- Thread starter Jmccracken1214
- Start date
Yeah but by time you buy the stock and BM you end up with over $1K into the rifle for the spotter version, more for the target version with a decent grip angle.. If you upgrade the trigger it’s another $200. That puts it into the price range of nicer rifles and IMO they’re just not worth that.
I'm planning on handing my current ruger american go wild down to my son in the near future. Since that will put me in the market for a new rifle probably next year. So for the people that have used the standard Gen 2 whats your thoughts on starting with it and dropping into a chassis vs something like the howa 1500 barreled action from brownells in putting it into a chassis?
LR
LR
You can get a Seekins Havak Hit for under $1800 if you shop around. Depending on what chassis you drop the Ruger into you may be close to that and still have a janky action and crappy trigger. The Havak gets you a badass folding chassis, a Triggertech trigger, and a great action with quick change barrels right out of the box. To me that’s a no brainer.
Buying an economy gun and dumping a bunch of money into it to make it not a POS and still having an economy gun just doesn’t make a lot of sense.
I'm with you on the buy once cry once thing. That Havak HIT looks really nice. But I'm talking MDT oryx chassis level of cost. I'm hoping to be in the gun for under the $1k mark. For my current hunting needs I can't justify the cost my rifle being much more than that. Beyond putting it in something like the Oryx I don't plan on making any additional changes to it. I'm used to crappy triggers and the accuracy that a budget gun brings.
So it's one of those where I'm just looking for the better option of the budget junk to go with.
LR
The Oryx kind of sucks. It weighs over 4lbs which is heavy for a hunting rifle and the butt geometry doesn't even let you get a cleaning rod straight down the thing. I can't imagine one of these balancing even remotely well in a chassis like that.
Every Ruger Design Team Meeting:: "Okay, now to the important part, what can we do to make it even uglier?"
What’s ugly about it? It’s got spiral fluting and cerakote both of which are features that people spend money to customize rifles with because they like how it looks.
IMO the standard version is a very attractive rifle. I certainly don’t think there’s a better looking rifle under $1K.
Yeah the weight has been the biggest concern for me. But as I've been told and other have mentioned I should probably just get stronger...lol.
I'm open to suggestions but it's got to stay within my budget. I would like to have a $2500 budget for a rifle but that's just not realistic for me. I see people recommend the KRG Bravo but I just don't think I'll like the grip on it. After looking MDT's website again the XRS might be a good alternative.
I'm with you on this. Part of me wishes they would have spent the money for the cerakote and fluting on a better stock. But overall I like the rifle.
LR
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A lot of you debating on buying one should just spend the money on a Howa instead. at $600-$700 price point you'd be get a considerably better rifle.
Their catalogue has many similar options, and barreled action only options too, so put it in whatever stock you want in the first place.
I hunted one down in 350 legend to replace my piece of shit ruger american. Sold the goofy chassis it came with, and it went into a bell and carlson m40.
Action doesnt constantly jam like my ruger did, barrel is decent, and I dont have to worry about it failing to feed any time I load a mag.
Their catalogue has many similar options, and barreled action only options too, so put it in whatever stock you want in the first place.
I hunted one down in 350 legend to replace my piece of shit ruger american. Sold the goofy chassis it came with, and it went into a bell and carlson m40.
Action doesnt constantly jam like my ruger did, barrel is decent, and I dont have to worry about it failing to feed any time I load a mag.
I've got a couple of places, this thread included, where I've asked about the Howa 1500 over the ruger american. So this has been my exact debat on what to do. Brownells has the Howa barreled action for $450ish depending on options and then put into something like XRS or Oryx from MDT and be into for a reasonable amount of money.
LR
I’ve had a number of howas and vanguards so I’m familiar.
I mostly want one of these in 6 ARC amd an 300BLK and with the Ruger I have the option of running AICS ARC/Grendel mags or AR mags and then 223 AICS mags for 300BLK or AR mags. To go ARC in the howa it’s the mini action, they’re hard to get, feedback on the ARC version isn’t the greatest, and the magazines are pieces of shit and you’re stuck with them. So the Howa doesn’t really interest me.
You can do a bottom metal swap on the mini actions to run CZ mags. There's also MDT bottom metal and mamba mags (expensive but still an option), so you're not stuck with them by any means.
I run two of the howa mags without issue. Compared to the multiple replacement duramags I got from ruger, I'd say they're far from a piece of shit.
Yeah they're plastic..but they feed fine.
On the other hand, as far as feedback goes, the reviews on brownells, and the posts on rokslide have been nothing but positive on the 6 arc minis when I looked at them.
At the end of the day, we're all welcome to do whatever we choose best, but if Im weighing the idea of proprietary mag, but good action, vs. the ability to use aftermarket mags but get a shit action, the choice is easy for me.
I guess it depends on what you're doing? I wanted a 350 legend for hunting, so my choices were pretty limited to start. After getting a lemon for a ruger (and having a few friends that had the same shitty results), I tried the howa instead. Im happy I did it and for the money it does what it needs to do.
If you do so, make sure you understand the difference the Howa Mini and standard Howa 1500 actions with what you buy..they're not the same and chassis systems dont interchange.
Maybe they could get on the horn with Springfield and license their ‘gripzone’?
A friend where I work bought his son a savage in 350 legend. He's having feeding issues with it as well. I would say I've had good luck with my Ruger american but that wouldn't be an honest review. It's my deer hunting rig. So between sight in and hunting with it the last three seasons I've got about 60 rounds through it.
Yep I have seen the different action lengths listed. I'm looking at the 6.5cm to match my ruger so I think that's the standard action. But I will double check that before I order anything.
LR
I believe thats correct, I dont think a mini action would fit a 6.5 round, nor do they make a mini chambered in 6.5
Iv'e got a bushnell 3500 elite 4-12x40 scope waiting for one of these guns to make a fairly lightweight rig for deer hunting.
I feel you man… I’m actually kind of glad my wife is here to slap some sense into me when those “needs” start creeping inThe weird thing about this hobby is how little “need” plays in. It makes you want stuff for the weirdest reasons.
I seriously don’t “need” another rifle for anything I’m doing at the moment.
Yet there I was, Thursday, standing in a gun store finger banging and old 700 Varmint .243 thinking how it would ROCK with 75 or 87 V-Maxes. Hammering coyotes 600 yards out. Smiting them as though it were God’s own wrath!
Fuck, I’ve got a .22BR and a AR and a .25-06 gathering dust in the safe. I can’t even SEE past 250 ANYWHERE where I’m hunting now. But I NEEDED that rifle sooo bad.
No, I didn’t buy it, and here I am with needs unfulfilled……is there such a thing as “Gun Blueballs”?
Oh yeah, I need one of these Gen II’s. Just haven’t figured out why or which one yet…..
Thou shalt not covet yet another gun without selling one first.
Has anyone found an arca rail that drops in on the ruger americans yet?
I don't have one, but you might look at the Salmon River Solutions ARCA rails. They make, or made, one that contoured to the bottom of a Tikka stock that might be a close fit.
Yea i have some of Kens first products. I might give him a call and see if he has something. SRS makes awesome awesome gear.
I stopped by my LGS and they had both the 5.56 and 300 bo Ranch models so I bought both. Setting the 300 bo up as a hunting rifle for my niece and I just got around to shooting them today. Anyone else having a terrible time with rough extraction? I had a couple shots that almost got stuck. The 5.56 handled better but it got snagged up a few times. I was running factory Federal Fusion 150 gr and Barnes 110 gr out of the 300 bo. Put Federal Gold Medal 69 gr and Winchester 55 gr through the 5.56. I wasn't expecting much from these budget setups but the cycling in them was pretty discouraging. I ran the 10 round PMags that came with the rifles.
How'd it group?
The 300 blackout was about 1-1.25 MOA with the 150 gr Federal Fusion. Had a 3 shot group with the Barnes 110 gr that were .5" but I couldn't duplicate it. 5.56 was about the same. I need to shoot some more with them and I was running the trigger out of the box which felt heavy so the groups could've been on me. I was shooting at 100 yards. The 300 bo has a cheaper 2.5-15x Athlon on it and I put a spare 1-8x VCOG on the 5.56.
good looking rifle. I have a gen 1 6.5 predator that had some roughness in the chamber, I saw that there were scratches on the fired brass. It was getting hard to open the bolt . I polished the chamber myself and now it does great. but heck it could be multiple things. I also went to a mdt mag. and it did better also. but my gun had a different mag than yours, it was aics for 308 I think which fit my gun.
another thing to look at is if the bolt is dragging on the mag. we'll get it figured out. keep us posted.
I have a question. do these guns come with a thread protector? I'm not into brakes.
thanks Marker36.
the 6.5CM and 308 seems hard to find. my gun store can usually get what I want. already have alot of stuff to load the 6.5cm and that would save me a bunch.
the 6.5CM and 308 seems hard to find. my gun store can usually get what I want. already have alot of stuff to load the 6.5cm and that would save me a bunch.
I handled two more over the weekend, a ranch in 300 BLK which I actually went I went to the store to buy and a standard in 450 bushmaster. Both of them were dog shit. Barrel channels were crooked AF just like the first I saw and the actions felt very rough. The last store only had one gen 1 in a magpul stock to compare it to which felt better than the gen 2 but this store had probably a dozen gen 1’s on the rack in various configurations and I stopped looking at them after the 4th one I picked. All of the gen 1’s were noticeably smoother working the action and the stocks weren’t horse shoe shaped.
I keep seeing people saying the new ones are smoother than the old ones and feel nice but I’ve yet to find one and I might stop looking. I certainly won’t be buying one sight unseen or going out of my way to look at any more.
I keep seeing people saying the new ones are smoother than the old ones and feel nice but I’ve yet to find one and I might stop looking. I certainly won’t be buying one sight unseen or going out of my way to look at any more.
thanks for the heads up on the roughness, I must have gotten a smoother one that day I handled a gen2 in 243. I have seen photos of the bedding area inside the stock and the metal V blocks that the action sits in has overspray of the stock paint on those V blocks, and the paint is very thick. to my eyes, I can't believe any of those gen 2's could be aligned properly like that.
Still waiting to hear about that…. I guess nobody wanted to plop down the $150 to try it.
I'm not seeing any 6.5 creedmoors out there or even 308.
Get a 7mm-08... Middle of the road, best of both worlds...And not to mention you can get some pretty damn spicy velocities with StaBall 6.5 powder. I push Berger 175 Elites out of a 20" barrel at about 2,650 FPS. That's nothing to sneeze that, the ballistics on it are amazing. It will monkey-stomp the .308 Win (of which I've been a lifelong fan, as well), and beat-out the 6.5CM if you run the ballistics on a comparison table.
It's like the 7-08 performs the way the .308 should. And I had once read where someone called the 7-08 a 308 Lite and that stuck in my head like ugly on ape.
The 7-08 is a cartridge that i have no idea why its so underrated.
Everyone is on the 7PRC or 7 Mag train.. but 7-08 seems to get left out.
It's an incredible cartridge.
I have a rifle in 7-08AI and its incredible at everything i've used it for.
I could see doing that. But I am really liking my 7 PRC. And I have a few .308s.
Those aren’t comparable at all, a 7PRC or 7RM launches the same weight bullet 500+ FPS faster and most people using them are using them for hunting and they hit significantly harder. I just bought a 7PRC for that and wouldn’t even consider a 7-08 for that purpose, I’d just use my 6.5CM at that point.
For a target round they just aren’t well supported with brass and aren’t inherently accurate. You can do the same thing with a 6.5 Creedmoor with far better component and ammo support. Factory twist rates also don’t support heavy bullets and there’s very few factory target rifles. Then you run into OAL issues with the long heavy bullets unless you stuff them in the case.
It’s not a bad round for hunting but it’s just not that great. For a standard case head I’d much rather have a 280AI and run a long action.
I bet the PRC is a great cartridge. Just dont know why the 708 is seemingly forgotten.
I mean... i guess to each his own.
But my 7-08 and 7-08AI are both running 168 berger VLD's at a LOT closer to a rem mag speed than 500+ fps.
My 708AI is running them at 2800 out of a 22" barrel and the barrel is still speeding up.
My AI is currently only about 120fps faster than the standard 708 as well.
I will take a short action all day personally, especially if its that close to the 7RM in performance with the same bullet.
And your ammo is probably actually over pressure as fuck. Run a rem mag hot and load the bullets out so they’re not taking up powder capacity and you’ll get a lot more speed out of them than published too. It’s simple physics, you’re not going to get close to the same velocity with 2/3 of the powder charge. It doesn’t work like that.
Thats cute.
My rounds aren’t even close to over pressure and I’m not loading them out to allow for more powder capacity either.
I can also change powders and get more velocity out of it.
If you don’t like the round that’s fine, but don’t come at me about it.
Cool, why don’t you start another thread to profess the greatness of your 7-08AI since it has absolutely jack shit to do with a Ruger American.
Lol ok.
Sorry for saying I thought the 7-08 was an under rated cartridge.
Didn’t meant to hurt your feelings.
