Ruger American .223--8 TW.

[okie]

anybody know what factory ammo. they like?? tried 50,55 & 60 gr--no luck...

 

[Rsadams]

Might try federal gold medal match with a 69gr matchking..... Normally shoot well....

 

[okie]

Might try federal gold medal match with a 69gr matchking..... Normally shoot well....

thanks--was thinking heavier may be better...I have no experience with ruger or factory ammo.. thanks again marc

 

[Rsadams]

thanks--was thinking heavier may be better...I have no experience with ruger or factory ammo.. thanks again marc

Now this is my opinion and cost nothing but.... I have some experience with Ruger American barrels... I find a very very good cleaning and about 2 sets of 10 strokes of JB bore paste to help smooth things out then a cleaning again very helpful with the Ruger American even their Ruger American Rimfire... Sometimes maybe after shooting and a good cleaning again a few more passes of JB and another cleaning may not be a bad thing after that just fire lapping the barrel by normal shooting whatever bullets seems to make them come around... In my opinion you certainly aren't going to hurt anything and I have found great improvement on pretty much all factory barrels by doing it...

The Ruger American catches alot of grief here but there's a ton of them taking game every year.... It's a factory gun , so a comparison between a $350 rifle and a $1000 or more rifle isn't a great comparison.... Of course like any other factory rifle , bad ones make it out of the factory... Don't give up on it just yet , I bet unless there's a problem it will give you at least MOA at 100 yards... We're I live down here in Texas most shots on game are well under 300 yards , normally about 100 yards... Hope you get it worked out..

Edit... After the cleaning and jb and trying the Federal Gold Medal Match ammo if it comes around I would at least try the lighter bullets to see if it was the bullets or the barrel work that fixed it....

 

[okie]

My mom got two for my boys to remember her by--I usually use 700's. I did not borescope them but they seem nice for a cheaper rifle. Was hoping to get them around MOA also. Am getting more trusting of my kids as they are maturing--enough to let them take them to check cows/fence around the place on the buggy/tractor--really didnt want to load for them either...My kids have missed numerous opportunities on coyotes etc. because I am probably too cautious with them about carrying rifles. They seem like they will work fine. I am going to JB the heck out of them tonight and try the heavies tomorrow before it gets to 100 degrees!!! Thanks for your time. I am sure Iwill get them to work just fine. Yes---just close shots here too. thanks! marc

 

[K22]

Most of my 223's have 12" twists so I'm recently new to the "fast twist" 223 trend. Also I don't own a Ruger American but I do have a Tikka w/ an 8" twist.

I also don't shoot factory ammo but what I've discovered with my Tikka is that it will shoot both the 55 and 60 grain bullets quite well, in the .25 to .75 range with moderate charges of powder, i.e. at the lower end of the book values. I don't know if this is due to the fast twist or some other issue but I thought I'd share it with you.

 

[Zero333]

Federal Gold Medal Match 69 & 77 gr are your best bet if you want the best accuracy.

I've also had excellent results with Hornady 75 gr either the TAP FPD or the Black. Can't remember which one.

Even tho I handload, I get the odd box of Factory ammo here and there when it's on for a good price.

 

[jpx2rk]

I have a RAR 223 with the pencil barrel, and 23.0g of Varget and 55g tipped bullets are pretty accurate at 100 yds, especially cold bore shots are dead on, but with that 3rd shot, the pencil barrel starts walking pretty good. If you want or need a "one shot" rifle, I've got one. LOL. I tried all different weights/brands of factory ammo, and couldn't find a consistent one. I don't shoot this one much as one shot and done is not much fun IMO.

 

[xswanted]

I loaded 53 grain Vmaxes in the one I had.

It shot right around an inch day to day. Every so often a guy would shoot a 1/2” group.

Held POI well and was a nice low priced gun.

I have a friend that loaded the 75 ELD in his with very good results.

 

[msinc]

I have quite a bit of "experience" with this exact rifle {and wish to hell I didn't...}. Some may have a decent barrel and shoot half way okay, but most do not and mine was one of the do not's. What started out as a cost effective truck gun ended up costing me a lot of money to get it to shoot. A quick look with a borescope revealed that nothing less than a new barrel was gonna get it. Right off the showroom floor the bore was all pitted and gunched up...I don't know which was worse, the piss poor steel they used or the machine work, which was no better. Mine is stainless and the bore arrived pre-pitted...how very thoughtful of Ruger!!
That trigger they brag about being adjustable is a joke. Oh, it will adjust, from 16 pounds all the way down to about 12!! The rubber stock is equally ridiculous in use so, by the time I barreled it {which also involved making a barrel wrench} bought and bedded a Boyd's stock and installed a Timney trigger I should have just bought a Sako!!
Honestly, if you have nothing but the initial cost in it right now I would say sell it and get out. By the time you get the thing to shoot the way it should you will realize two things...one is that for the money you could have had a nice rifle and two, you still have a Ruger American. Bottom line, unless you are a very lucky individual you can pretty much forget about some magical ammo getting it to shoot decent groups.

Edit: almost forgot...Ruger made the magazine almost a full inch longer than it needs to be and then made it so that, in spite of all that extra length, you can only seat bullets to just shy of the same length that will fit in an AR magazine. Which is to say you cant seat your bullets out any at all!!! Ruger really thought this one out. I guess they figured since the rest of the rifle was so poorly made why worry about the ability to adjust seating depth?? It aint gonna help this POS any way!!!!!

 

[10XSHOOTER]

With a 8 twist, shoot nothing less than a 70 gr bullet. 69 gr maybe. it will like the 75-77 gr the best.

 

[okie]

Thanks guys! I did not get to try anything today, gonna scrub them good and get the heavies shot when time allows... Thanks for the help marc

 

[JEFFPPC]

Thanks guys! I did not get to try anything today, gonna scrub them good and get the heavies shot when time allows... Thanks for the help marc

I have had a different a experience with two Ruger Americans I have worked with for a friend. Outside of Number Ones I have never owned a Ruger except one I aquired in a trade many years ago amd immeadiatly sold, it was a 77 HB in .243. Friend who packback hunts elk got tired of lugging is pair of old time Weatherbys around the mountians so he bought an American in .308. Called me said it shoots 3 inch groups, can you look at it. It had the worse moden era factory trigger I have ever felt. I took care of that and once the trigger was 3 lbs with a tiny bit of smooth creep and a bit if clearance given to the barrel in one spot it now shots 5/8 to 3/4 with several factory loads.He has killed 2 out of 2 bull elk with it neither going over 35 yds. Now he bought another American in .450 Bushmaster, or is it .458, it has a trigger very close to the one I fixed out of the box and shots about 1 1/8 At 100 yrs. Just fine for an in the woods deer rifle. He has killed several big body Mich. bucks with it. For the money, might not be the worse choice. Better then the Rem 700 Varmint in 22/250 another friend bought that would not shoot under 3 in groups with handloads that Rem returned to him after he sent it back and was told it is within specs. So, the pitted barrel, did you contact Ruger and what did they have to say? Among itrms you might check, were the scope base holes clean of metal scraps, be sure scope base screws do not bottem out, are ring screws tight, if you did not mount the scope youself check those items I have found problems even when mounted by , professionals. Be sure action screws are tight. I usually make the first one a bit tighter than the rear. I forget if there is a middle one, if so just snug on that one. Be sure barrel channel is allowing total clearance. After that glass bed the action and the backside only of the recoil lug. No bedding on front, bottem or sides of recoil lug. Last chance, try some shims at front end of fore end putting some varying degree of up pressure to the barrel.All the things learned in almost 60 yrs of acquiring accuracy..

 

[Zero333]

With a 8 twist, shoot nothing less than a 70 gr bullet. 69 gr maybe. it will like the 75-77 gr the best.

I have a 9" twist 223 that shoots 52 grainers as good as 69's & 75's.
The 52 gr SMK I load for it is actually a bit more accurate than the 69 SMK load. But I had to try 4 different powders with the 52's while for the 69's I only tried varget and was happy.

 

[searcher]

The relatively "fast" 8 twist leads many to automatically gravitate towards the heavier target loads and maybe that is what your gun will ultimately like. If you don't get much better accuracy, I'd try a few more of the Hornady V-Max lighter loadings - all the way down to 40 grain. My experiences have been such for so long that I now don't buy any .223 1-12" twist barrels for anything - only 1-9 and 1-8 and I shoot nothing heavier than 55 grain varmint bullets, with exception of a few heavier Barnes TTSX's. All shoot 1/3 MOA or better - and they are not target rifles. I shoot those lighter bullets a LOT further than most people typically would and the farther one shoots them - the better the effect of the faster twist. a certain twist is needed to STABILIZE a certain weight bullet. Going with a faster twist than was needed to stabilize it only becomes detrimental to slight velocity loss and if pushed to the extreme, can cause bullet mid-flight destruction with weaker bullets and greatly increased wear/tear/coppering on barrel and decreased brass life. One need go to the extreme to get fantastic performance out of a faster twist barrel. I also have a 1-7 tw barrel and it loves 40 grain bullets above all else. So there is a pretty wide selection out there that is suitable to try - that is for sure!

 

[searcher]

Meant to say "one need NOT go to the extreme!!!!!

 

[thatguyshm]

I picked up a dirt cheap American Whittakers special in 22-250 with an 8 twis . It shoots easily under an inch with first round hits at distance. I tried cheap factory PPU to smooth out the bore then just switched to 69gr TMKs and it's a shooter for sure. Under 300 into the rifle and it performs as expected.

Ruger customer support is great. The rifle sent with the wrong extractor, they sent me the new one quickly. The magazine also wouldn't function well, they shipped a new one right away.

Sure, I had issues with the rifle but they took care of me. Can't complain about that. It's no custom but it is a smooth action and the barrel is good. You get what you pay for.

 

[Texas10]

Don't think the twist is the issue with the lighter bullets. I have an 8 twist Criterion that shoots 50, 52 and 53 grainers into small groups. Heck, the 50 grain American Eagle tipped ammo would ring the steel at 750 yds with ease. And my 9 twist stock Savage model 12FV will make powder out of sporting clays at 500 yds one after the other using 53 gr V-Max. Yes, you can use up to 80 grains in an 8 twist, but 69 to 77 grains will probably shoot best for anything you want hide or meat of.