Please help me with my Ruger American .308
 

Before I sling it into the river.

Can't get it to group. I've tried 165 grn Hornady Interlocked, 165grn Fusions, 150grn Hornady SST. Using a lead sled trying to get 100yd groups - the worst are the Interlocked; groups are about 5". The best are the SST's; grouping at about 3" - which isn't great. Letting the barrel cool between groups. I've cleaned it and gone back out, no difference. I think what I've got is something beyond just shooting an ammo the gun likes. I realize I'm not shooting the high-end stuff, but it's the bargin bin either. And I don't think that ANY ammo should be grouping at near 6" @ 100yds out of a well functioning rifle. I just put a different scope on it just to eliminate the optics as a possible problem, but I'm very doubtful that's it. Everything I read and hear about the RAR is it's an accurate rifle. That certainly hasn't been my experience. I'm open to any suggestions. Very frustrating.

Make sure everything is tight, the screw that fastens the barrel to the stock and the scope mounts. Sight it in at 25, then 50, then 100. If you do that and still cannot get a tight group I would send it back to Ruger

Also, have a look at your crown to make sure it is perfect. ANY deviation in the crown "square" will cause crappy grouping. I'd call Ruger customer service and see if they have any suggestions after you have gone over your screws and crown. It could be a bad mating job (barrel to action mate), action just too far out of true, chamber too large causing inconsistent pressures, bunch of burs left over from rifling, poor stock fit causing the forearm to put pressure on the barrel. It could be any number of things. Ruger is pretty good about standing behind their products. Personally, I'd already be on the phone with them if I were you.

a 3" group fits the standard for Ruger firearms.....you're up the proverbial river.....

1. You may have already tried this, but have you not only tightened your action screws but also tried shooting the gun after attempting different pressures on the screws? It is hard to measure that with a torque wrench so just noting the position of the screws' angles when tightened can tell you if you've gone further or shorter than the last time you tightened them. Overtightening on some synthetic stocks, especially if done often and inconsistently, can "crush/pinch" the material enough to cause issues .. and its very hard to determine ... hence the reason pillar bedding is valuable. I don't know enough about the Ruger's Patent-pending Power Bedding®, integral bedding block system to speak about what it can and can't do.

1a. Scope, mounts, rings, and the contact points between them all. Repetitive I know, but this is so often a source of accuracy headaches.

2. Most folks like the idea of free floated barrels (which I believe the RAR is advertised to be) but I have a couple rifles that have benefited from a little upward pressure between the top of the end of the barrel channel and the underside of the barrel. I suspect that my 2 rifles that like this are not 100% bedded correctly, and they are NOT pillar bedded either. The upward pressure is probably a stop gap measure for their inadequacies and I could maybe get them shooting better with a lot of effort and cost, but they are doing just fine with a small piece of aluminum scrap glued underneath the barrel.

3. I'm not familiar with whether the RAR is bedded with glass, pillar bedded in addition to the bedding block (redundant?), or otherwise has any accuracy points in its favor, but, as others have said, contacting Ruger is your best first step. Might save you a bunch of ammo and grief. Couldn't hurt. They've always been extremely helpful and fair to me.

4. Lastly, ask a buddy of known shooting skill to try a few groups of some of the ammo and see if he/she fares any better. Not trying to question your abilities, but some rifles fit certain people and some just don't!

Good luck. I look forward to hearing back from you here as you follow up on this issue.

I've looked it over pretty well. I tried the paper test - sliding a piece of paper between the barrel and stock for unwanted points of contact (no problems). I've gone over it and tightened screws and bolts (there aren't many in an RAR). I switched out the scope last night and that will be my next test. I doubt its the optics, though, because even though my groups are awful, you can see that the patterns of the different ammo I shot are consistent. I'm leaning toward something just being wrong with the barrel, which would likely be nothing I could fix w/o sending it back or having a gunsmith work on it.

Unfortunately, I'm not going to make it to the range again anytime real soon. I'm having Carpel Tunnel surgery on both hands on Wednesday and will need to recover before I do anymore shooting. Thanks for the ideas and keep them coming if you have anything else.

I've talked to several people about this problem I'm having. They say similar things, "Really? I have a Ruger American and it shoots great." I'm getting very tired of hearing that.

Not at all, I shoot a M77 MKII, 7mm Rem Mag. It's consistantly at or under 1" at 100 yards. As was my 308 and 30-06, both M77's.
The problem with them was that they just didn't fit quite right.

Color added to highlite why I sold two of my rifles. The new owner of my '06 (very dear friend from school) hits anything he shoots at. It shot fine for me, but just didn't fit right. I stayed with the M77 model and a different caliber, that fits to a T.
I shoot Remington Corelokt through it and it is far more accurate than I am. When I squeeze the trigger the target is hit. Where I aimed.

I called Ruger this morning and the guy I spoke with said to send it to them. He mailed a box and instructions. Hopefully they'll get it straightened around. I'm not a trusting type, though, and have a bad feeling I'm going to get jerked around. Never sent a firearm back to the manufacturer before. Anyway, thanks for all the input, guys.

They will not jerk you around. They are all too aware how much damage one disgruntled customer can cause today with all the electronic communications we have today. Ruger has a good customer service reputation and their products also have a good reputation.