- Location
- On a sand bar in the Atlantic Ocean.
I was one of those guys who watched the developing storm of interest and speculation, for the past few months. These rifles have been touted as the greatest thing since the Winchester 1894 and some have described it as nothing more than a polished turd (their words, not mine).
The good-
Regardless of what each of us thinks, this thing has grabbed the long range shooters by the bootstraps and flung them head long into a frenzy over this modern interpretation of a factory made custom precision rifle. It features a chassis cradled recoil management system, bull barrel, magazine interchangability, 20MOA rail, KeyMod forend and a nicely adjustable AR type butt stock.
Was it time that a major firearm manufacturer step up to the plate and give the shooting public the means to get into F Class shooting at a pricepoint that does not require a second mortgage on the house? You bet it was! -And Ruger did it.
The bad-
I received my copy of the RPR chambered in .308 Winchester. The barrel length was in my opinion about 4 inches too short. It would have been nice to see a 24" barrel on the rifle, in order to get more velocity out of this tried and true cartridge out past the 700+ yard range, where it's bullets will pass into the subsonic speed range. In utilizing an AR style stock which uses a buffer tube for a mounting system, there is lots of room for the manually actuated bolt to travel and Ruger has taken advantage of this and tucked an allen wrench for adjusting the trigger pull inside the bolt shroud. I would have happily paid an extra 20-30 bucks more to have a drawn or better yet; a milled aluminum bolt shroud installed on the south end of the bolt. The factory one feels flimsy and is prone to breakage, say reports from south o' the border, where this rifle has been in circulation for several months now. Shooter beware- If you try to fold the stock with the bolt open, you risk shattering the plastic factory piece. As expected though, the aftermarket folks are jumping all over this rifle to bring us bits and pieces to improve on the good and eliminate the bad. No doubt my own wallet will take a kicking, since I am one of those guys who can't leave well enough alone.
The Ugly-
The AR style (and interchangeable) safety sounds like a spoonful of rice in a tin can when you jiggle the rifle. It is enhanced by the rattling of one of the two Ruger made Accu-Mags that are generously supplied with the rifle. I would prefer to have the Magpul ones like the US market. They might not rattle so much. Perhaps it's just because the platform is designed to accept just about any other mag ever made (kidding, but it will accept many others).
Mounting an optic-
Like most AR weapons platforms, this rifle likes extra high rings to allow clearance for most optics with an objective larger than 40mm. Many of the AR specific forward offset mounts will work fine right out of the box and can accommodate an optic with a larger 50 or 56mm objective.
Range report-
Since our local shooting range is closed on Mondays, I was not able to get out and shoot this thing today. With any luck, I will be heading out at first light to put a few rounds through it. I'll bring back a report ASAP.
Until then, enjoy the new RPR and tight groups!
The good-
Regardless of what each of us thinks, this thing has grabbed the long range shooters by the bootstraps and flung them head long into a frenzy over this modern interpretation of a factory made custom precision rifle. It features a chassis cradled recoil management system, bull barrel, magazine interchangability, 20MOA rail, KeyMod forend and a nicely adjustable AR type butt stock.
Was it time that a major firearm manufacturer step up to the plate and give the shooting public the means to get into F Class shooting at a pricepoint that does not require a second mortgage on the house? You bet it was! -And Ruger did it.
The bad-
I received my copy of the RPR chambered in .308 Winchester. The barrel length was in my opinion about 4 inches too short. It would have been nice to see a 24" barrel on the rifle, in order to get more velocity out of this tried and true cartridge out past the 700+ yard range, where it's bullets will pass into the subsonic speed range. In utilizing an AR style stock which uses a buffer tube for a mounting system, there is lots of room for the manually actuated bolt to travel and Ruger has taken advantage of this and tucked an allen wrench for adjusting the trigger pull inside the bolt shroud. I would have happily paid an extra 20-30 bucks more to have a drawn or better yet; a milled aluminum bolt shroud installed on the south end of the bolt. The factory one feels flimsy and is prone to breakage, say reports from south o' the border, where this rifle has been in circulation for several months now. Shooter beware- If you try to fold the stock with the bolt open, you risk shattering the plastic factory piece. As expected though, the aftermarket folks are jumping all over this rifle to bring us bits and pieces to improve on the good and eliminate the bad. No doubt my own wallet will take a kicking, since I am one of those guys who can't leave well enough alone.
The Ugly-
The AR style (and interchangeable) safety sounds like a spoonful of rice in a tin can when you jiggle the rifle. It is enhanced by the rattling of one of the two Ruger made Accu-Mags that are generously supplied with the rifle. I would prefer to have the Magpul ones like the US market. They might not rattle so much. Perhaps it's just because the platform is designed to accept just about any other mag ever made (kidding, but it will accept many others).
Mounting an optic-
Like most AR weapons platforms, this rifle likes extra high rings to allow clearance for most optics with an objective larger than 40mm. Many of the AR specific forward offset mounts will work fine right out of the box and can accommodate an optic with a larger 50 or 56mm objective.
Range report-
Since our local shooting range is closed on Mondays, I was not able to get out and shoot this thing today. With any luck, I will be heading out at first light to put a few rounds through it. I'll bring back a report ASAP.
Until then, enjoy the new RPR and tight groups!
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