Ruger Ranch in 7.62x39 - Accuracy

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Bad_mutha

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Good day all,

So, today I took the Ruger Ranch to the range to stretch it out a bit and I noticed something weird. When I was zeroing I used surplus, corrosive, Chinese ammo, to get the rifle on the paper, then used more decent stuff to close up the groups. I was using Hornaday SST Black, and Winchester White box. My groups were not bad (about 2-2.5 MOA) and just figured it was the rifle. However, when I went back to plinking with the corrosive ammo I honestly believe that my groups got tighter (closer to 1 MOA), and tighter immediately. I had already shot all of my brass cased ammo so I couldn't do a comparison but I'll probably do an ammo test next time I'm at the range.

Also, with the Honaday I had 3xFailure to extract spent cartridge. And I had zero failure to extract with the steel cased crap ammo... I found all of this to be a bit odd.

Thought? Opinions? Insults?

The ammo I shot:

https://www.alflahertys.com/collections/ammunition/products/hornady-7-62x39-123-gr-sst-black-80784

https://www.alflahertys.com/collections/ammunition/products/winchester-7-62x39mm-white-box-fmj-123-grain-box-of-20-q3174

https://www.gotenda.com/shop/ammunition/bulk-ammo/chinese-surplus-7-6239-750-rds-tin/

And picture for attention:

IMG-6444.jpg
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Guess yours likes it dirty? It’s not unheard of, I’ve had some rifles liked ammo that wasn’t exactly match grade and spit the fancy stuff out all over the place.
 
i bet it will shoot fine with the right ammo. my cz wouldnt shoot norco chinese ammo straight although it functioned fine. winchester ammo, not white box but more expensive stuff wouldnt fire about 20 percent of the time i think the shoulder was not in the right place. barnaul ammo shot well, half the price of winchester i only shoot barnaul now
 
Its not likely the dirtyness of ammo but chrono your ammos and know the bullet weights. Then find quality ammo that fits closest to the better shooting ammo recipe.
 
First off with the Ruger Americans, check that the barrel free floats. Sometimes the stock forend will be touching the barrel. Check by taking a couple sheets of heavy printer paper and try to slide it between the barrel and fore stock. If it won't slide down freely all the way to the barrel nut, then usse a long ratchet socket of the correct diameter and some coarse sandpaper and work the stock barrel channel till it is free if it needs it. Keep putting the stock back on the rifle and check. Also there will be some flex to the forestock so make some extra clearance to be sure the fore stock isn't flexing and touching when shooting rested on a sandbag or rifle rest. Then use progressively finer sandpaper till you get a nice finish but it isn't seen anyway but I like to. Also check your action screws torque. It will say in the instructions what action screw torque should be. Mine prints sub moa cloverleaf groups with Federal Fusion 123 gr ammo shooting from my Lead Sled. I will work up some loads but these rifles can be very accurate even with factory ammo.

Also according to Ruger the bores on these are supposed to be .311. The North American Factory ammo will be .308 diameter bullets. Thus the surplus ammo will be using the .311 diameter bullets and thus that could also have an effect on the accuracy to the positive. Not sure if the Federal Fusion line uses .310/11 bullets or not but the Ruger American seems to like them. I find the Fusion line shoots well in many calibers and rifles.

Also if you haven't done it check that the scope base screws are tight. I always check any premounted base and Loktite the screws and the scope rings as well. You likely have done that but just to cover all bases with your qwery. Cheers
 
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"i bet it will shoot fine with the right ammo. my cz wouldnt shoot norco chinese ammo straight although it functioned fine. winchester ammo, not white box but more expensive stuff wouldnt fire about 20 percent of the time i think the shoulder was not in the right place. barnaul ammo shot well, half the price of winchester i only shoot barnaul now"

And here is the issue I couldn't live with on this particular rifle. mine was so loose i experienced light primer strikes due to excessive headspace with north american ammo and full length sized brass . There is a difference between SAAMI chambers and CIP spec...
 
Bad_mutha said:
Good day all,

So, today I took the Ruger Ranch to the range to stretch it out a bit and I noticed something weird. When I was zeroing I used surplus, corrosive, Chinese ammo, to get the rifle on the paper, then used more decent stuff to close up the groups. I was using Hornaday SST Black, and Winchester White box. My groups were not bad (about 2-2.5 MOA) and just figured it was the rifle. However, when I went back to plinking with the corrosive ammo I honestly believe that my groups got tighter (closer to 1 MOA), and tighter immediately. I had already shot all of my brass cased ammo so I couldn't do a comparison but I'll probably do an ammo test next time I'm at the range.

Also, with the Honaday I had 3xFailure to extract spent cartridge. And I had zero failure to extract with the steel cased crap ammo... I found all of this to be a bit odd.

Thought? Opinions? Insults?

The ammo I shot:

https://www.alflahertys.com/collections/ammunition/products/hornady-7-62x39-123-gr-sst-black-80784

https://www.alflahertys.com/collect...x39mm-white-box-fmj-123-grain-box-of-20-q3174

https://www.gotenda.com/shop/ammunition/bulk-ammo/chinese-surplus-7-6239-750-rds-tin/

And picture for attention:

**Image and video linking functions will be enabled after you have contributed more to the forum**[/url][/IMG]
Click to expand...

Are you happy with your rifle? I have been thinking of picking one up.
 
Hey everyone. Thanks for the replies and the advice. Looks like I got some homework to do.

As for the rifle, I’m pretty happy with it. It eats the surplus ammo great and it’s a nice little bolt action to practice marksmanship on the cheap. I would recommend.
 
Ruger got a lot of flak over the years for the Mini-30 not being able to shoot the cheap surplus everyone wanted to shoot out of them.

With the Ranch, i think they went the other way, most people shoot the cheap stuff out of them, and the accuracy reported has been excellent.

Betting handloads with some 123 grain SST's or Mexican Match loads will tighten things up. Though i am surprised the Hornady didn't shoot, my experience with it was great.

I have a Ranch in 5.56 and it's a great little rifle.
 
Yeah, my experience thus far has been this. I failed to mention but I did shot about 10 shots of steel cased Barnaul (guy next to me offered me some when he saw I was a bit confused and concerned) and it also shot excellently. The extraction issues with the brass still weirds me out but as long as it shoots the steel ammo I'll be happy. However, if I decide to take it hunting I'll have to re-evaluate my ammo loading. Otherwise its a great little gun which I got out the door, with the optic, for less that $1000.

When I have a chance to do a proper ammo comparison I'll be sure to post the results.

jparent said:
Ruger got a lot of flak over the years for the Mini-30 not being able to shoot the cheap surplus everyone wanted to shoot out of them.

With the Ranch, i think they went the other way, most people shoot the cheap stuff out of them, and the accuracy reported has been excellent.

Betting handloads with some 123 grain SST's or Mexican Match loads will tighten things up. Though i am surprised the Hornady didn't shoot, my experience with it was great.

I have a Ranch in 5.56 and it's a great little rifle.
Click to expand...
 
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