Pre-Fit Barrel upgrade for Ruger American Gen 2

[Plainsman-147]

BLUF: anybody throw a pre-fit on their Ruger American? If so what brand did you go with and kind of accuracy are you getting?

For more background: I bought a .223 Ruger American Gen 2 for fun to see if I can upgrade it to make a decent coyote gun and work up a load that shoots well. I’ve done a bunch of upgrades to make it a pretty nice rifle (added epoxy to stock to firm it up, lighter trigger spring, polished the bolt, lighter firing pin spring, added a longer bolt knob, added ARCA rail to the fore end). Found a load with 65gr Sierra SBTs that consistently shoot ~.5” 5 shots groups.

Pretty great rifle but I’m about halfway through its barrel life and thinking I’d like to slap on a pre-fit at some point and curious what brand guys are getting and the type of accuracy their getting with it.

Right now i’m tracking that Preferred Barrels and x-caliber makes pre-fits for them.

 

[goalie]

I can't say what barrel you should get, but putting a flat faced Timney trigger in mine was WELL worth the money.

 

[Plainsman-147]

I can't say what barrel you should get, but putting a flat faced Timney trigger in mine was WELL worth the money.

View attachment 994912

Definitely should look into this next before the barrel, thanks!

 

[The Guide]

BLUF: anybody throw a pre-fit on their Ruger American? If so what brand did you go with and kind of accuracy are you getting?

For more background: I bought a .223 Ruger American Gen 2 for fun to see if I can upgrade it to make a decent coyote gun and work up a load that shoots well. I’ve done a bunch of upgrades to make it a pretty nice rifle (added epoxy to stock to firm it up, lighter trigger spring, polished the bolt, lighter firing pin spring, added a longer bolt knob, added ARCA rail to the fore end). Found a load with 65gr Sierra SBTs that consistently shoot ~.5” 5 shots groups.

Pretty great rifle but I’m about halfway through its barrel life and thinking I’d like to slap on a pre-fit at some point and curious what brand guys are getting and the type of accuracy their getting with it.

Right now i’m tracking that Preferred Barrels and x-caliber makes pre-fits for them.

What are you considering 1/2 the barrel life on a 223 barrel? Many bolt action 223 rifles are known to go 8000 to 10,000 rounds before accuracy potential bleeds off. It would literally be cheaper to buy a new rifle and just keep the barreled action than it would be to buy a new barrel and have it installed or buy the installation tools. I couldn't recommend doing this unless you were trying to build a rifle in a cartridge not offered in factory form and highly invested in the RA platform. (Sincerely from a guy with 8 different RA rifles)

Jay

 

[coyotekilla]

.4" is the best I've seen from mine, and that's handloads, chassis, trigger... you can throw coin at them, but in the end, they are still a buget ruger. They have crappy stocks, noisey actions, creepy triggers, but decent to good barrels and offered a decent value for the buyer on a buget... right up until europtic put the sauer 100 and tikka ranahan on clearance.

 

[Plainsman-147]

What are you considering 1/2 the barrel life on a 223 barrel? Many bolt action 223 rifles are known to go 8000 to 10,000 rounds before accuracy potential bleeds off. It would literally be cheaper to buy a new rifle and just keep the barreled action than it would be to buy a new barrel and have it installed or buy the installation tools. I couldn't recommend doing this unless you were trying to build a rifle in a cartridge not offered in factory form and highly invested in the RA platform. (Sincerely from a guy with 8 different RA rifles)

Jay

I was thinking roughly ~4000 ish considering how I tend to let her get pretty warm sometimes.

I was thinking I could get a pre-fit barrel for $550ish which is cheaper than a new rifle. And I already have the stock/action modified to my liking. Especially want to pursue this route if I can expect better accuracy then a factory rifle

 

[Steve300xcw]

Dropping $550 into a ruger american is crazy.

 

[The Guide]

I was thinking roughly ~4000 ish considering how I tend to let her get pretty warm sometimes.

I was thinking I could get a pre-fit barrel for $550ish which is cheaper than a new rifle. And I already have the stock/action modified to my liking. Especially want to pursue this route if I can expect better accuracy then a factory rifle

I bought a Ruger American in 22 Creedmoor when they hit the shelves this summer. It shot extremely well so I bought a 2nd one just for when the barrel burns out on the first one. $599 for a full rifle vs $585 plus shipping for one from PBB plus a barrel nut wrench makes it cheaper for a new rifle. I already have all the additional tools for barrel swaps but if you were buying new, add an additional $200 for your own tools or $150 for a gunsmith to change it for you.

You should be 6000 to 8000 with your bolt gun. You're not going to get your barrel AR-15 hot running a bolt unless you are trying to put volume down range and not work on accuracy.

Jay