Shot the Ruger today, after mounting a VX3 1.5-5 in Ruger offset rings. The rifle weighs 8lbs 2 oz with scope, and as you might guess, the report and recoil were mild. I shot a Hornady factory load "123gr Zmax", which clocked about 2350 fps, and a Win 123 gr softpoint load, which ran about 50 fps faster.
I tried a handload with 1680 in Lapua brass, the same charge under both the 125gr Sierra, and the 123gr Hornady SST. It was much speedier than the factory loads, and also shot well. The Hornady measure .3104", versus Sierra 125's, which measure a true .311". The rifle preferred the Hornadys, with a couple of 3 shot groups under 1" - the last 3 shots were in a 1/2". There were no signs of excessive pressure; extraction was easy and fired cases show no signs of case web expansion. It's ready to kill a deer.
I'll likely do some more load development with it over the next few weeks. May even try some 150 gr in it, maybe .308 bullets.
