Review of Ruger American Rifle — New Varmint Version
This month Ruger is introducing a new varmint version of its popular Ruger American Rifle (RAR). The RAR “Predator” model is offered in six (6) different chamberings: .204 Ruger, .223 Remington, .22-250 Remington, .243 Winchester, 6.5 Creedmoor, and .308 Winchester. All have 22″ free-floated, medium-contour barrels except the .308 Win, which has an 18″ tube, making it a very handy truck gun.
Gun writer Ed Head got his hands on one of the new RAR Predator rifles, chambered in .223 Remington. He reviewed the Predator for the DownRange.TV blog. The reviewer liked the compact 6.62-pound rifle, which features a molded polymer stock and hammer-forged 1:8″ twist barrel. Ed Head liked the short-throw bolt, and he praised the crisp trigger. Accuracy, as tested, was not that impressive — 1.224″ on average at 100 yards. But the tester noted that some types of ammo shot much better than others. So, conceivably, with handloads, this gun could shoot well under 1 MOA. Shooting at steel targets, the tester “managed to shoot 1.5-inch groups at 100 yards, 2.5-inch groups at 200 yards, and 7-inch groups at 300 yards, all with the Lake City ammunition.”
Overall, reviewer Ed Head liked the Predator enough that he decided to purchase his test rifle: “I like this rifle and I’m going to buy it from Ruger. It will shoot ‘minute of squirrel’ at reasonable ranges and should do well on bigger critters — predators — out to 400 yards or more.”
Rifle Features
- One-piece, 3-Lug 70° bolt with full-diameter bolt body and dual cocking cams.
- Integral bedding block system that positively locates the receiver.
- Action comes with factory-installed aluminum Weaver-style scope rail.
- Two-position safety can lock trigger (but not bolt) to allow safe unloading.
- Adjustable 3.5-lb Ruger Marksman trigger with Savage-style inner safety blade.
- Barrel factory-threaded at muzzle for muzzle brakes, flash hiders, and/or suppressors.
- Rotary magazines with 4- or 5-round capacity (depending on caliber). These magazines are a little tough to load correctly.
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Tags: .223 Rem, .223 Remington, Downrange TV, Ed Head, Ruger, Varmint Rifle
Nice to see the 1-8 twist barrel. Usually with the .223 Remington, .22-250 Remington, .243 Winchester the factory barrels have a twist way to slow for the bullets we shoot.
I’m sorry. I really want to like it, but as Colonel Whelen said “Only accurate rifles are interesting”.
For a varmint rifle with today’s technology and hand loads hand loads “interesting” starts at 1/2″ at 100 yards.
C’mon man, it’s a $370 (If u shop around) rifle! 1/2″ at 100yrds will cost you around a $1k +. The fact is this is a beautiful, lightweight, feature packed, sweetheart of a rifle! No other sub $400 rifles out there have all these features and a name like Ruger’s. We all like 1/2″ MOA rifles but lets face it, most of us average Joe’s won’t lay down that kind of cash for one. I highly recommend this rifle and thanks to Ruger for giving us such a nice piece of equipment at a super hot deal!
All my Savages (4-308s, 3-223s) shoot 1/2 moa. In fact my Stevens in 223 with 75 A-Max hand loads has done .25″ at 300 yards along with my long range 223 also turning in .25″ at 300 yards.
My American 308 is the worst shooting 308 I own. It will only “shoot” the Nosler 125Bt. “Shoot” defined as under 1/2 smoa. 350 rounds of hand load work with 155, 168, 178, and 208A-Maxs gave me nothing.
The bolt was noisy when I got it and required lots-a polishing along with the feed ramp that tore-up the brass at the neck. Then the bolt got extremely tight to close do to a burr that developed on one of the lugs and yes back to the jeweler’s file and lots-a polishing.
The engineering thoughts behind the gun are nothing short of great- dead-on! BUT the execution leaves something to be desired.
I just picked up a Ruger American in 30-06. Before buying I looked at several at local gun shops. I handled them a lot, operated the bolt and tested trigger feel to see what I was buying.They did not have one in 30-06 so I had to order and wait for a week.
When I got mine home and put the bolt in it sounded like you were sawing on a piece of glass with a hacksaw. I am talking about noise so loud that it would spook a deer at 200 yards.
The bolt while not polished was reasonably smooth but did have micro ridges from the turning process. I discovered that the noise was caused by a huge burr on the rear bedding block screw hole. Apparently after they drilled and tapped the hole they just left the big old nasty burr. As the bolt passed over it the resulting noise was incredible.
Poor quality control and not what I expected from Ruger. I have several other Rugers and loved each one from the first day but this Rifle is a huge disappointment and I have not fired a single round through it.
I will fix this myself because I don’t want to send it back and wait. A good cigar, some bluegrass music and a couple of hours with 600 grit emery cloth glued to a dowel rod should do it.