Ruger American Predator .223 range report

[back40]

a friend of mine and i recently ordered ruger american predators in .223. we got a chance to do some medium/long range shooting with them this past weekend, so i figured i'd do a quick write-up.

both rifles came nicely packaged with all of the usual paperwork, including an offer for a free stock pack for registering your rifle online. i chose not to do this, as i prefer the triad tactical stock packs with the internal cartridge loops (also made in the USA).

the fit and finish is pretty nice for a rifle in this price range, and i believe the matte blue finish looks much better than the standard american line. the bolt lift was a little stiff at first but after cleaning and putting some rounds downrange is nice and smooth now. i removed the action from the stock to clean everything, and adjust the triggerdown to about 3#. i retorqued the action screws to 72 in/lb. ruger states 60-80 in the manual.

i removed the one piece base and remounted it with loctite on the screws and torqueing it per weaver's spec. i mounted a leupold mark ar 3-9x40 with mil dot reticle and bdc turrets, using warne maxima low rings. added the butler creek caps (only thing not made in the USA on this rifle now), and was ready for the range.

i dialed turrets to mechanical center and found i only needed a few clicks left to be hitting the bull at 100yds. we didn't shoot for groups at 100 unfortunately, and i hope to do this this weekend with various loads to test overall accuracy.

after a couple shots to be satisfied with sight in, we moved to the 10" steel gong we had set up at 300yds. i dialed the bdc turret to 300 and with 55gr bulk ammo was hitting it consistently. we paid no attention to letting the barrel cool and it seemed to have little effect on our shooting.

we then moved out to 500yds with the same 10" steel. hits were still consistent both with my bdc turret and his bdc reticle in the nikon p223 he mounted. by this time the barrels were warm enough that mirage in the scope view was becoming a problem. we let them cool a for a bit and had no problem placing almost evey shot on target.

near the end of the day we moved out to 700 yards. we still made hits, and with a drive/hike back to the target, i'd say with about 50 percent of shots taken. the difficult part was that we really couldn't spot our misses. his bdc reticle only went to 600, as did my turret. i tried entering some fast and loose data into my ballisitc calc, but without decent data to start from, i have no idea if the solutions were anywhere near the mark.

all in all, for a sub $400 rifle with a 3-9x scope, i was pleased with how well it shot. i hope to spend some time wringing it out this weekend at 100yds with a few different loads, and come up with some solid dope for future long range outings.

quick and dirty shot of the rifle as set-up.

 

[cat_IT_guy]

Thats a good looking gun and some great shooting. Ruger makes some great products, though I personally do not have any experience with their centerfire rifles (2 x 10/22s, a single six, and a red label in the safe, so its bound to happen sooner or later).

Shooting gongs at long range sounds like a blast, too.... my "long range" .308 is almost wasted at my longest available range of 200 yards.... one day.....

 

[Gtscotty]

I believe I've read that the throat was a bit short on some of the original .223 RARs, did you get a chance to run any heavier bullet ammo, if so, were there any issues? Did the mags feed OK? I'm sort of stuck between buying a FN TSR and buying a RAR Predator AND an SS 12x42.... Decisions decisions.

Nice rifle, thanks for the quick review, I look forward to the accuracy testing, realguns.com got pretty stellar accuracy out of their RAR predator.

 

[gotigers]

I hear the .223 Ruger American mags aren't long enough for longer loads. Have you tried any longer loads?

 

[back40]

I shot black hills 75gr match and had no issues to speak of. All fed from the mag and extracted/ejected just fine. My only complaint is that the mags are akward to load and you can't really load a single round. It pretty much wants to be fed from the magazine.

 

[back40]

Gtscotty- I have the SS 10x42sf and had considered mounting that up. I think it would make a nice combo. I just wanted try out the bdc turret on the mark ar since I've never used one.

 

[back40]

was able to get to the range and run some different factory loads through the predator today. i was a little pressed for time, so didn't give much consideration to letting the barrel cool between shots. perhaps it would've performed better if i had. temp was 88F, with wind at 2-5mph gusting to 10mph at half value.

i tried:
remington UMC 55gr mc
federal AE 223 55gr fmj
black hills reman 75 gr match hp
black hills reman 60gr vmax
hornady varmint express 40 gr vmax
ppu 75 gr match hp bt

the two vmax loads showed the most promise with the 60gr shooting significantly better turning in 3/4moa. it also shot the best from my 6920 with a 1-4x. the 40 gr hovered around 1moa, and the 75 gr match from black hills was a little more than that at about 1.25. i wouldn't buy the ppu again.

*again no issues with the two 75 grain loads. the only issue i've read of had to do with the mag not allowing handloaders to seat the heavier bullets out further, not really any issues with the throat.

most of the reviews i've read of this rifle show 3 round groups, which i've never been inclined to refer to. however, given the that this isn't a varmint profile bbl, perhaps that should be taken into consideration.

i'd like to find more loads in the 60-70gr range, as it seems from today's shooting and other reviews, that's what these rifles seem to like best.



best group of the day...

 

[sappyg]

Nice range report.
I've had the best results with 65 gr. SGK bullets using standard primers and IMR 4895 in my RA compact 223. Compressed loads were necessary because there is no lead in my rifle. There is enough room in the mag to run out longer bullets. 55 gr. Vmax over CFE223 is crazy good stuff. With some loads I can easily get 3/4" @ 100 yards. Others not so much. These rifles want to shoot but for me it's been hit or miss. This is a cheap rifle but not ment to be feed the cheap stuff. Don't even bother with Tula or Monarch. 60 gr. anything has been dismal at best.

Have had, and continue to have, FTF with five different magazines with the compact rifle. Most FTF occur on the last round but some on the 1st round. Since I think Ruger is still on the first generation magazines for this rifle it's not a matter of if you will have issues but when.

Bolt lift is stiffer than most. Perhaps a trade off for the short throw. IDK but it's easy to get use to all the same and I love the short throw of the bolt. Ejection is extremely positive. So much so that it's hard to catch spent cases due to the angle and force. No matter how lightly the bolt is opened the result is energetic for lack of a better description.