Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Ruger Confounds Logic Sometimes

I really really want to buy me a Forbes rifle, but man, I'm kind of tight. And a Ruger American rifle is maybe half a pound heavier and probably shoots just as good, if not better for 20% of the cost? It is kind of hard to justify the added expense.

If it ain't wood and blue, it all kind of looks the same anyway...except for the Savage Axis. That thing looks like...well, I don't know what it looks like but it is ugly.

As long as you can also change the barrel, bed it, replace the trigger and true the action.

You might as well put a Swarovski on top of it as well.

I was thinking about a Nightforce scope. That would make it "Practically Tactical".

jim- not picking on you, agreeing with you.

Over here its the Axis that still has the bulk of the lower end market, don't get enough Americans to allow that 'domination' to occur. Speaking with the local gunshop owner, on review they are slightly down in profitability, but working 4 times as hard to maintain it. Less shooters/hunters are buying the quality end of the firearm spectrum, preferring to purchase lower priced items and keep money in their pockets.
Cheers...
Con

At 57 I'm lost in the past I guess. I love wood and blue! I like to admire the rifle I'm using when I stop for lunch, in camp or at home. I even still like my hammers and axes to have wood handles.

A hunting firearm has always been more than just a tool or a means to an end for me. If all my hunting was in the Pacific Northwest and it rained on me all day, every day that I hunted, I would own a stainless and plastic rifle. But I don't, so I don't. So no American or Axis for me.

To me there has never, and will never be a good looking plastic stocked rifle. Utilitarian? Absolutely! Shoot lights out? Sure!

But just because Rosie O'Donnell has all the same equipment a Connie Britton or Catherine Bell has, I know who I would choose to spend time with. Not that Ms. Britton or Bell would ever spend any time with me.

Somebody probably already has fancy stocks and scopes on order for some of these $300 rifles. Probably the same guys who spend $1000+ upgrading 10/22s and Mark III pistols, instead of buying Anschutz rifles and S&W 41s. In fact, I'm pretty sure I saw a Stevens 200 with a pretty decent Boyd's checkered wood stock on it the other day.

I dunno....I just got back from the LGS and looked at a Ruger American, and a Hawkeye.

Not much doubt which one I'd pick.

I can understand the "cheap accuracy" attraction, but still wouldn't buy an American. But they must be selling a lot of them because they had a lot of them there. Not my cup of tea.

I would rather a CRF rifle, with a open trigger, one piece bolt, three position safety, not because a push feed wouldn't work, I just choose to like that feature set so I own quite a few MKII's and hawkeyes. That said I can see some use for a rifle that that's cheap and works well. I have my eyes open for a all weather RAR in 223 and there is a good chance I will pick one up when they become available.

I will say that the number of RARs at local gunshops and the number they seem to be selling over the last few months is impressive. I wouldn't be surprised to find that in the last quarter its among the top selling centerfires of any model.

My guess is that its due to a number of factors, first they seem to be producing enough that shops have 20+ on the racks and the price is right. They feel pretty good to me (for a plastic stocked POS that is). I wouldn't be surprised if the wholesale price is such that they are profitable for the shops to sell.

One more factor is that they are in a range where they can be pretty much an impulse buy. There are a lot more folks that can drop $300 on whim, than can drop $1200.

My main concern with buying one of these cheap rifles is that something will break or fail in the field. Nothing worse.

Imagine knocking over your trophy, and needing a second shot to finish the job and something like the extractor breaks and you can't chamber a second round?

There are other cheap options that provide much more rugged reliability. The Zastava M70 bolt action synthetics are available here for up to 75 dollars less than the Ruger American in places and about the same money as an Axis. Those things can't be broken in my experience, and they shoot about as good as anything out of the box.

not here though. ruger is $340 and the zastava- if we can find one- is over $450

You're not lost in the past. You're just waiting for the right shade of polymer to come along. No worries.



Absolutely. I've got a fancy stock on a Stevens. It was a 223, now it's a 6x45.



We know. You'll just love the American.



The stock is likely stronger than the wooden stocked rifles you own. The other parts have been thoroughly tested by the R and D folks. They're solid. (Except the Remingtons...)

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There are so many pluses to the American, Axis and XL7. They are affordable, accurate, and bring new shooters into the sport. No one says that you have to buy one, but you should feel happy for those that do. Can you remember your first rifle?

The world is full of anti-gunners. Be happy that hunting and shooting does not have to cost a small fortune to enjoy. Not everyone can afford a Leupold or a Kimber. They'll shoot as well or better than the expensive rifles. And you know what? Not everyone likes wood, or high dollar price tags on something they consider a tool.

Don't think of these rifles as econo-tubes. Think of them as Sport Utility Rifles (SURs) There, you were here for the birth of some new slang. You can take them anywhere. Beat them up. Modify them. Paint them. In short, treat them like a Jeep.

I've played with a couple. As I said on another thread, I think I'll get me one in the morning.

bobnob:I don't think it ever occurs to some rifle buyers that this sort of thing could ever happen...

The most they'd think about is would the factory warranty cover it? .....which may be helpful after the fact,but not worth much at the time.

One nice thing about something like that happening with a cheap rifle....I could fling it into the nearest river and not give it a second thought.

You're absolutely right about being concerned with the factory warranty, but in the event of failure, it's not much good at the time. That happened to me. I had a Leupold go south on a hunt over 600 miles from home. Luckily, I brought another rifle.

You guys must hate Dodge trucks too...

To the Two Bobs (inNH and nob17):

So far the Americans may not have been around long enough to see how they'll hold up over the long haul. But I have shot the snot out of the .308 I own, and have been on a couple of big shoots where 10-12 shooters used Americans to not only do "accuracy" shooting but rapid-fire, with the bolt being slammed back and forth and brass flying everywhere.

No rifle break-downs so far, but then again I'm somebody who's fired over 100,000 rounds through Remington 700's under all sorts of conditions from -20 Fahrenheit and snowing to 100+ in dust--and haven't had an extractor break or a bolt handle come off yet. Maybe I'm lucky, but apparently something about me is REALLY hard on scopes....

I'm betting even the cheap Ruger will please the once a year deer hunter right down to the ground after all that's likely Rugers target group. But, they are not for me.

And no doubt it especially pleases the deer hunters with kids.

i really like mine. took a closer look after JB spoke so highly of his.