I've been on the hunt for a decent synthetic stock rifle to use as a knock-around gun, truck gun, bad weather deer rifle, etc. I'm leaning more toward the Ruger American right now. It's not perfect, but I do have two of the American Rimfire Predator rifles and they have both been excellent, so I'm thinking the centerfire version should be decent. I think I've narrowed my choices down to the American Ranch in 6.5 Grendel and the regular American in 243, but I'm having trouble deciding between the two.
I'm leaning toward the 6.5 Grendel Ranch currently. I like the shorter 16" barrel size and think it would make a good truck gun and not be too big to get in and out of a vehicle. I also like the option of having the cheap Wolf ammo that I could use for plinking or range fun. I like that it also uses AR mags.
But the regular American in 243 would have better ballistics. It's a more traditional hunting rifle with the 22" barrel. But even when I'm hunting, my longest shot would be maybe 250 yards. And I hunt my own property so it would have to be an absolute monster that just wouldn't come any closer for me to take a shot that long. Otherwise, I get countless opportunities at deer under 100 yards season.
I'm interested to hear everyone's thoughts on these two options. Thanks!