Ruger’s American Rifle family is growing with two great new options. (Photo: Ruger)
Ruger is expanding their American Rifle offerings to include new guns chambered in 7.62x39mm and adding lefty-friendly options in 6.5mm Creedmoor. The company is also adding LaserMax GripSense tech to their popular LC9s line of concealed-carry pistols.
The new Ruger American Rifle in 7.62x39mm joins their Ranch series with a polymer stock, adjustable trigger and railed receiver for optics. These rifles feature a Mini Thirty magazine well that accepts standard 5-, 10- and 20-round Mini Thirty and aftermarket magazines. Standard American Rifles use Ruger’s rotary polymer mags.
The rifle comes with Ruger’s Marksman trigger which is adjustable between 3 and 5 pounds. It’s built around a compact 16-inch barrel that’s threaded for common 5/8-24 muzzle devices. The package weighs just under 6 pounds dry without optics.
The two-tone black and flat dark earth rifle is perfect for the beginner marksman and the small and medium game hunter. With its 1-in-10 twist the rifle can shoot cheap steel-cased ammo and quality brass hunting and target ammo too.
Ruger’s new left-hand 6.5mm Creedmoor joins the company’s Predator series of guns. These have a heavier-profile barrel for improved accuracy across a wide variety of conditions. Ruger guarantees 1-MOA accuracy with match ammo with these guns. These are excellent entry-level long-range rifles and solid medium to large game rifles.
Like the 7.62 model, the 6.5mm rifle is threaded for 5/8-24 muzzle accessories. With its 22-inch heavy-profile barrel it weighs in a little more at 6.6 pounds.
Like all American rifles the 7.62x39mm option and the new 6.5mm feature Ruger’s Power Bedding system. This free-floats the barrel and provides great out-of-the-box accuracy.
Ruger American Rifles also sport a high-visibility tang-mounted thumb safety. The stocks have front and rear sling swivel studs as well as effective rubberized butt pads. And they use dual cocking cams for fast, light bolting and three locking lugs for a safe, predictable action.
Both rifles have price tags under $600 leaving a lot of money left over for optics and other accessories.
See Also: The Perfect Training Rifle — Howa Mini Action in 7.62x39mm
This concealed-carry pistol is equipped with a laser/light unit that detects users’ hands and turns on automatically. (Photo: Ruger)
Ruger isn’t just expanding their rifle options, they also have a neat new concealed-carry pistol. Based on their modernized LC9s, the LC9s LaserMax GripSense comes with a factory-installed laser/light module with automatic activation.
The LaserMax GripSense unit has an ambidextrous manual on/off switch but it can also detect when it’s drawn or picked up by users. This is more than instinctive activation, it just works when you need it. The system conserves batteries when it’s not in use and only adds a couple of ounces to the LC9s package overall.
The module has sleek, snag-free lines that match the updated LC9s well. The rest of the gun has everything Ruger fans expect. It’s a polymer-framed single-stack with a standard 7+1 capacity. The pistol is chambered for 9mm Luger, and even with the LaserMax unit weighs just over 18 ounces.
Ruger recently updated their LC9 series with a greatly improved striker-fired trigger. Complete with the LaserMax package this offering has a suggested retail price of $679, and as always, real-world prices should be considerably less.
I had, had being the key word, a Ruger Mini 30 in 7.62×39. Had I known it would not reliably fire steel cased Russian ammo I would have never brought it. One of the key factors, to me anyway, is the availability of inexpensive ammo to get practice without breaking the bank.
I traded it for an Arsenal SLR FR 107 that produces respectable 100 yard groups and, with a 3x red dot, will hit a 12″x12″ steel plate (supported) at 400 yards which is as far as I can shoot at the range I use. I generally use Golden Tiger 124 grain FMJBT.
This spring I was reading about Howa’s 1500 Mini Action chambered in 7.62×39 that claimed 1 MOA at 100 yards.
The price was reasonable, so I brought one to see if Howa’s claims were accurate. If anything, Howa’s claims are under rated. This rifle, at 100 yards will practically put each and every round through the same hole, at the least, you will get great clover leafs. I’m so impressed by Howa that I see a Mini Action in 6.5 Grendal in the near future. This is coming from a guy who owns two Weatherby Mark V’s and a host of other precision rifles.
I have nothing against Ruger and I’m seriously looking at their new 10mm but my way of thinking is that if things go to hell in a hand basket you are going to have to be able to shoot whatever ammo you can buy, beg, or trade for and having an ammo picky rifle doesn’t make sense.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is the rifle I’ve been dreaming about!!!!!!!!!
A halfway decent and relatively inexpensive round in a light, bang around rifle from a responsible gun maker!
There will be behind my truck seat after I take out the ’94.
I might have a hundred 30-30 rounds, but I got thousons und thousons uf 7.62X39!
Ex-cit-ed.
Ruger has disappointed me far too many times with their rifles for me to jump at this one. The latest let down with was a 77/44 that can hardly print under 2″ at 50 (FIFTY!!!) yards except with one cast bullet load that will shoot 2″ at 100 yds. The Mini14s & 30s are a joke if one ever expects to hit anything smaller than a large wash tub at ranges beyond 50 yds. I’ve had #1s and various 77s and all were lacking greatly. Some years back I decided to thin out my safe & took all four of my 10/22s to the range with the intent of keeping the one that shot the best. Of the four, I could not even find the paper with two of them at 50 FEET. The other two shot only mediocre groups. I kept the oldest of those two and it now rests in the rifle rack of my pickup. Kind of a “go ahead & steal it . . . see if I care.” There’s still a Hawkeye 77 in the back of my safe in .22-250 that I’m holding out hope for, but it remains to be seen as to whether it will shoot okay. If it’s a handy little bolt carbine in 7.62×39 you’re looking for, check out the CZ 527. Not near the magazine capacity of the Ruger, but all the ammo in the world won’t help if you can’t hit the broad side of a barn when you go inside & close the doors. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. The 527 is near the top on my ‘need’ list.
Hmmmm… Rifle after rifle you scant “hit the broad side of the barn”… Glasses maybe?
Mr. Straight shooter – I have lots of rifles, but the only brand that has consistently failed to perform are the Rugers. Rimfires, centerfires, it really doesn’t seem to matter. Bolt, singleshot or semi-auto is irrelevant. That 77/44 was right in line with my concept of an ideal truck gun, but once accuracy was factored in, it was down the road. In rimfires, I’ve had funky Remington Viper 522s that will outshoot a Ruger day in & day out . . . until the ejector breaks. Cheapo Savage centerfire bolt guns will put a good many Rugers to shame. I have yet to own a CZ rifle, pistol or shotgun that did not shoot well. That’s rimfire/centerfire . . . even WWII military bolt guns. What’s in your gun safe?
Amen brother. Just offed my 50th Anniversary Design Winner stainless 10-22. Even with hours of polishing and lower poundage trigger the gun continued to have failures to fire and non-closure of the bolt. Even with match ammo it was at best a 2-3″ moa at 50 yards.I have sevral
Amen brother. Just offed my 50th Anniversary Design Winner stainless 10-22. Even with hours of polishing and lower poundage trigger the gun continued to have failures to fire and non-closure of the bolt. Even with match ammo it was at best a 2-3″ moa at 50 yards. I have several Ruger’s I love but the 10-22 isn’t one of them and I refuse to invest $2000-$3000 to get it to shot accurately. Bought a new CZ 512 in lieu of the 10-22. What a great gun, fed it 100 rounds of mixed 22 LR from multiple makers and varied styles not one failure to feed. Finished off the session with two five shot groups using Norma match ammo (through a dirty gun) which produced two ragged holes at 50 yards. Gun shots like a high end bolt gun. Love the Walnut stock and the easy take down for cleaning. The trigger has a little slack before breaking consistently at 5-6 Lb. Got myself a keeper!
Good competitor to the CZ527 in 7.62×39. Looks like it’ll be a lot easier to add a scope and muzzle accessories to this puppy, Let’s hope the design has good tolerances so it can handle Russian 7.62×39 (maybe .311?). I also hope the inside of the barrel isn’t chome coated which tends to make AK’s less accurate.
From Ruger itself (dated several years ago, but should still be valid):\”…. To get Ruger’s perspective (ED: re steel cased ammo), I contacted a member of the company’s service department. He was quite familiar with your concern, and also mentioned issues of extractor breakage and debris from the case coating fouling the firing pin and gas system, and that the ammunition is not to SAAMI specification. Ruger’s official comment regarding ammunition is, “Only factory ammunition manufactured to U.S. Industry Standards should be used in a Ruger firearm.”That begs the question of why the same ammunition usually works fine in SKS and AK firearms? (Note that neither guns nor ammunition are produced to SAAMI specs.) The answer goes back to tolerance and design features of the firearm makers. Those rifles and their chambering were designed for infantry use. In such cases, accuracy is important, but reliability is paramount. The Ruger will deliver significantly better accuracy and can be utterly reliable, but it will require that the ammunition used be constructed with the same attention to specifications as the firearm.\”https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2014/6/25/steel-cased-762×39-mm-in-ruger-mini-thirtys/
Be careful using steel cased ammo in Rugers.
A while back I REALLY wanted a Mini-30, but had heard a rumor they were brass case only, which is a total no-go in 7.62 x 39, to me, anyway. I emailed Ruger’s tech support staff, and got an answer a week or two later. Ruger strongly recommends against steel cased ammo, and I’ve read tests which seem to verify this – jams and stuck cases. This new bolt gun might be different (although I doubt it). The little Cz-527 in x 39 is different, apparently, and handles the Red Army stuff fine.
I’ve used steel case in my mini 30 without any operational errors. I also haven’t had much accuracy.
I purchased a CZ 527 and so far I get the most accuracy from Herter’s 154 gr. SP. No problems with steel case ammo.
I am not a fan of the new Ruger rifles called American. Since Bill has gone to his reward the company has developed a few very good firearms not many.(Not fond of the funky little trigger within a trigger on any handgun or rifle) Love the old Rugers that Bill approved and extensively tested. My thoughts.They were all true American.
Nothing says “American Rifle” like having one chambered to take Red Army Standard ammunition, eh?
You’re spot on for the wrong reason. What’s uniquely, “American” about it is having the constitutional right to own a firearm in whichever caliber you choose, without regard for other people’s preferences.
With the mention of Ted Nugent in today’s post you lost me. I will have NOTHING to do with any group that supports Ted N. He is repugnant and hardly a role model that I would want my grandchildren to aspire to emulate!.
This hurts because I really enjoyed your take on the gun market and new offerings!!
Please unsubscribe me!!
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…or…or… go to that email GA sent to you that contained this story, scroll to the bottom and select “Unsubscribe”. No need to feel hurt or send an elaborate manifesto of your views or anything. Pretty cool, eh?
If a paragraph constitutes a manifesto, congratulations on your own.
Awwwwww. What if it mentioned Hillary Clinton? Would that be okay with you, SnowFlake?
Curious, are you calling him a snowflake because he expresses a dislike for something? If that’s the case, doesn’t that make you King Turd, Chief Snowflake of Shit Mountain? Hypocrisy much?
Awwwwwww you poor little snowflaked cry baby! Is uncle Ted too macho for you? Too bold and honest??? Well after you get done crying…go take you little pansy butt outta here…..You dont fit in with real freedom loving Americans!
Having read through the article 3 (THREE!) times I have yet to see any mention of Ted Nugent. Am I hard of reading or did I just doze off? Please advise. Mr. Lawson: please get a grip. Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. Even if the piece was about him from start to finish, all you have to do is NOT READ IT.
Me neither–it’s just not there.
A20 round bolt action!!! How fast is the action. Should be Kalifornia compliant?
California currently restricts rifle and handgun magazines to ten rounds. The rifle is compliant with California law as it ships with a five round magazine.
So, is the 7.62x39mm American chambered in American 7.62x39mm?
Hmmm….its gotta be German 7.62x39mm.
Are you referring to .308 diameter vs. .311?