Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Ruger American Rifle Predator Honest Assesment Needed

I have been toying on getting one of these in 6.5 creedmoor but am having some reservations. The gun will primarily be used for plinking and maybe deer hunting some haven't decided yet. The problem I have is that I have read nothing but positive reviews on the accuracy of these rifles but have never shot one for myself. Are they just a good rifle for the price or are they a good rifle at a value price.

I am asking the board for the straight up review on these rifles and for those that own them is the 22" barrel enough for a 6.5 creedmoor.

Thanks

They're good if you think they're good.

As Honest as it gets.....

RAR-P at the SRM....

They are good for the price and very accurate to boot. Will they kill chit, yes. You won't need anymore barrel for the Creedmore.

A buddy has the Predator in Creed. I've shot it and seen it perform at 1000+ yards using factory 140gr AMAX. It's a solid rifle using a 10x MQ.

The factory trigger is simple to fix if you want a lower pull weight. You can pitch the blade if you want, and completely remove the pull weight spring. If you do both, you just need a light spring for reset. It's a simple mod. If you want better, the Timney is excellent.

The stock, even the new ones with x-bracing partitions, are floppy in the fore-end. This is an easy fix. Some people rasp the channel. This doesn't do anything for the flop but can still prevent barrel contact. Or, you can bed the area forward of the front v-block. It's another easy mod, but if it's too much bother then rasp the fore-end if needed.

The fat bolt appears to act as a gas baffle. I've never tested it, but it seems like a safe action in terms of escaping gasses. The bolt is chunky and saves machining time, but the upside seems to be safety. I could be completely wrong though.

So, out of a few RAR I've fiddled with they seem to have a good barrel, decent trigger that is easily improved, and a serviceable stock. It definitely looks and feels like a budget rifle, but they seem to shoot well.

Downsides?

Some don't like the mag. I haven't had any problems.

Only gripe is with the S/A versions. If you run the bolt slow, an empty can drop inside the action instead of getting ejected. If you run the bolt briskly, the empty clears without an issue.

Jason

I killed my first deer with my RA Predator 6.5 today. Bang, flop 100 pound doe at 240 yds. The 130 gr VLD smoked the deer. Shoulder shot.

My rifle is really accurate but I like heavier rifles. I'm getting a semi custom built on a 700 action. Do I need to? No. But I just want to. The Predator is a great shooting value for the money.

This is the least expensive 6.5 Creedmoor on the market at under $400 retail, so if you want to test drive a Creedmoor, this is probably a good choice.

Hornady and Winchester/Olin factory ammo is excellent, or at least it is accurate in all five of my Creeds.

The RAR-P offers Ruger quality, usually good, and proven accuracy at a entry-level budget price. It isn't perfect and you could easily make it a much more expensive rifle via a Boyds stock and Timney trigger, but it does pretty well in "as issued" configuration. I can see where the quest for just a little better trigger or a little stiffer stock could easily turn the basic RAR-P into a "stone soup" project that you have more $$ into than it is worth.

I don't think that I want the RAR-P's barrel contour any longer than 22" if I was going to carry it far afield.

The simple truth.

I have heard this before and it really is the answer you are looking for. For me it is always the "next" one that interests me.

I don't care for the trigger on these but the rest of the rifle has great innovation and build for the cash. One man's opinion.

I'm holding out hope that somebody comes out with a new synthetic stock option, a Bell & Carlson would be great.

In the past week I've bought both a .223 and a .260 Ruger American Predator. Can't wait to shoot both.

I would pay for a bell and Carlson or similar for a ruger American and think it would sell ok

I'm surprised McMillan/Manners/etc doesn't have a offering for them available yet. If/when they do, they'll sell lots of them.

Bell & Carlson just emailed me back and said no plans to do stocks for the Ruger American's.

I emailed them about tikka stocks years before they started making them and they said it wasn't in their plans but sure enough a year later they were released so you never know I guess.

Last thing I would do is put a $500 stock on a $350 rifle. Throw a scope on it and just shoot the crap out of it.

I am guessing that 98% of buyers do not even know what a McM or Manners stock is.

I'm with you there, throwing a McMillan or Manners on it is out of the question. A $200-250 Bell & Carlson though would be worth it.

Here is 3 shots @ 100yds with my Predator using 140gr AMax over 42.4gr of H4350.

My Predator wears a SWFA 6X Mil-Quad scope.



Here is same load using the 140gr Berger this group is at 200yds and measures .547".

The shots covered in tape and in the orange dot are Hornady 140gr AMax Match factory ammo @ 200yds.



I am very impressed with the 6.5 Creed and the Predator.

I'm so impressed with the Creed that I'm having one built.

Here's rounds 13-15 outta mine....

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