doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com mildly OT: Ruger American LH

Lloyd, I'm sighting one in this morning with 180 Federals, to match the 1/10 twist of the barrel.
I'll break the barrel in with some surplus 147g steel case stuff, clean aggressively between shots, and then shoot for group.
I start all new rifles with an aggressive pre shot cleaning. Manufacturing doesn't always deliver perfect barrels.

Our firearms deer season starts Sunday, and I'm helping my nephew get set up.

If I notice anything that is unusual or may be beneficial to you, I'll report back.

I have/had a Ruger American Predator in 6.5mm Creedmoor. It shoots sub 1/2 moa with a number of factory loads. Function has been flawless. It is almost embarrassing that a rifle that cheap shoots so well.

I passed it down to my grandson after he used to take a B&C pronghorn.

I have a left handed Ruger american in 30-06, its a great gun, i hate plastic stocks, i ordered a walnut stock for it, its a really nice shooting rifle, for the money you cant beat it

Folks: Thank you all. Waiting patiently for this rifle to get here. CZ: Looking forward to hearing about your results.

Shot the Ruger American .308 this morning.
Cleaned the barrel briskly. Bronze brush, solvent, etc.
A little oil, but not shavings or carbpn.
Started out with 147g surplus ammunition, 3 shot groups, clean, 3 shots, etc.
1" groups.
168 FGMM reloads, 3/4" groups
moved up to 180g Federal Game shok's, 1" groups at 100 yds
Tried 180g Remington Cor-lokts, same 1" groups

Gun was gtg with two common otc brands for whitetail shooting.

The only thing I didn't like, was that single loading cartridges was a little bit fiddley.
You needed to tip the cartridge up a little bit For the bolt to pick it up on top of the magazine and chamber it.
Ultimately I ended up Starting every single cartridge into the chamber By hand instead of pushing them in with the bolt.
I had to tip them up To keep them from Hanging up on the feed ramp.

Feeding was not a problem if the round was being stripped from the magazine.
That's the only Thing I noticed about the rifle that I didn't like.

They seem a good value package.

CZ: Appreciate all that. I've been handloading .308 to feed an AR-10 and have stocked up a fairly decent backlog of shells. Most of it is Match grade 168-grain, but I do also have a fair amount of 150-grain military stuff. Either should work for deer out here. I can always handload additional stuff if needed now too.

Happy to help Lloyd.
Around here, shelves are empty of ammunition.
The 147 surplus ammo won't expand on a whitetail. 308 in, 308 out. FGMM as well.

A 20$ box of Cor-Lokt's will work surprisingly well in that rifle.

Its the old argument about about bullet placement or terminal performance. If I have to choose, I'll fall on the side of placement, but it is sure nice to have good terminal performance as well. If time allows, I'll load up some 165-grain Sierra Game Kings that I used to load for an old pet .30-06 load. I'm guessing that they'll do the job as well. God only know what else I've got laying around here. If necessary, I'll track some other premium hunting "pills" down somewhere. Thirty caliber stuff shouldn't be impossible to find just yet.

Clean kill, and recovery, should be your priorities when selecting a bullet. Because the Killzone on a Whitetail deer is so large, ultimate accuracy isn’t essential. If you are a handloader, you can certainly optimize the charge weight for your favorite bullet.

Michigan has a great deal of land where recovery is difficult, swamps, marshes, etc. Whitetail shooting preferences tend toward shot placement and bullet selection that enhances recovery. Lots of people shoot through the front shoulders, whereas the high neck shot seems more common in the west.
Heavy bullets vs flatter shooting lighter bullets, etc.

Military jacketed bullets are the absolute worst for recovery.

I meant to say, that the construction and the barrel twist of the Ruger American rifle is very forgiving with respect to bullet weight. Though I didn’t shoot anything through it today less than 147 grains. It was very consistent at the three different bullet weights I shot. 1/10 seems very forgiving.

Buddy of mine has a RA in 450 BM, 5 shot groups just under an inch. I believe he uses Black Butterfly ammo 160 maybe 180 screaming down rang over 2700 fps is a thumper. One heck of a rifle