A while back I had given my son his first big game rifle, a Savage 99 Deluxe in 308 Winchester. And not just any Model 99 - mine. I had purchased this fine rifle second hand when I was 16 years old. I learned to appreciate that rifle and that caliber as I carried it on many hunts over the years. With it, I had put meat in the freezer many a time. I was very pleased to pass on not just a rifle, but a history to my boy.
It didn’t take very long for me to feel that something wasn’t quite right. While I was pleased that my son now hunted with the rifle I had carried for so long, I found that I missed the versatility of the 308 Winchester. There was a gap in my hunting tools, and I needed to do something about it. I checked with my wife, who stated unequivocally that it would be tacky to take my Model 99 back from my son. So I had to look elsewhere.
Since my noble, if shortsighted, act of giving my son my rifle, I had been in the market for a low cost hunting rifle in 308 Winchester. What I had been looking for was an out of the box shooter that wouldn’t break the bank. The rifle I had my eye on was the Savage Weather Warrior in 308. I liked the Savage line, and this model would have the Accu-Trigger and the Accu-Stock options. It had a reputation as a very accurate rifle out of the box, and was under $500 (at the time I stared looking). I had little luck in finding this rifle. It seemed to always be on back order. The order I placed remained unfulfilled for more than a year until the dealer came back to me and stated that he couldn’t get the rifle and was cancelling the order. In the meantime, the price on the Savage kept creeping up until it was hovering around $700. Now it was in the same price range as the Remington 700, arguably the baseline standard for a quality, accurate, reliable, affordable rifle. I was beginning to think that I was going to have to accept spending at least $650 for my next 308.
Then Savage introduced the Axis, Remington the 770, and now I had a couple of options. Then Ruger announced the Ruger American in 308.
I confess to being a Ruger fan. My first wheel gun was a Ruger Single Six 22/22Mag. I currently own more than a dozen Ruger firearms in both short guns and rifles, in calibers from 22LR through 480 Ruger. Other than the hideously ugly Zytel stock on one of my model 77s, I have had no complaints or problems with any of my Ruger firearms. So I was hoping that the Ruger American would be a decent rifle.
But I was skeptical. How could Ruger produce a solid, reliable, accurate rifle and market it for under $400? There had to be shortcuts. So I waited. I lurked in the forums and read all of the reviews. I waited for the indication that Ruger had built a lemon.
Oh cruel fate! A local gun store had a sale and listed the Ruger American in 308 for just $325. I couldn’t pass that up. But what if it sucked? On the other hand, what if it didn’t? Trusting in Ruger, and with a shrug of the shoulders, I went and bought one. I figured to test this new rifle and let others know of what I discovered
The Build
My son not only retained my beloved Savage 99CD, but he also had purchased a Remington 700 in the same 308 caliber. I called him to see if he would help me test the Ruger American out. My intent was to see how the Ruger compared to the Remington 700, again, arguably the standard in affordable, bolt action rifles. I pitched the idea to my son, and he immediately agreed.
We wanted to eliminate as many variables as possible. So our plan was to put the same model scope on both rifles. Shoot the same ammo, on the same day, at the same range. Both of us would shoot both rifles to eliminate any individual shooter issues.
In keeping with my goal of building an inexpensive shooter, I went with the Simmons Whitetail Classic scope from MidwayUSA. These are a bit plus sized (6.5-20x 50mm), but still made in the Philippines with good glass and having a good reputation for a budget optic.
I utilized Warne Maxima rings on the Ruger, and put Remington Integral rings on the the 700. I did replace the aluminum bases on the Ruger with Weaver steel bases.
The Test
We bore sighted both rifles and used some Federal blue box to get the scopes dialed in. I had acquired two boxes of Federal Gold Medal 168gr match ammunition for the comparison.
Once the scopes were printing where we needed them to, we set the rifles aside to cool down. It was time to see how the Ruger American would perform.
The day of the test was overcast. We used an IR temperature gun to measure temperatures. I quick zap of a few points around us established that it was a balmy 57 degrees outside. Humidity, as measured by the wonder of the iPhone (used to check the weather conditions at the local airport) was 72%. There was absolutely no wind at all on the day of the test. We were at sea level. We used a laser rangefinder to verify the range was 100yds. Bottom line: A perfect day for testing.
Our plan was to set both scopes to the same magnification. Set the target at 100 yards. The first shooter (Shooter #1) would fire three rounds in three minutes from the Remington 700. We’d measure the barrel temperature before shooting the group, and then after the three shots. Switch rifles and repeat. Then wait for the rifles to cool back down to the starting temperatures and repeat the sequence with Shooter #2.
The results…
We fired the test pattern several times and had repeatable results. I am only including one set of targets from each shooter to show our findings (the other targets showed similar groupings.) The Ruger shot tighter groups (1/2 moa) than the Remy 700 (1.25 moa) for both shooters. Clearly, the Ruger American compares well with the Remington 700 for out of the box accuracy.
Individual shooter observations on the Ruger American
Shooter 1
I was pleasantly surprised as to how the Ruger American exceeded our expectations, with the doubts that we held due to the price. The Ruger American followed my Dad home for less than half of the price I paid to bring my Remington 700 home. What I did not expect, was for the Ruger American to outperform my rifle by a landslide.
Pros
The first thing I notice about the Ruger compared to the Remington was the trigger. The stock trigger of the Ruger was crisp, and set at the perfect tension.
The Ruger’s barrel maintained a consistently lower temperature than the Remy. After three shots with an average of 30 seconds per shot by each shooter, the Ruger’s barrel temperature maintained a cooler low 80’s compared to the Remington’s high 90s. Additionally, the Ruger’s barrel cooled down significantly faster than the Remy.
The Ruger’s free floating barrel gave enough room for a dollar bill to slide around the barrel, all the way to the chamber, whereas George Washington got stuck in the Remy.
Overall between the crisp trigger, the cooler temperature, and the free floating barrel, the Ruger American highly deserves its first place prize.
Cons
The Ruger American is a light rifle, weighing in at a featherweight total of 6 lbs and 5 ounces. The recoil was not unbearable by any means, but definitely had a harsher bite than the Remington.
With all of the effort Ruger put in to designing a fantastic shooter, all of their brainpower must have been used up to forget the last touch. There was no cheek plate, making a good comfortable sight picture difficult to achieve. Overall the Remington was significantly more comfortable to shoot.
The Ruger has a detachable box magazine, that just didn’t feel right. It never felt like it seated all the way. There is most likely an aftermarket magazine that wouldn’t feel “cheap” for lack of a better word. Nothing further to be said about it, I just didn’t like it.
Bottom line, the Ruger American performed far better than expected shooting sub MOA out of the box for $400… Well Done Ruger!
Shooter 2
Pros
The trigger is fantastic. Clean, crisp, and broke at what I estimate to be approximately 3 lbs.
Safety is located on the tang, where I can work it without changing my grip.
Cons
The magazine is made completely of plastic. It didn’t give a positive feel of locking into place when inserted, and it rattled a bit in the magazine well. Overall felt very cheap. I am hoping that the magazine proves reliable, but my initial impression of it was not good. Other than one instance in not getting the magazine properly seated, we had no feeding problems with the magazine throughout the testing.
I don’t understand why Ruger would manufacture a rifle without iron sights, include pre-mounted Weaver bases, and then put a stock on the rifle that doesn’t have a Monte-Carlo cheek pad. The existing stock places your line of sight so far below the scope that it is almost impossible to get a proper cheek to stock weld and still see through the scope. I know we had a 50mm scope mounted, which really exacerbated this issue, but even a 20mm scope would be difficult to get your eyeball on with the out of the box stock configuration. I know that you can use your serial number and call Ruger to get a free, strap-on cheek pad, but really? Would it have raised the cost that much to have a scope friendly stock on this rifle?
Neutral
Recoil was noticeably more than with the Remington 700, but not uncomfortable at all. Apparently Sir Isaac Newton's Laws are still in effect.
Other observations:
I was surprised that the Remy didn’t fair better. A quick dollar bill in the barrel channel of the 700 indicated that the free floating… wasn’t. Additionally, the integral rings for the 700 are 30mm with a sleeve to bring them down to 1”. While the groups fired from the Remy with both shooters were repeatable and consistent, indicating that the scope was securely attached to the rifle, I still have to wonder about those sleeves.
The stock trigger on the 700 was a LOT heavier than the Ruger American, which I am sure contributed significantly to the wider groups of the Remy.
I expected the Ruger’s light sporter barrel to heat up quickly and demonstrate more effect from the heat than the Remy. So as part of the test, we measured the temperature rise between groups. Much to my surprise, the Remy heated up quicker, and to a higher temperature than the Ruger did. Weird.
Conclusions:
The Ruger American looks like a winner. It shot ½ MOA out of the box, the only “mod” being replacing the aluminum Weaver bases with steel ones. The trigger is excellent. Other than the absent cheek pad for the stock and the chintzy feeling magazine, I found the package to be great value and an excellent performer.
- Sandback
