Ruger gen 2 V howa superlite?

WhelanLad

WhelanLad

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eyy how are yas?
felt both today, looking for my partner.

anyone shot both or have a ones better than the other scenerio?

didnt feel much heavier in the store as bare rifles plus rail on both?

got a burris fullfield 2 to put on it

20 inch tubes, howa we can only get in 6.5 or 308, so it must be 308 for legal for deer down here, but the gen 2 comes in 708 which would be handy, although will download the 308 a little bit for a more enjoyable shot out of the howa.

letme hear it please gents.

howa is 1.5k, the gen 2 is 1k $$
 
I have both and I feel like you are really comparing apples to oranges. A specialized ultralight rifle vs a Standard weight sporter.
Easily a 20oz plus difference in weight between the two, the Ruger has more forward barrel weight and is well balanced.
The Howa feels much like any Ultralight I've ever owned ( I've had Kimbers, a NULA model 20 custom model 7's...you name it) wonderful to carry all day, #####y to develop a load for on the bench and unforgiving of poor shooting technique/fundamentals especially shooting off-hand or in field positions.

The Howa is a traditional two-lug action with old school machining techniques that guys gush over, ruger is the new style "fat-bolt" CNC streamlined budget action that some guys gripe about but they feed and function just fine for me. Howa has heavier bolt lift and is clunky until they smooth out with use, things are tight with the Ruger until you wear in the Cerakote that they spray inside the action...I really disliked that.

Howa has a beefy M-16 style extractor that really grips the case rim which I personally like although the ruger has never given me trouble.
If you are a guy who likes his 1" tube scopes mounted low to the bore the Ruger with it's 60 degree bolt lift is superior.

Ruger will be Cerakoted and has a Stainless bolt, Howa is steel with some of the thinnest,cheapest bluing in the business that will rust if you look at it sideways, Howa dropped the ball by not going SS on a mountain rifle in IMHO.

Magazines are going to be a real personal preference thing. With the Howa you get a flush fitting mag of questionable quality that costs an arm and a leg to replace, with the ruger you get the industry standard AICS magwell with reliable,cheap and plentiful mags, but man I hate how it hangs down and especially the release paddle.

In stock form I prefer the Howa HACT 2-stage trigger over the Ruger.
After I remove the blade on the ruger trigger, clip two coils and polish the contact surfaces the Ruger goes down to a drop-safe 2.5lbs. I have done this on multiple Ruger Americans and the triggers improve 100% and surpass the Howa's noticeably.

I have had multiple RAR's and Howa 1500's and find the Rugers generally have superior barrels that are more consistently accurate, walk less when hot and pick up less copper than Howa's.
 
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One thing I forgot to compare is the stocks.
You would think that the stockys carbon fibre stock on the Howa would be way stiffer than the Ruger Tupperware but that isn’t necessarily the case. The stockys fore-end is actually quite easy to flex without much effort, stiffer than the Ruger stock but not by much! Fit and finish is rough.

The Ruger stock simply looks hideous to my eye, but after carrying it around and shooting it over the last few months it has proven to be quite serviceable for factory Tupperware. The bedding blocks Ruger designed into the American stocks are excellent.
 
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im now leaning toward the RANCH model, with its 16 inch barrel, in the .308 , down loaded.......... shouldnt be heavy per say, an should be more than adequate for 200 m kills on deer, often much closer.
an the occaisonal gong ring at 300 meters etc!

how loud do we expect this to be? being 16 inch plus muzzle break?
 
WhelanLad said:
im now leaning toward the RANCH model, with its 16 inch barrel, in the .308 , down loaded.......... shouldnt be heavy per say, an should be more than adequate for 200 m kills on deer, often much closer.
an the occaisonal gong ring at 300 meters etc!

how loud do we expect this to be? being 16 inch plus muzzle break?
Click to expand...
Ear splitting, nose tickling loud with a radial brake.
The Polymer Ruger Scout I owned for years came with from the factory with the radial brake, I fired about three shots through it and then removed it as fast as I could, I could feel the concussion wave in my sinuses!

Even with no brake touching off a centerfire cartridge of 50gr capacity with a 16" barrel without ear pro will do permanent damage.
I love my short barreled guns and own and shoot many between 12" and 16" but if I hunt them I wear electronic earbuds.
 
I run my 16.1" grendel (30 gr powder class) ranch without brake and no ears for hunting shots only and it would be my limit. 52,000 psi ammo to boot. My same 'feel' for 308 as a 62,000 psi cartridge and burning 40+gr of powder is 20"....can't you get cans where you are WhelanLad?

Stay 20" for 308 without a can imo. And NO BRAKES...ever. They are the worst things. They annoy anyone at the range, they require ears no matter what, we have modern ballistics and bullets now making performance windows we want attainable with light enough hitting cartridges without needing a brake for recoil mitigation.d

doesn't the ruger gen2 have the standard model at 20" and then predator at 22"? go with standard for 308 imo....unless you can get a can then get the ranch, and ditch the brake immediately, find a dust cap for the threads
 
Figured I might as well add another to consider….

I have a Vanguard which is made by Howa. I have been very impressed with it ever since I purchased it. It does have a long thin barrel but it’s designed to shoot from a cold bore. Which it does very well. It also has a two stage trigger which most rifles lack these days. I looked into an actual Howa but ended up preferring the sleek lines of the internal mag vs the drop down magazine. My other rifle is a Savage 110 Scout it seems rather clumsy in comparison. Can’t say I ever shot a Ruger centre fire but lots of people like them.
 
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blakeyboy said:
I run my 16.1" grendel (30 gr powder class) ranch without brake and no ears for hunting shots only and it would be my limit. 52,000 psi ammo to boot. My same 'feel' for 308 as a 62,000 psi cartridge and burning 40+gr of powder is 20"....can't you get cans where you are WhelanLad?

Stay 20" for 308 without a can imo. And NO BRAKES...ever. They are the worst things. They annoy anyone at the range, they require ears no matter what, we have modern ballistics and bullets now making performance windows we want attainable with light enough hitting cartridges without needing a brake for recoil mitigation.d

doesn't the ruger gen2 have the standard model at 20" and then predator at 22"? go with standard for 308 imo....unless you can get a can then get the ranch, and ditch the brake immediately, find a dust cap for the threads
Click to expand...
Nah we canot use Cans down here, outlawed before the bill even passed...... thank hollywood an their silencers for that one. LOL

yeah the 16 inch and 20 inch variant from Howa is where we are aiming, We seen the backfire video on the Howa an agree'd it isnt what she is after.... Yeah its light.... but bonus recoil in 308 ....
We shot some rounds i loaded in 30-06, that were downlaoded to 30-30 velocity an then some, 150gr and 170gr FN both at " 30-30 " an at full power basically..... also alongside the 150gr 7.62x39 full throttle.

she can handle an likes shooting the 30-30 loads, but did notice much more recoil with the full 30-06 150gr load....

So what we will do is Download the 308 with 130gr Woodleighs , 150gr SST and practise with some of the 150gr and 170 gr FN projies i have here with a 4895 powder, but do have 4198 aswell... Dont think varget is good to be running in the high 30s charges? but will research that one a bit more too.

will have her hold the guns next week an see what she thinks, although she isnt very picky, im the one being picky here-- in saying that the Ruger gen2 20 inch model will likely get the Nod, an likely that the Muzzle brake will come off seeing as we are downloading to that 2400 fps range..

We thought about the 7.62x39 in the Ranch... but the problem with it is - whilst its fine for the Smaller deer, we hunt Sambar deer alot an even though i have taken a hind at 200meters with 150gr load, the round cant be Beefed up anymore, - we have to have 150gr for legal big deer projie..

whereas the 308 can be downloaded, but can be 'normal' as she progresses an there is no qualms with legality and lethality on say a big Stag if it happens to show, or a less than perfect shot on a big mature hind. :)
 
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