Ruger American Inaccurate?
07-14-2014, 12:20 PM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 1
Ruger American Inaccurate?
Hi,
I'm new to scoped rifles and I recently purchased a new Ruger American Rifle with a used scope mounted for $700 out the door.
I've been shooting with iron sights with no problems ever. With the scope I could not adjust the windage enough to bring the scope to my grouping.
I took it to the dealer and he took it out shooting and said that when the barrel gets hot, it's off the paper at 100 yards.
I'm somewhat disappointed that I shelled out that much cash for a $400 rifle with a used scope. Does anyone have any advice? Is there any hope to "save" this rifle? How can I find out if it's the scope that's messed up or if the barrel is jacked?
I appreciate any words of wisdom.
Thanks
I'm new to scoped rifles and I recently purchased a new Ruger American Rifle with a used scope mounted for $700 out the door.
I've been shooting with iron sights with no problems ever. With the scope I could not adjust the windage enough to bring the scope to my grouping.
I took it to the dealer and he took it out shooting and said that when the barrel gets hot, it's off the paper at 100 yards.
I'm somewhat disappointed that I shelled out that much cash for a $400 rifle with a used scope. Does anyone have any advice? Is there any hope to "save" this rifle? How can I find out if it's the scope that's messed up or if the barrel is jacked?
I appreciate any words of wisdom.
Thanks
07-14-2014, 01:08 PM
#2
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Allegan, MI
Posts: 8,019
Hi,
'm new to scoped rifles and I recently purchased a new Ruger American Rifle with a used scope mounted for $700 out the door.
I've been shooting with iron sights with no problems ever. With the scope I could not adjust the windage enough to bring the scope to my grouping.
I took it to the dealer and he took it out shooting and said that when the barrel gets hot, it's off the paper at 100 yards.
I'm somewhat disappointed that I shelled out that much cash for a $400 rifle with a used scope. Does anyone have any advice? Is there any hope to "save" this rifle? How can I find out if it's the scope that's messed up or if the barrel is jacked?
***Very simple solution! Put another scope on it and see what it does. It shouldn't take much to see that the scope or possibly the mounts/rings were the problem if it's a brand new rifle.
'm new to scoped rifles and I recently purchased a new Ruger American Rifle with a used scope mounted for $700 out the door.
I've been shooting with iron sights with no problems ever. With the scope I could not adjust the windage enough to bring the scope to my grouping.
I took it to the dealer and he took it out shooting and said that when the barrel gets hot, it's off the paper at 100 yards.
I'm somewhat disappointed that I shelled out that much cash for a $400 rifle with a used scope. Does anyone have any advice? Is there any hope to "save" this rifle? How can I find out if it's the scope that's messed up or if the barrel is jacked?
***Very simple solution! Put another scope on it and see what it does. It shouldn't take much to see that the scope or possibly the mounts/rings were the problem if it's a brand new rifle.
Last edited by Topgun 3006; 07-14-2014 at 01:11 PM.
07-14-2014, 01:13 PM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Kansas
Posts: 3,870
If the rifle shoots straight without that particular scope, then you can be sure it's the scope.
What model RAR do you have that has iron sights? I wasn't aware that any of the American's in centerfire cartrdiges included iron sights.
So if it shoots well with a different scope, or if it shoots well with iron sights, then you can be sure you have a scope or mounting issue.
If you do, however, find out that you have a problem with the rifle, Ruger will make it right.
What's the scope? What ammo are you shooting? What rings and bases are you using? What rest are you shooting from to sight it in?
What size of groups is it producing, even though they are off the page?
If the mounts are indeed misaligned to the bore, then windage adjustable or compound adjustable rings might be your answer. Burris Zee rings would give you an opportunity to correct for a lot of misalignment.
What model RAR do you have that has iron sights? I wasn't aware that any of the American's in centerfire cartrdiges included iron sights.
So if it shoots well with a different scope, or if it shoots well with iron sights, then you can be sure you have a scope or mounting issue.
If you do, however, find out that you have a problem with the rifle, Ruger will make it right.
What's the scope? What ammo are you shooting? What rings and bases are you using? What rest are you shooting from to sight it in?
What size of groups is it producing, even though they are off the page?
If the mounts are indeed misaligned to the bore, then windage adjustable or compound adjustable rings might be your answer. Burris Zee rings would give you an opportunity to correct for a lot of misalignment.
07-14-2014, 02:39 PM
#4
Spike
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 5
The first thing you will need to do is isolate if it's a rifle issue or a scope issue. I would start with the scope first. If you have one available or you can borrow one then I would try a different scope on the rifle. I would start by taking the existing scope off and check the rings and bases to ensure that they are tight. If everything checks out, then take the bottom rings and attach them to the bases. You will then take the scope and place it in the bottom rings what you will be looking for here is that the scope rings and bases are aligned correctly. If it doesn't just lay right in there (you do not want to be forcing or pressing it in) then you are going to need to do some lapping. (if it's not way out of alignment) If it's way off then you are going to need to get some new rings that will allow you adjust the windage via that route. As mentioned above the Burris signature rings will take care of this and Leupold , Burris and other companies make the dovetail style base that has the rear base that you can use to adjust the windage. I'm not sure if you have access to a boresighter or not, but you can also mechanically zero the scope and look through the boresighter to see how far off it is. I seen many rifles that came from the factory with the base holes out of alignment, but I haven't seen any that were so far out the above mentioned rings couldn't correct the problem. If you rule out that it isn't a scope or mounting issue then I would contact Ruger, they will take care of you. I'm not sure what kind of scope you have, but if it turns out to be a bad scope most companies will work with you on correcting that problem as well. I haven't personally seen one of these rifle that don't shoot! Feel free to send me a PM if you have any questions.
07-15-2014, 09:26 AM
#5
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location:
Posts: 5,130
Start over by remounting your bases, rings and scope.
Insure everything is squared up, level and secure.
Make sure your bore sighting is done with both turrets having equal amount of range in either direction.
BTW - I have a buddy of mine who owns both a rim fire and a center fire Ruger American.
They both shoot "lights out" !
Insure everything is squared up, level and secure.
Make sure your bore sighting is done with both turrets having equal amount of range in either direction.
BTW - I have a buddy of mine who owns both a rim fire and a center fire Ruger American.
They both shoot "lights out" !
Last edited by Sheridan; 07-15-2014 at 06:56 PM.
