Made it out to the range in Liberty today to test out my new Ruger American in .308 Win. Conditions were good, no wind and about 85 degrees. Tried out some Winchester factory 150 grain Power Point loads and a variety of handloads. After a quick boresight and a cleaning patch through the barrel I got to work.
Rifle really didn't like the factory Winchester loads. The best I could get was 2" 3 shot group.
Switched over to my handloads and started to see some better groups. This nice 1" group came from 40.5grs of IMR3031 and a Nosler 165gr Ballistic tip.
Next I tried a favorite load from the past. I was not disappointed! 43.0 grns of H335 and a 165gr Nosler Ballistic Tip produced this tight 3/4" group.
Also tried some loads of AA2230 and 165gr Noslers but they only did about 1.25", not bad but not acceptable to me. This rifle will shoot better I'm sure. I have to get some more H335 and fine tune it some more. I expect 1/2" groups after a little more work, but its off to a great start.
Now, as far as the rifle itself, the trigger adjusted down to about 3lbs with just one screw. Recoil was stout with my handloads. But that is to be expected with a gun that weighs 6.1 lbs without a scope, maybe 7lbs with it. Action was smooth and it fed ammo from the rotary magazine very smoothly. All in all, I really like the rifle and highly recommend it.
Rifle really didn't like the factory Winchester loads. The best I could get was 2" 3 shot group.
Switched over to my handloads and started to see some better groups. This nice 1" group came from 40.5grs of IMR3031 and a Nosler 165gr Ballistic tip.
Next I tried a favorite load from the past. I was not disappointed! 43.0 grns of H335 and a 165gr Nosler Ballistic Tip produced this tight 3/4" group.
Also tried some loads of AA2230 and 165gr Noslers but they only did about 1.25", not bad but not acceptable to me. This rifle will shoot better I'm sure. I have to get some more H335 and fine tune it some more. I expect 1/2" groups after a little more work, but its off to a great start.
Now, as far as the rifle itself, the trigger adjusted down to about 3lbs with just one screw. Recoil was stout with my handloads. But that is to be expected with a gun that weighs 6.1 lbs without a scope, maybe 7lbs with it. Action was smooth and it fed ammo from the rotary magazine very smoothly. All in all, I really like the rifle and highly recommend it.
