Ruger American Because I wanted to !

[ArtinNC]

Took my Ruger American 22RF , changed the barrel to a Shelin barrel ,Boyd stock , Jared trigger , Anarchy bolt handle and knob . Really not much Ruger left but shoot much better . My first target I was shooting for groups this time .. But the gun needs some tweaking still and that will be another long story some day . Today I was testing amo to see what shot the best . Target #2 was .228 group and target #5 was .178 with out the flyer and with the flyer .403 Not bad for a Mod Ruger . And it was 37 * when I was shooting .

 

[Evlshnngns]

Looks great. Did you refinish the stock? I'd like to put my 22lr in a pro varmint.

That sk biathlon group is Nice.
I was out blasting some Automatch last weekend. Shame the cheap bulk won't group tighter.

 

[ArtinNC]

Looks great. Did you refinish the stock? I'd like to put my 22lr in a pro varmint.

That sk biathlon group is Nice.
I was out blasting some Automatch last weekend. Shame the cheap bulk won't group tighter.

Yes I finished the stock . I used a water wood stain and then 2K clear coat .

 

[257ack]

Very Good, FWIW I have a stock Ruger American in the stock wood stock. Never could get it to shoot well till I bedded the pillars on the bottom of the action. My best ammo is Norma match22 followed by Tac closely followed by sk. Eley not so good in the factory barrel. Mine now groups well under 1/2" @50yds with those 3 and mostly under .3 with Norma match. It now holds point of impact and can be trusted for varmints

 

[ArtinNC]

Just more pictures I want to get out and shoot it bad but just to cold .I have some more higher priced amo to see how it shoots

 

[68Hoyt]

I wanted the ruger long range 22lr but never got one and it doesn't look like they will make any more
I probably need to make my own like you did , lol
Try some eley team or black box match
Lapua center x or sk standard plus ,,,,, mid grade ammo
Let us know how it does !!!!!

 

[Rat44]

Rugers have been hit or miss for me.
Bought 2 of the RAR 's,a standard and a compact .
The standard was a plinker.
The compact shoots above it pay grade for me.
Seems to be luck of the draw with them.
Same experience as with the 10/22's .

 

[ISS]

nice rifles but I think I will stick with the old 37 I have or my NPR.

 

[ArtinNC]

nice rifles but I think I will stick with the old 37 I have or my NPR.

Yes , I would love to have a #37 Remington .

 

[257ack]

Art, please tell me how you changed the barrel. Thats what I was going to do before I fixed the bedding

 

[ArtinNC]

You have to remove the pin in the barrel . I have a 20 ton hyd jack press ,and it did not take much to press out the barrel ( don't need that big of a press ) I had to make a plate ( that was 3/8 thick drilled a 7/8 hole in ) to slide over the barrel for the action to set on .And I had a rod that fit in the action and it pressed right out . Turned down the tennon on the new barrel .002 larger than the action hole or the same as the size as the tennon on the old barrel , milled the extractor slots and chambered the barrel . Froze the barrel a heated the action to 350* and they slid together not much time to line things up . I did NOT put the pin back in the barrel I believe it will stay as is .
The extractor slots are staggered on the barrel tennon , and they can be cut wider than the stock barrel for easy assembly .
I used a Shelin Barrel standing in the corner for 10 years and nothing else to put it on .

Will post pictures

 

[ArtinNC]

After I pressed the stock Ruger barrel out .

 

[ArtinNC]

My press and a picture of the Plate with the 7/8 hole and the rod that I used to press out the stock barrel .

 

[ArtinNC]

257ack , You can make the head space same as the old barrel with a Match chamber , but after going to all that work , my head space is set at .043 and you can do that by measuring from the front of the action down to the bolt face and subtract .043 from that . My chamber reamer is a old never used PT&G reamer (( that and the barrel was for a project that I lost interest in 10 years ago .)) If you want any more info you can PM me .

You can see my target that I posted earlier , Been to cold to shoot the gun more but with the right amo it will shoot pretty good , I have high hopes .

 

[257ack]

gotcha, many thanks

 

[257ack]

257ack , You can make the head space same as the old barrel with a Match chamber , but after going to all that work , my head space is set at .043 and you can do that by measuring from the front of the action down to the bolt face and subtract .043 from that . My chamber reamer is a old never used PT&G reamer (( that and the barrel was for a project that I lost interest in 10 years ago .)) If you want any more info you can PM me .

You can see my target that I posted earlier , Been to cold to shoot the gun more but with the right amo it will shoot pretty good , I have high hopes .

The black box ely that I had from decades shot better that the 10x. Center x shot well but coyld not get consistancy. Most flavors of sk done well. All in the factory barrel. Mine is shooting well enough now that Im happy. I have 2 other rifles that I use for informal matches and the RAR is plenty accurate enough now to hit the heads of snapping turtles on my pond and other varmints. I got mine with one of the wood stocks that they offered in hopes that it would be better than the plastic stocks but it took a lot of T&E to get the bedding right. Their bedding system would not be bad if the tolarances were closer. Good luck in finding the right ammo. Thats always a chore. You may find that SK lot that gave you the best group is better than any thing else. I have learned to buy up enough of a certain lot to last a while