Ruger american stock question

icehunter121

icehunter121

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Had a fella give me a ruger American in .270 he wants me to try and sight in. The rifle is stock with a scorpion venom max 3x18x50 scope on it. He tried last year to sight it in and it was throwing them all over the place with no pattern. Brought it home and the first thing I noticed is how flimsy the stock is. Firmly grabbing the wrist and giving it a slight twist I can bounce the barrel from one side of the barrel channel to the other. To me this is the first problem.

I checked all the action screws,bases,scope etc and they are tight. So question for anyone who has one..any quick fix for the stock? I have never worked on one and haven't shot it yet. But I will only have one day maybe this weekend to try it out.
 
I just picked up my first Ruger American (Ranch AR 5.56) and the stock is about as ridged as a wet noodle. I'd be interested if anyone has managed to stiffen it up with out added a lot of weight to it. I suspect there might be a ###### joke incoming.
 
I did take his rifle out and shoot it. When I did, I just rested the forend on sand bags with no pressure holding it and I was able to get 3/4 inch groups,3 shots at 100 yards with hornady ammo. The win. ammo he gave me produced 3 inch groups and the only 3 rounds of fed. ammo he had I managed a 1/2 inch group with it. Damn that thing would shoot,but like I said I never held the forend,just rested it. I never took the rifle apart to look at the forend but if its hollow maybe some carbon fibre arrow shafts ( 3 stacked like a pyramid) would strengthen it up enough to take some of the flex out of it. Also I remember that grabbing the wrist of the stock and holding the forearm and twisting it would flex like crazy. From some reading on it after, it sounds like a lot of guys replace the stock after buying one which to me is a waste of $$$. He told me last hunting season he was rolling yotes out to 250 yards with it no problem...
 
They're an accurate rifle but yes the stock is flimsy but the bedding system is good. I just relieved some of the material from around the barrel to keep it free floating even if there is some flex on the stock while shooting. Seems to have done the trick. But 4 shots in 2.5 inches at 480 yards the other day. Mine is a 7-08
 
I just did a action bedding on my M77 300wsm , only did the length of the cartridge. That alone seemed to stiffen the stock a lot. So after that I inserted 2 rods and filled the front with JB Weld, both jobs added 4 or 5oz to the rifle but feels way nicer. Have yet to get out and try it. I've bedded a fair bit of guns and they never shoot worse always better, some not much better but better.
 
I purchased a .308 online a few years ago. I had read the reviews regarding the stock and finish issues but it was on sale and decided to roll the dice. Once received, yes the machining wasn't as finished as I'd like(sounds like a zipper) and the barrel was touching on the left side. But I thought I'd shoot it first and see if it was worth tinkering with. I tried 4 or 5 types of ammunition which all shot pretty well, with Hornady American White Tail working best at under and inch off a bag. Since this is a hunting rifle, I concluded it did what I needed it for and left it as is.

I dubbed it my crappy weather rifle and it's has since taken 6 deer in three years. It is probably my cheapest rifle but is kind of like that one flat blade screw driver that you always reach for in your tool box.
 
I had one in 308 a few years ago I was also having some problems in the accuracy department.

All I did was sand out the front of the stock to reduce the chance of any contact with the barrel and avoided any stock pressure at the front when sighting in, made a difference. After that was fine for shooting when in field shooting positions.
 
Part of the problem is simply shooting style. A guy has been reading all about long-range shooters using their rifles on bipods, and they are always "loading" the pod, leaning forward into/onto it and landing their hits wayyyy out there. So the guy goes and buys a Ruger American or something similar and tries to emulate them. He plops his rifle onto a $50 Chinese bipod, or maybe just on a rolled-up jacket on a rock, and puts the pressure on it. He forgets that just the stocks on the long-range guys' rifles cost more than his entire shooting rig; rifle, scope, bipod, ammo and hunting boots.

He leans on it and the flimsy stock twists, bends, warps and snuggles up to the barrel in all kinds of unnatural ways. Accuracy goes out the window. He wants to know why.

As you discovered when you lightly rested your rifle while shooting, the gun itself might be capable of decent accuracy. The only way to get that accuracy...without exchanging the stock for a stiffer, more expensive one...is to not bear down on it and twist it all out of shape. In hunting situations, I have often just grabbed a handful of tall brush or grass, pulled it upwards, and used that to stabilize the rifle. It's not even resting; it's just acting to dampen any movement my body or the wind might be introducing. Is it going to work for the 600 or 700 yard shots that so many shooters casually talk about "limiting" themselves to nowadays? Nope. But for me, or for most of those guys, it hardly matters; those shots aren't going to happen and shouldn't be tried, at least not on live game.

I've stiffened up a few cheapo stocks using carbon arrow shafts. It works as a stiffener, but it will never equal a high-grade rigid stock. It might help with accuracy if you only "partially load" it, but still won't stand up to ridiculous forces.
 
I had one in .243 and it was very accurate. It is a lightweight hunting rife and I found that it produced best groups resting on bag just at front of receiver. I stiffened the stock with acraglas and carbonfibre arrow shafts. It worked wonders but added some weight. Ruger sent me another stock so I switched. Sold the rifle but still have original stock. Plan to get another American at some point.
 
American stock is probably on par or sub par to a Savage Axis stock. There isn't a cheaper flimsier factory stock out there. I'd take an axis over the American for a cheap shooter, at least the Axis metal is well machined, it's cheaper, and they shoot.
 
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