Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints Ruger American .223

Here's a post I put up last February:


When Ruger announced the American Rifle I said I'd buy one if they brought it out in .223. Well, Ruger did and I bought the first one that arrived at my local shop.

Consistent with how I think this rifle is intended to be used I took it home, wiped down the packing oil and ran two patches through the bore, then mounted a scope. The trigger broke at a clean 4lbs and rather than pull the action from the stock to adjust it down further, I decided to run it as is.

All up with a Leupold FXIII 6x42 Competition scope in Burris steel Zee rings the rifle weighs just a hair over 7.5lbs:



Got out to the range today where I tried my standard .223 handload: 24.6gr of Ramshot TAC under a 55gr Nosler Ballistic Tip. The handloads were assembled in bulk-primed brass (so no brass prep by me) using a Redding Competition seating die. COAL is 2.260" which brings the rounds just to the front of the magazine. First four shots showed some horizontal stringing at 100 yards:



I figured the most likely cause of this was the rather bendy forearm contacting the barrel. So I moved my front sandbag back from its usual placement 2-3" behind the tip of the stock to just ahead of the front action screw. That solved the problem, as the next four-shots demonstrated:



I figured that's good enough for a sub-$400 rifle, so I'm done with load development.

My overall impression of the fit and finish is good--in fact, the machining on the bolt and raceways was so crisp it took quite a bit of cycling of the action on my part to get it smoothed up. The bolt lift is hard, but that's likely because the rifle itself is so light and, again, I expect that'll ease up a bit as I use the rifle more. The stock is well proportioned but, as with any injection molded stock, it is pliable so I wouldn't want to use it with a tight sling or with a bi-pod.

Feeding and ejection were positive, with fired cases landing back about 4' and to the right. The brass is hitting the side of the action, however, about 1/2" behind the bolt port. Not an issue in practical terms, but something to note nonetheless. The magazine is a bit tricky to load with the first round, though subsequent rounds are easy and I suspect that the loading will get easier as the rifle breaks in, or as I learn to operate it more effectively.

So, all that said I'm happy with the Ruger American in 223. It's light, inexpensive and accurate. Once I go through the 1000 or so 55gr handloads I've got made up (leftover from an earlier 223 project) I may try some heavier bullets in the rifle. Though by that time my rifle-loonyism may have me on to other projects entirely.