Editor’s note: We’ve reviewed the American Rifle before. For more information on the series of rifles, check out these write-ups. American Rifle Compact Review. Or this one on the original American Rifle. Also, the American Predator is now available in many calibers and is still a phenomenal rifle for the money.
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The Ruger American Predator:
https://www.ruger.com/products/americanRiflePredator/models.html
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I really despise gun writers that have no problem selling their soul to whatever company sends them a gun or product to review. I will not ever be that guy. With that being said go ahead and get prepared for a review of the Ruger American Rifle Predator edition that will make it sound like my soul was bought and paid for.
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When I began this review, Ruger had asked me what caliber I wanted the Predator in and I almost went with .308, but a friend suggested that I give 6.5 Creedmoor a chance. I am glad I chose the 6.5. I’ve now fallen in love with the cartridge and the reason will become more clear the article progresses.
When I unboxed the Predator, I found a skinny little tapered barrel, a light composite stock, and a surprisingly smooth action. I say surprising because there was really nothing remarkable about the rifle other than the action. Admittedly, I did not have high expectations for the predator. It is a deceptively modest gun.
The American Rifle is known for its modest appearance and solid performance.
Specs:
Stock: Moss Green Composite
Capacity: 4
Material: Alloy Steel
Finish: Matte Black
Barrel Length: 22.00″
Overall Length: 42.00″
Thread Pattern: 5/8″-24
Weight: 6.62 lbs.
Twist: 1:8″ RH
Grooves: 6
Length of Pull: 13.75″
Sights: None-Scope Rail Installed
Suggested Retail: $499.00
A few features make the Ruger American Rifle Predator an exceptional rifle. Likely the most important in terms of accuracy is the tapered cold hammer forged barrel. The process allows for precise rifling, which aids accuracy. The barrel on the predator also comes threaded for a suppressor. The 6.5 Creedmoor is threaded at 5/8”-24.
There’s nothing pretentious about this gun. That doesn’t limit its capabilities.
The barrel is also free floated using Ruger’s Power Bedding that positively locates the receiver, thus increasing accuracy. As with other variations of the American Rifle, the Predator uses the Ruger rotary magazine for smooth feeding and a flush fit to the stock.
The stock is ergonomic and lightweight. That flimsy feeling that I noticed at unboxing had no noticeable negative effect during my time shooting the predator. The stock, weight and ergonomic design aids in the overall design of the rifle making it comfortable to shoulder for long periods of time in various shooting positions.
To add a little awesomeness to the rifle that comes threaded for a suppressor, I attached a Harvester from Silencerco. The Harvester is a very impressive suppressor as it manages to be an affordable, lightweight, and effective.
I had a Leopold Mark AR optic in on T&E–an optic designed for a completely different platform; despite that, I mounted it on the Predator and zeroed at 100 yards.
100 yards, top group is one 4 shot group from bipod. Bottom group is 2 shot group after sight adjustment.
I was immediately getting sub MOA groups and quickly had the rifle dialed in. While the groups were better than I expected, what impressed me the most was the trigger. The Ruger Marksman Adjustable trigger is a fine trigger that feels much better than one would expect in a rifle in this price range.
On The Range
I had about 500 yards to play with, and a series of 5” plates hanging at the base of the berm. I had about 30 rounds of Hornady left, so I decided to get the barrel hot and see if would retain its accuracy. At 300 yards, I began whacking plates. I manipulated the bolt and transitioning to another plate. About 20 rounds later, the gun still couldn’t miss, so I backed up to 500 yards and got the same results with my last 10 rounds.
A few days later I taught a long range hunting class and let eight different shooters put rounds through the Predator at 400 yards. Everyone remarked how light and how soft shooting the rifle was. Some of the shooters had some very expensive rifles and scopes at the class. One such student remarked that he paid a couple thousand dollars to get his rifle to be able to do what the Predator was doing out of the box.
My hope for this article was to keep the rifle, optic, and bipod all under $1,000 and be able to consistently hit at 1,000 yards. I was able to keep the cost of the entire set up under $900. After the long range hunting class, my confidence was high that the Predator would allow consistent thousand yard hits, but I wasn’t able to test it until a few months later.
The 6.5 Creedmoor is an excellent choice for predators.
Stretching out
We joined some friends for some fun on Independence Day, a fitting day to be testing the American Rifle. There were a few children and several adults out for our shoot. I brought the Predator and a Primary Weapons Systems MK3 chambered in 300 WinMag (wearing a Vortex Razor HD). The line also included a decked out Remington 700 in .308 and a Winchester Model 70 also in .330 WinMag–a gun that kicked like a mule.
After the guns were confirmed, everyone took turns shooting each others’ guns. Everyone loved shooting the $10,000 rifle/scope combo of the PWS MK3, but the predator was the easy favorite among the kids and the ladies.
Finally, we took a long walk to a location where we could get a 1000-yard shot. The range was built on a recently harvested wheat field, and had steel targets ranging in size and distance from 200 yards to 1,000 yards. Fortunately the Kansas wind was taking a break for the holiday and we only had a 5 MPH full value wind blowing from right to left. I plugged some data into an iPhone app, put the data on the gun and pressed the first shot at 1,000 yards. There were a few adjustments made, but after the Predator was dialed in. It could not miss the 3’x3’ plate at 1,000 yards.
Price Tag
The Ruger American Rifle Predator can be purchased for under $500. Paired with a quality optic for around the same price, one can expect to have a superb hunting or target rifle. I actually intend to get an optic with a little more reticle in it to mount on the predator and take it to a long-range match. I am sure it will get some funny looks until the participants see the rifle’s capabilities.
The Ruger American Rifle should appeal to anyone who wants an affordable and extremely accurate rifle for hunting or fun at the range. Pair it with a good suppressor such as the Harvester and you get a fun soft shooting rifle that can deliver a high level of accuracy from 0 to 1,000 yards.
Odds are the doe never heard that shot.
And a side note:
A friend who needed a rifle for a deer hunt conducted the final test for the Predator. Her first hunt ever, she carried the rifle to her stand, sat quietly until the buck walked into view, raised the Predator, and took her first deer. I imagine the Predator would be a suitable rifle for many young men and women to use on their first hunts and many more thereafter.
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The Ruger American rifle Predator holding its own in some tough company. Foreground is PWS MK3 with Vortex Razor HD.
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The American Rifle and the Leupold Mark AR are a solid match.
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Rifle, scope, and bipod for under $900? Not bad.
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The Harvester, from Silencerco, doesn’t make the rocket fast 6.5 round completely quiet, but it takes some of the bite off.
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Safety mounted on the tang.
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I bought a Ruger American in 308.
Pros: It did consistently shoot sub MOA with 150 and 165 grain Hornady interlocks and SST’s unsuppressed.
The trigger is very good for the price point of the rifle.
It was light and a joy to carry in the field.
Cons: The ruger flush fit rotary magazine is junk. The latch is to thin at the retaining pin. I broke one within a day or two and another a couple of weeks later.
While the rifle was accurate, (sub MOA) without a suppressor. Once I placed a suppressor on it the groups averaged 3-6 inches at a 100 yards with the same super sonic loads I was getting sub MOA with unsuppressed. The barrel is to light and when you add the suppressor the weight causes the barrel to touch the stock at different points of contact.
The bolt does not lock when on safe. When sling over the shoulder the bolt keeps working it’s way open. I had to constantly keep checking it and closing it while hunting.
Yes it’s an inexpensive rifle that shoots well without a suppressor. If you want to suppress it I suggest finding a different rifle. The junk magazines that keep breaking leave it a single shot and the bolt working open while hunting is a giant pain in the neck. In the end I would never purchase another one and I sold the one I had.
These guns are great. I picked up a Savage 7MM of the used market, off of Guns America. Similar performance.
You almost had me. A 3’x3’ at 1000 yards? That’s 3 MOA! I have a 1903A3 with a barrel worn beyond the gauges that will do that. If you’re not going to show us a group, skip the long range babble unless you’re consistently hitting a 10” gong at 1000. How about trying it on paper? You’re allegedly an EVALUATOR!
Hey Dennis,
Let me guess. You have thousands and thousands of dollars wrapped up in super accurate rifles that can take out a gnat’s eye a 3 miles and you were a Marine sniper. OR, you’re just a lonely weird dude that likes to troll sites trying to make people feel bad about themselves. Happy New Year
Hitting things at very long range is interesting, BUT most potential buyers realize there are numerous things that go into that… not the least of which is the shooter. Thus probably the most important thing for us was left out. 100yard or 200 yard group sizes. THAT is of interest to me… not can YOU hit long range targets.
Dennis and Mark…..if you cared to look at the target the writer posted with the article you’ll see he not only ‘evaluated’ the rifle well but is also capable of shooting darned well. It appears to me that the rifle is shooting well under 1 MOA with budget optics AND factory ammo. Put for instance a Razor HD and some tuned hand loads and you’re looking at sub .5 MOA. The article was also headlined that the intention was to shoot at 1000yds. The author proved that the rifle could not only achieve that but can also shoot very well on paper. I rest my case.
These people just want to spread their negative opinions, but we all know what they say about opinions. I recently purchased a Ruger American Predator with the 18” medium barrel, and mounted a Vortex Strike Eagle 5-25X56 on it. Out of the box it was shooting 1.5 MOA consistently. I read numerous reviews that said this should be a 1 MOA gun right out of the box, so I gave it a thorough inspection where I noticed that the left side of the injection molded stock was touching in several places. I purchased a Magpul Hunter stock , and once I put it into the magpul stock the gun was shooting consistent 3/4 MOA groups. I recently purchased an EC Tuner Brake, and it’s holding 1/4 MOA groups easily, and I can hammer a 3” round plate at 1000 yards as if it was placed at the 200 yard line. My experience with my rifle tells me that the author gave this rifle a fair and honest review. The proof is in the pudding, so let them spread their negative sentiment if it makes them feel better about themselves, because it doesn’t have any effect on the reality of the truth… but that’s just my opinion, and there are some people that won’t think it smells like roses. Just saying.,,
GunsAmerica really needs to get the grey letters out of the blue banners on comments, because they are entirely unreadable.
Ahhhhhhhh, thank you- I thought I was the only one. The grey lettering on blue for is TOTALLY illegible!!!
Agreed on the grey on blue comments. Unreadable.
Grey on blue is unreadable though become white lettering on blue by highlighting. I agree that is a poor combo, and fail to understand why any programmer would do such.
Does. It comes in left hand
Believe it or not, yes! The identical mirror image version of the tested rifle goes for $500 or a little more. It has been on my list for a while, but I will have to figure out what to do for a replacement stock first. I’m hoping Magpul will soon release a version their stock left-handed, but according to Magpul reps at the American Outdoor Show, we’ll have to wait and see how many people buy the left-handed stock that they announced for the Savage 110 rifles first before they decide to make the American. Fingers crossed!
huh? magpul made a lefty for savage 110? thats odd they would do it for savage first when they already have accufit stocks which are nicer than ruger stocks. but ruger sells more american rifles im sure. the savage rifles w threaded 24″ barrels are pretty heavy already wo added weight of magpul. strange move by MP. the american hunter by magpul is my choice. i just wonder if they reproduce the v block bedding like ruger? in fact ruger is offering this rifle already w a muzzle brake. 20 and 22″ barrels. heavier than the american stock but worth the adjustable LOP and comb, plus mlok and ac mags
Which model leupold MK AR did you get?
This gun or a Mossberg Predator is 6.5 Creedmor?
Something for killing coyotes and/deer when the seasons are right. Seems like a few good gun options in this price range.
I appreciate any advice.
My daughter needed a rifle for deer and I saw the Ruger American on sale for $279 online, plus shipping.
I got one in.308.
I added a Bushnell 3-9 scope picked up at a tag sale for $25.
Using Remington 150gr. Core lokt ammo, it shot sub MOA right off. A few shots later it was zeroed in.
Wish I could say she got a nice deer with it, but so far it has only put holes in paper.
For the price, this is a fine shooter.
That’s an awesome combo for basically $300. I get questions from time to time about first rifle and scope, etc. This is a solid setup that I’ll recommend for a while. Thanks!
? I have no gun experience. QUESTION: Would it be probable that someone could hit a 12″ x 8″ target
at a range of 400 yards? If someone were hit 3x in the chest with .223 at 3 t0 400 yards….What is their
chance of survival?
Not good!
Please lose all interest in Firearms, go back to playing video games, it’s safer.
Hahahah great reply! Those are creepy questions
In my era, late 60’s to the early 70’s you could have asked CHARLIE. He could have told you not very good, but that was war, not a game. You don’t press a reset button or just get up and go home afterwards.
Ermm…yeah someone didn’t have a dad. How about you ask your therapist first. When that is done, find a qualified range instructor to take you out and demonstrate the lethality of just about any high powered rifle on the range. Guns aren’t toys, and comments like these raise eyebrows and pulses.
Weird. I really liked this article and I love to go to gun shops and shows to talk to salt-of-the-earth Americans and hear good stories. Looking at the comments below, it seems 2/3 of the people who own rifles are web trolling, loser a**holes with nothing better to do than pick on old men and new hunters, and apparently some can’t read very well. Are these a bunch of paid Internet trolls working for the left wing trying to divide us?
No they’re just what you said, a..holes.
You dont think the left does that? Hillary’s goons paid $1million to trolls, just to fuck with Bernie Sanders. You don’t think the ENTIRE LEFT is all for “winning hearts and minds” by “destroying buyer’s confidence?”
Just go ahead and google “democrats pay for trolls” and you’ll see 800,000 websites come up for that. Here’s some of the top results.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/4/21/1518537/-Clinton-SuperPac-Admits-to-Paying-Internet-Trolls
https://medium.com/@trentlapinski/democrats-had-their-own-troll-army-called-correct-the-record-or-ctr-managed-by-david-brock-5e06fe183e55
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-clinton-digital-trolling-20160506-snap-htmlstory.html
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/king-hillary-clinton-paying-trolls-attack-people-online-article-1.2613980
http://smokinghotpoliticaljunkies.com/a-former-paid-internet-troll-for-clinton-speaks-out-it-was-nasty-and-left-a-very-bad-taste/
Ya , leftwing a××hole’s ?
All the complainers of the young hunter girl are all actually pickup cab hunters who attempt their shots from inside where the warmth of the pickup cushions keep them safe and comfee like mama’s lap.
I am wanting to get into this I am not familiar with the 6.5 Creed what grain bullet and is it big enough to take down an elk or a moose at long range
The Swedes shoot moose all the time with the 6.5 x 55 mm cartridge, don’t see why the 6.5 Creedmore couldn’t do it with the proper bullets.
The Swedes do it with a 6.5×55 Swedish Mauser that can shoot a heavier bullet (160 gr.). Their moose are also smaller than ours. But a Creed can do it with good shot placement.
I would Recommend .308 if you want the tack driver and the Punch to take down anything bigger than deer, the 6.5CM is good for deer the size of the one shot in this article, I wouldn’t shoot a Canadian moose in a Snowfall at 500yds with one, you’ll never see him again.
I agree 100% on using it on a moose. 6.5 is not the ideal caliper. I used a 338-378 wetherby, one shot, done. These animals are hugh and tall. If they travel another 50 or so yards, you will have to carry the meat over fallen brush; that the moose walks over very easily. You won’t walk over it so easily. Go big on Moose.
To shoot any rifle out to 1000 yards is good, but to call it an accurate 1000 yard rifle you will need to shoot no more than a 10″ group with 5 shots.
Interesting test of the low-priced set up. But it seems the benchmark was set pretty low. 3×3 feet at 1000 yds? 3.6MOA roughly? Hmm. And having to walk it in at that distance? I thought the impressive thing about long range shooting was knowing your dope and getting first round hits…and on something smaller than a bus. As for “the doe didn’t hear it coming”, I’d guess not if the bullet was still supersonic when it hit regardless if she used a silencer. So remember to take everything in perspective. Making a 1000 yd shot is only impressive if you have a point of reference like target size. Hitting a bus at 1000 yds isn’t magical, especially if you have unlimited rounds to walk it in. I plan on buying a 6.5 Creedmoor soon but I’m hoping for first round hits at 1MOA or better at that distance. Of course, building a custom load for that (or any) rifle also helps with precision.
jeez, A. Wagner,
are you sure
you wouldn’t rather stay behind your keyboard where you can do
your most awesome 1 moa
thread trolling.?!
The test of the rifle, how it performed well for an economical setup,
and well written about
certainly deserved better than the negative energy you expended
for inaccuracy that missed the point.
.
You PLAN on 1moa at 1000 yards… Great plan!!! Just make sure you have a plan B and C, D, E and F
Not to knock the Ruger, I’ve been a Ruger fan most of my life. Though about 14 years ago I bought a heavy barrel Savage in .243 Win. for my daughter to hunt Mule deer with,cost a whopping 300 bucks, slapped a 3-9x VX2 on it and it was quite accurate, The thing was too heavy for a 13 yo to carry around so she ended up with a lighter rifle and the Savage sat in the safe until 4 years ago when my cuz started bragging on how he dropped over $3k into customizing an old Ruger m77, and another 1k on a scope. So, just for giggles I decided to stick a 25 dollar 6-18 Tasco on the Savage, Loaded up a bunch of 105 grn. A-Max and went to shoot Rock Chucks at 700-1000 yards with Cuz. Once I got the thing dialed in at 700 I was matching him shot for shot, even after dialing it up for 1000 I was making groups, estimate about 15 inches, fine for rock chucks. He complains that I was just a better shot so we swapped rifles, same results. Not too bad for a 325 dollar investment. Later in the day though the cheap scope showed it’s weakness when the Sun caused such a awful glare that I could no longer see the Rock Chucks.
That’s awesome! I agree that you don’t need to spend a butload of money to get an accurate rifle, and your comment proves it. With some practice, I hope to do the same someday.
Iam also a Savage feller. By good forune, i entered into the world of Savage heavy barrel rifles around a 1/4 century ago. Only regret I have is becoming a pathetic cripple who can hardly even lift my 223 Axis. Bummer to that! What caused a young punk like me to find the Savage Beast? Remington, Winchester & other competitors cost about 1/2 again as much as a retail Savage Tactical.
My first one was a 110 in 308 with a 20″ stainless sorta ‘fluted’ barrel. Don’ recall what kind of scope i put on it, but within a very few rounds at the 25 yd range with the help of some really good & helpful folk, it was just too cool so see that i could get easy 5 rd one hole bullseyes. I never knew i could do that before. The 300 Win Mag which had been delivered to me by mistake before I received My Prize 308, ended up in my bag very shortly after. A couple years later came a 223/556 Tactical 10, & shortly after, someone had a Model 11 ‘TACTIC’ in 22-250 on a retailer’s shelf a bit too long & i was pleased to help him make a little space for some-thing else, probably with an Accutrigger in it. I’ve never really shot this one, but I bet it would make a pretty good Creedmore, or maybe a PRC.
All of my pups are blind mag rifles & that’s not such a bad thing, is it? My maybe +- 2,500 bux includes 2 Leupold 6 X 20 X something 30mm optics, one with a ballistic reticle, 2 or 3 Tasco long range-ish World Class scopes (which are really amazing scopes & really great value for the buck), some ring & mounts; (cartridges extra).
Thank you Lord. Truly, I am Blessed.
Im old enough to have owned a pre-64 Win 30-06 since it was new after some personal work it came in well under one inch groups. For valentines day on my way to church I had a server heart attack I’m vary thankful God blessed me with another chance to hunt but never on the Sabbath And with the cardiologist warning no hard recoiling rifle shooting. I received a rare limited entry deer tag. So on fathers day the kids put a tear in my eye and warmed my old heart and bought me a Rugar 6.5 Creedmoor and a muzel break from Rogers Rifles in West Valley City ,UT so no more recoil issues So on 4th of July we will be out there proving I can still drive tacks. I’ve been a dedicated re-loader to obtain that fine accuracy. Now because i don’t have brass and bullets, dies ect. I’m going to try factory ammo till I’ve had time to get set up to reload, i’ll report the results so we’ll know if the hard mouthed critics of factory ammo can convince me It can’t be done sub 1″. but for at $24+per box I’ll reload. I’m so thankful for sweet children who still want to eat deer meat.
Please send video of that if you can do that your probably one of the best in the world
What does any of that story have to do with the Ruger American rifle? I don’t get it.
After my severe heart attack I walked towards the bright white light and was fortunate enough to find an un-fired, 1941 Colt 1911 A1 that shot 0.000001″ groups at 10K feet. I spent the next three hours knocking down tooth picks one after the other, off hand, in the dark.
What does this have to do with anything? Heck if I know.
Jason … Toothpicks, off hand, in the dark … like ANY body can’t do that. And as far as that unfired ’41 Colt 1911, wasn’t it Grab a Gun that had them on sale for $99.?
Due to a recent heart attack my cardiologist advised a light recoil rifle My old win. 30-06 had to be retired. So on fathers day off my kids go to town to warm my old heart and came home with a new 6.5 Cred more and Rogers Rifles of West Valley City put on a muzell break so no more recoil issues. So now to hit the head of a nail. My old Win 30-06 could do that so off to the rang to prove it with a warm heart my kids do really love the old man.
I have a Ruger American Predator in 6.5 CM. I mounted a SWFA Classic scope in 5 – 15 x 42. It has mil/mil turrets and reticle and First Focal Plane and SWFA’s own mil diamond/hash mark reticle.
My RAP was $415. and the SWFA scope was $573. so they are fairly close in price. The scope cost more because I “had” to have the FFP and mil/mil setup with parallax focus knob. Only SWFA had that combo that fit my budget.
Tomorrow I go to the range to sight it in and see how it groups with Hornady ELD -Match factory cartridges. I’ll be shooting off a bench and a cast iron front rest for max accuracy. If it’s close in accuracy to my 6.5 CM Ruger Precision Rifle I’ll be ecstatic.
I’ll post results here and on the 6.5 Creedmoor site’s Forum.
Where did you get that SWFA for only $570?
Would love to know how the Ruger American Rifle in 6.5 compares to Ruger Precision Rifle in 6.5 I’ve been wanting to purchase the Ruger Precision Rifle bad but haven’t had the money if the Ruger American Rifle comes close I will purchase it please let me know thanks.
That doe is not even a year old..what is wrong with this picture? Apparently the hunter did not have a clue.
Deer in different areas are different sizes, hot climate deer don’t need to be as big bodied as cold climate deer. Don’t see many record deer coming out of the south do ya?
Why do folks have to be so damn critical of everyone else?
It was “her first hunt ever” and “her first deer”.
Relax and look out for your own self.
Agreed. Good for her. Dead deer 👍
Absolutely agree her first deer doesn’t matter her happiness doe’s asshoholes
since you didnt ask a any questions about the deer, such as location, and breed, exactly how do you know the age? The answer is you Dont, I suggest you try using the courtsey, and manners you were hopefully taught. It could have been a much more interesting, and educational exchange if you would be willing to learn, rather you,
I see no problem. That’s some good eatin’ right there!
So what?, those young deer are the tastiest, most tender ones!
Some people are just whining trolls.
Folks here really need to lay off criticizing the young hunter. Seems it was her first deer, and I congratulate her on a clean kill! The caption incorrectly identifies the deer as a “doe”, when it is actually a “button buck”. Perhaps the caption should have used “antlerless” instead. The deer’s size/age/sex matters not the least to me, nor should it matter to anyone else. She harvested a legal deer, and it will be EXCELLENT table fare.
After 45+ years of taking, preparing, and consuming wild game, I can personally attest that antlerless cervids far exceed their “horny” counterparts in tenderness and taste… especially during the rut when a buck’s (bull’s) testosterone is off the charts. That’s why we emasculate male cattle if they are destined for the table.
Agree, I purchase the RA in 22 WMR, and love it, very accurate out of the box. way to go Ruger
I purchased a RA in .223 last year and enjoy the heck out of it, accurate and reliable. I then purchased a RAP in .260 Rem which I will be using for deer hunting, and maybe if I ever get out west Mule Deer. I like these rifles, not only accurate, but inexpensive. So I bought the RA Rimfire in .22 lr…..both the .22 and the .260 have threaded barrels.
Mr. Shaw is 100% correct about the accuracy of the RAP in 6.5 CM. I have one and it has exceeded my expectations in all but one category (rotary mag is the weak link for my POU). The four round mag caused too may mag changes and FTF for competitive use.
I bought it to compete with my friends in precision long range shooting events. They all have either RPRs or custom REM 700 rigs that cost $K’s of dollars that I do not have.
My RAP 6.5 CM system has a Viper PST 6-24×50 FFP, Vortex low rings, Cauldell bipod, and a kydex cheek riser. All in for about $1,300. Less than only the RPR on GunBroker.com. I am using factory Winchster BTHP Match 140g. So no special Ruger here…
To get the point, at my first and only to date Precision Rifle event, it was a cold January 2016 day in Idaho, and in the 20 degrees temp range all day. There were ten stages.
At the extreme long range stage, I hit this articles “infamous” 3’x3′ steel plate at 905 yards, with a slight RTL wind, eight out of eight shoots in less than the allowed 80 seconds from a prone position. My spotter at that stage was a qualified Pro level precision shooter. When I was done he turned to me and said “the last three rounds were a 5 inch group dead nuts center!”… To say the least is was over the moon!
You need to understand that I am a 61 year old rookie to long range shooting. These eyes ain’t what they used to be! I can now shoot consistent 1/2” groups at 100 yds.
That last time I saw the Pro shooter he had his rookie shooting neighbor with him at the range with a brand new RAP in 6.5 CM. I guess he was impressed too…
I am now in process of moving to a chassis system ($$$) with a drop mag to address my mag issue. That is my choice. Not what RAP was designed for.
Your mileage may very.
ill just stick with my m1, hitting torso shots all day at 1000 with iron sites. USMC
Yes sir!
Whoopdee shit Rambo. We are all impressed and dazzled by your “claims” I’m sure you’ll stick to missing barn doors at 10 yds with your Mixmaster M-1.
What a clown. You don’t hit shit. No one is impressed that you are yet another chest puffing bullet sponge grunt. Go clean your boots you sloppy pig
Did you REALLY not get it that he was KIDDING? .. His brag was in “real life” absurd, which is the basis for a …. (ready for this?) ……… JOKE, ie, he way KIDDING. And you really should be nicer to veterans in general, they’re the guys that made it so you could be a sloppy pig in the safety of your own home with the anonymity of your computer to bad mouth good people … HEY! is that what a TROLL is? Semper fi rob wick
Hi guys,
What scope would be the best $400+- for this rifle and calibre for the distances mentioned?
Thanks
Check out SWFA 10x or 12 x fixed power scopes, I used a 10x on my ruger american ranch to get out 1100 yards. I’ll probably throw a 12x on the predator when I buy that. The best glass for the money, hands down
I bought a new RA 308 left hand bolt. I had heard it was very accurate. My gun however is anything but. I received the rifle and installed a new set of Burris steel rings. I then bought a new Nikon 3x9x40 scope and mounted it up. Loaded up some 150gr over H414 and 150 gr over H335 and took it to the range. Zeroed it at 50 feet then went out to 100 yards. Now my zero at 50 feet was two shots so no groupings. At 100 yards first shot was not printed on 10×15 target. Moved right to edge of ring and shot, printed about 3 inch high and 2 inch left. Adjusted and shot and hit about 2 inch high and 2 inch left. Adjusted and hit close to center. Shot second group and hit all over the place holding on center. I use a gun rest that holds the front and back of the rifle. I shot about 50 rounds and it was all over the place center, 6 inch high 6 inch low left right.
I thought it may be a bad scope. bought a new Nikon 4x12x40 and checked to make sure the screws were tight. All was tight on rails and rings. Mounted the new Nikon scope and loaded up some more of the same ammo and took some Perfecta [not the best ammo but I can hit 3 inch groups at 200 with my M1A all day long. ] Same deal shot at 50 yds and it hit high left adjusted and was dead center. shot a third time to see where it hit at 50 feet after adjusting and it hit way high. I did not adjust but went out to 100 yards. It did the same thing it did before all over the place high low left right center. I am down to it has to be the gun.
Is the gun rest you are using applying pressure to the barrel by flexing the stock?
The bag on your stock WHERE DID YOU GET IT. I’ve been searching and searching
The “buck” walked into view – seriously??? You call that a buck??? Can’t tell from the pic whether it actually has buttons or not – in either case, doe or “buck”, “fawn” would be the more appropriate term. Hopefully it wasn’t taken with an unethical 400 yard plus shot…..
Amen, Sam. I can’t believe anyone would shoot that tiny animal and then take a photo of it. I’ve shot larger coyotes than that. Wasn’t this article about a predator gun?
You have age issues, why in the world would take happiness away if the deer was 400 or 40 yards away. Take a good look in the mirrow what ever your age and slap your shave cream on your cheek real hard, maybe you will realize posting demeaning messages can ruin good sights like this one. Deer purchaser not a deer hunter
The Picture Capition Says Doe
In some parts of southeastern NY State the hunting regulations mandate DOE ONLY in late muzzleloader/bowhunting season. No bucks may be taken then. In parts of early season bow hunting it is again DOE ONLY. Just too many deer for the carrying capacity of the land.
I hope the comments about the ladies deer are in a joking manner!!! I only hunt for trophy whitetail but I would never look down on someone that is hunting for Less than a Trophy!!!! It is in the eye of the beholder. I saw a men shoot a deer that just about had milk still on its lips. He was In his 60s and no doubt had shot a lot of deer before, was he really that blood thirsty? No he suffered a severe stroke 8 years before and had not hunted since so when he shot the BUCK he acted like he won the lottery he didn’t care if it was only a button buck. On that day it was a trophy to him. I know this was about rifles but you people that have NEVER shot anything but trophy a are doing a terrible job of promoting this great sport!!!!
Hitting a 36″ target at 1,000 yards?? That is good for a $500.00 rifle, but nothing to write home about !!
THAT IS A 3X3 HEAD SHOT NOT 36″ TARGET. JD// H.O.G
it says 3’X3′ the ‘ symbol means foot; like the length. So 3X12 (12 inches in a foot) makes 36… 36X36 inch target 🙂
I get suspicious when the author at the beginning, slags other gun writers for doing what he is about to do. If you wish to prove the accuracy of a firearm, the only way to do it is to shoot paper. As far as i can see there is a 4 shot cloverleaf 100 yd group and the above “sight in” group. Wheres the actuall 200, 300, 500 and 1000 yd groups on paper. Typically sniper rifles should hold 10 in @ 1,000 or better.
A single group, even a good one proves nothing and why a 4 shot? Std should be an avg of 5, 5 shot groups and the author probably should know that.
What kind of ammo? wht brand? handloads? whts the recipe?
But doenst anyone find it strange that the author popped a can [suppressor] on the rifle for testing? Often the addition of ANY muzzle device will act as a tuner so im suspicious of the inherent accuracy of the rifle itself.
Glowingly touting hammer forged barrels is ignorant, its done simple to keep cost down, the best custom bbls like Krieger, are CUT RIFLED
I dont expect any better from the gun press because the pressure to positively review a gun in a periodical which depends on ad revenue from manufacturers is impossible to escape, but seriously if a 5 hundred dollar rifle shot better than the current M21-24 308 sniper platforms dont u think the change would have been made a long time ago?
Nobody said it shot better than a sniper rifle now did they? However this rifle at this range is a great option for those of us that cannot afford such platforms. Maybe you should try one out and THEN make comments to the negative after having PERSONAL experience with them? Then maybe you should actually buy a sniper rifle shoot that and THEN tell us what you think about the comparisons and differences. The paper one you have taped to your wall behind your monitor does not count nor does the nerf shooter that goes 90 feet. ITs always an irritation to see so many arm chair shooters whining about things they have no idea about nor have an open mind to actually try something first.
Great comments! You make some very good points here…
U don’t know nothing who are u JOE rifleman
Not really I can shoot as good the Ruger 308 Predator as with it as my Goat Gun!! It is not just the gun But the The Grunt behind it…. H.O.G
Regarding rifling; many manufacturers use hammer forging to produce barrels, not because it is cheap – in fact it requires the use of some very expensive machinery to hammer forge barrels. Broaching, or “cut” rifling is much less expensive to do and the reason for using it has nothing to do with accuracy, in fact a cut rifling barrel has more chance of being poor in terms of accuracy due to the nature of pushing metal chips through the bore during broaching. Sorry, but the manner in which the bore is rifled has very little to do with the quality of that barrel. Many highly sought after makes of rifles use hammer forging, and it is because of the quality of the barrel that process produces. Custom rifle makers would use hammer forge machinery if it was affordable, and small volume outfits like Kriegar can’t afford the tooling. That is the only reason cut rifling still exists. The headspace of the barrel has more impact on accurate shooting than anything else in the chamber/bore. That’s a fact. I’ve fired many rifles in fifty plus years of shooting and have seen many barrels of varying quality deliver poor accuracy, but I have also seen dark bores in rifles that shoot MOA. There are many things that cause poor accuracy in rifles, but the way that rifling is made has nothing to do with it.
Check out the big brain on William!!!
I wish you would have used a “Hunting” Cal for around here… Smallest we hunt with is the 300Win-Mag, As we hunt “Elk” and “Mule deer” at 300-800 Yards… I would like to see a “Head-to-Head” review with “Store-bought” guns and not the “Fined tuned” guns the factory sends people!!! I would like to see the “Savage-Long-Range-Hunter” in 300WM against this RARP in 300WM “OUT OF THE BOX” Adding only the same scope…(BE3) I want “every shot counted” where it hit at what distance,… I would like to see a Recoil test done to see if one has more recoil than the other in PPSI or equivalent… And which gun is the best out to 1000 Yards with factory “HUNTING” ammo, (You can use up to 5 common brands) and I want to know which is the best and with what ammo, as well as which is the best with “All” ammo?? No add ons or “Hand loads” and it would be great if you could test them both with the “Eliminator-3” Scope that I heard was Awesome, but I haven’t used one yet, I’m looking for a complete out of the box 1000Yd target, 800Yard hunting rifle that’s completely self contained for around $2000. or less if I can… That would help a lot of people just getting started in hunting out west here… Please do the review as soon as possible!! Thanks!!
Maybe add the Browning X-Bolt “Long-Range-Hunter” to test out of the box as well?? That would be great…
I enjoy shooting my Browning 1886 45-70 with iron sights that was produced by Browning for their 100 year centennial of this fine old rifle. I can’t make it group like you guys or at such a long range but it is sure fun to try. BTW – I’m 70 y/o and eyes aren’t what they used to be. Hunted all my life though. You guys should try some iron sights and see if you like it. H.
Savage out of box accuracy with my lrh in 6.5 creedmoor. Shoots phenominal with handloads, and even shoots sub moa with factory ammo. That was with a mid price Nikon scope. Have since added a vortex. Would hunt elk at reasonable range (say sub 300yd) with Berger 140 vld’s. They are made in magnum cal. If you prefer.
Buy a Cooper extreme varment . My Cooper will shoot a dime group at 200, and at 800 meters will hold 8″ or better. Note all are very careful reloads developed for this .308 rifle.
I bought my son an early RA in .243 three years ago. We sighted it at 100 yds. in with 95 grain off the shelf ammo. He put three in the center with two touching with less than a box of cartridges and old Bushnell scope I had that I got the big box store to mount and bore sight for me. Not bad for a 12 year old and a rifle I had $500 in. I will say though, the boy’s steady…
I’m sure the RAP has been refined even more but I don’t think you can go wrong with any of these rifles.
Very disappointing and amateurish writing in my opinion. The author said that rifles were shot from 200 to 1,000 yards, and that the Ruger rifle could easily hit a 3′ X 3′ target at 1,000 yards. So what! The author left me hanging with his article by saying that the Ruger rifle was a 1,000 yard rifle, but he only reported groups sizes at 100 yards. It would have been an interesting and useful article if the Ruger rifle’s group sizes would have been reported from 200 to 1,000 yards, and then compared against the other rifles’ group sizes. Wow, we have a rifle that can hit a 3′ X 3′ target at 1,000 yards, but no group sizes were reported at 1,000 yards. You really got paid for writing this article?
Frankly, anyone touting that they shot GAME animals successfully past 300 yards is full of the bull they rode in on. And most “hunters” are straining at 200 yards. Wounding or shooting little does notwithstanding.
Mitch, you honestly either have no clue or no skill. To many a 200 yard shot is a easy, but then again we practice a lot, know our guns and ammo and a lot of us shoot long range precision rifle matches. So, before you bad mouth something you apparently know very little or NOTHING about. Read up on it, you won’t look like an idiot when you post on something you are pretty much blind to.
Man, that Rugar sure does look nice!
Revisiting your article on the Ruger American Predator – what bipod and sling/cover did you fit the rifle with? I am trying to outfit something similar and going to try and reproduce your results.
I own a Predator in, yes, 6.5 Creedmor. Haven’t shot it yet but as soon as I get the Ruger scope rail off and a 20 MOA Picatinny rail on so I can mount my Bushnell ERS 3-5 – 21 scope I’ll take it to the range. That will be this 3rd week of April.
HOWEVER, when trying the one and only magazine I loaded 4 rounds and worked them throughout the action. The the bolt could not pick up the LAST round, whether it was the 4th round or the 2nd round of two. i.e. once the bolt passes back over the round sitting on the mag follower it depresses the cartridge and tie cartridge will NOT be high enough for the bolt to pick up. This appears to be a weak magazine spring problem as a Ruger American 22-250 I once owned had no problem with this.
I called Ruger Customer Service and the lady see Ruger will send me another magazine free of charge. One magazine model handles .243 Win, .308 Win and 6.5 Creedmor since they all use the same.308 case. If the new mag works I’ll go to my local Sportsman’s Warehouse and buy some more AND TEST THEM IN THE STORE.
try this link for a magazine fix. Worked for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3tq874yvzI
“I really despise gun writers that have no problem selling their soul to whatever company sends them a gun or product to review. I will not ever be that guy.”
If they sent you the gun, knowing that you were going to review it for publication to mass audience, then you have already been bought. You don’t think they made sure to send one that operates perfectly and shoots great? The only gun reviews I trust are ones that coming from people who paid their hard earn dollars for the guns being reviewed. They can be hard to come by.
Congrats to the lady! Welcome to the club! I’ll show you my Hoosier record buck if you show me yours, but I WILL shoot a 70 lb doe if I have a chance and an extra tag. You want big BUCKS? Get your herd to 50-50% bucks-does. To get there you must kill MULTIPLE does for every buck you kill.
Congrats to the lady! Welcome to the club! I hate shooting buttons but they ARE legal as “antlerless” and it is tough to tell from a 70lb doe but they taste the BEST. I’ll show you my Hoosier record buck if you show me yours, but I WILL shoot a 70 lb doe if I have a chance and an extra tag. You want big BUCKS? Get your herd to 50-50% bucks-does. To get there you must kill MULTIPLE does for every buck you kill.
Congrats to the young lady! You are a deer hunter, welcome to the club! While I hate shooting buttons they are legal as “antlerless” and unless they walk right under the stand it is tough to tell from a 70lb doe but they taste the BEST. I’ll show you my Hoosier record buck if you show me yours, but I WILL shoot a 70 lb doe if I have a chance and an extra tag. You want big BUCKS? Get your herd to 50-50% bucks-does. You CANNOT get there without killing MULTIPLE does for every buck you kill. Eat well!
Paladin, you need to change your handle. Paladin refers to a roving knight who does good, comports himself with dignity, and serves as a defender of the weak. Your comments about the young lady who shot her first deer indicate that you’re anything but. Might i suggest “Pendejo” for your new handle?
The number of folks who can make a thousand yard shot with any rifle of any price is relatively small. Few shooters or hunters have a realistic effective range past 300 -350 yards.
Considering that, this rifle should deliver more accuracy than the average person can use. Also, (as mentioned elsewhere) no big game animal or human target I know of has a heart/lung zone of 3 ft. X 3 ft., 3 in. X 3 in. is more in line with reality.
Amazing rifle for the price, it’s what the article is about. I am impressed with the rifle and now places it in my list of what to get. I’m surprised by the response of many comparing this to a sniper or tactical rifle. Well for the price and the capability range of this rifle, I’m sure even Vasily Zaytsev would be impressed. And no, this is not a sniper rifle.
I just took delivery of my new Palmetto State Armory .308 AR 10 -18″ carbine and can’t wait till I can get to the range to sight it in at 50 yards. After that maybe a Key mod or Magpul rail and some optics.
Oh boy !! Oh Boy !! OH BOY !!!
How did you get such a good deal? The Harvester is $704 retail on their website.
Go to Slickguns.con for the best price on anything firearm related.
$390.00 @ Deadeye LLC. Check it out;
http://www.slickguns.com/product/ruger-american-predator-308-with18-threaded-barrel-38995-stock-deadeye
Bought a Ruger American in .243 for my new daughter-in-law, worked up a good reload using 100 gr. sgk. a real tac driver.
This looks to be a great rifle, but don’t jump on it without at least considering an alternative. I recently bought a Savage Model 11 Trophy Hunter in the same 6.5 Creedmoor. It came stock with a Nikon 3-9 mounted and bore-sighted, with the package delivered for $550, OTD. Haven’t had the chance to try it out yet, but with Savage’s reputation for quality and accuracy, it should at least match this Ruger.
I love Ruger products . But I don’t understand why none of the of the American series of rifles have Iron sights as a entry level buyer $500.00 is not a cheap gun . It would be the gun we buy and use for years . And a expensive scope might not be in the picture for a year or two .Cheap scopes are just that cheap and seam to lose there zero. Plus some of us just like shooting Iron sights. Ive written Ruger but they have never responded. Ps. just put it on the 308 model and I would be happy
Almost reminds me of the Savage Arms set-up , Look and Feel… Nice looking Rifle and the Bolt, to me; looks large as hell…
Yes, Yes, Good Job. As Long As We Have Lot’s Of Fun. ???? YES. ???? But, You Had Better BY. LOT’S Of AMMO. BeCause. This GUY In The WHITE HOUSE. ???? Is Going To Stop You Were You Stand. And You Wount Getr To Shoot That Nice GUN.. Good LUCK. And By An Outher GUN, FAST. ?????
Hey old timer, It’s Lefty.
I just got the rest of that AR 10 carbine I told you about last week.
I’m still waiting on the mag though, it’s on the way and should be in by Friday.
Then it’s off to the gun range !!
I’ll give you a holler and maybe stop in for show and tell afterwords.
You state that you have only shot this rife UP TO 500 yards (at 5″ steel plates), then the target grouping you show is only at a novice 100 yards. So why is your article titled 1,000 yard rifle?
apparently you only read half toe article lol. He clearly shot at a grand.
I have 3 Americans. 2 in the 06 and one in 25-06 the last a predator. super accurate and soft shooting. the 25-06 was a special from Ruger. my next Ruger will be a 7mm-08 or the mentioned 6.5 creed.
I boght my 13 year old son a .243 American, not a Predator but just the American and it has the best trigger I’ve ever felt out of the box and quite honestly I think it’s better than any aftermarket or slicked up trigger I’ve ever seen. Maybe we just got lucky and got the one someone took a few more minutes with but it’s slicker than any Accu-trigger I’ve ever seen. When he sighted it in on his first box of Federal Power Shock, 100 grain soft tip, he was cloverleafing them at 100 yds. The boy’s steady… But so is that little rifle. That’s all we put in it now. It just works. Oh, he was looking through an $85 Bushnell that I had lying around and stuck on it. I don’t know if they all shoot like that but I’m very impressed with that rifle that I’ve got right at $500 in. And nothing wrong with killing does in my opinion. We’ve got too many of them and they’re better eating.
When I was a boy, many of my friends had BB guns and I wanted one pretty bad. My parents felt that younge kids with BB guns were probably going to get them selves in trouble. They were probably right. I got a Winchester 62-a and still have it today. I am getting old now and the eyes and ears are not so good anymore so if that gun could be a little quieter that would be fine, no need to second guess why someone else chooses to do that. Here in Alaska you can shoot a Doe in certain areas, none of which I hunt but it is the job of the fish and game dept. to decide where and if you can do that. That is their job and here they do it very well. I enjoyed the article, did Ruger send the author a pumpkin? Maybe who knows gotta pony up to find out. My problem is that I had a headache from reading the nasty comments. I would like to congratulate the younge lady for her first deer! I hope that when the negative responders get a little older they learn to live and let live.
I love to read these articles about how good or bad a weapon is, they are interesting and entertaining. But no matter whom the reviewer is, based on my personal experience with shooting I’ve come to know it’s not the weapon platform but the shooter behind it that counts the most!
ive been shooting a 6.5 cred for more than 2 year in a ruger hawkeye a great experience in a long range accurate weapon that doesnt kill your shoulder . excellent cartridge and rifle
Great review…I own a Remington cal. in 300 win mag. also 270 and Weatherby 30.06 …none of these are capable of any kind of pattern beyond 500yrds..inside six inch groups..I think I might have to try the Ruger American Predator 6.5 Creedmoor out.As for the young lady ,who has enough interest in getting out with her friends and family and learning a great American sport and heritage.Instead of sitting on her rump playing games on the xbox while waiting on her parents to wait on her hand over foot..Who was nice enough to share her adventure with us readers. Her first deer whether it was a buck, doe or Bambi… 100 yrds or 1000 yrds..Welcome to the club of self sufficiency…GREAT JOB LIL LADY..!!!
Is one of the reasons for not selecting the .308 that it only comes in an 18 inch barrel?
If you think hitting a 3’x3′ plate at 1,000 yards is ACCURATE, then you have MUCH lower standards than I do !!!
Great review. I took a chance a couple years ago on a 270 American as a deer/hog hunting rifle, and I couldn’t be happier (neither could my deer processor). If I ever miss, one thing I know: it’s me, not the rifle.
Considering the bullet is moving at well over twice the speed of sound, you wound’t hear it till after anyway, even without a suppressor.
A MOA at 1,000 yards is 10 inches, in terms of Geometry. A MOA at 1,000 yards could also mean 36 inches, in ‘military-speak’. When I got out of the service, in 1958, ‘mil-dot’ was not a term commonly used, but MOA was, and meant ‘minute of angle’. Nothing to do with time, just that there are 60 seconds in a minute, and 60 minutes in a degree…and 360 degrees in a circle. Apparently, a one degree angle cone at 100 yards will ‘paint’ a circle of 60 inches. Therefore a minute of angle is 1/60th of that…an inch!
Having never been schooled in mil-dot technology, I presume from the preceeding discussion it stands for a ‘dot’ covering 1/1,000th of the reference measurement, or a ‘mil’… i.e. 1 inch per 1,000 inches, 1 yard per 1,000 yards, or half a 6 foot man at 1,000 yards.
So, whether MOA stands for ‘minute of angle’, or ‘mil of angle’, it seems we need to decide of which we are speaking before using it to indicate accuracy.
As for sound suppression… A supersonic .30 cal bullet has a significant crack to it, as anyone who has ever pulled targets on a range can testify.
I wish the range testing had included shooting data without the suppresor on the rifle, just the weight on the end if the barrel can affect the amount and speed of barrel vibration and bullet impact. I would love to see a comparison between the old 6,5×55 sweadish round and the new 6.5 rounds that have popped up in the past 10 or so years.
Your not going to shoot sub 1 MOA groups with factory ammo. This is another bullshit sales soul selling promo and no doubt the author collected some nice money from ruger. “Shoots better than the $2000. rifle” – more bullshit
The only bullshit is what flows from your mouth. You find it so easy to hide behind your computer and spew crap you know nothing about. You are the type that sits at home and fondles your precious weapon of choice if you even own one or more likely the worn and tattered copy of the add displaying the weapon you wished you had. The gun range or the hunting field is only a place you travel to in your dreams. This is the only response you will get to your thoughtless comment, only because I had an extra minute of my time to waste.
I beg to differ, not only can I get sub MOA groups with factory ammo- I get and FN guarantees sub MOA with my semi-auto FNAR .308. I also have a Ruger American Predator in .308 and it is a little pickier on ammo but have gotten sub MOA with 168 grain factory loads including Russian Silverbear! So I for one do believe the Author obtained his results and believe the rifle is capable of even better with some tailored hand-loads especially in 6.5 Creedmoor. The 6.5 was designed specifically for long range shooting and matches the ballistics of .300 Winchester Magnum with greatly reduced recoil. I have many buddies with 2000.00 dollar plus rifles that I guarantee get very pissed when my Ruger out-shoots them so just relax and enjoy the show.
My ruger hawkeye in 6.5 Creedmoor shoots sub MOA with factory hornady ammo and my ruger american in. 270 shoots sub MOA with factory winchester accubond CT. As a matter of fact, I’ve made one shot hits on steel at 500 with factory ammo. Sounds like you need to consider more than just the rifle
I own 2 Savages and 2 Remingtons in different calibers. I only shoot factory ammo, and ALL are capable of sub-MOA. The Remingtons in 270 is very picky, only doing well if I shoot Remington and Hornady, but I can cloverleaf all day with those. My Savage 30-06 is the least picky, shooting 1″ groups at 100 with Herters or other crappy ammo, and much smaller with decent ammo. All factory.
To add to that, my brother-in-law and his father both puchased new rifles in 30-06. The son had to stretch his dollar and bought an RA, while his dad bought a high dollar Browning. The RA outperforms the Browning all day, shooting sub-MOA with factory ammo. Most American manufacturers have caught on to what Savage figured out years ago: modern machining.
Out of box RPR, Hornady American Gunner 140 grn HPBT. 6.5 CM. Vortex FFP Gen 2 5×25 scope. Scope zero @ 200 yds. MRAD. Under 2 inch group at 500 yd line. NO BS
Lots of good products on market today. Production improvements have closed performance gap of custom and production rifles.
I’m hooked on the 7mm Rem Mag for 1000 yards, but after reading this review, I have to get one of these Ruger Americans in the 6.5 Creedmoor.
A comment on recoil: The older I get (73), the less I want to tolerate heavy recoil, so I’m in with the kids and ladies. LOL.
My high school English teacher Gertrude Ruttan (Lawrence, Kansas 1961) was just as tough as her name and she engendered in her students a strong bias toward correctness and careful editing. So, I noted that the author used a ‘Leopold’ scope. Please write Leupold in the future. While I’m on this soapbox, let me inform those who may care that the diminutive white tail deer here in AZ is NOT a Koose nor Kooies but a Couse that rhymes with house. Dr. Elliot Coues was the medical officer here with General Crook in the late 1860s, he was an early editor of the journals of Lewis and Clark and author of one of the earliest ornithologies of North American birds. He deserves to have his name pronounced correctly.
As for the review, I like it very much otherwise.
Great article.
blh55, I don’t think anyone was being an a hole when asking about the suppressor being necessary. I have never used a suppressor/silencer and have been of the opinion a suppressor was actually detrimental to accuracy. Perhaps I have been misinformed. No one should get a smart ass answer for asking a question on this post!!
What is the difference between the 6.5 Creedmoor and a 6.5 Grendel?
NVM…looked it up myself. Quite a big difference 5.56 vs .308 basically, AR15 vs AR10.
My friend has a Ruger American .223 and that rifle can hit center mass out to 800 yards with no problem. These Ruger American Rifles for under $500 are just the best I believe for the money. We also can’t allow BO to take this ammo from the market…it’s clearly unconstitutional and against the 2nd Amendment! The attack on our Civil Rights continues!
Good article; the only bad downside is the picture of the woman with a killed baby deer, if it is an
adult doe, how did she determined that it was not a very young doe.
Sorry, that appears to be a fawn.
Here in Florida that would be a full size, adult deer. Size depends on the local I guess. Florida deer look like large dogs.
Fawns are spotted. Depending on the area of the country and subspecies of the deer, it could be full sized.
Regardless, legally speaking, the deerbis a doe, butbwith further inspection you’ll notice it had small antler nubs beginning. So it is a yearling buck.
Not saying you don’t know much about deer or hunting, but yearlings are able to breed if they are born early enough in the year.
That “killed baby deer” isn’t a baby. Its meat on the table.
well, it looks like anybody that knows the history of savage arms knows that savage invented the accutrigger, and also invented taking a cheap plastic stock and pillaring in a aluminum bedding block and started using the screw in barrel to insure a exact cartridge to chamber fit. now everybody is copycatting this. plus the fact that they still, after all these years use the old german invented button rifling!! thank you savage for pushing the advancement of the firearms industry!!! ruger??? i have all ruger and avage firearms. always makes me laugh when my shooting buddies bring out those 3 to 5000 dollar rifles and i got my lapped savage…old trigger and all, they cant beat me. o…. i do wear glasses!
Maybe I missed your point due to the sarcastic tone……but for the record, the PREDATOR is a hammer forged barrel. I believe even the standard RAR is also has a hammer forged barrel as well, though I could not find it on their website in a 15 second search. Not sayin’…..just sayin.
Ruger can make a pretty fine rifle. I picked up an old 300 Winchester Magnum 77 MKII a few years back. It had the old ultra light plastic stock, and was absolutely brutal to shoot. Probably why I got it at a bargain price from the seller.. I affixed a Millett tactical scope to it and installed the Hogue over molded stock along with a Spec-Tec adjustable aftermarket trigger. That reduced the recoil considerably, and then I could work up some loads for it without beating my shoulder to a pulp. It shot less than MOA at 100 yards, and then took it to a 1000 yard range. Best group at 1000 yards was 5 inches on a two foot square steel gong. I eventually had a Cerrosafe finish applied, and a Hollands tactical muzzle brake reduced recoil even further. If I decide to install a suppressor, that cost will far exceed the total money I have in the rifle at this point.
Nice gun, sounds like there are a lot of jealous people who can’t shoot out there. Why morons have to write and complain is beyond me.
I think that a few of you are missing the main point of the author’s message. He does not make any claims to being a sniper or a renowned long range shooter. He is only stating that when he had the rifle dialed in, he did not miss the 3′ x 3′ target. For all we know he may have been stacking the rounds at that distance but he wanted to clarify the size of his target so that he did not come across as a braggart and also most likely because he did not want to cause embarassment to anyone that shoots groups that large. To clarify, a minute of angle at 1000 yards is 10 inches, someone earlier made the comment that 3′ x 3′ was a minute of angle. Most decent rifles built today are capable of sub-minute of angle shot groups, you may even get away with inexpensive glass and still have a good system. It is the ammunition and the consistency of the shooter applying all of the fundamentals that makes the biggest difference. Match ammunition is expensive for a reason, the results however are priceless. One of the reasons a lot of people handload is because they have found a recipe for their rifle that meets or exceeds the performance of match ammunition.
Several posters have made comments about whether suppressors are “necessary”. I guess the cogent answer is this: is any of this necessary? Is a gun “necessary”? Is a 30 round mag “necessary”? Is a brass cartridge round “necessary”…?
If you don’t understand why someone would want a suppressor… or a scope… or a 6.5 Creedmore… or anything else the answer is: because they want it. Who cares if it’s “necessary”?
If it bothers you, then maybe you should as yourself this question: Is a shrink necessary? ;)>
‘Nuff said.
I agree, it’s what I call freedom of choice
I think it’s awesome that Ruger is selling such an inexpensive rifle that is so accurate, and comes pre-threaded for a suppressor! To those unfamiliar with such things, the supersonic crack is NOT silenced (how can it be, when the bullet generates it outside of the barrel?), but the boom is significantly reduced, as is recoil.
Picture is of a doe, text says she shot a buck, which is it?
don
Look close at the deer’s head, it is a nubben buck. But like another poster said, “cut her a break, it is her first deer!”
The man just asked if it was a buck or a doe. He didn’t condemn her for shooting it. So why condemn him for simply asking question? I was wondering the exact same thing. I thought perhaps he printed the wrong photograph? Or, that perhaps it was a totally different person and deer.
I don’t care how big it is. If the law says she can shoot it then who cares? They must have enough of them around to even convince the liberals that they need to be thinned out. When you pay the auto insurance rates we pay here just for the number of deer hit per month, you can understand the concept of to many deer!
Pity the poor gun writer… with all of the persnickity, Prima-Donnas on here, he’ll never get it right. I see this as a casual synopsis of an OTC item, not an in-depth review of all of the capabilities of the gun…and the writer.
For those of you who also shoot rimfire, The American Rimfire Rifle, apparently, get its good manners, accuracy, great trigger and high quality from it’s lager American Rifle brethren. I have the standard model with the 22-inch barrel and if I had the financial wherewithall, I’d own a six-pack of these excellent rifles.
Great review. I am constantly amazed that you can buy a rifle today for less than we did 30 years ago, and it will outshoot custom target rigs of back then. I have 2 points I’d like to get a little more detail: first, is the author 100% certain that this is an off-the-shelf, standard rifle and not one selected for the review by Ruger, and second, I would like to see some long-range targets, not just reports hitting plates. A 12″ plate at 400 yards is still 3 MOA. Nothing to sneeze at, but…
Understand your point Claude, but it’s only 3 MOA if the spread of his group was 12″ on the 12″ plate. For all we know the group on the plate could have been much smaller. More correctly, it was s 3 MOA target, not group, but I agree it would have been nice to get the actual group sizes at the various ranges.
Great article!.
I have 2 RAR Predators, a 204 Ruger and a 6.5 Creed. I have not shot the 6.5 Creed yet, but I have a Weatherby Vanguard2 in 6.5 Creed that has been the most accurate out-of-the-box with factory (Hornady) ammo that I’ve yet to shoot, so I have hope for the Predator. I did have a chance to shoot the 204 and was getting sub-MOA groups after a 2-shot zero with both 32 and 40 grain VMax Hornady factory ammo. I have an inexpensive Sightron S1H 4-12x40A0 mounted in Warne Maxima rings on the 204 and a Sightron S1 2.5-10×44 mounted in Warne Maximas on the 6.5 Creed. My only disappointment with the RAR Predator is Ruger’s decision to make the 22-250s with a 1-10″ ROT, so the longer, heavier, high BC bullets aren’t an option for the handloader.
Uh…..Its better than the 1-12″ or 1-14″ that most other previous production rifle barrels have. If I remember correctly, the 1-10″ should be good for around 70’ish grn bullets….give or take a few grains. DEFINITELY better than 1-12 or 1-14 barrels. I have been waiting for a faster twist rifle in 22-250 just so I can shoot heavier bullets for a few years now. I read a few earlier reviews (a couple Months ago) that the PREDATOR in 22-250 was less than decent in accuracy and even had a failure to fire. I hope they fix the issue, because I really like the idea of this rifle….and the price!!
I expect this performance from any rifle I pay $500 for, but I normally have to do a little tweaking and load testing to get it. What I don’t understand is why anyone would add a cumbersome suppressor or silencer on the end of a hunting rifle, or, why Ruger would even thread a barrel for one. I can understand possibly using one for someone who is banging away, but to carry one around, catching every limb, banging it on every tree trunk, for a one shot hunt is ludicrous.
Chick,
I agree a suppressor would be cumbersome in the field, but how about during dialing in, practice, fun shoots with family and friends, … I’d love to be able to keep the noise down any time I’m shooting and not actually hunting. Come to think of it, if I was in a stand and had the room…
Hogs get awfully spooked by noise. I could see if you’ve got a feral hog problem using a suppressor to make your chances at hitting a second hog better. I’m in that situation quite often, sighting feral hogs along a field’s edge at distances from 160 – 1,500 yards.
Same here, I guess I see the utility, but we’re talking about extra length and bulk, at least an extra $1000 after you pay the Class III tax, and all to lower the DB rating by what, maybe 20 or 30? There must be demand or virtually every maker wouldn’t be threading their rifles and pistols for suppressors these days but to me it’s just another selling gimmick, frankly usually purchased by Camo cammandos to show how “tactical” they are. Not to mention, the sound suppression won’t last long before the expensive suppressor will have to be rebuilt.
As for the article, great write-up thank you, but please don’t include accessories in the pics and not tell us what they are, such as that cool sling. Also, specs on the 6.5 round and how it compares to other similar rounds would be helpful. I’d like to consider this round, but would like to know more about it and why you chose it over something like the .25-06 or .270? Thanks again.
My immediate first question is whether the suppressor/silencer aided or detracted from the rifle’s accuracy?.. Was/is such a device really necessary, a point given that the vast sea of hunters and shooters out there do not (and likely never will) own a suppressor/silencer…
Most studies indicate suppressors equalize the out pressures and thereby stabilize rounds as well as reduce felt recoil and blast effects. Although “most” hunters may never own a suppressor, it doesn’t mean they aren’t useful. Another factor that helps stabilize the shooter is reduction of the blast effect. I shoot a 300 RUM with a muzzle brake. The gun shoots sub 1/2 MOA 5-Shot groups but that is when I have ear plugs in and muffs over them. The blast is so bad my spotters (who stand or sit behind me) can’t stay on target. I’m getting a suppressor to reduce blast effect as well as sound suppression. My brake keeps recoil down to a smooth .270-like nudge.
“after the Predator was dialed in. It could not miss the 3’x3’ plate at 1,000 yards.”
How excited are we supposed to get about a 3.6 MOA Rifle?
Don’t tell me how accurate a gun is without a few 5 shot groups to back it up. Not one or two, at least 3 and preferable more. We can all pick and choose a lucky group or stop at the third or fourth round. LOL
You laugh at 3 x 3 at 1000 yards? Mouth or real experience? Lets see what mouth can shoot for that kind of money!!!!!
MOA is defined as 3′ (3X3) at 1000 yards. That is a 1 MOA target, so he’s holding less than 1 MOA… a difficult shot if you are unaccustomed to shooting at that distance… or seeing at that distance.
Did you mean a mil-dot? That 36″ (1 yard) at 1000 yards.
Actually 1-MOA is 10.47″ at 1000 yds. At 100 yds. 1-MOA is 1.047″, each 100yds thereafter is 1.047″ more. Mil-Dot is a misnomer, it is actually referred to a Mil. or Miliradian, which is 3.6″ at 100 yds, or 36″ at 1000yds. “Mil-Dot” refers to the type of reticle, in which 1 Mil. is the space between dots.
Good explanation 557 but add, for those not familiar with the nomenclature, MOA is \”minute of angle,\” 360 degrees in a circle with each degree as a \”minute.\” Staying inside one minute of angle is about one half of one degree
of a circle. A preety tight shot!
I’d be pretty damn excited at a .36 MOA rifle.
I would like to tell you and a few of these folks, along with the ones that think we should go to the market and buy our meat where its made, instead of killing game. IT REALLY IS HARD TO FIX STUPID.
Hello,
I have two questions. First, can you describe the long distant app used to dial in the gun? Second, the issue of the hammer forged barrels on the Predator. Are they or are they not what was tested and being made for the public? The gentleman that spoke differently, does his opinion hold weight? Last, is there another model suppressor that may offer more silence and the same level performance. I realize your goal was to keep the total package under 1K. But, if going the distance to put a silencer on the gun and realize the actual silencing was not really accomplished, I would opt for a more adept silencer, even if the make and model were more expensive.
The “Silence” factor only occurs when shooting subsonic ammunition. Any round will “crack” when shot from a suppressor (the correct term) if the muzzle velocity is over the speed of sound, approximately 1100 fps. The idea is to be able to shoot a normally loud (blast) round and through the use of the suppressor reduce hearing damage and recoil. The term “silencer” is a misnomer… unless you’re shooting subsonics.
Great explanation, 557. Thanks.
Not entirely true about the terms silencer/suppressor blh557. I’ve deconstructed this a couple times, but among silencer manufacturers, the trend runs about 60/40 favoring the term “silencer” over suppressor. One of the biggest players in the industry is called “Silencerco”, and the trade association for lobbying is named the “American Silencer Association”. I rest my case. This is a battle that is over.
Some folks call them silencers, but a more accurate term is suppressor. They suppress the report, not silence it. Push a bullet supersonic and it’s not going to be terribly quiet regardless. That being said, some cans are better than others.
Hello Mark, regardless of the make or quality of the suppressor, none of them will silence a supersonic round. Only subsonic ammunition can be fully suppressed or “silenced.”
I bought the same gun in 270 Win and got the very same results! Like you I put through about 40 rds @ 100 yds then backed up to 400 yds unbelievable accuracy with factory ammo! I have hand loaded some Nosler ballistic tips since and got even better results!
Could you have shot a smaller deer?
Give her a break its her first deer
and if she had shot the t’irty point buck, you’d be carping that it should have been left to improve the herd?
Yes chick you are right and why would anyone want a gun that holds more than one shot or shoots more than shot as well. Your magazine might catch on something and it makes the weapon heavier. A revolutionary war era musket is all that you will ever need for your hunting privelage or a bow and arrow but not a sniper gun with a silencer. Most Americans are not free enough to hunt with or even posess such arms anyway so how would that make them feel.
Had the same thought. That thing looks like it barely got to stretch its legs after birth.
First deer and very tender to eat too. Good job Ma’am!
Picking on a young ladies first deer? What a man you are Mitch, you too Dude.
Agree with shootbrownelk. If all you’ve got is smack talk about the young lady’s doe, you should really keep it to yourself.
+1
In the article you said the deer was a Buck, in the picture caption you said the Doe prob never heard the shot. I would like to think you were paying more attention to the stories you tell to the public, whether they are true or not, they need to be consistent one way or the other.
I enjoy reading most of the articles, but I also want you to know, while I’m reading one, I would like to feel as though a professional wrote it.
Where do you Douches come from? Now go get a Mani-Pedi and calm down
I grew up in the \”don\’t shoot does\” era myself but, now, some areas of the country are so over-run with deer that there ARE no large deer, male or female, left because of food shortages. They either starve or are taken by predators or hunters.
Here in Georgia is one of those places. Unless you get into a remote area, the deer here are the size of my 120lb Weimaraner. They are starving by the whole herd and I\’d rather shoot one, thin the herd to a healthy size for the region and eat the meat rather than them starving to death. Deer breed very fast and with each doe having a couple fawn each, the population grows exponentially.
They are now forced to live on residential plants and trees and I\’ve even seen them raiding trash cans that have been
knocked over by dogs. It\’s sad but a stark truth that prior \”conservation\” methods have created an entirely new problem.
Better a small, large, healthy deer population than what we see now.
Author said she shot a “buck”!
Really? In my part of fla a trophy buck weighs in at less than a hundred lbs. Sad I know. She did fine btw…. could you possibly have a smaller whellll you know yours looks like one only smaller….
My family has 3 of these guns in 223, 270 and 22-250. Their experience parallels yours. Amazingly accurate. The Creedmoore is an intriguing caliber and I’ll have to get one, from the sounds of it.
Great review. Looks like this one is a sleeper. Some times you just don’t know until you try it.
I am wondering how the .308 would compare with the the testing done on the Predator 6.5 Creedmoor?
Thanks
Dan J Falke
Yes that is a fine Wepon, I wonder have you ever shot a Molsen Naguent ? At 350 meters I was able to shoot 2in 3 shots with iron sights. I wonder what it could do at 1000 yrds useing a good scope? Have you ever shot ond of these ?
Love em. Have five of my own in different configurations. Inexpensive to buy and to modify. Install a Timney trigger, set it in an ArchAngel composite stock, mount a good scope and you’ve got a 600 yard banger for about $700.00.
anybody believe you can take a rifle with iron sights and shoot that kind of group at 350 meters, let me sell you the golden gate bridge. you cannot see a target that size at that distance. He must have meant 50 yds. must less a nagant.
Anything is possible .
There is a gentleman on you tube that shoots a Swiss K-31, 2240 yds, iron sights @ a 36″ buffalo silhouette .
7 hits out of 26 shots.
Practice makes perfect
Really then I guess this guy shooting it over a half mile iron sights is just silly ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-CTa2lMGN0
Ummm… Is a \” Molsen Naguent\” actually a Mosin Nagant (Prounounced \”MOS-EH NEH-GAHNT\”) that was accidentally dropped into a vat of Canadian beer? ;D (sorry, couldn\’t resist)
This rifle was the WWII weapon of choice for the Russian army snipers for a reason. They shoot far, hit hard and are easily accurized by some spring changes, a new trigger and a barrel crown job. 800-900 yards no problem.
They\’re rapidly gaining popularity but they are still cheap enough, go get one, swap it to either a Monte Carlo or Archangel stock
and you\’re off! 🙂
There’s some fine modern German ammo in 203 and 180 gr. available for the Mosin that really packs a punch and won’t corrode your barrel
Great review! I love it when the underdog (in price) wins the match. WTG Ruger!
By the looks and your description of the action; looks to be a Tikka T3 clone. By far the smoothest action I have ever cycled. The Tikka T3 Tactical looks so familiar with the threaded barrel, etc. except no adjustable cheek piece on the Ruger. Tikka T3 has half moa guarantee….Does Tikka make the action or better to ask did Ruger clone it?
Looks like a clone of the Savage Accutrigger as well. I love my Savage.
Will they make a left handed model?
They already make left hand models in all calibers in Ruger American
Did you get to test the Ruger Predator in 308 Caliber with the Silencerco? I would love to read that review.
Just a note on your question. I had the privilege to handle and shoot the Ruger American in .308 last year and found it to be everything this author promises. I’m no expert, but I was making sub-moa groups “out of the box”. BTW, it WAS bought at WalMart. It is a comfortable gun to shoot, accurate, light and by my standards a “sleeper”. Do not underestimate Sturm-Ruger. They’ve been at this a long time and their quality is high.
The 6.5 caliber is the finest center spectrum caliber for both sectional-density and ballistic-co-efficiency.
And will shoot flatter than the.30 and can penetrate deeper too, without hyper speed that’ll burn out barrels,
waste powder and make all kinds of huge ear spitting noise ~!
A good part of this really is the caliber. 6.5 was actually created for 1000 yard or other long distance shooting and is likely the most accurate long distance caliber ever created. (260 Rem is not bad either) 6.5 Creed is the nicest shooting to. In an AR platform it can be a semi-automatic true 1000 yard gun ; with a real good barrel. I recommend either a custom barrel OR take a 6.5 barrel from Savage and re-tool it for an AR platform. By the way we really do live in the golden age of projectile weapons. Savage, Ruger and a couple of other “cheap” rifle manufacturers create $300 off the rack guns that off the rack shoot better than most $2000 rifles produced more than ten years ago.
Thus the reason they still produce the 6.5×55 Swedish ammo. My 100+ year old sporterized Swedish Mauser did the same thing for $450. It kicks like a mule though and makes the fellers at the range cringe from the muzzle blast.
I felt your astonishment with the Ruger and I’m quite sure it delivered as described. I had the same results with a Ruger VT 22-250. Different firearm and caliber BUT it shot touching cloverleaf groups. The only thing done was add a 6.5X20 VX3 Fine Crosshair. Never used a factory round. First recipe from manual delivered the results. No laping, no cyro, no playing with the bedding or internal work. I relate this info in support of your results; very reasonable price delivering Exceptional Performance. However, prior Duty work with the Mini 14 GB always disappointed in accuracy.
You must have got a good one from Ruger, the 6.5 is a very accurate and Rugers are good guns for the money! However i do not agree with the hammer forged bbl. Go to a store and buy one off the shelf and then tell me it is a 1000 yard rifle. Bob Lee
Well, I guess this puts an end to all those expensive sniper rifles the military has been buying and paying many $1000s for. Now they can go down to Wal Mart and get a better rifle for $500.
Please note the article states hitting 3 foot X 3 foot plate at 1000 yards. No group size and several rounds used to get on the 1000yd plate. This is far from the preformance levels of current “SNIPER”weapon systems intended for that range. So the platform builders for long distance accurate rifles are safe.
Long distance shooting is not equivalent to Sniper operations as it lacks several field skill sets. Even though some manufactures use tactical buzz words in product names.
A 3’x3′ target is nowhere near accurate enough for a sniper rifle.
No, but for $500, it’s amazing
Sounds like a good challenge. The only rifles I’ve seen that could be that accurate our of the box were Savages. The savage has a barrel locking ring which allows a competent Gunsmith or knowledgeable amateur with proper head space gauges to tune to give unbelievable accuracy. I believe Ruger has incorporate this design int o the American.
I have an early American rifle chambered in 30-06 with a Nikon prostaff 3-9x50mm and this gun amazes me. I spent 10 years as an Army infantryman and spent some time as a designated marksman so I know how to shoot and it takes a lot to impress me. The only thing I would change is to add a adjustable cheek rest. The barrel cleans nicely and don’t foul easily which in my mind denotes quality. I thought the barrel thinness would be an issue but I don’t notice a change with a hot barrel. Ruger did their homework on this rifle series.
Im with you on the cheek rest, , not sure why they omitted them on the american series
Sorry Bill but i have 2 of these rifles, 223,308 they are accurate out to 800 yds, have not shot any farther as of yet,but have no doubt 200 more yds should not be a problem.i will suggest a good quality scope is mandatory
I have had 2 of the predator series, .204 had all kinds of mag problems, sent it back to Ruger and they fixed it but it would not shoot under about 4 inches. Now I have the same rifle in .223 , mags work well but still not very accurate, maybe 4 inches. I’m trading it off for a savage mod. 11 223
Well to the guy that questions the accuracy of the RAP off the shelf, better go try one, stock out of the box,put a scope on and trust me you will be amazed
Who is the asshole that shot the young doe?? Another great white hunter???
Most of the East coast is over run with deer. I can no longer have a garden, they devour everything except onions and mustard greens. Every night my driveway alarm goes crazy as the herd travels back and forth. They laugh at my barking dog. We have a legal doe season. The man who owns the field in front of my house has a permit to shoot them at night as a nuisance animals. Any walk outside guarantees you will be covered with microscopic deer ticks.
Daddio7,
I couldn’t agree more. Eastern Long Island is over run with whitetails. one November day I counted 29 dead deer along the road from Sag Harbor to Montauk, a 20 mile stretch! And do-gooders are feeding the deer in the winter! Even proposing sterilizing does to keep down the population!
Eddie
That’s what you get when you trap or poison all of the predators. Check out what is happening in the Dakotas with jackrabbits.
Grow up !!!!!!!
Before you judge too quickly, maybe consider that some states do allow doe hunting. It is called population control. Better to kill off a few does than to let them breed themselves into starvation.
Besides, they taste better than a buck.
yes they are yum yum !
For instance Texas does, for one… We have a major overpopulation problem in the Central Texas Hill Country, and the State Wildlife Management guys encourage us to take more does each season, for the reasons already stated in other posts.
ya just ask a Vermonter about population control. Also ask all the former hunters why they will not hunt vermount any more, becouse of population control. the deer are far and few inbetween……thank you vermont wildlife service…..
I think I hear your parents pulling back in the driveway….better hurry and turn their computer off!! Are they going to be pissed you cut 6th Grade again!
I don’t know the gal’s name (that shot the deer) but I DO know who the a$$hole is…
Blue ridge man,I am with you.It seems there is always some idiot that gets on and has a negative remark that has absolutely nothing to do with the article.I am sure this coward would not dare say that to this woman’s husbands face.For me,I would love to shove this weapon down his throat and watch the silencer wiggle out his butt hole.Sorry,never,ever commented like this on forums or anything such as this but have grown tired of these worthless people making more worthless comments.
I agree with you BlueRidgeMan. Some things in life are apparent! One such instance presents itself in the form of Paladin. Yet another would be the empirical evidence; harvesting does is a primary method of herd management.
Who is the AzzHole who made such a stupid comment? Another Great White (anonymous) Commenter?
Although I don’t like the idea of killing a doe, the north east part of the country is so over run with deer that they are now having certain days where does are legally harvested. It’s become a necessity because the overpopulation of deer that has forced them into the suburbs to forage for food. No one’s garden is safe from hungry deer. Every time you get on the highway there are dead deer on the roads from the night before. Sometimes people die when their cars hit these deer, and I personally nearly hit 2 deer in one night riding my motorcycle. If I hadn’t braked in time, I wouldn’t be here. Doe hunting feels wrong to my sense of sportsmanship, but I understand why it has to be done to control over population.
I have shot both buck and doe over the years, I am more a meat hunter and the only diferance I have found is that you cannot eat horns
It probably was her first deer, and not an expert on field judging animals give her a break man. I can see why the kids of today do not want to take on the challenge of hunting when they have to see so called adults posting online that they are assholes for taking a deer. I myself am proud of her and tip my hat that she is willing to carry on the heritage of hunting. The youngsters of today are the voices and advocates of the sport tomorrow. We should all encourage them not demoralize them.
It wasn’t me, but I’ll defend their right and choice to shoot that doe. You are an elitist prick. There are enough deer in many areas to be a nuisance.
Would it have been better if it was a fork horn?
Paladin ,You just got schooled on Land Management.
Paladin? That is an honorable name you are wearing. Do you also wear the Medal of Honor?
Deer are a nuisance animal in many areas – and for good reason. They do a great deal of damage. In my county there is no limit on the number of deer you can shoot per day! If you can shoot 40 per day, the county wants you to do it. And there is no stigma in shooting any deer that can walk, no matter how young. A deer was hit on the highway and crashed through the poor mom’s windshield, killing her and traumatizing her two kids. One week later I hit one in the same general area, doing $6k in damage to my car, and almost going through my windshield. Another ran into the side of my wife’s car a few weeks ago. They are a nuisance, and I will continue to kill them for the meat, and to reduce the population, no matter how young they are.
That would be the lady in the pic that shot her first deer on her first hunt.
Harvesting does is good for the herd overall. I live in Alaska and I’ll shoot a cow moose over a bull anytime. They are better eating. I don’t kill to brag about it, I kill for groceries. If I ever had anything to prove I did it long ago. I have also never killed a bear although I have often had the chance. Spring black bear is delicious so I may take one some day but not to impress anyone. Also, a hint for beginners. During the rut the meat of a buck or bull is tainted and not as good on the table as an early season male. Late season they improve but they have run off all their fat chasing females. If you shoot a buck in the rut,, trim off all the fat you can. That is where the harsh flavor is greatest.
paladin its called conservation here in middle Tennessee the deer herd is est @ 5 mill the entire state has 6 mill people each hunter can harvest 117 does 3 bucks annually but you feel the need to call this person a asshole , your calling this person asshole, is intellectually lazy on your part. kmha
Ok cowboy here we go. Doe need culling as well to keep the population healthy. I guess you don’t know much about deer hunting it would seem? Problem today everyone wants a buck and the doe get left behind. Herd imbalance. My thinking here is ( Nice shot, congrats,and great winter meat )
The Mgm’t
Obviously Paladin can’t read or sex a deer. That was a spike and a legal buck in most states. Look at the head close up and you can see the protrusion. Oh, you must be one of those “Dentist Trophy Hunters”.
Great job on the hunt ma’am, and congratulations.
Paladin, I think you’re the asshole. You probably don’t even hunt. The girl killed her first deer, it’s a trophy to her and the people who taught her to shoot and hunt. Do you not remember your first deer? If you actually have shot a deer. I’ve been teaching my daughter to shoot since she was 7. She took her first deer when she was 12, a spike buck that weighed 75 pounds. One shot at 75 yds, dropped like a bag of hammers. She is now 22, an awesome shot and ethical hunter. Blow your smoke some where else.
Awesome review love it. I just wished there was video of your range trip.
I will never trade in my M1A Springfield; But anything that can reach bulls aye at 1000 yard is worth the try, specially from a inexpensive gun
I have a remington 700 in 25-06 will never sell it either,but i have 2 RAP’s , 223,and a 308 these rifles are my main guns for coyotes, Ruger really hit a home run with the American line
Just picked up my RAP in 6.5. Wonder what ammo was used for your article. Just trying to get and idea of what ammo to start
with. Going to Wyoming in Oct 15 , for Antelope. This is my third RAP 223 and 308 are both MOA.
The Canadian Forces Prairie Gun Works 338 Lapua must make 9 out of ten hits on a torso sized target at 1000 meters ,so yeah that is a very accurate predator rifle! Especially if you are not a trained sniper!
That is pretty accurate. Almost as accurate as my $355 Stevens 200 in 30-06.
Finally someone speaks of the 338 lapua now that’s a sniper rifle don’t get me wrong so many round configurations work well but the lapua is the killer that won’t kill you 1500 yard round with now worries
What is the cheek pad/pouch that you have on the rifle?
I got my first ruger m77 in 30-06 back in the early 80s. I was told Ruger was a cheap throw away gun and they would never be worth anything. Boy was they wrong. now it isn’t a tack driver like I read of some rifles but it has never failed me when I do my part. I load my own and Sierra game king 165 BTSP has been very good to me. White tail in OK, mule deer and elk in Colo and WY and most of them was over 400 yards. I enjoy hearing good things about the ruger and the savage they were both considered cheep and poor quality rifles back in the day glad to see others discover how good they are.