Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Shooting the Ruger American Predator in 223 Rem

First off, I want to thank those of you who helped me back in February. I finally settled on the Ruger American Predator in 223 REM.

Suggestions?

Just to give you some background, I consider myself a hunter that shoots rather than the other way around. For most of my history, I shot deer from the ground or a treestand in deep woods. Rifle season was just an extension of bow season for me. It has only been in the past 10 years or so that I have seriously contemplated reaching out to any distance. Pinpoint accuracy was never a big thing for me.

One of the projects I had on my list this year was to finally do some serious shooting for its own sake. I wanted an inexpensive rifle that would potentially get me sub-MOA accuracy out of the box so that I could concentrate on my loading and shooting form. In March, I purchased the Ruger American Predator in 223 REM, and overall, I am quite pleased with it.

I have a description of my most recent time out with the rifle here:

Wringing out the Ruger American Predator

I have a few questions for y'all regarding that shooting experience.

My main question is about wind. Of all the chamberings I shoot, I have previously shot 223 REM the least. When I did, it was mostly plinking. My 100-yard range is set up along an N/S axis, and most of the wind comes from the west and northwest. There are a treeline and a large tobacco barn that run parallel to the travel of the bullet. The exposure of the bullet to the wind, therefore, is quite erratic. In the first 50 yards, the bullet has no obstruction, but during the last 50 yards, the barn, and the trees create a chaotic situation.

I was working up a load based on H4895 and the 75 grain Hornady BTSP and found that the best I could do was shoot a group that was less than 1" in the vertical but had a 4" horizontal spread. It was erratic as well, no clear progression. At the time, I was shooting the wind was 12-15 MPH out of the NW with gusts to about 20 MPH. Lighter bullets I had shot earlier in the day faired worse.

Is the wind causing that perturbation? If not, what is causing it?
Would switch my shooting so that I am shooting west to east help remove that perturbation? I have that option. When we want to shoot at our longest possible distances, I take the bench out in the yard and fire out to the field to the east.

Oh, and another thing:

The one problem I have with this Ruger American is that it is extremely hard to feed a round singly. Loading from the magazine has been flawless, but if I want to pop a loose round into an open chamber, it is quite hard. Is this just the nature of the beast? Is there any chance a 3rd party magazine replacement might fix the problem?

No idea about the feeding, as I don't own a Predator, but orienting with the wind would certainly help accuracy. Wind is the biggest, relatively undiscussed factor in long rang shooting.

Wind encountered during the early part of a bullet's flight will have more affect than that encountered later, I believe.

Per Mule Deer, a set of wind flags set up between the bench and target would help you take your shots with the wind conditions close to the same each time, without having to wait for a calm interval.

You should be able to find a deflection table online to help you decide if your horozontal stringing is just the wind, or something else. Find a bullet and velocity close to your loads and then check against the wind speed. I use the Nosler app on my iPad and phone. A good loading manual should also have tables. I would think that any bullet with the same BC and velocity as the one in your loads would deflect the same amount, but a smart person might know better. JB will likely be along with the real scoop directly. This stuff is his bread and butter, of course.

Thanks Pappy.

I went and found this:
http://gundata.org/ballistic-calculator/

Bottom line: given what I was shooting, with a 20 MPH wind at 90 degrees, I would have a 3.5" deflection at 100 yards. If you add in a sub-MOA group to begin with, that puts it right at 4"-- just what I observed.

I also did the calculations assuming it was a tail wind instead of a crosswind, and the deflection went to next-to-nothing.

I guess a 100 yard west-to-east range is now in my future.

A 12-15mph wind with 20mph gusts isn't pushing your 75 HPBT 4" at 100 yards. While a tail or head wind is preferable to a cross wind for shooting groups, and it makes sense to try setting up with a tail wind and re-test before messing with anything else, I have an inkling you'll be looking at rifle/scope/mounts for the source of your groups. What scope and mounts are you using? How are you resting the rifle? The non-criss cross stocks were pretty flexible, and resting the rifle on a bag out near the fore-end instead of directly under the action could cause the stock to contact and put pressure on the barrel, and throw shots out- though that usually causes vertical dispersion. But a 4" group sounds like a bad scope or mounts to me. I've just seen the scope/mount system be the cause so many times that it's the first thing that comes to mind when we're talking groups bigger than 2" with today's rifles.

What I have is a Bushnell Banner 6-24X40mm with Weaver mounts.

The Rifle is resting on two 2X6 screwed at right angles padded with carpeting. I've been using it for the past 15 years for sighting in my deer rifles. However, as you said, I was resting out towards the far end of the forend.

If changing your direction of fire doesn't tighten things up, I'd try and swap the scope and mounts for a spare, if you have it.

A hard rest that causes bounce doesn't help groups any (maybe lay a folded towel in the V of your setup), and I'd definitely start resting the rifle back closer to the front action screw, instead of way out near the fore-end.

That table is giving you a worst-case scenario; 20mph at 90 degrees for the entire flight path. Your actual setup is somewhat better, so like the other guy said, something else is probably at work here. Until you re-orient your range, try to do your shooting at the crack of dawn when the wind is at its calmest. There's a world of RAR info to be found here to help you sort out your issues, once you establish what your rifle is really doing.

The wind would need to be gusting hard one shot, and completely calm the next to cause 4" of horizontal dispersion.

Jordan has given you some food for thought.

Another thought along similar lines; when I have a rifle that for some reason doesn't group well, the first thing I do is tighten all fasteners on sights and the action / stock really tight. It's funny how often this brings things back in line.

Might be worth a try.

I am guessing that there is a bedding problem, or as above. However in my experience, in general, horizontal dispertion is bedding and vertical is ignition. Wind would have to be VERY gusty to make a 4x1" "group". I had a MkII that was a bitch to single load w/out using the mag in a 204. It was my coyote truck gun and I sold it for that very feeding problem. Went back to my #3 Swift. You might try a single shot follower ala "Score High" brand or make your own, its easy (1/4 inch thick plastic using flat and rat tail files).-Muddy

I'll try the stock. Step1: the dollar bill test, and if it fails, Step 2: the matchbox cover trick. I'll also retorque the screw. It's still as the factory shipped it.

I'd love to find a solution that allowed single feeding, but this is a detachable rotary magazine. My guess is that someone has yet to market such a product, although I'd be first in line if they did.

I would guess that your forend is tapping the barrel when you shoot, in an erratic fashion. Probably exposed by the rest that you are using.

That's exactly what was happening with my RAR in .223.

Ed

Had this same problem with my Predator. A little time with a rasp and some sandpaper fixed it. The forearm is pretty flexible, so you may have to really open up the channel to keep it from contacting the barrel in all situations.