot to mention: another aspect that drew me in when considering the Ruger American is that, according to the website, it's entirely made in America. I liked the idea of that, just not enough to keep the rifle in the end.
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