Ruger American....wow, what a piece of crap!

cam1936 said:
Did you get a lemon or are they all like that?
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I have handled a few and I would get a rem 783 instead. Or get a few more bucks and get a vanguard.

I looked at a ruger precision rifle a while ago and the bolt was disturbing with machine marks. Sounded like a zipper when working the bolt would not pay $1600 for something that can't even be finished but it is a $300 gun in a $700 chassis plus the mark up.
 
I think it all comes down to "expectation".

I sell, so I handle a lot of Axis, 783, Patriot's and Americans. The group of them is very popular with first time hunters or guys that are finally retiring their Grandfather's old 303.

I point out the quality or lack there of. I point out the sharp edges, the marks in the metal work, the poor blueing, the sloppy bolts, the cheap hollow stocks and in the case of the Axis, the trigger that takes two men and a boy pulling on it to get it to fire. Like seriously, for about 150 more bucks you can get a Model 11 which is a pretty fair "starter rifle".

But "they" don't care. They have an almost non-existent budget for this "tool" that they will use once a year and if the rifle comes with factory glass then all the better. They are going to spend a week with the boys mostly drinking beer and smoking cigars "out in the woods" and if they wake up early enough they are going to sit a stand for deer - at least if it isn't too cold or wet out. Then the rifle is going back in rear of the closet with the mfg supplied trigger lock and will remain forgotten until next year unless they are "busy", then it will be the year after that.

For "them" this "gun" allows them to get away for a week and "do some hunting with the boys". They could care less about fit/finish, quality of the stock, resale value etc - they want something that will go bang and hit what they aim at (with the cheapest box of shells they could find).

That is the "typical" guy who buys one of these and it's over 80% of the type of guys buying any gun where I work. For every X-Bolt or Mod 70 that goes out the door, 4 Axis go through the register. That's what "typical guys" buy so while I might order a couple of model 16 Savages in my order there will a couple of dozen Axis on that same order sheet - that's just the reality.

The majority guys/gals that frequent this forum "love guns" - they like to look at them, fondle them, take them apart, play with them and shoot them a lot. They want a nicely finished, quality product. The consider "value for the money" over "price" so they see the "value" in a Vanguard II or a T3 even through they could have bought 2 or 3 "budget rifles" for the same price. But I would suggest that "that type of owner" is NOT typical - most guys just don't care - at least not the one opening their wallets on a daily basis right now...
 
galamb said:
I think it all comes down to "expectation".

I sell, so I handle a lot of Axis, 783, Patriot's and Americans. The group of them is very popular with first time hunters or guys that are finally retiring their Grandfather's old 303.

I point out the quality or lack there of. I point out the sharp edges, the marks in the metal work, the poor blueing, the sloppy bolts, the cheap hollow stocks and in the case of the Axis, the trigger that takes two men and a boy pulling on it to get it to fire. Like seriously, for about 150 more bucks you can get a Model 11 which is a pretty fair "starter rifle".

But "they" don't care. They have an almost non-existent budget for this "tool" that they will use once a year and if the rifle comes with factory glass then all the better. They are going to spend a week with the boys mostly drinking beer and smoking cigars "out in the woods" and if they wake up early enough they are going to sit a stand for deer - at least if it isn't too cold or wet out. Then the rifle is going back in rear of the closet with the mfg supplied trigger lock and will remain forgotten until next year unless they are "busy", then it will be the year after that.

For "them" this "gun" allows them to get away for a week and "do some hunting with the boys". They could care less about fit/finish, quality of the stock, resale value etc - they want something that will go bang and hit what they aim at (with the cheapest box of shells they could find).

That is the "typical" guy who buys one of these and it's over 80% of the type of guys buying any gun where I work. For every X-Bolt or Mod 70 that goes out the door, 4 Axis go through the register. That's what "typical guys" buy so while I might order a couple of model 16 Savages in my order there will a couple of dozen Axis on that same order sheet - that's just the reality.

The majority guys/gals that frequent this forum "love guns" - they like to look at them, fondle them, take them apart, play with them and shoot them a lot. They want a nicely finished, quality product. The consider "value for the money" over "price" so they see the "value" in a Vanguard II or a T3 even through they could have bought 2 or 3 "budget rifles" for the same price. But I would suggest that "that type of owner" is NOT typical - most guys just don't care - at least not the one opening their wallets on a daily basis right now...
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My experience exactly. The cheaper the better, so the race to the bottom will continue. Here about 70% of the buyers want something "quality, but CHEAP" and will not listen to any good advice, because in fact they don't want anything quality, they just want cheap.
 
cam1936 said:
Did you get a lemon or are they all like that?
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Most of them. I've seen couple of the good ones, but honestly - this is not a category of the rifles where one should expect "quality". It's all about saving cost.
Quality starts to show at Howa 1500/ Van2/ Winchester 70/ some Remington 700 models level and up.
 
I get these cheapo guns for different reasons. Sometimes it's to try out a new cartridge...got an Axis in 7mm-08 for that reason, a 783 in 7mm RM, and a Vanguard S2 in 257 Wby just for that. If they turn my crank, I can sell them and upgrade without losing a bunch of money, or if I don't like them just sell them without losing a bunch of money.
Other times is to have a cartridge for specific type of hunting that I don't get out to very often so I don't need or want to have $1000+ tied up in the gun. Howa .223 is just for that...yotes and hogs.
The Ruger was to fill the "damn I don't have a .308win hunting rifle". Have target rifles, milsurps, lots of reloading components, so why not get a cheapo hunting rifle to go with that. Could be a loner if someone needed it etc.
It looked good on paper, but they failed miserably in the execution. Like I said already, this thing is the poorest made of the bunch. You have the pics, not hard to see.
 
I bought mine in 2012 when they first hit Canada . I wanted to try the .243 cartridge to see if I liked it. Now I have plans to upgrade to a more expensive lightweight bolt action in the same cal. Having said this, i can't complain about the American. Only issue I had was forend flex and I fixed that myself.Ruger also sent me the new version of the stock recently. I plan on using this rifle to introduce my nephew to hunting and using it as a coyote gun. It shoots like a laser.
 
Same her got mine when they first came here, and they were 289$ back then :) Dollar was on par so I ordered a Boyds stock for it.

Its been my hunting rifle ever since. Shoots moa with factory ammo, Cant ask for much better than that.

Deer and Bear dont care how you riffle looks... :p And i dont like to lug around expensive rigs in the bush.
 
What I don't get is why guys don't just pick up a good quality used gun - get a Parker Hale, BSA, or similar. They can be had for the same price as these new budget rifles, they come with real metal and wood, and the quality is light years ahead. Even the old 303 sporter is a better made rifle. Sometimes progress isn't progress.
 
My RAR Compact in 243 is one of the most accurate rifles I own. As far as quality, it is what it is and I am fine with it.
I bought a Kimber in February and so far am not impressed with the rifle at all, should have bought another RAR instead.
Or maybe 4 or 5 RAR's. The Kimber needs trigger work, the magazine box is binding in the action, the bolt is no smother than the RAR and accuracy is nothing to brag about. The Kimber sure is a nice looking rifle though, and I am sure the deer will appreciate it more when I use it for hunting if I get the nerve to take it into the bush risking getting it all scraped up.
David
 
Hitzy said:
Since I had all the other popular "budget" guns in the stable (Axis/783/Howa1500/Vanguard) I bit the bullet and got one of these Americans before the new pricing kicked in. I've never been so disappointed in a new rifle in my life. I'm actually surprised these things sell at all, let alone how popular they are...
So what do I hate....the stock is equivalent to the ####ty Axis stock material in quality. Flimsy garbage.
Every round or curved surface has tool marks from turning too fast with a dull tool, inside and outside of the rifle. The barrel exterior and receiver rounds look like it has fine screw threading everywhere it's that bad and that obvious. When working the bolt it sounds like a ####ing zipper because of these tool marks inside the receiver. Brutal.
Mag is loose as hell and flops around in the rifle. Also full of over-flash on all the molding edges.
Bolt shroud is plastic....margarine container plastic.
And the best part, the bolt face came scored/pitted from either the proofing loads or test firing rounds having loose primer pockets. Nice ring of pits on a brand new bolt face....#### you Ruger!! Lol
I won't even sell this thing on CGN...I don't want anyone to buy it without a good look over. It will be going to the consignment shop and I'll be taking a bath on it....maybe start at $300 and go down from there lol.
Piece of ####
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I bought a Ruger American Compact stainless for my son two Christmases ago...the stock is light and hollow sounding, but not a big deal as it's lightweight. The left side of the fore-end made contact with the barrel so it wasn't free floating as intended, so I sanded it until it no longer made contact. The inside of the action was rough with obvious tool marks, and the bolt was a bit stiff as a result, so I took some fine grit sandpaper and sanded the bolt's path through the action until it was smooth as silk...but not enough to completely remove the tool marks as I didn't want to take too much off. I then sanded the bolt until it was smooth as glass, cleaned everywhere, sprayed Rem-Dry on and waited for it to dry, then sprayed G-96 on. The cycling on my son's Ruger is now as smooth as any custom rifle I've ever handled...lol, the guy at the gun shop that mounted the scope on it said he hadn't any idea that Ruger had a Custom Shop! He said there's no way this is factory! :) No, I said it went through two hours of sanding and polishing at my factory... The mag on my son's Ruger is snug, by the way. So, after that work, I decided it was a pretty decent lightweight carbine so I bought the new Timney trigger for it, and after I installed that it was finished...my son just loves it now! I'm thinking that you got one from the reject pile, I take it you didn't buy it from a shop in person? I'd exchange it if I were you...I don't know if you are prepared to take the time to sand and polish the proper one you get back, but if you do, it makes for a pretty decent rifle. She shoots 3 shot groups of a hair under an inch at 100 yards with Nosler 140 grain factory Accubonds...it's a 7mm-08.
 
257Roberts said:
My RAR Compact in 243 is one of the most accurate rifles I own. As far as quality, it is what it is and I am fine with it.
I bought a Kimber in February and so far am not impressed with the rifle at all, should have bought another RAR instead.
Or maybe 4 or 5 RAR's. The Kimber needs trigger work, the magazine box is binding in the action, the bolt is no smother than the RAR and accuracy is nothing to brag about. The Kimber sure is a nice looking rifle though, and I am sure the deer will appreciate it more when I use it for hunting if I get the nerve to take it into the bush risking getting it all scraped up.
David
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If you take the time to sand and polish your RAR's bolt and it's path through the action, like I did, you'll be amazed at the difference! Also ensure the forward part of the fore-end isn't contacting the barrel, as it'll affect the accuracy...fixed that with 400 then 800 grit paper in about ten minutes.
 
Travis Bickle said:
So how does it shoot?
From the original post it sounds like it looks like a budget gun (which it is). But how does it shoot?
My Savage Axis in .223 Rem looks like sh*t but shoots very accurately.
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My son's shoots 7/8" groups at 100 yards with Nosler 140 grain Accubonds, his is a 7mm-08. What size groups is your Axis doing?
 
pisces-guy said:
And a lot of people these days aren't prepared to work on something to make it good...or they're hopeless when it comes to working with their hands. :)
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This is a weird thing I see amongst the budget gun crowd....... Why should anyone have to work on a brand new item to make it good?..... It's a rifle, not a scale model kit.....
 
bearkilr said:
It's 2016. A Bic Mac meal at McDonald's costs $10, a dozen eggs $3.50, a good steak $15, a tank of gas $100, a new truck $45,000+.
Why people expect to get a quality new firearm for $400 is beyond me.
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Because some American companies already make a decent quality rifle with an acceptable finish for $400? If Remington and Savage can do it, why can't Ruger?
I've been impressed with the value you get from a 783/Howa/Vanguard and even the lowly Axis for what they cost. The Ruger not so much. It's price point based on the example I got should be less then an Axis, it would have to be a $300 rifle to make all the short comings acceptable. In the US they are easy to find at $300 for the most part and occasionally get blown out for $200 on sale.
I've got 6 HVA's from the '40s and '50s, nobody puts anything like these out today unless it's custom ordered, the amount of work that went into the polishing, blueing, inletting, is remarkable.
 
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