Ruger Question

[Boerrancher]

I have been a Savage fan forever. I love the Axis line of rifles. The three that I have all shot sub-MOA right out of the box. I am wanting a bolt gun in 300 BLK, but Savage does not chamber for that cartridge. That leaves me with two choices, Ruger or Remington. With my last experience with Remington's poor quality, and no customer service, that pretty much leaves Ruger as my only option.

I have heard good things about the Ruger American rifle. I don't have any personal experience with them, and my only experience has been with a couple of Mod 77's, and they were not very accurate. One was a 22-250 that the best it would ever do was about an inch and a half for 3 shots at 100 yards. My Savage Axis will stack 5 shots in a hole less than .35 dia.

If anyone here has any experience with the Ruger American, especially with one in 300 BLK, please let me know what you think about it, and how well it shoots. I don't mind spending money, but I don't like spending money on junk. I would rather have a custom rifle built than dump $400 on something that won't shoot accurately.

Best wishes

Joe

[Storydude]

Buy a Savage,rebarrel to 300Blk.
Plenty o good smiths here that would do it for not much coin, I'm sure.

[runfiverun]

look at AAC they take the rem action and work it over.
they cost a bit more [double] than the Ruger but their tolerances are about 2 times tighter and so are the groups.
I have Both the ruger and the AAC.
I really like the stock ergonomics on the Ruger and it will take a wider variety of cast boolit and case combinations by far but if the AAC will chamber the round it will shoot it into much smaller more consistent groups every time.

this limits me to using LC brass for jacketed rounds and name brand cases for cast because of the case wall thickness in the AAC.
not all a bad thing because the ruger will chamber the LC brass with cast boolits just fine.
I bought 1-k of the converted LC stuff and split them between the rifles and then bought some other brass for the AAC to shoot cast with.
I don't get to shoot the Ruger all that often anyway, it seems to be with the wife constantly.

[DougGuy]

I thought the allure of the 300blk was in the AR platform where you have 7.62x39 ballistics in an easy to feed format for the AR. The cartridge itself seems to be somewhat lacking even compared to the 30-30. If I were going to sink money into a bolt gun I think I would choose a caliber more effective at longer distances than the 300blk.

[dragon813gt]

I thought the allure of the 300blk was in the AR platform where you have 7.62x39 ballistics in an easy to feed format for the AR. The cartridge itself seems to be somewhat lacking even compared to the 30-30. If I were going to sink money into a bolt gun I think I would choose a caliber more effective at longer distances than the 300blk.

I have no desire to build an AR for the round. I do have a Ruger American Ranch in it. It's a lightweight short rifle that comes w/ a threaded barrel from the factory. It's a slick little rifle. If you're allowed to hunt w/ silencers in your state it gives you an affordable platform to do so.

I do have one major issue w/ it. The stock comb is very low. The comb is for using iron sights but it doesn't come w/ them. Adding any optic, even a dot mounted on the rail, has me pulling my cheek off the stock quite a bit. A scope would have me pulling me cheek pretty much entirely off the stock. The comb height was a stupid decision IMO. Especially when you realize no one makes an aftermarket stock for it due to the bedding system. Hopefully someone does soon because I hate the factory stock. Only being available in FDE sure doesn't help people in that don't live in the desert.

There have been reports of light firing pin strikes and rifles have had to go back to the factory. This is the only problem I've heard about them.

[B. Lumpkin]

Get you an some iso-mat and duct tape. Make a cheek rest to fit you. The rifles are user guns and really can't be made to look any worse so the mat/tape fix will fit right in.

[dragon813gt]

Get you an some iso-mat and duct tape. Make a cheek rest to fit you. The rifles are user guns and really can't be made to look any worse so the mat/tape fix will fit right in.

Or they could have used a stock w/ proper comb height. I'm not about to use duct tape on it. I mounted a SeeAll sight which is low enough that I don't have to pull my cheek of the stock a lot. It would be one thing if it actually came w/ irons. Then I can see the reason for the low comb. But it's designed for scope use and has the wrong stock for it.

[marlin39a]

I love Savage rifles as well. However, I own a Ruger American Ranch in 5.56, and the Predator in .223 Rem. I will stick with the Rugers over Savage any day. Well crafted, accurate, and affordable. That's my 2 cents.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Sorry, I can't offer any advice about the new offerings by Ruger...I too, am a fan of the Savages.


I thought the allure of the 300blk was in the AR platform where you have 7.62x39 ballistics in an easy to feed format for the AR. The cartridge itself seems to be somewhat lacking even compared to the 30-30. If I were going to sink money into a bolt gun I think I would choose a caliber more effective at longer distances than the 300blk.
Except for pushing a heavy boolit at sub-sonic speeds, which seems to be what the 300blkout was designed for, I'm with DougGuy.

[quilbilly]

I am about to buy a Ruger American Ranch in 223. The only time I have heard about light hammer strikes has been with the 300 BO and have not heard an unkind word about the function of 223's. My hope is to get it to shoot moderately well with 53 gr+ CB's at 2100 fps with a readily available powder. I was looking to get an Axis in 223 but one look at the compactness and light weight of the Ranch with the threading on the barrel made it ideal as a traveling rifle (as if I need another one) for coyotes of opportunity at relatively close range.

[jonp]

Buy an AR in 223/5.56 and another upper only in 300 BLk. You now have 2 rifles that can use the same magazines and bolts. All told about $650-$700

'I thought the allure of the 300blk was in the AR platform where you have 7.62x39 ballistics in an easy to feed format for the AR. The cartridge itself seems to be somewhat lacking even compared to the 30-30. If I were going to sink money into a bolt gun I think I would choose a caliber more effective at longer distances than the 300blk."

I'm also with douguy on this one. Although the 300 BLK does offer more energy at longer ranges than the 7.62x39 it is somewhat comparable to the 30-30 in a semi-auto with the advantage of using the same lower, bolt and magazines as the .223. Anything much past 250yrds is not what this caliber was designed for but within its limitations much like the 30-30 it does what it is supposed to do pretty good

[KYCaster]

Buy an AR in 223/5.56 and another upper only in 300 BLk. You now have 2 rifles that can use the same magazines and bolts. All told about $650-$700

'I thought the allure of the 300blk was in the AR platform where you have 7.62x39 ballistics in an easy to feed format for the AR. The cartridge itself seems to be somewhat lacking even compared to the 30-30. If I were going to sink money into a bolt gun I think I would choose a caliber more effective at longer distances than the 300blk."

I'm also with douguy on this one. Although the 300 BLK does offer more energy at longer ranges than the 7.62x39 it is somewhat comparable to the 30-30 in a semi-auto with the advantage of using the same lower, bolt and magazines as the .223. Anything much past 250yrds is not what this caliber was designed for but within its limitations much like the 30-30 it does what it is supposed to do pretty good





I jumped on the "Blackout Bandwagon" very early in its development. I very quickly became disappointed in its performance. Like Douguy said....its big appeal is it fits the AR platform. Designed from the start for suppressed guns using heavy bullets at subsonic velocities. It does that job pretty well.....if you're careful with the pressure.

Problems arise when you try to do things with it that it wasn't designed to do...like hunt. Sure, you can kill a deer with a 200 gr. bullet @ 1050 fps. or a 150 gr. @ 1900 or a 110 gr. @ 2200. But, most of the guys I know who want to hunt with their AR are not happy with the 100 yd. restriction...and....their hunting loads are pushing the pressure limits of the cartridge...and most of them look down their noses at me when I show up with my 35Rem (It's an AR thing, obviously I don't understand). These are the same guys who have been hunting with 308, 30-06, 300Mag, 7mm Mag and the latest, greatest Super-Short-Fat-Magnum...but you can't kill a deer with a 30-30 like your grandfather did, he was just lucky (and hungry).

OK, rant over....(not quite)

JohnP...I disagree with your statement....
"Although the 300 BLK does offer more energy at longer ranges than the 7.62x39 it is somewhat comparable to the 30-30 in a semi-auto..."

That is not true of the Russian cartridge at all, and only applies to the 30-30 because of the tubular magazine restriction. Loaded with the same bullets, both the older cartridges will beat the BO by a substantial margin.

So, Boerrancher....If you want a 300BO "Just Because", go for it. It is an interesting cartridge and I learned quite a bit when working with it. But if you're not happy with the selection of rifles available, check out the CZ527 in 7.62X29.

Jerry
"

[B. Lumpkin]

Or they could have used a stock w/ proper comb height. I'm not about to use duct tape on it. I mounted a SeeAll sight which is low enough that I don't have to pull my cheek of the stock a lot. It would be one thing if it actually came w/ irons. Then I can see the reason for the low comb. But it's designed for scope use and has the wrong stock for it.

I agree that the proper stock in the first place would have been nice. However, they didn't use one so one has to use what works. If they were finely stocked in rich walnut, then no, I would not use duct tape and a mat. Since they are bargain basement guns made with the cheapest stocks possible, I'd be breaking out the tape and iso-mat, lol.

[mcdaniel.mac]

If you don't like the Model 7 Remington, and I can't blame you given the difference between the modern stuff and the 1987 ADL .243 in my sale, then the Ruger is the way to go. It's light, it's well finished for the most part, and slots in somewhere between a Savage Axis and a Savage 11. It's not going to be as polished as a custom-built Savage,but with something as simple as a strap on riser and a suitably low mount it's light and confortable. I threw a Burris 332 on my 5.56 Predator version and you know, it's pretty handy! Given the Blackouts shorter range, a simple red dot might be just the thing for you. I prefer Aim point, especially if you can catch a used M2 or 6000 series for under $250, but Primary Arms and Burris both make very solid micro red dots. I have the FFIII on a Glock 17 and I'll be if it's not like cheating at the range.

I would recommend the Ranch, the Predator barrel is fine normally (22") but when I stuck a giant suppressor on suddenly it felt a bit front-heavy, and especially with the .300blk you don't need to extra barrel when it could be the same weight and just stiffer.

When I played with the cartridge more (used to have a friendly back yard to use) I found it was somewhere between a lightweight .30-30 and a more aerodynamic .45ACP depending on how you load it. I haven't tried 170-ish grain loads, but the 147 and 150gr loads were really satisfying. 125 seemed to be the sweet spot. With a manual action, I kinda want to try a slower loaded 110gr FMJ. Graf's seems to periodically have sales on them, I guess not a lot of .30 Carbine reloaders, and it might make a real low-recoil plinker load or rabbit popper if I can get it to stabilize.

Best of luck with whatever you choose.

[white eagle]

Joe
not speaking for the Ruger American but the Ruger 77's
that I have owned have all been excellent shooter's
I have one now a 22o swift that will cluster 5 in a small
hole @ 100 yds (you know the kind that make you smile)
May have been you got a lemon
just sayin'

[runfiverun]

there is a few guy's out there doing some 500 yd shooting with the B.O.
I at first looked at the round as a cheap-o plinker rifle type thing but quickly found out that it is actually a versatile useful round.
even after following the 300 whisper along back in the 80's I didn't think too much about the round either [didn't think too highly about the 30-30 back then either]
but there is something to be said about plopping holes near each other at 50-100yds in a rifle using 3.5-4grs of pistol powder.[without ear plugs in]
or speeding things up with a lighter 150-165gr cast boolit and shooting nice groups at 15-1600 fps with 9-10grs of another slower powder.
or loafing a 120gr boolit along at 32-20 velocity's for small game hunting on the fencerows or woods.
and then shooting a rabbit, coyote, or prairie dog at 200 yds with the same rifle using a whopping 17-19 grs of powder and a 110gr jacketed bullet at 2400 fps.
it's also pretty useful as a 30-30 replacement for deer hunting with 125-130gr bullets at over 2-k fps.

yeah you give up a little something to the x39 round but you gain it all back by using brass you found on the ground for free, small amounts of powder, and a variety of boolit/bullet styles to good affect on the range or in the field.

[mcdaniel.mac]

Oh, my favorite element of the round: components. H110/W296, 30-cal (.308) bullets, standard small rifle primers, and cut down 5.56 or .223 brass. A small (2") chopsaw and wooden spacer makes for quick rough trimming, enough to form and then trim with a case trimmer, or if you're patient (or live in an apartment with neighbors) a case trimmer in a drill chuck works!

If you can't find the components, you're in a rough spot all around.

[WILCO]

I have been a Savage fan forever. I love the Axis line of rifles. The three that I have all shot sub-MOA right out of the box. I am wanting a bolt gun in 300 BLK, but Savage does not chamber for that cartridge. That leaves me with two choices, Ruger or Remington.

Was thinking a custom barrel for your Savage might be the way to go.

[2wheelDuke]

The price difference between the Ruger and the others is pretty big. I just looked into things again, a replacement barrel for a Savage in .300blk is half the cost of the Ruger. Davidson's is running a sale on the American Ranch in 300blk right now with the flat dark earth stock. $355 total shipped to my local shop. I went ahead and ordered one. I've got 300blk ammo around already, and I'm sure I've got a scope and rings I could stick on it. I'll have to load up some light bullseye loads with heavy boolits to play around with.

[quilbilly]

I reversed course quickly today on that Ruger American Ranch Rifle when I discovered the price suddenly went up $50 and the rifle has a 1/7 twist rather than 1/8 which would making it even harder to adapt for CB's. On the other hand, the T/C Compact Venture was on sale at $50 cheaper and has a 1/12 twist in the 223 which should be more CB friendly in theory. It is the same twist as my Hornet which loves cast. We shall see.

[Boerrancher]

Thanks fellas for all the replies. I know all about the performance of the 300BLK as I have been shooting them in ARs for several years. I have several other 30 cal rifles ranging from the 300 RUM to the 30 Carbine, I just want a bolt 300 BLK. I ordered the Ruger, because in the long run it was cheaper, as I would have had to buy another Savage .223 Rem and a barrel. The Low comb doesn't bother me as I am used to shooting an M-1A with a scope.

When it comes to hunting, the range limitations on the 300BLK don't bother me. I generally shoot my deer in measurements of feet away not yards. Anyone can shoot a deer. True hunting is when you are close enough to almost touch them before you pull the trigger or loose the arrow. I have found that the 110 gr Hornady V-Max at around 2400 fps does just fine on large whitetail if you put it a hair below center,behind the front shoulder. They usually make about 3 quick jumps and fall over dead.

Best Wishes,

Joe