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Ruger’s new target long range 22lr American ... swing and a miss

And this is why I bought a T1X.

My 3 Ruger Rimfires are fun to shoot, but I wanted something with better accuracy.
 
All American Rimfires have aluminum bedding blocks. After some slicking up, my skinny barrel 22LR is quite a shooter.
 
I wonder if RPRR's are hit and miss barrels like general Ruger barrels. My friend's RPRR was shooting 1" groups at 100 with CCI SV. The action is pretty slick in the RPRR from me using it, felt like a great rifle especially for $400. But I've also heard people having poor precision with factory RPRR's too.
 
22lr barrels are hit and miss, as is head space, same for extraction and ejection issues. Bolt machining is blacksmith quality finish. Triggers can be made decent, bolt throw is smooth and length adjustable. My last two Ruger's both had to be sent back, the RPRR got a new barrel, but they did nothing for weak ejection issues. The .17HMR American got a new bolt and I fixed the extractor issues.

The .17HMR American is a shooter, the RPRR got a .17M2 barrel and is now a shooter.

I've owned a few Ruger's since my 10/22 I purchased in '74. Sadly, I'd be hard pressed to buy another after the last two experiences.
 
If as said above, you get a good barrel, they can be good shooters. They are not typically fantastic shooters.

I bought mine at the LGS for a great deal. I had the barrel cut to 16 and rethreaded. I did the pen spring trick on the trigger and left the blade in place for safety. The trigger is now very good. I slicked up the bottom of the bolt so it isn’t tearing up the next round in the mag. I tuned the mag for minimal reliable spring pressure. I bedded the bedding blocks with aluminum tape and began to shoot it.

It has an old PA 4-14 FFP mil/mil on it and a 20moa rail. It has spanked some nice rifles a few times. It certainly isn’t a top level rifle, my Kidd is better, but it is definitely worth and performs better than my investment. I have always enjoyed working with an underdog and having it do well.

It was intended to be my squirrel slayer and it is exceedingly good at that job.
 
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I wonder if RPRR's are hit and miss barrels like general Ruger barrels. My friend's RPRR was shooting 1" groups at 100 with CCI SV. The action is pretty slick in the RPRR from me using it, felt like a great rifle especially for $400. But I've also heard people having poor precision with factory RPRR's too.
Tell your friend to go ahead and frame that rprr because I couldn’t even get 1” groups with center X out of mine. She got sold for a future vudoo lol
 

Still no match chamber :(
It does have a bedding block but basically it’s a longer barrel target rifle in an adjustable stock with a bedding block.

I don’t foresee many people buying one of these over a cz457 or tikka t1x

Ruger will sell a lot of these. They build rifles for the masses, not the small percentage of RF shooters who read these threads and try to wring the most from a rifle. Ruger is a huge name in the industry, that alone will encourage sales.

The average Joe (who already has a 10/22) is going to buy one, stick on a $100 optic and shoot bulk ammo. And be very happy with it. That is a good thing for all of us.
 
The RPR I had was VERY picky about ammo as. I have a Ruger American predtor in a MDT chassis which is a hammer. I also had a Ruger precision rifle that shot pretty well. When I found an ammo the Ruger rimfire liked it shot great. My son was using it for his match rifle and the 18” bull barrel and it was a lot of weight for him to handle. The adjustability made the rifle work well for him. We put a 16” Whistle pig barrel on it to lighten it up. That barrel shot great with supersonic ammo at 50 yards but went to crap past that. Subsonic ammo didn’t shoot well out of it at all. We ended up selling the whole set up and buying him a Tikka T1X and putting it in a Bravo. He has been doing really well with that and loved it. We are putting the CZ 457 we have in an MPA chassis and he is going to see if he likes the shorter barrel on that better. Right now the only drawback with the CZ is the magazines are tough to load. My guess is the new Ruger will probably shoot well with the right ammo.
 
The RPR I had was VERY picky about ammo as. I have a Ruger American predtor in a MDT chassis which is a hammer. I also had a Ruger precision rifle that shot pretty well. When I found an ammo the Ruger rimfire liked it shot great. My son was using it for his match rifle and the 18” bull barrel and it was a lot of weight for him to handle. The adjustability made the rifle work well for him. We put a 16” Whistle pig barrel on it to lighten it up. That barrel shot great with supersonic ammo at 50 yards but went to crap past that. Subsonic ammo didn’t shoot well out of it at all. We ended up selling the whole set up and buying him a Tikka T1X and putting it in a Bravo. He has been doing really well with that and loved it. We are putting the CZ 457 we have in an MPA chassis and he is going to see if he likes the shorter barrel on that better. Right now the only drawback with the CZ is the magazines are tough to load. My guess is the new Ruger will probably shoot well with the right ammo.

My buddies RPRR does not like Eley ammo so far. It does Center-X fine, but whatever lot of CCI SV he's shooting is also shooting really well. Given how hard it is to buy specific lots of CCI SV, he's switching over to the SK ammo line for practice and then C-X for matches.
 
So the 10/22 competition and rpr come with 30moa rail but not the long range edition:rolleyes:
 
Tikka has been saying they had one coming out for a year now. My youngest boy is a lefty so I can sympathize with you on some level. Right now we have him shooting a 10/22 because working the right handed action was just so awkward for him. He is also a new young shooter so I really want to get him on a bolt action as well. Thank goodness he isn’t cross eye dominate at least.
 
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The Ruger American has a hammer forged barrel just like all others in this price range except Savage which uses a button barrel, although I have seen some horrible examples of their barrels. Yep you guessed it, I own a real bore scope. The Ruger barrels are as good as any other manufacturers barrels and better than some. Remember the price is the limiting factor. A good high quality button barrel will sell in the $300. range and end up costing more than the complete rifle when installed. You might cut your 1/2" groups in half with that barrel but was it worth it? I shoot CCI SV in everything, if the rifle don't like it I sell the rifle. I refuse to spend 10 bucks a box to get a little better group size.
 
My skinny barrel American has shot .116 at 25 yards. I have not needed to shoot it farther for serious examination but may just for kicks. It’s job is squirrel control and it does it very well.

Barrel was cut and threaded/crowned, bedding blocks bedded, trigger return spring replaced with one from a pen and the bottom of the bolt stoned and slicked up. I tuned the mag for the lowest spring pressure that is reliable and the little thing just shoots.

Out of the box it was so-so. After some work it is really good. I do not think the barrel itself is now the limit but the chamber not being match.

There is a smith in Michigan that puts 10-22 style barrels on them for about 125 bucks and cuts a match chamber. I just don’t see I need the improvement (if indeed it did really improve).

I have a Kidd rifle for more serious fun.
 
My skinny barrel American has shot .116 at 25 yards. I have not needed to shoot it farther for serious examination but may just for kicks. It’s job is squirrel control and it does it very well.

Barrel was cut and threaded/crowned, bedding blocks bedded, trigger return spring replaced with one from a pen and the bottom of the bolt stoned and slicked up. I tuned the mag for the lowest spring pressure that is reliable and the little thing just shoots.

Out of the box it was so-so. After some work it is really good. I do not think the barrel itself is now the limit but the chamber not being match.

There is a smith in Michigan that puts 10-22 style barrels on them for about 125 bucks and cuts a match chamber. I just don’t see I need the improvement (if indeed it did really improve).

I have a Kidd rifle for more serious fun.

Is that the smith that put a Kidd barrel on a RAR and it was posted on RFC?
Last I heard he might be retiring FYI. Go look at the thread over there about it.
 
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Is that the smith that put a Kidd barrel on a RAR and it was posted on RFC?
Last I heard he might be retiring FYI. Go look at the thread over there about it.
Yeah, i spoke with him on the phone a while back. I had the 20” Kidd barrel that I replaced with a 16” and was going send it and my RAR to have him do it. After the gun shot so well I decided not to.
 
Well arrived sooner than expected. It does have a 30 moa rail. Stock finish isn't the greatest but it will work for now. I will get a range report soon as possible. Pic added
IMG_20191219_192057.jpg
 
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Does that only have the qd on rear not up front? Hard to tell for sure in the pic, glad to hear it does come with 30moa rail.
 
Ok, only got 50yds today but gonna get out to 100 soon as I can. Top target is aguila. 10 rounds each. I did try some other ammo but they sucked. So not a voodoo,but for me as a trainer im ok with it. I am going to try some Lapua center x,just hate to buy 500 for one box. Trigger is not good but most of us are accustomed to our other rifles with great triggers so i see a timney coming soon. Really wasn't expecting custom rifle accuracy but for some of us I think it will be fine. I looked at it this way, Tikka is awesome 22,but gotta add a stock cause most of us will. Bergara has it all but lil pricey for me. Ruger is the middle of the road,just needs a better trigger. Gonna clean the barrel and go again.
 

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According to people over on RFC if you pull the spring out it should be a 1.5# trigger, dont have one personally so cant confirm though.
 
Well arrived sooner than expected. It does have a 30 moa rail. Stock finish isn't the greatest but it will work for now. I will get a range report soon as possible. Pic addedView attachment 7206141

I REALLY like how this looks. What's the range of adjustment on the cheek riser? How high above the center of rail?
 
I'll get some measurements tomorrow,bout to call it tonight. Im using the new vortex medium pro rings and a DB tactical 50mm. That will give u an idea.
 
I replaced my trigger spring with one from an ink pen, and left the blade in place for safety. My trigger is just under one pound on my Wheeler gauge. The folks at RFC typically see between 1-1.5lbs, I got lucky I guess.

I can’t stress enough how slicking up the sharp edges on the bolt helped the consistency. Focus on the leading edge that scrapes over the next cartridge in the magazine and the long skinny edge that rides on that same cartridge as the bolt is worked.

Tune your magazine spring to just have enough pressure to operate reliably. Much less pressure is needed than what a 10-22 has to have.

Bed the bedding blocks even if it is with aluminum tape.

JBs bore paste and some time lapping the barrel may or may not have helped but I did it anyway.

My factory crown wasn’t great and the factory threads were not square. After Rob cut my barrel and rethreaded it the gun settled into a really really good shooter. I have an old lot of PMC Moderator it absolutely loves. It loves Eley Contact and Eley Club. It does not shoot CCI SV worth a dang and neither does my Kidd.

Even in the plastic stock (hey it comes with a cheek riser) it shoots great and has surprised plenty of folks. With the PA 4-14FFP having 30 mils of adjustment and with a 20moa base it can reach out to 400.

67B70C1C-DADC-4743-8198-EAC641963938.jpeg
 
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That's a good looking rifle! Will the Ruger LR Target take a RPRR match barrel?
 
Ok, only got 50yds today but gonna get out to 100 soon as I can. Top target is aguila. 10 rounds each. I did try some other ammo but they sucked. So not a voodoo,but for me as a trainer im ok with it. I am going to try some Lapua center x,just hate to buy 500 for one box. Trigger is not good but most of us are accustomed to our other rifles with great triggers so i see a timney coming soon. Really wasn't expecting custom rifle accuracy but for some of us I think it will be fine. I looked at it this way, Tikka is awesome 22,but gotta add a stock cause most of us will. Bergara has it all but lil pricey for me. Ruger is the middle of the road,just needs a better trigger. Gonna clean the barrel and go again.

Midway sales Center X by the 50 count box. They had free shipping on orders over fifty bucks last week. If you were in CO I would give you my box to test for us.
 
Was looking at building a 10/22 but this may just scratch the itch instead looking forward to the results
 
Heads up got ammo late today. Weather here's been terrible, it's been raining like a cow pissing on a flat rock. Looks like maybe Sunday afternoon or Wednesday. Hang tight and I'll get some results.
 
I know here too, I have two 22s to zero and it won’t stop raining.
 
I know here too, I have two 22s to zero and it won’t stop raining.

I can relate, it’s been either snowing or blowing every day I could go shooting and when I went up to the only indoor range that had at least 50 yards the wait was almost 2 hrs for a lane. Spring and summer need to hurry up and get back here.
 
Got out this afternoon and could only get out to 60yds. Guys not real excited. 10 rounds each dot after 10 fouling rounds. Let's hear the feedback. I know it's gonna be positive and negative. Two inch dots all I had .
 

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No it is not. The eley match wasn't terrible. I still have 40 rounds of each,so ill clean and try again.
 
Looks like it prefers the cheap stuff instead (and the Eley Match). Might want to just grab the CCI SV and go at it.
 
Sadly this will probably be similar to the rpr in that its very hit or miss if you get a good one. I know my ruger luck is terrible, finally sold my rpr after two trips back to ruger. Doubt Ill try my luck again with this one at the price they want for it.
 
Were you shooting off of a bipod or rest ? Rear bag ? Lawless made a ruger American ,shoot details up above , maybe spend some time and love and it will come around , I still want one just a little leery now , hope this one comes around for you
 
Bic pen spring trigger mod, bed the bedding blocks with aluminum tape and slick up the bottom of the bolt.
 
Round two,10.shots each and seems at 100 yds the sk lr is more consistent. I shot another 10 shots with sk and federal. Bottom target is sk in the pic with only two dots.
 

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I took my skinny barrel American out this afternoon at 100 across my back pasture. I didn’t shoot paper but I wore out the 1.25” spinner with Eley Subsonic Hollow, CCI Standard, Eley Standard bulk, Federal Match and even Aquila 60g SS LOL

It was late so I didn’t have a lot of light so maybe I’ll shoot some paper tomorrow.