Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Davidson's Ruger American

Davidson's recently had Ruger make some Americans in Compact, Stainless Steel and Left Hand. They weigh 6 pounds and are just over 36" long with an 18" barrel.

I got one in 7MM-08 before Christmas but it's been too miserable outside to shoot it. Finally, we had a nice and quiet (no wind) day yesterday with a high of 27 degrees.

I shot 20 rounds, mostly getting it on paper and breaking in the barrel. I did fire three 3 shot groups after fouling the barrel before each group. I found that a clean barrel caused the first shot to go approx. 1" high. The barrel cleans up easily and quickly.

Using H4350 @ 100 yards,

140 grain flatbase Sierras (with a less-than-max load) went into just over 1 inch.

140 grain flatbase Sierras (max load) went into exactly 1 inch.

120 grain Ballistic Tips (close to max load) went into .377"

All the loads went to the same POI -- or very close.

Also, noted: for a 6 pound rifle it didn't recoil badly. I COULD tell the difference betweed 140 and 120 grain bullets, though. The trigger came @ 3 pounds with only the tiniest amount of creep -- I'd never notice it in the field. It does, however, have a loooong take-up with no resistance before it trips. Something I'll need to get used to.

This rifle appeals to me, being so light and handy. It's a joy to tote around. I'll have a shorter 2x7 scope on it for hunting.

I'll eventually work up a load for 140 grain Nosler AccuBonds for my Elk hunting. I didn't drag my Chrony thru the snow but I'll chrony loads when it gets warmer. Hoping for 2800 fps with the AccuBond.