Does anyone have experience with the new Ruger American Rifle Hunter edition? It appears to have a heavier barrel profile, similar to a RPR and comes in a Magpul stock. Looking at picking up a new rifle to just tinker around with and use for hunting / light target shooting. Already have a CTR in 6.5 so my plan is to add a .308 to my safe. Yes, I know I should probably just get another CTR in .308 but this ruger looks intriguing. Any wisdom from The Hide?
Ruger American Rifle Hunter
- Thread starter mikethetiger55
- Start date
.850 at the muzzle? That’s a darn heavy factory barrel. 799 msrp means what, 550 street after a few months? I’ve been thinking about rebarreling my American but with pva being the only prefit option and months/year behind I don’t really care to do that. This could be a great option.
It should be comparable to an RPR in terms of accuracy. The actions and barrels (now also including the barrel profile with this new rifle) are very similar between the american and the RPR. This new American model is also huge step up from the "predator" rifles in terms of the stock.
With prices online under $700 it seems like a great option for someone wanting to try out precision shooting without breaking the bank. It even comes with a half way decent muzzle brake., and Timney is already making a trigger that will fit it.
It would be nice if the 6.5 Creed was offered with the option of a longer barrel, and if there were some other calibers available (6mm creed, 223, etc), but knowing Ruger those will come in time.
With prices online under $700 it seems like a great option for someone wanting to try out precision shooting without breaking the bank. It even comes with a half way decent muzzle brake., and Timney is already making a trigger that will fit it.
It would be nice if the 6.5 Creed was offered with the option of a longer barrel, and if there were some other calibers available (6mm creed, 223, etc), but knowing Ruger those will come in time.
Agreed it needs another 2" in Creed. They could've ditched the Predator stock but kept the Predator barrel as far as I'm concerned...
Looks like a decent buy, good set of features for a sub-$700 outlay.
I don't get the name though. Looks way more tactical than hunting oriented. And a "hunting" rifle that weighs 9.2lbs naked? Maybe I'm just a wuss but the heaviest hunting rifle I have comes in right around 9.5lbs scoped, and that's a 7mm mag with a 26" barrel.
Looks like a decent buy, good set of features for a sub-$700 outlay.
I don't get the name though. Looks way more tactical than hunting oriented. And a "hunting" rifle that weighs 9.2lbs naked? Maybe I'm just a wuss but the heaviest hunting rifle I have comes in right around 9.5lbs scoped, and that's a 7mm mag with a 26" barrel.
It’s a “magpul hunter” stock. That’s literally what it was named by magpul for every action configuration offered, not just ruger.
Magpul Hunter Series
www.magpul.com
So they named it after the stock, not after what it’s actually better designed for.
Some days I feel better about getting out of marketing than others ?
On another note: looking on gun.deals it looks like I can get this rifle for as low as ~$630, but I can also get the Predator in 6.5CM with a threaded barrel and AI db mag and an American Hunter stock for ~$640. So the question is: do you like a mid-weight 22” barrel and a spare stock or a heavy-weight 20” barrel with a factory brake?
Some days I feel better about getting out of marketing than others ?
On another note: looking on gun.deals it looks like I can get this rifle for as low as ~$630, but I can also get the Predator in 6.5CM with a threaded barrel and AI db mag and an American Hunter stock for ~$640. So the question is: do you like a mid-weight 22” barrel and a spare stock or a heavy-weight 20” barrel with a factory brake?
I'm thinking about getting one for hunting. 20" with a light silencer should be more than sufficient and I might even run a 1-8 on it 
It has a shorter and heavier barrel than the Predator.
It definitely is not what one would consider a “light” rifle for hunting...I think it weighs around 10 pounds before optics and ammo.
I see the barrel is heavier and shorter. Mine is the Predator model in a Magpul stock. With a Vortex Viper and a Harvester 300 on it, it only weighs 10.5#
^^^I think that’s more what I’d aim to put together rather than this factory model. Under 10lbs scoped (I’d skip the suppressor) with 2 more inches of lighter barrel is probably better in most hunting situations.
