I finally joined this discussion group. First, I want to thank the group for the education; I read all 113 pages, whew! Second, I want to thank the group and/or moderator for keeping politics and other unpleasantness off the pages. I concluded that the forum is focused on shooting (with a side of ball busting). With your help, I selected a 6.5CM RPR with a Vortex Viper PST gen 2 scope as a retirement gift to myself along with all the gear to reload ($$$! I’m in for $3.7k not counting ammo & cartridge components). I’m new to all this rifle business - not having shot rifles for 40+ years. I’m an engineer/data guy and hope that I will be a positive addition to this forum.
Congrats on the purchase!
Welcome to the club.
Yup, it can be a pretty deep rabbit hole to travel down. But the trip is a lot of fun.I have a Viper PST from several years ago and it's a good scope, but I just don't like the thick reticle that it has. It's fine for hunting. But a thin reticle makes for much better precision shooting. So, I went with a Golden Eagle, which really made a difference at long distance and even at 100 - 200 yds. On my .308 PRP that I use mostly for short range shooting, I mounted a Diamondback Tactical that has a thin reticle and it does better than my Viper for precision. Hopefully, you're newer version of the Viper has made that improvement with the reticle. Vortex's warranty is as good as it gets, so should you need something fixed, don't hesitate to have them take care of it.
Thanks for the welcome! My scope has the EBR-2C reticle which works fine for me, but then, what do I know!? I’m only shooting 100 yds now. Being in SE PA, lloonngg distance shooting will be difficult to find. Someday. I‘m jealous of you guys who can step out your back door and shoot hundreds of yards.Welcome to the club.
I have a Viper PST from several years ago and it's a good scope, but I just don't like the thick reticle that it has. It's fine for hunting. But a thin reticle makes for much better precision shooting. So, I went with a Golden Eagle, which really made a difference at long distance and even at 100 - 200 yds. On my .308 PRP that I use mostly for short range shooting, I mounted a Diamondback Tactical that has a thin reticle and it does better than my Viper for precision. Hopefully, your newer version of the Viper has made that improvement with the reticle. Vortex's warranty is as good as it gets, so should you need something fixed, don't hesitate to have them take care of it.
I started load development with H4350 powder and 140gr ELDM bullets. Working with 3-shot groups from 38.1 gr to 40.5 gr from target #1 to target #13. As for COAL I used 2.828” - just shy of the max mag length. Results were interesting - getting anywhere from 1.25 down to .2 MoA. Target photo attached. Lines are .1 mRad. A pattern was pretty obvious which made me feel better that it wasn’t just crappy shooting on my part. So, I plotted the data as MoA vs. powder load (blue curve) In the attached graph. The result suggested a sinusoid, so I curve-fit a sine wave to it (orange curve). The fit is pretty good in the middle. The data suggests another accuracy node at 41.4 gr and a bad spot at 41 gr. I’m hoping to validate my prediction a couple days.
I’m thinking that the weird data at the left side might be evidence of other factors like neck tension or seating depth having a greater role - or maybe my shooting sucks; I only have 70 rounds through the rifle. Anyway, I’m gonna rerun some of those loads.
Sorry to blab on, but I’m new! One other bit I found interesting in the targets is how the POI’s rose and drifted to the right as the powder charge increased.
Cool stuff! (To me, anyway!)
I’m thinking that the weird data at the left side might be evidence of other factors like neck tension or seating depth having a greater role - or maybe my shooting sucks; I only have 70 rounds through the rifle. Anyway, I’m gonna rerun some of those loads.
Sorry to blab on, but I’m new! One other bit I found interesting in the targets is how the POI’s rose and drifted to the right as the powder charge increased.
Cool stuff! (To me, anyway!)
How many rounds do you have through the barrel?
40 at the start with Target #1.
Were you getting consistent results when you shot those (40) rounds?
I remember it took a while for my RPR's barrel to settle in.
Unfortunately, I don’t know. I was shooting at a variety of targets and a friend of mine also shot it. My goal at the time was to just get comfortable with the gun & sight. I shoulda paid close attention to shot grouping as well. Opportunity lost! Good note for the next new guy.
That is a darn great start! Welcome to the rabbithole.
Welcome to the Hide and to your RPR.
The 120-123 gr bullets work well at the short distances too. I have an RPR that I have shot mid-range and long-range NRA prone matches with. At the 300 yard line I have shot a lot of 120 and 123 gr Hornady and Sierra with starting loads with great success. The rifle is stupid easy to shoot well.
Those 140 ELDMs are good to 1000, 147s drift even less at that range.
The 120-123 gr bullets work well at the short distances too. I have an RPR that I have shot mid-range and long-range NRA prone matches with. At the 300 yard line I have shot a lot of 120 and 123 gr Hornady and Sierra with starting loads with great success. The rifle is stupid easy to shoot well.
Those 140 ELDMs are good to 1000, 147s drift even less at that range.
Well, anon, your suggestion is a good one for me - 500 yds is likely the longest range reasonably accessible here in SE PA. My understanding is that lighter bullets mean less barrel wear and perhaps lighter powder charges? After my 140 gr development is done (I have more powder & then seating depth experiments to do), I think I’ll take your suggestion. As Lazyfaire said, above, another reason to go out and shoot some more! Question though, would H4350 still be a good powder to use? Maybe a somewhat faster powder would be better?
Other powders can work just fine, but H4350 is the gold standard of the 6.5CR. Quality bullets make a difference. So it'd be a good idea to looks for the Berger 140 Hybrids (very popular, making them hard to find these days). But, the smaller Bergers are good too. And I've found that the Sierra 142 MK's do very well too.
I went back and looked at my notes. I ladder tested a 120SMK load with IMR4895 from 35gr up a bit. 36gr was my smallest group and best waterline. I later chronoed the 36gr one at 2714 avg, Sierra claims 2700, so all agreed. I have records of using 36, 36.5, and 37 at different times.
I also think I had loaded some 120-123s with W748, didn't keep notes. My goal was to use light bullets and a different powder than what I was using for 142SMK long-range loads. I was concentrating on the long range matches at the time, and shooting the mid-range was just extra, and on a different weekend of the month.
I also shot the gun across the course a few times with the light loads.
I also think I had loaded some 120-123s with W748, didn't keep notes. My goal was to use light bullets and a different powder than what I was using for 142SMK long-range loads. I was concentrating on the long range matches at the time, and shooting the mid-range was just extra, and on a different weekend of the month.
I also shot the gun across the course a few times with the light loads.
Thanks for this, anon. I’ll add it to my notes.
I took 50 rounds to the range a couple days ago for further load development, fired them, and realized afterward that I mixed up some Starline & Hornady cases. Experiment ruined and hours of effort lost! On the other hand, I got to shoot 50 rounds. So, a repeat is in order.
Interesting, the difference in cases. Starline brass takes significantly more effort to resize than the Hornady - not passing judgment - just noting the difference. This is even after neck annealing. Starline’s cases are also about .01” shorter, hence the need to keep the cases separate.
I anneal after every firing and built this jig. That’s a 1/2” deep socket and a hex to 1/4” square drive adaptor. 1/2” copper pipe makes the fulcrum and Velcro keeps the driver running. Fill the bowl with water and go. The time per case is about 8 seconds - ~3 to anneal and ~5 to load/unload.
The inevitable happened to my Gen 1. During some dry firing I felt a different lift. Yup. Exactly what I thought. I already reached out to Ruger and they are sending me a replacement piece as well as a new spring per their emails. Am I essentially swapping in the same inferior part or have they revised it? Sorry I haven’t combed through all 114 pages. 
I'd recommend this:
www.anarchyoutdoors.com
AD Arms Billet Ruger Precision/American Rifle Cocking Piece
This is a billet RPR/American Firing Pin Back or cocking piece developed at AD Arms in response to the breakages many have experienced with the factory metal injection mold part.
www.anarchyoutdoors.com I swapped mine out prophylactically on my Gen1. It installed just like the stock piece.I'd recommend this:
AD Arms Billet Ruger Precision/American Rifle Cocking Piece
This is a billet RPR/American Firing Pin Back or cocking piece developed at AD Arms in response to the breakages many have experienced with the factory metal injection mold part.
Gonna get a rpr custom shop, do I go 6mm or 6.5? No plans to shoot any competitions, just a fun gun for me.
go with the 6.5. Ammo is everywhere. Reloading supplies and equipment are easy to come by. Barrel life is much, much better, especially if you are not pushing the rifle with heavy reloads. Hits are easier to spot and recoil, while more is not an issue in a rifle of the RPR’s weight.
Now my question, if competition is not in the plans, why go with the custom shop? You give up nothing in accuracy by going with the standard RPR and save quite a bit of money. If at some point you want to upgrade, one upgrades as easily as the other.
Mine is getting a the fore end coated to match the butt stock. 2000 rounds down her original barrel and still shooting sub half inch groups. Many are getting well over 3000 rounds down the barrel with the 6.5 Creedmoor
It's mostly that I really like how it looks and I just wanted to get a complete long range gun that doesn't need anything changed out of the box to have fun with on the range. Checks the boxes for me. I'm sure I could spend my money better or differently but idk why, I just really like how the custom shop rpr looks lol
My Gen1 RPR in 6.5CM would cloverleaf at 100 yards no problem.
IDK what your financial situation but speaking personally I would buy a regular RPR in 6.5CM and spend the money on the optic, ammo, bipod, etc.
Fortunately I have a mount/optic/bipod and all that already for the rifle, just need to get some ammo.
Right now it's gonna get an arken 5-25 while I save up for some actual good glass. Got some nightforce rings I had off another gun that's currently in pieces. Have an atlas bipod, need to get an arca mount for it, it's wearing an adm quick release right now.
Anything else I'm missing?
Anything else I'm missing?
That pretty much goes for all of us, all the time!
Doing a quick google search shows the RPR custom is ~$600 more than the regular RPR. I would take that $600 and put it towards glass.
YMMV
That's what I'd normally do but another $600 wouldn't get me the glass I want and then I'd have *almost* the rifle I want, which would bother the hell out of me causing me to mod the rpr with more than $600 in parts or end up selling that rpr for a loss then buying the custom shop...I know myself, im prone to doing stupid stuff like that lol.
Also quote system isn't working for me for some reason....or I'm too stupid to use it Properly.
Also quote system isn't working for me for some reason....or I'm too stupid to use it Properly.
We have all presented compelling arguments to get the standard and not the custom shop. BUT, the man wants the Custom Shop so, lets support his decision.
The custom has a barrel, apa comp, handguard, and trigger that are upgrades.
Does the custom ship trigger adjust like the non custom shop, through the port in front of the trigger guard, or does it adjust on the actual trigger itself? Manual says in front of the guard but trying that, there's nothing to actually turn or adjust.
Also, favorite mags for these? I'm not a bolt gun guy really so idk what mags are considered good or not.
Oh and I went with 6.5 lol
Also, favorite mags for these? I'm not a bolt gun guy really so idk what mags are considered good or not.
Oh and I went with 6.5 lol
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Get a nice metal magazine, which will allow for longer seated bullets. . . like this one:
ARC MAG 10-ROUND 7.62×51 (308 WIN)
The ARC MAG 10-ROUND 7.62×51 (308 WIN), is a compact, double-stack, center-feed magazine that promotes exceptionally smooth and reliable feeding.
www.anarchyoutdoors.com How's are these? https://mdttac.com/308-6-5-creedmoor-mdt-metal-aics-magazine-10-rnd/Get a nice metal magazine, which will allow for longer seated bullets. . . like this one:
ARC MAG 10-ROUND 7.62×51 (308 WIN)
The ARC MAG 10-ROUND 7.62×51 (308 WIN), is a compact, double-stack, center-feed magazine that promotes exceptionally smooth and reliable feeding.
Last has a couple without binder plates.
Looks OK to me, having plenty of length.
Is $70 a reasonable price for a magazine? Seems like a lotGet a nice metal magazine, which will allow for longer seated bullets. . . like this one:
ARC MAG 10-ROUND 7.62×51 (308 WIN)
The ARC MAG 10-ROUND 7.62×51 (308 WIN), is a compact, double-stack, center-feed magazine that promotes exceptionally smooth and reliable feeding.
It's a lot, but it 's reasonable for a metal magazine and is worth getting the extra length capacity. If one isn't interested in the extra length capacity, then going with the cheaper plastic ones is probably the better value.
From the googling I've done, that seems about right...but still a sticker shock compared to being able to buy 8 ar mags for that price lol
Also, tips on getting the muzzle device off? I have approximately 0 tools for bolt guns.
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To get the break off, I use a phillips head screwdriver with a shaft that fits into the holes of the break and a crescent wrench for the nut and turn them in opposite direction to get the nut and break to move.
For thems that want to know… My 6.5CM RPR fits nicely in Plano’s AW2 52 case - both in length & depth. But Jeez, that case is huge!
If only Ruger had thought to put a folding stock on it...
Does anyone have info on a case that would fit a folded stock. I bought this beast as I don’t know of one.
The Storm 3100 has an interior length of 36.5" and exterior length of 39.8". My 6.5CM fits in there with about a half inch to spare. Muzzle brake selection and optic placement might rule it out for some. It goes in and out of my Corolla's trunk very easy. I have used it to go to the range and driven around the country with it in my trunk. I would not fly with it though. I would be afraid there is not enough cushion if it really got thrown around.
The Pelican 1720 has an interior length of 42" and an exterior length of 44.3". Lots of room there and it is not too bad to get in and out of the trunk of my Corolla.
An ideal case IMO would be in between those two.
The Pelican 1720 has an interior length of 42" and an exterior length of 44.3". Lots of room there and it is not too bad to get in and out of the trunk of my Corolla.
An ideal case IMO would be in between those two.
Thanks for that, I've been wondering about cases. I've never owned one except for night vision stuff. I always just sling my ar15s into the truck and go but figured I should maybe look into an actual nice case for my only bolt gun lol.
Thanks for the info, EZ…. Seems to me that Ruger is missing an opportunity to expand into accessories for the RPR. A 40-42” case about 8” thick with pluckable foam would do the trick.
Ruger, Plano, are you listening?
Ruger, Plano, are you listening?
They should 100% sell a ruger branded Plano with foam pre cut to fit the rifle with the option to pluck out more for accessories.
Care club sells them that have laser cut foam for the RPR. I have one.
It’s the exact same case as the Apache case at HF, but with much nicer foam
Nice. Thanks for letting us know. Gonna check it out now.
