Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Ruger American Ranch 5.56

Possibly insterested in getting one of these for my kid as a first center fire rifle. Low investment for an MOA suppressor ready plinker.
Has anyone here tried one that uses the AR mags?
Curious to know if the chamber is cut to maximize the heavies (69 - 75gr) considering the AR mag COAL constraints.

I'm thinking somewhere Stick was saying the throat was rather long.

My brother has one of the originals that use 5 round round rotary mags. I bought one of the Compacts with an 18" barrel before the Ranch version was available. Both of ours shoot better than we can. If I were buying one today I'd hold out for the newer version that takes AR magazines.

I bought one for my son about 4 years ago when they first came out. This is the Ranch model with the compact stock, think the LOP is about 12.5". It now fits him perfectly.

He killed his first deer during the youth hunt of 2014, a nice 7 point buck. The ammo we used was a Hornady 5.56 TAP with a 75 grain H.P. It shoots these great. Now I've been loading up Hornady 55 grain GMX bullets for complete penetration.

I've used it myself to take about three deer and we both love this rifle.

I got one takes the AR mags . I like it . got it couple months ago . Shoot .223/.556 supressor ready . do not have a supressor yet.

That is the model I am looking at. Updated my OP to reflect. Thanks

A friend has one of the older models. He asked me to swap out the factory wood stock for a factory synthetic stock. The swap was ridiculously easy, and I was really surprised at how well it shot cheap factory ammo. With the cheap 4-12x40 scope that he had on it, five-shot groups at 100 yards were all right around 1/2-inch.

I have one of the 5 round mag originals (Ranch with 16 inch barrel). It was one of the best gun purchases I have made since being 18. It is not picky at all, it shoots Varget, W748, H335 and H322 all fantastic. Varget and H322 will shoot 3/8 of an inch more consistent than I can shoot and W748 and H335 will boringly shoot 3/4 inch. I shoot 55grn Vmax out of it and just got a really nice load of Varget with a 69grn Sierra Matchking worked in. I got it originally for a lightweight predator calling rifle which it is great at but it has turned into our utility rifle, it never stays at home. We shoot groups with it on paper as well as take it out to BLM land in the desert for blasting water bottles and anything else with it.

My son has shot it since he was 6, laying prone, single loads, it will even shoot reduced 223 loads with Bluedot really well. The comb of the stock is a little low so I put a Kydex riser on it but that is not what I would consider a required upgrade. It is a hell of a 600 dollar rifle after getting a Leupold VX1 for 149. I highly recommend it, its action feels more stout than the Savage Axis line and I really like the medium contour barrel. It is super light and handy without the bipod on it.

Hutch,

I have one with the older magazines, like the idea of magazine commonality but....

I wonder if the AR magazine hangs down at the balance point for carrying?

Jerry

My 223 takes the flush fitting mags, but I also have a Predator in 308 that takes the Accuracy international magazines. It comes with a 3 round mag that hangs down about 1/2" and is not a problem at all. I ordered a 5 and 10 round mag for it. The 5 round mags are about 2" below the stock and I can live with that. The 10 round mags are a little too much for carrying, but fun at the range. Magpul makes a 5 round mag that fits it as well that can be modified to hold 6 rounds. It isn't bad, and is actually my favorite.

For the 223/5.56 Magpul and others make a 10 round AR magazine that doesn't protrude any more than the 5 round 308 magazines. I can live with that. I don't think I'd want to carry it around with 20 or 30 round magazines in it. I have a few of the 10 round Magpul mags that get a lot of use with my AR's I don't even like the 30 round mags in it for the way I use it. The 10 and 20 rounders get used more. Of course several 30 round mags are loaded up in case the SHTF.

Go blackout.

Already been down that road.....twice. M700 and an AR. Also had a 300 Whisper back in the day.
Plan is to master the 223 bolt gun then move up to a short, suppressed 6.5 Creedmoor.