Ruger American in 308winchester

[sloughfoot]

Long story short I had a savage axis with the heavy barrel that shot great with 150-170 grain cast load. The obnoxious downside was it’s unbalanced carry weight. So I ditched it and a few friends kept raving about the ruger American accuracy. So after a week or so of looking reading and hemhawing I found one in 308 with a 24” mid weight barrel and with the loads I’d tuned for the savage right out of the box I knew I had a shooter. I tried 3 loads I’d previously loaded for the axis. 150 grain M&P fn, 160 grain pointed boattail cast bullet that were gifted to me for testing and the Lee 170 grain RFN. The 150 M&P came out on top at 1” @ 100 yards. I’m sure with some fine tuning it can be shrunk with the other bullets. Never cared for or about a muzzle break but it came with one installed and holy moly what a difference. Recoil is nothing. These loads are between 2000-2200fps. This rifle is an all around pleasure to shoot and it shooting cast so thoroughly we’ll just absolutely excites me! 314347314350

[Three44s]

Congrats on your new shooter!

I bought a Ruger American Compact in 223 (sadly they discontinued that combo) and its a gem!

Three44s

[sloughfoot]

Congrats on your new shooter!

I bought a Ruger American Compact in 223 (sadly they discontinued that combo) and its a gem!

Three44s

This 308 is 1.80lbs lighter than the savage and 6 extra inches. I love it thus far

[Land Owner]

My non-ported 308 RA is barrel heavy too. I'm thinking of adding some lead in the butt stock to bring its balance back a bit.

Question to the Universe...
Why? Why port a 308? I realize yours came that way (no critisism toward you)...but why?

[contender1]

Ruger hit the right combination of things with the American Rifle line.

[Outer Rondacker]

Some would say why not port everything. Just saying.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I have a Savage 99 .358 with a muzzle brake (bought that way) and a couple Savage 99 .358's with 'standard' barrels. The muzzle brake does make a noticeable difference in perceived recoil to me when shooting 225 grain jacketed at 2500 fps. Probably works much better on smaller bored rifles. I do see an advantage to porting and muzzle breaks unless barrel length affects handling(weight, balance, saddle scabards...).

[kungfustyle]

I bought a Ruger American compact in 308 for my wife. The thing kicked harder than my 30-06, so I added about two pounds of lead in the stock. Now it's a joy to shoot. If a rifle is 6 lbs or so dressed any 30 cal is going to let you know that its being shot. Enough people said something that they added the muzzle break. Good for you on your Ruger Sloughfoot.