Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Anybody tried a Ruger American .22 Magnum?

Mine shoots well, and is the most ammo-tolerant .22 Magnum I've owned. Would be very interested in hearing if other RAR .22 Magnums are as unpicky.

I'm happy with my predators in LR, HMR, and 22 mag. The 22 mag shoots well and the only ammo it hasn't liked was the Hornady critical defense 45 grain, which isn't a problem to me at all...

Thanks for the info! How many other kinds of ammo have you tried?

When you say it is the only ammo it likes, are you talking accuracy or cycling? I have one, it shots good but after 500 rounds it doesn't want to extract the empty case very well. Doesn't matter the ammo. I have shot Hornaday, CCI, Winchester, and Remington thru it will the same results on accuracy and malfunction in extracting.

I'm very pleased with my Compact. The Rem 33gr Accutips are the most accurate in mine but it shoots almost as well with 30gr Vmax, CCI and Aguila Silver Eagle 40gr JSP's.

ty98r,

I'm talking accuracy. Haven't had any extraction problems with my rifle.

I know these Ruger's are accurate and probably a lot of bang for the buck but, damn, they are ugly!

How accurate is your American ? For years I've been reluctant to get another WMR for fear it would just be disappointing in comparison to my old Marlin 882. My 882 will shoot sub MOA {actually shooting at 100 yards} on a calm day with a good lot of CCI Maxi-Mag 40 grain HP's and Remington 33 gr. V-Max. It also will do just a bit over MOA with the 30 gr. Hornady V-Max ammo. I had nearly a dozen other WMR's before I got the Marlin and none were even close to as accurate.

I'd like to find out but since I can't get 22mag ammo, I guess I'll finally have to try a 17hmr

Steelhead - "...since I can't get 22mag ammo,..." Ain't that the truth. Used to find shelves awash in .22WMR - .17HMR not so much. Now, still no .22WMR and maybe 1 or 2 boxes of the 'Hummer'. BTW - .22LR still harder to find than either of them.
Oh, when will it end... Homesteader

Homesteader, I agree .22 mag is hard to find but 17hmr and reasonably priced good quality .22 ammo abounds with a quick online search.

Mine shoots great and ammo is easy to find here.. Usually on the shelf at the LGS.. I've never had any kind of malfunction with the rifle either. Works wonderfully and I love the rotary mag. Excellent rifles..

Blackheart,

I depends on how you define MOA groups. Some people only shoot 3-shot groups, and but they'll only average about 2/3 as large as 5-shot groups. And some people judge accuracy by one group, instead of more than one.

This particular RAR averaged 1.4 MOA for a minimum of two 5-shot groups at 100 with nine different kinds of .22 Magnum ammo, which I've found unusual in .22 Magnums--and I've owned quite a few, including a Marlin 882. In my experience they'll often shoot well with 2-3 kinds of ammo, but not a wide variety, and when a wide variety of .22 Magnum ammo isn't available (as it isn't right now), then I find that a valuable trait. It does, of course, shoot some ammo better than others, and those it shoots REALLY well.

Mine is not that good with ammo other than Hornady 30 grn. Shoots lights out with Hornady so to be honest I never gave it an honest go with the other stuff. Probly need to correct that..

Thanks for the reply. When I say my Marlin will group sub MOA I'm talking 5 shot groups at 100 yards. The last time I shot for groups with the 33 gr. Remington ammo the average of three 5 shot groups was .920" CTC measured with calipers. It will do almost as well with some lots of the Maxi-Mag hp's but there are some kinds it absolutely hates. The 40 gr. Winchester JHP is one unfortunately and it won't group those under 2" at 100.

I had one but sold it. I loved the rotary magazine, but the accuracy was typical 22 WMR level. Nothing terrible, but nothing special compared to the others I have so I really didn't have a need for it.

i have been wanting to add a .22 Magnum to the stable and its nice to read here that there seems to be a good chance of getting a decent shooter in an affordable package. hope the trend continues and i hope the rimfire available ammo issue eases up too. (i am seeing more and more available so it looks to be trending in that direction)

I've got the Ruger American Predator in 22 Mag.

I've only benched it at 30 yards, but it shoots CCI 30 and 40grain Vmaxes equally well, with several 5 shot groups going 1/4" to 3/8" center to center.

I have bird feeders that need protected from Varmits at this distance. Just shot two yesterday. The 22 mag "flings goo" well!(GRIN!)

Virgil B.

Homesteader, why don't you give Lou's Police a call over on 57th in Hialeah (305) 416-0000. I was buying Mini Mags over there pretty regular for a few months straight. Every couple weeks, make a run down there and pick up a thousand or so. Well stocked now after also getting plenty of Wolf, SK and Automatch online. Only need to get some good subs now.

Homesteader,

You might consider ordering on-line, which is where I get most of my rimfire ammo anymore. Here are some examples, just from the past month:

600 rounds of CCI .22 Long Rifle Mini-Mag hollow-points for $55 shipped.

150 rounds of CCI 40-grain JHP .22 Magnum shipped for $51 shipped.

500-round brick of .17 HMR Hornady 17-grain V-Maxes for $115 shipped.

And I didn't even have to drive anywhere and be disappointed.

Ammoseek, AmmoEngine, and GunBot are good search engines for finding in-stock RF ammunition. Just last week, I found reasonably priced HM2 ammo at Academy Sports through one of these sites.

I would've owned one by now, but recently got tired of waiting for the stainless version to come out, so I added a barrel to my existing CZ 455 instead.

that certainly is better than waiting,I assume it shoots well too.i had a CZ455 and it shot well, but it just didn't tick my clock for some reason or another.darn good rifles though.

I was wanting a stainless barrel also, but bought the predator and had it Cerakoated(SP?)

It was a good option for me! Low glare finish and weather resistant!


Virgil B.

Homesteader, if for any reason the source runs out for the link Mule Deer gave you, you can also get the CCI Mini Mags at Cabela's right now for a good price and free shipping.

https://www.slickguns.com/product/ccispeer-mini-mag-100-rounds-22-lr-849-no-limit

I've been finding .22mag at most Academy Stores for the last few months, CCI Maxi Mags and Hornady Critical defense.

Mine shoots Maxi Mags and Dyna Points very well.
The Dyna Points were purchased in OKC, back in '93, or so.

I fired two Predators side by side doing five shot groups. Both did pretty good with CCI VMax and Hornaday VMax...~3/4" at 50. Both also shot Winchester Dynapoints and Fiocchi 40 gr poorly...~1"- 1 1/2" at 50 with the Winchester being the worst.

m1919,

Thanks for the info. It's exactly what I was looking for, to figure out if I just got an exceptional rifle. Mine shoots the Dynapoints very well, but I don't have any Fiocchi ammo to provide a comparison there.

1 to 1 1/2" is plenty good enough for a lot of what a .22 mag is good for, I think. I tried a couple of rifles that would go 3/4" with the ammo they liked, but decided that it was overkill to have something bracketed so closely by LRs and the Hornet and hard to feed to boot. I can use the time spent looking for Mag ammo to load reduced Hornets (and now .223s).

I do kind of miss the 9422 I sold, but for the rifle, not the load.

John, I always thought those Dynapoints filled a very useful niche, in a rifle that would shoot them. Lucky you.

Mule Deer

This may or may not be relevant, but in the Dynapoints I fired, I had several that split the case.....some nearly the entire length. I contacted Winchester via email several times about this but they have yet to respond.

Unfortunately I didn't notice the split cases untill I had gone through a few boxes and was picking up the brass.

I may have just gotten hold of a bad batch.

Compared to a Marlin, the American is a thing of beauty.

m1919,

Thanks for the additional info about the split cases. I haven't had that happen with any .22 Magnum ammo, in several handguns and rifles, so do suspect you got a bad batch.

John,

I have a one in 22 Mag with the 22 inch barrel.

I don't have much experience with many other 22 WMRs, however, mine seems to be reasonably accurate with a few brands of ammo.

Specifically, it adores the Hornady 30 gr vmax stuff. It will shoot very uniform 5-shot groups that average just under an inch at 100 yds.

It also seems to shoot the 40 gr CCI maxi-mags and 40 gr Rem PSPs well. Both of these go between 1.25 to 1.5 inches at 100. Again, 5 shot groups. interestingly, these both go to the same POI which is about 3 inches off from the Hornady stuff.

The one round which it did not like was the CCI 30 gr +V stuff. That shot 4-5inch patterns at 100 yards. Just all over.

So far, that is the only ammo I have wrung thru mine. I do like it and bascially either shoot the Hornady or Maxi mags depending on the situation.

HTH,

Bob

Bob,

Thanks for the info.

As noted in my original post, I've owned a bunch of .22 Magnums and all except this Ruger were very ammo-sensitive, even more than the average .22 Long Rifle. Haven't checked my records but can't remember one that wouldn't scatter at least one load like your rifle scatters the CCI 30-grain stuff.

This was fine back when .22 Magnum ammo of various kinds was easily available, but that's not true today, I suspect because so much production time is going into making .17 HMR ammo.

Plus, .17 HMR rifles of all brands seem to be accurate and remarkably ammo insensitive. It's rare for .17 HMR ammo of any kind to average groups over an inch at 100 yards--and they all seem to land in close to the same place. I tried four different kinds of .17 HMR ammo the other day in my CZ. The four 5-shot groups averaged under an inch, and all 20 rounds went into 1.63".

I've been on the fence thinking about buying one of these. I think Whittakers had them for around $270 at one point with the heavier barrel. Came real close to grabbing one.

How is the factory stock? Solid or typical plastic junk? Anyone making a decent wood/laminate stock for them?

On the fence here, also. Been looking at a couple but still unsure because this would be my first ever 22 mag., (rifle, anyway). Stocks I've seen don't look that bad but I also checked out Boyd's gunstocks and they have several for the RAR in 22 mag.; about $129. IIRC. If a RAR were to wind up in the safe here it would probably also wind up with one of their sweet looking laminated stocks. From reading this thread it seems they shoot pretty good with ammo that they prefer. Heck; I should get one. My excuse could be that it fills that gap between my 22LR stuff and my 22 Hornet. Any excuse for another gun, right?

Mule Deer,

My buddy recently bought one of these and it is a shootin' sumbitch. Likes the Federal Game Shok the most but it doesn't seem real picky with a variety of other stuff.

He bought it at Scheels for $179.00. I think he has more money into the ammo for it at this point, than he does the actual rifle.

Gophers have been good this spring and it knocks the hell out of them.

Are you going to Kalispell this weekend?



Travis

I personally feel people get a little too neurotic with the rimfire stuff. It will do anything you need a .22 Mag to do in regards to accuracy.



Travis

Now I'm getting pushed over the edge.... Maybe I'll take another look at them. I've never owned a 22 mag. in a long gun and I can recall a couple 22 mags that used to show up at the range once in a while and they never impressed me all that much, accuracy-wise. But that was over 20 years ago and I don't recall who made them; all I remember is that they were 22 mag.. Those RAR's are starting to look a lot nicer now. At least for that kind of money.

Translation: Don't let Stick call you out for being a do-nothing chkunt...

Personally, making a 22 Mag not sound like a 357 (where legal) is Podunk, skookum or Ojibwe....if you live where it don't matter, get your chkunt off the couch.

Been so long since I've seen 22 Mag ammo on store shelves, I even forgot owning several rifles so chambered...its scarcer than 22 LR....at the same time, the few times I have seen it, its in oddball stuff like Bird Shot...

I have thought about one in 17HMR... that is available all the time locally... tho not cheap anymore... its cheaper to shoot 223...but the Ruger American, will take these 20 Round Mags I bought for the Ruger 77/17...or my Ruger 77/22 in 22 Mag...

would be a fun gun where I walk from Fence post to fence post along a fence line wasting sage rats....but then again, the 17 HMR doesn't give those fun loving explosions that a 223 gives ya...where almost ALL sage rats become "Airborne qualified..."

like little miniature Jihadi suicide bombers...every thing but the Allah Akbar...

Seafire,

I can only remember buying maybe three boxes of .22 Magnum in a store since Obama's reelection, but have purchased a few bricks over the Internet, part the reason I had so many different brands to experiment with in my RAR. Right now have around 3000 rounds on hand, and since I don't shoot little rodents with the .22 Magnum that should last a while.

.17 HMR is always available on the Internet, but the price varies. I wait for sales, and usually get it for around $110-115 a brick, which includes shipping. Just ordered another the other day for $114, delivered to my door.

Shot mine yesterday and the Hornady stuff is WAY better than any of the other stuff I had on hand.

The RAR has a barrel twist rate of 1 in 14". So it ought to shoot the heavier rounds better then the older 1 in 16" twist rate. Ruger was considering bringing the RA out in left hand bolt action - but that decision seems to be still on the back burner. The 22 magnum is nice cartridge. I'm not a fan of any 17 caliber because one has to be cautious when cleaning the barrel. So I've passed on the 17 and find the 22 mag to be good for what it is.

"I'm not a fan of any 17 caliber because one has to be cautious when cleaning the barrel."

Why?

I had lots of experience with 77/22 Rugers 22 mags, none of it good, so I won't be trying the currents rifle.

Mine likes the Hornady v-max stuff better too.. My chuckster seems to like the Remington accutip better..

Curious, where did you hear that information? I've been requesting (begging?) a LH American rimfire every chance I get through their "Tell the CEO" web page. Never had a reply, but I keep submitting them.

I made an account on this website specifically for this response. After reading numerous positive reviews on the Ruger American Rimfire in 22WMR, I decided to buy myself one. I bought the model with the 18" threaded barrel. The barrel is slightly heavier than the plain model. Topped it with a Vortex Diamondback 3-12x40 scope. These are some range results from the first evening to the range.

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Here is the first group shooting the Hornady Critical Defense 45gr. Shot at 50 yards. The squares are 1". These are shots 5,6,7,8 that have ever been fired out of this rifle.

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I read online that these rifles love 30gr ammo. So I put in some 30gr CCI Max-Mag+V and these are shots 9,10,11.

[img:left][/img]

Overall, I am more than pleased with these groups. In fact, I'm thrilled. I haven't measured these groups and I really should because if it can keep it up at 100 yards, it has potential to shoot 1/2" groups. A more realistic number would be 3/4" I'm sure but there aren't many 22WMR rifles around that can shoot those numbers. I highly recommend this rifle to anyone. This rifle model is the 8335 model.

Awesome shooting! Thanks for signing up and posting pics too... Welcome to the fire. After seeing the results of the predators, it makes me kind of wish I would have bought one of those instead. However, I'm pretty happy with the results of my standard RAR:

I know what you mean by "typical" 22 WMR level accuracy. I'm used to my chuckster. It's a pretty good shooter:



I wouldn't expect my RAR to shoot as well as the Chuckster, but it holds its own..

FYI, Whittakers has the Predator WMR's on sale now for $250.

Damn, that is a great deal!!

I believe I paid $289 with free shipping and I thought that was a deal. $250 is a steal! Now if only the shelves would start filling up with 22WMR ammo....

It is a lot of Gun for that price.

We just did a couple of "trigger jobs" last night....the light spring and removal of the trigger safety makes a huge difference...

Takes all of about ten minutes to complete.

Last winter I bought one of these and I am sorry I did. I have not shot it yet. It might shoot like a house of fire but I cannot get past the cheap feel of this rifle. I also have a CZ 452 in 22 LR. And it looks and shoots great. I wish I would have waited and bought a CZ in 22 mag. I know the CZ is more money but quality costs more. Just my opinion.
Erich

One of the many .22 Magnums I owned before this Ruger American was a CZ, because I'd had such good accuracy luck with many other CZ rifles, including several rimfires. While the .22 Magnum shot OK, it didn't shoot any better than most .22 Magnums, so went down the road, even though it "looked better."

I might eventually replace the factory synthetic stock on my RAR with walnut from Boyds--but probably not.

You guys will chuckle, but the best shooting 22 mag I've ever seen was a Marlin 57 lever action. I cleaned all the squirrels off the property with it in one day in a fit of giddiness. I've been squirrel-less for about 5 years now. It liked the 33 grain Remington IIRC. I finally sold it because there was nothing left to kill with it. It truly was an amazing shooter.

I don't mind the stock on these rifles. I'm pretty darned happy with mine, just the way it is. I don't need the higher comb that comes in the box, but as it sits it feels pretty good to me...

I think Ruger hit a home-run when they made this rifle. Their aim was a "budget" level rifle that still held its ground accuracy wise against others in its class and even more expensive rifles. At the price point, I didn't expect it to come with a heated stock and laser guided squirrel tracking bullets. The stock doesn't bother me too much but they had to cut costs somewhere to keep it as a budget rifle. I'd rather them cut the corners on the stock rather than the barrel. Overall, I think for the price, it is a superb rifle.

Have told this story before, but a friend in Oklahoma who can afford some very nice rifles asked me a year or so ago about what I thought would be a good "truck gun" for shooting varmints of opportunity. He owns more than one ranch and just thought the RAR's were too fugly.
I said in my opinion an RAR in .17 HMR would work very well for his purposes, and what the heck did he care about what a truck gun looked like? He hemmed and hawed, but before the end of the conversation thanked me for my opinion, though it didn't sound like he was in any way convinced.

Talked to him two months later and he owned five RAR's.

Good post. I agree. I just got tru putting a cheap scope on my RAR. Can't wait to get it to the range next Saturday:




The cheap Terra and RAR go together like peanut butter and jelly... I sure like the talley lightweights on this rifle too. I'm surprised more of you guys don't opt for them...

Keep us posted on how it shoots! I've been thinking about "fancying" up my stock a little bit with some Webbing spray paint to give it a fancy look. Your black stock with some gray webbing would look awesome in my opinion

How far was that group? I was talking 100 yard accuracy.