I have posted in the past about the Ruger 7.62x39 Ranch and how much fun my son and I have with these rifles, so I thought I would follow up after our weekend shooting trip. I originally bought one to share with my son, but he grabbed it and it quickly became his. About the same time the local sporting goods chain had them on sale, so I picked up another one for me. We have a blast with these rifles and they shoot great with Golden Tiger ammo from our rifles. We stick to the ten round mags and have had no problems with feeding, firing, or extraction/ejection. This week we started off shooting at some paper to reconfirm our zeros, then spent the morning shooting at various things in the desert. I took some pictures of a stand alone five shot group at 100 and a ten shot group we shot together on the same target. It was a ton of fun shooting against each other. Even with all the other toys, we end up shooting these the most. So far these have been great rifles and are our constant companions in our desert adventures.
glad u like them, now ruger needs to offer some sights on them. these intermediate caliber rifles are fun. i need to get out more to shoot my new cz more
Thank you for sharing your post about the Ruger ranch rifle American. It was so refreshing to read about a father and son going out and shooting and making memories together and having a great time while doing so. Way to go!
Thanks for the follow up, this reflects my experience with my cz 527 in 7.62x39. I want to pick up one of these rugers also, since they are a little bit more utilitarian than a blued and walnut cz. I used to use my SKS for general woods bumming rifle, and I think the 7.62x39 is the perfect cartridge for that use. But it seems to make even more sense in a lightweight bolt rifle with a good low power optic. And I'm glad your son gets to go out and make some memories with you too, that is one of my goals this year, to get the two oldest kids out shooting more...
We have a VXIII 1.5x5 on my son's rifle and a VXII 2x7 on mine. I have the Boon and Crockett reticle which helps when shooting at far away things in the desert. To be honest the scopes are kind of a wash. His has better glass and mine has a better reticle. I do think I have a slight edge with the extra 2x magnification when shooting at paper. I think these scopes are just about right for these rifles. I can't see putting anything larger than a 3x9 on them though. I have not chronographed these rifles so I have no idea about the velocity. I will say that the trajectory does approximate the advertised velocity of about 2350 to 2400 FPS, but this is strictly off non-scientific observations made while shooting for fun! I hope this helps, Matt
@ECVMatt, the picture with the two rifles leaning against the tire it looks like the magazine well area are different between the two, is that the case and if so what is the difference.
It's just unreal how good the steel case ammo shoots in a good barrel. I spent 95% of my life believing the stuff was worthless junk. My 7.62x39 turned everything I though I knew on its head.
I've been saying this for a couple of years now, ever since I assembled my x39 upper. Most people are in the dark it seems when it comes to steel case x39 ammo. The Golden Tiger ammo is good stuff, sealed bullets and primers, and is a little hotter than the rest.
In my AK's, wolf generally outshoots any American brass cased ammo. And I have noticed that the shoulders on the American ammo are shaped quite differently.
Whether a firearm is CIP or SAAMI chambered can make a difference in the 7.62x39. SAAMI chamber are a little bit longer, if I remember correctly.
With ours, it’s always available, so every critter gets shot with it. We have the CZ in several calibers as well. We still like this more than the 6.5 Grendel in the Ruger predator.
I have no interest in the 7.62x39, but that sure does look fun! Maybe if I have opportunity to shoot one sometime it will change my mind.
Got the 6.5G predator too (haven't shot it yet) but I think the handiness of the ranch may make it the perfect utility rifle. It really is the perfect ranch rifle.
I agree. I reload, and really like reloading. However, it’s nice to shoot such cheap ammo I don’t have to load for. Also surprised how far this gun kills with ease. 300 yards for a coyote, and 214 yards for a doe.
I really like this rifle and its on the list of things to get. Even though its probably only going to be used at the range, having a nice shooting bolt action with inexpensive ammo gives makes a great general purpose rifle.
All of these posts ended up convincing me to get one. From a rest, I am getting 1.5"-1.9" groups from Wolf Polyformance. Not as good as I hoped, but honestly better than I expected. The gun is short, and very handy to shoot. It shoots as well with cheap steel ammo as my Tikka T3 Lite does with low-end .308 at 100 yards. More importantly, it falls in the elusive "fun to shoot" category. It may very well end up being my favorite <200-yard scoped rifle.
I traded a sks and an old Spanish mauser that I had never fired for the one I ordered. I bought a Nikon 3x9 bdc and a 10rd mini 30 mag to go with. .....you're killing my billfold THR....really.
I will, but I am happy with that. Red Army Standard was 1.75-3" I did not mention in the first post, but I consider a "group" to be 10 rounds or more. I'm sure it turned in better 3 round groups.
