223 Ruger American Compact.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I love lightweight rifles in 223 (and 222) and have had several Sakos in the past. As much as I like the old Sako Hunters that I have had, they are hard to find and usually bring about $AU1500 if in any sort of condition, so I never replaced my last one (a 1985 built 222, rebarreled to 223 and when it's fourth barrel wore out, I took it to a gunsmith to get rebarrelled. he forgot my instructions and fitted a No3 profile barrel,which was way tooo heavy for the rifle and destroyed the stock, hogging it out to fit the bigger barrel. It went from my go to rifle to one I had absolutely no interest in and I sold it when a Sako lover made an offer on it.

I saw a Ruger American Compact in 223 the other day and I think this will be my new go to rifle. I paid for it and picked it up this morning, complete with a VX3 Leupold 2.5-8 scope and Leupold rings. It is now an All American, .

Off to the range tomorrow to sight it in and run the barrel in with jacketed ammo. Pictures and range report to follow. The scope cost me $AU50 more than the rifle! It is a nice looking outfit. It is set to get a run at rabbits and hopefully a fox or a goat on Monday morning.

[Four Fingers of Death]

Whoops! I didn't realise, but thinking back, I asked for a 2-7 Leupold, but the 2-7 in trhe shop was a VX1, which I turned my nose up at and the scope I ended up buying was a VX3 2.5- 8. A much better scope (nothing wrong with the VX1, but I have always used Vari X11s and Vari X111s).

The other thing I got wrong was I thought that I was buying a 1 in 10" twist, nope, these are a 1 in 8" twist. It is probably not going to be much good with light bullets and cast. I bought 200 x Federal Premium rounds which have the excellent 52Gn Sierra HP, I hope they work ok, my Tikka T3 Hunter with the same twist doesn't like 55gn bullets at all. The moral of this story is, do your homework before pulling your wallet out of your pocket!

[marlin39a]

That Ruger American Compact 223 is on my short list as a walking prairie dog shooter with 55 gr V-Max bullets.

[Four Fingers of Death]

It is a sweet little rifle, the length of pull is a tad short, but the overall length is only 36.75" which at 6lbs, makes it real handy. Might end up calling it my yardstick! I dohope it handles 55Gn spitzer bullets, I have oodles of them downstairs.

[NVScouter]

Love my compact in .308 and want a 223 but just was shown the predictor line. I'm thinking a 6.5Creedmoor and a .223 in that will be needed before hunting season

[Four Fingers of Death]

I thought that you were talking about the M77 Predator at first. The American in 6.5 Creedmore would be good for most things you hunt, punches way above it's weight.

[Four Fingers of Death]

Well, it sure doesn't seem to like Federal Premium ammo with the 52Gn Speer HPs! Groups look to be about 3" through the spotting scope (100yds). It was cold, windy and I didn't have my proper benchrest set up (nothing flash, but I only had a cheap plastic forend rest at the range today). It was getting dark and ended up alternating between drizzly rain and snow, so I packed up and headed home (too cold and wet to get the targetsO. I will be back on Monday and will open the range up early (before it gets too cold) and give the rifle a fair run. Watch this space, lol.

[cattleskinner]

Mick,

I got a chance to shoot some this past weekend. So far a starting load of H4895 (25 gr.) using LC brass, and 50 gr. Zmax bullets were the best 5 shot group at just under an inch at 100 yds. I am doing 5 rounds at a time going up .5 gr each time. Due to time restraints and that skinny barrel heating up, I was only able to get half the rounds shot. I am not sure if you have registered you rifle through Ruger, but they send you a cheek pad free because you bought the American rifle.

-Amos

[Four Fingers of Death]

G'Day Amois, are they the Zombie bullets? I suppose the plastic tipped bullets would be longer and might stabilise better.

My mate uses 75Gn A Max bullets in his fast twist rifle and they are brilliant, but I don't know how they would go on game.

We Aussies don't usually get those deals that you guys in the States get. I will ask at the gunshop though, thanks.

[NVScouter]

I shot a massive doe pronghorn at 180 yards last year with the Sierra 65g game kings. It duplicated my 250-3000 savage kills, I was tickeled. That was from my 1:8" 20" BBL AR-15.

I've also shot for group with those in that same AR-15 and under .5"@100y and believe it or not my 14" T/C .223 barrel shoots them into an inch at 100y too!

Borrow a coulple of those 75g A-max from your friend and load em up. I've heard scuttlebutt that the American Magazine doesnt like to feed the longer 75g bullets even though the rifling is perfect for them.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I used the 63Gn Sierras to great effect in the past, but they are a pretty stumpy bullet and even worked well in my 220Swift with a 14 1/2" twist. Thanks, I'll check out the 65Gn Game Kings.

There seems to be a ton of rifles with fast twist barrels and lots of heavy varmint and target bullets, but decent heavy hunting bullets seem a bit thin on the ground.

I will be shooting mostly rabbits, hares, foxes and the odd goat. I would like the bullet to be able to handle small deer and pigs as well, as there is always the chance of running into one.

[cattleskinner]

Yes, they are the Zombie bullets. I found them at Powder Valley when they were in stock. At $60 for 500 it was as reasonable as most fmj bullets. They look just like any of the red tipped vmax bullets Hornady makes, and I have heard that for all intents and purposes they are the same thing.

[NVScouter]

The doe was about 4 years old, and about 110lbs on the hoof. Most pronghorn does are closer to 60-85lbs. Dressed out she was still over 50lbs of meat. She had 2" horns and 1 testicle on top of her lady parts. Pretty cool my wife used it as a case study in her Biology course.

She was trying to figure out what I was so with a 100y zero I put the crosshair on her bottom lip and wacked her. Bullet entered a bit high center of chest angled downward through three vertibre, clipped the top of the heart, and destroying a lung. She never even blinked just crumpled. My wife had never seen a hit like that before and was amazed at the instant lights out.

I used the 63Gn Sierras to great effect in the past, but they are a pretty stumpy bullet and even worked well in my 220Swift with a 14 1/2" twist. Thanks, I'll check out the 65Gn Game Kings.

There seems to be a ton of rifles with fast twist barrels and lots of heavy varmint and target bullets, but decent heavy hunting bullets seem a bit thin on the ground.

I will be shooting mostly rabbits, hares, foxes and the odd goat. I would like the bullet to be able to handle small deer and pigs as well, as there is always the chance of running into one.

[NVScouter]

I know a couple guys that swear by them on coyotes but I havent had a chance to try it out on one yet.

[Four Fingers of Death]

When I bought the rifle I also bought 200x Federal Premium Vital Shok rounds (our guy gives a 10% discount with ten boxes and he was heaps cheaper than the big shops in Sydney anyway). These are a Australia only load with the 52Gn Speer HP.

When I realised that the wee rifle had a 1 in 8" twist, I was concerned that the ammo wouldn't shoot (my Tikka Hunter hates 55Gn bullets), so I went back to the shop and bought one packet to try out. He also had some Privi Partisan ammo with a 55Gn SP and I picked up a box of these for sighting in.

I sighted the rifle (I suppose I should call it a carbine, it is about the same length as my lever action carbines) last week and shot a group or two,but as it started raining and snowing at the same time, I quickly lost interest in retrieving the targets. At the range today and the wee beastie doesn't like the PPU ammo at all! 2 x 3 shot groups and one 9 shot group to get rid of the last of the ammo, all 3" groups. Not impressed. The rifle was being cleaned every second 3 shot group as I was still running the barrel in and they weren't fast strings, just slow strings so I wasn't heating the barrel up and causing the groups to spread.

The Federals fared much better. 3 x 3 shot groups, two were just under 1", one had two about 1/4" apart and one flier a bit over an inch away. Considering the conditions, I am quite happy with that. It was freezing cold and very gusty and I was a bit distracted having guys come up and borrow my spotting scope, screw driver set, etc, etc (I am the range captain, I willl rock up a few hours early next time and do some relaxed shooting.

The only fault with the carbine is it always refuses to feed the last round in the magazine. The bolt strips it and as it is carried forward, the rear of the case drops down into the magazine and jams. The first four rounds feed nicely, but that last one, Grrrrrrrrrrrrr! I will have a talk to the gun shop guy.

He had ten 223 scope / rifle combo packages ordered, but cancelled them when he found out that they were all fast twist barrels.

My mate is a long range target shooter and he has gifted me a packet of WInchester N.R.A.A Ammo which has a 69Gn HPBT. They should suit the gun better.

[Hickok]

I have a Ruger Hawkeye Compact in 7.62x39 and love it.

In order to get tight groups off the bench, I have to hold the rifle tightly, and grip the forearm also on the rest, as it tends to want to jump around at the break of the shot. Mine is so light, I have to really tighten up on the grip it when shooting groups.

[Four Fingers of Death]

Good idea Hickok, I do that for milsurp and lever action rifle. I will try that next time. I will also try another box of the PPU, it is pretty popular ammo here and I am sure should shoot a lot better. It is way cheap. If it doesn't work, I will use the rest of the box for barrel fouling shots or plinking or whatever.

[Nrut]

Mic,
Read shortactionsmokers post @ 6/22/14 10:55 am..

Might be the cure for your last round feeding problem..

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthr...22#Post8961722

If that doesn't work people with mag feeding problems are getting mag replacements from Ruger..
E-mail them and see what they say..

[Four Fingers of Death]

Thanks Nrut, I will measure the lips tomorrow when I am in the garage. I have the mag and rifle with me, but the calipers are buried downstairs.

I just loaded the mag and pushed the cases out using my thumb. The first four rounds pop out firmly, but the base of the last round drops down into the mag even then!

[W.R.Buchanan]

FFOD: I shoot pretty much all Recycled 55 gr FMJ bullets in my .223's, Mini 14, AR, and Kel-Tec SU16. None of these guns are tack drivers by any means and all have 1:9 twist bbls. but the accuracy of the AR and KT are in the 1-1.5" range. The Mini 14 is a little looser, but still good enough to shoot somebody out to 300 yards.

I think you'll find that most .223s nowadays are chambered .223/5.56 and have 1:9 barrels. If your gun has 1:8 then I would think it would do well with 55gr and up bullets or maybe 62 gr and up.

The light weight of that gun will make it an excellent walking around gun and the accuracy will surely be good enough for shooting rabbits (which I understand you have plenty of down there) and things up to small deer and goats.

My experience with my Scout Rifle shows that the Hammer Forged barrels just keep shooting better and better as time progresses.
I think you'll be very happy with your gun.

I sold my Sako Forester in .243 in the mid 80's and it was definitely a mistake. Those guns are running in the $1500 US range at gun shows and I haven't seen a good one yet. That gun would put anything I shot into the same 1" circle for as long as I chose to sit there. I think the Hammer Forged barrels are the answer.

Wish my brain had functioned better in my younger years.

Randy