As sad as it is to admit, cause I've loved Ruger's for years, they just don't seem to be the "shooter's" right out of the box.
Yes, I handload alot, and it is a necessity (I think) when you buy one of them. I've always said that Ruger has the best "fit & finish" of any of the commercial offerings out there. And right up next to the Weatherby rifle's, (sometimes better) I stick by that.
I'd be willing to say that based on a group of ten guns of the same caliber, from various manufacturer's, 7 or 8 of the Remington's would be good shooters, maybe 6 to 7 of the Savage's might, and maybe 5 of the Ruger's would.
For the price, it just takes so much more effort to get them to shoot well, and it doesn't appear worth the effort for the cash doled out.
I've got a Remington VSSF that I had the muzzle recrowned "Savage style", and it's a shooter/keeper. I sold and traded off my other rifles that I wasn't using, except for the sentimental ones, and now shoot many of my Encore barrels.
I'm looking at getting a Savage Sierra in .243 for some coyote shooting.....(yep, Sleddog you're giving the .221FB another try, so I'll go your way a little...LOL)
and we'll see how it does with that AccuTrigger.
Just my 2..........
Take care,
Bob