The Ruger American 308 Win
- Thread starter Sandback
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Abel
Member
Thanks! I suspected as much. I really like the adobe pdf file.
so other than the crappy stock, crappy magazine, and scope bases that you replaced......the ruger was a clear winner!
i had a chance to check one out recently, and the cheap feel of the rifle overall struck me right off. the mag was nothing short of horrible. the remington is a fantastic platform that you can grow with, and the extra cost really isn't that much, but that's just me.
it's good that the ruger shoots well though.
p.s. i also get a kick out of a 6.5-20x optic with "whitetail" in the name.
i had a chance to check one out recently, and the cheap feel of the rifle overall struck me right off. the mag was nothing short of horrible. the remington is a fantastic platform that you can grow with, and the extra cost really isn't that much, but that's just me.
it's good that the ruger shoots well though.
p.s. i also get a kick out of a 6.5-20x optic with "whitetail" in the name.
powell&hyde
Member
back40
Every body is entitled to their opinion, but dang, don't go bashing other peoples guns.
Every body is entitled to their opinion, but dang, don't go bashing other peoples guns.
I just bought almost the exact same combo last week- A Dicks Sporting Goods exclusive variant of the 700 .308 Varmint 26" heavy barrel and an American .308
The 700 has a 3x9x40 Leupold I put on it and the American has a no-name 3x9x40 that came with the 700.
Got out to the range for a few minutes Friday evening to shoot both and my DPMS LR308 with a Weaver Kaspa 2.5x10x50 scope on it.
Got similar groups on all 3 at 100 yards.
Won't state the group size here, it was about 95+ deg 100% humidity, a lousy rolled towel rest and I'd had too much coffee all day But I did get the two bolt rifles sighted in and need to return and work on my issues getting good groups.
I like both rifles and will probably keep both.
The mag on the American does feel very cheap and flimsy- but Ruger prices an extra like they are extremely proud of it! $40ish
The 700 has a 3x9x40 Leupold I put on it and the American has a no-name 3x9x40 that came with the 700.
Got out to the range for a few minutes Friday evening to shoot both and my DPMS LR308 with a Weaver Kaspa 2.5x10x50 scope on it.
Got similar groups on all 3 at 100 yards.
Won't state the group size here, it was about 95+ deg 100% humidity, a lousy rolled towel rest and I'd had too much coffee all day
But I did get the two bolt rifles sighted in and need to return and work on my issues getting good groups.I like both rifles and will probably keep both.
The mag on the American does feel very cheap and flimsy- but Ruger prices an extra like they are extremely proud of it! $40ish
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Back40
I didn't say the Ruger American was better than the Remington 700. What I did say is that it shot as well as the 700 for less than half the price. The 700 is an excellent rifle. The Ruger American does exactly what it is supposed to do. As a budget shooter, the Ruger American has a market.
Sandback
I didn't say the Ruger American was better than the Remington 700. What I did say is that it shot as well as the 700 for less than half the price. The 700 is an excellent rifle. The Ruger American does exactly what it is supposed to do. As a budget shooter, the Ruger American has a market.
Sandback
powell&hyde, i wasn't "bashing" anything. the first line in my post was an attempt at being facetious. apparently it failed.
sandback, i understand what you are saying, and agree to some extent. it was a well written review and i appreciate the attempt at keeping all else equal during the testing. the 700sps can be had for around $550. so i'm not sure where you're getting the "less than half the cost" figure from. that aside, i'm sure the ruger will do what it's supposed too,
sandback, i understand what you are saying, and agree to some extent. it was a well written review and i appreciate the attempt at keeping all else equal during the testing. the 700sps can be had for around $550. so i'm not sure where you're getting the "less than half the cost" figure from. that aside, i'm sure the ruger will do what it's supposed too,
yuppiejr
Member
Back40:
I own a Remington 700 and have put a fair bit of work and money to make it into a sub MOA take on an LTR that will shoot same-hole and cloverleaf groups all day long, but it wasn't that way out of the box and certainly did not shoot great groups like the Ruger American Rifle reviewed out of the box. The thing about the Ruger is... even with the basic ergonomic quibbles, you don't NEED to upgrade anything to make it perform. It's a light, handy, affordable, accurate rifle that nobody will cry over if it gets banged around in the woods or provided only basic maintenance between it's twice a year trips out of the safe to sight-in and hunt.
A Remington ADL package rifle like the one at Dick's I started with (ADL Varmint in .308) that you MIGHT catch for $400-$450 on sale with rebates has the X-Pro adjustable trigger that is no better than the Ruger... a non free floating Tupperware stock and basic 2-pc aluminum base with a throwaway scope. There's NO removable magazine or floorplate (blind box only) and you're lucky to get 2 MOA with most hunting ammo out of the box. At minimum you need to throw $50-60 into a Hogue pillar bedded stock and might equal the Ruger's performance at almost $150 less out of pocket and a whole lot more weight to carry.
Ruger's American Rifle, like the Marlin X_7 series, Mossberg ATR 100 and Savage Axis (among a few others) are all focused on providing a high level of performance at a fair price. Remington and Savage started the trend with the 770 and Edge-Axis rifles which, frankly, don't stack up to the current crop of value packed economy hunting rifles that have hit since their introduction. The Ruger is economy engineering at it's finest but they really hit a lot of high points in the design (adjustable trigger, pillar bedded stock/action, non proprietary scope base, rotary detachable magazine a-la the 10/22 and 44/77, 44/99 design, etc..) that translate into great performance while keeping the price low.
As for the Simmons Whitetail classic... again, I suggest some reading - while it's not a scope I'd choose due to it's size and weight it's a well regarded bit of glass at a reasonable price point for people who want the extra magnification options.
Great review Sandback, thanks!
I own a Remington 700 and have put a fair bit of work and money to make it into a sub MOA take on an LTR that will shoot same-hole and cloverleaf groups all day long, but it wasn't that way out of the box and certainly did not shoot great groups like the Ruger American Rifle reviewed out of the box. The thing about the Ruger is... even with the basic ergonomic quibbles, you don't NEED to upgrade anything to make it perform. It's a light, handy, affordable, accurate rifle that nobody will cry over if it gets banged around in the woods or provided only basic maintenance between it's twice a year trips out of the safe to sight-in and hunt.
A Remington ADL package rifle like the one at Dick's I started with (ADL Varmint in .308) that you MIGHT catch for $400-$450 on sale with rebates has the X-Pro adjustable trigger that is no better than the Ruger... a non free floating Tupperware stock and basic 2-pc aluminum base with a throwaway scope. There's NO removable magazine or floorplate (blind box only) and you're lucky to get 2 MOA with most hunting ammo out of the box. At minimum you need to throw $50-60 into a Hogue pillar bedded stock and might equal the Ruger's performance at almost $150 less out of pocket and a whole lot more weight to carry.
Ruger's American Rifle, like the Marlin X_7 series, Mossberg ATR 100 and Savage Axis (among a few others) are all focused on providing a high level of performance at a fair price. Remington and Savage started the trend with the 770 and Edge-Axis rifles which, frankly, don't stack up to the current crop of value packed economy hunting rifles that have hit since their introduction. The Ruger is economy engineering at it's finest but they really hit a lot of high points in the design (adjustable trigger, pillar bedded stock/action, non proprietary scope base, rotary detachable magazine a-la the 10/22 and 44/77, 44/99 design, etc..) that translate into great performance while keeping the price low.
As for the Simmons Whitetail classic... again, I suggest some reading - while it's not a scope I'd choose due to it's size and weight it's a well regarded bit of glass at a reasonable price point for people who want the extra magnification options.
Great review Sandback, thanks!
yuppiejr
Member
Rhinoh - I own the same rifle you purchased (the Dick's ADL Varmint, 26") - don't be embarrassed by the groups, the stock and trigger are major out of box limiting factors in that rifle.
Get yourself a take-off Hogue pillar bedded stock and a set of BDL bottom metal with the proper length screws torqued to spec and you'll see a major improvement. I'd also give a nod to the Timney 1.5-4# drop-in trigger that Midway has on sale for $107 over the x-mark pro.
Figure you're out $100 or so for the Hogue stock & bottom metal and $110 for the Timney trigger.. should be able to get $50 for the X-mark pro trigger and $20-$30 for the ADL stock and magazine/trigger guard/screws on eBay. PM me if you want some help.
.. pardon the drift.
The point to the larger thread comparison, to equal the Ruger American rifle out of the box you can't price compare a base model Remington 700 ADL (their cheapest option) - you are looking at at least $600-$650 to make the Remington an equal shooter to the $325 Ruger American Rifle which is where I believe the "twice the price" statement is perfectly valid. The choice of base/rings/optics are going to cost the same for either platform and irrelevant to the discussion.
Get yourself a take-off Hogue pillar bedded stock and a set of BDL bottom metal with the proper length screws torqued to spec and you'll see a major improvement. I'd also give a nod to the Timney 1.5-4# drop-in trigger that Midway has on sale for $107 over the x-mark pro.
Figure you're out $100 or so for the Hogue stock & bottom metal and $110 for the Timney trigger.. should be able to get $50 for the X-mark pro trigger and $20-$30 for the ADL stock and magazine/trigger guard/screws on eBay. PM me if you want some help.
.. pardon the drift.
The point to the larger thread comparison, to equal the Ruger American rifle out of the box you can't price compare a base model Remington 700 ADL (their cheapest option) - you are looking at at least $600-$650 to make the Remington an equal shooter to the $325 Ruger American Rifle which is where I believe the "twice the price" statement is perfectly valid. The choice of base/rings/optics are going to cost the same for either platform and irrelevant to the discussion.
firesky101
Member
I can't wait to pick mine up. It is a .308 as well and I can get it Thursday night (California 10 day wait). IMO the magazine did not feel any cheaper than my 10/22 mag that has never, ever failed even with thousands upon thousands of rounds through it. I agree the stock leaves something to be desired, but I will see what the cheek piece they send out does.
mastiffhound
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I hope someone makes a mag for 5 or 10 rounds, like with the 10/22. I have a dislike of rotary mags, so single stack mag for this rifle would fix my main problem with this rifle. Others seem to think that the mag is craptastic too, I guess it isn't just me. I'm impressed with the accuracy. I will probably pick one of these up if the after-market comes up with a single stack mag in 5 or 10 rounds. It would be nice, like a gunsite scout with more barrel length.
bushmaster1313
Member
I hope the shooting glasses went back on after shooting the picture
Thanks for the review, I literally logged on tonight to see what you guys thought about this gun. I've decided to finally buy one, because I don't have any centerfire bolt guns. I was looking at the 30 06 because I have an M1 so I already have 06 and I don't need another caliber lol. I was hoping that this would be a good deer gun / budget "sniper" rifle I don't have a couple grand to drop on a precision bolt gun. I don't hunt much so this would mainly be a gun that would be good at stuff my AR isn't mainly extremely long range, basically what I want to know is how good of an idea is this or am I just being stupid spending $300 hoping to get a rifle that's effective at 400-800 yards btw when I say effective I mean I can hit a man sized target.
PS also consider that I have no other guns in this category and any 30 06 has got to be better then 556 at that range, right?
PS also consider that I have no other guns in this category and any 30 06 has got to be better then 556 at that range, right?
My point was in MY hands the American, the 700, and the LR308 were equally accurate, IOW all are capable of better accuracy than I am...
As for cost comparisons, well the American cost me $379, perhaps a tad high as I later saw them in WalMart for $357. The 700 cost me $449 after rebate.
The 700 has the Mossy Oak stock which I would have gladly declined for black and a few dollars off.
Victor1Echo
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- Oct 21, 2009
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- 424
Great review! Makes me want one.
firesky101
Member
800yds will take some practice with any gun, but I don't think the American would have a problem with it with proper glass and technique.
razorback2003
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- Aug 24, 2008
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When will Ruger come out with a stainless model? This seems like a good gun that is set up similar to a Savage with a reasonable price.
Good value for a deer rifle that will be shot just a few times a year.
Good value for a deer rifle that will be shot just a few times a year.
From what I've seen and read, the American is in responce to the Marlin X7. I bought a X7S stainless in .243 this past March for $372.00 OTD. I haven't seem much about head to head tests between the two. My Marlin has a target muzzle crown, pillar bedded stock, and adjustable trigger. With hand loads it will shoot sub MOA. I don't know which is the best rifle for your needs but I'd take a look at the Marlin before I bought a Ruger. Good luck.
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