What "raises my ire" is this kind of silliness in forums where the same ridiculous - YET DEFINITIVE - statements get kicked around as if they were remotely true. When someone doesn't care for a rifle design, then dismisses it out of hand with some incorrect, common cliche' it's a disservice to passersby who will read these DEFINITIVE assertions, not knowing any better, and pass on a rifle which may well suit their needs.
I don't recall anybody really slamming this rifle, other then the "cheesy" bit. IMO, most of the people who buy this rife are going to do so or not based on whether they like the way it looks or not. Not, because of what you and I call it...
Typically these types of rifles (modulars) are usually made to be used with a bipod. Do we really need to split hairs between a bipod, and off a rest? And by the way, my opinion hasn't really changed that much other then I didn't think the butt of the stock, being so thin, would rest on a bag well (although I understand Ruger makes a "shoe" for it). Why do you really care whether someone calls it a
"benchgun"? Because it's heavier then a standard rifle many people would simply choose to shoot it off a bench. It's not like the word
benchgun invokes a negative connotation, far from it..
but it's a long dang ways from a bench gun.
A heavier then normal rifle with a floated, heavier then standard barrel, usually shot off a bipod as modulars typically are, with an adjustable comb and LOP and an adjustable trigger is NOT a "long dang ways from a bench gun" for a lot of people.
forward balance and a little extra rifle weight has proven, for generations, to produce a more stable
is also typical of a benchgun.... but I will agree that it does make make for a steady offhand rifle as well, provided the shooter can comfortably hold the weight. So what does that prove...??
I'd rather guys were just honest - they want blued steel and walnut on their bunny gun... The RPRR isn't that. Don't label it something it isn't, just to pretend it can't do what you need.
I don't think anyone is being dishonest, I just think that they would honestly use it in a different application. Just like me, If I had it I would use it as a "just for fun" rifle to take to the club BR matches... If you want to hunt with it or do whatever that's fine to... to each his own... I have used my Anschutz and my S&L BR rifles to hunt squirrels with and I know others who have too and for some it's their
main squirrel rifle, for them it
is a "squirrel rifle".... why does the label really matter..???? For some people a knife is a weapon, for others it's a tool and for others it's an eating utensil... They can all be the exact same knife, it just depends how you use it....
Five of the first 8 respondents tagged it as a bench gun
This gun's purpose apparently isn't as obvious or clear as most. If it's not a target rifle or a hunting rifle then what is it? A rifle you hunt or "plink" with that looks tacticool? Something to just have fun with? A training rifle, maybe, although I think a training rifle should be able to be comfortably fired sitting and standing as well as prone or from a, dare I say it, a bench? It certainly isn't a serious "tactical" rifle, not a bolt action in .22LR. Or, is it all just a bunch of semantics.