NChunter89
Member
A few days ago I decided that I would like to have a budget rifle that shoots decent, but that I wouldnt be afraid to leave in my truck. I also am waiting on my suppressor to get out of jail and hoped to find something that was also already threaded at the factory. I own several great shooting rifles but most of them cost too much or look to nice to get beat around inside the cab of my truck day in and day out. After looking around and weighing the costs of several different rifles I decided that I wanted to give the Ruger American Ranch a shot. What drew me to this rifle was that it was short and compact but still had a standard length of pull. It shouldnt be overly cumbersome when the suppressor is added later on down the road. I ended up ordering the rifle from my local gun shop. For roughly $400 out the door, I was willing to take a chance. I brought the rifle home and added a cheaper leupold rifleman in 3-9x40mm with some low rings. I cleaned the barrel with a boresnake and hoppes #9 and headed down to the creek bottom on my farm to fire some test groups. I ended up shooting three 5 shot groups with some handloads that worked well in some of my ARs. I took along my chronograph because I was curious about the velocity in the 16" barrel.
After firing the first 3 groups here are the results at 100yds with breezy winds at around 10 mph. The trigger could definitely be better but it broke cleanly each time at around 3.75 lbs. As others have posted the stock and magazine feel kind of cheap in these rifles but it seemed to have little effect on the way the rifle shot.
Chronograph results:
55 gr. Sierra Gameking SP #1365
25.2gr Benchmark
2.250" COAL
Average Velocity
Extreme Spread
69gr Sierra Matchking
23.8gr IMR 8208 XBR
2.250" COAL
Average Velocity
Extreme Spread
50gr Nosler BT
25.5gr IMR 8208 XBR
2.260" COAL
Average Velocity
Extreme Spread
Target with groups at 100 yds
Overall I am really pleased with this rifle and it shows great potential to be very accurate. Its also nice that the rifle is chambered in 5.56 which would allow you to be able to shoot cheap ball ammo if you would like. I really like the way the Sierra 55gr Gameking shot in this rifle, and this bullet has done very well for me on game in the past. Later on I plan to shoot this rifle at 300yds and will update this post once I have done so.
Thanks for reading!
After firing the first 3 groups here are the results at 100yds with breezy winds at around 10 mph. The trigger could definitely be better but it broke cleanly each time at around 3.75 lbs. As others have posted the stock and magazine feel kind of cheap in these rifles but it seemed to have little effect on the way the rifle shot.
Chronograph results:
55 gr. Sierra Gameking SP #1365
25.2gr Benchmark
2.250" COAL
Average Velocity
Extreme Spread
69gr Sierra Matchking
23.8gr IMR 8208 XBR
2.250" COAL
Average Velocity
Extreme Spread
50gr Nosler BT
25.5gr IMR 8208 XBR
2.260" COAL
Average Velocity
Extreme Spread
Target with groups at 100 yds
Overall I am really pleased with this rifle and it shows great potential to be very accurate. Its also nice that the rifle is chambered in 5.56 which would allow you to be able to shoot cheap ball ammo if you would like. I really like the way the Sierra 55gr Gameking shot in this rifle, and this bullet has done very well for me on game in the past. Later on I plan to shoot this rifle at 300yds and will update this post once I have done so.
Thanks for reading!