Ruger American Trigger/Upgrades/Mods.

[peaches]

Cut losses and get a Tikka. Seriously, I wish I had learned this earlier in my pursuit of this hobby.

Or remove the trigger blade and just work the action to smooth it up. It never gets 'good' but will improve. The magazine design is just clunky.

 

[BLJ]

@Loper. I cut the bottom of the grip off and used screws and JB weld epoxy to adapt a new grip. The grip itself is a piece of scrap 2x8 that I had. I shaped it to basically the way I wanted it, used Bondo to smooth every thing out and then painted.

ETA. If you have the rotary mags, I would recommend contacting Ruger and getting the bottom piece that accepts the AI mags. If your rifle is a newer one that has the removable bottom piece.
I’ve never had any issues with the AI magazines.

 

[IdahoElk]

I really like this. How much does the bare rifle weigh? Did you consider threading it? How do you like it?

5Lbs. 4oz.
Shoots 1 1/2" groups to 200yrds,haven't tried anything past that because where I hunt is pretty thick. love it but it kicks pretty good with 150gr. ammo.
I have about $700 into it without the scope which was purchased used( Leupold 2-7)
I couldn't afford an Adirondack at the time which is what I wanted but this gave me something to do for a year.
So far pleased with what I have.

 

[Loper]

5Lbs. 4oz.
Shoots 1 1/2" groups to 200yrds,haven't tried anything past that because where I hunt is pretty thick. love it but it kicks pretty good with 150gr. ammo.
I have about $700 into it without the scope which was purchased used( Leupold 2-7)
I couldn't afford an Adirondack at the time which is what I wanted but this gave me something to do for a year.
So far pleased with what I have.

I appreciate all the info and have considered doing a lot of what you’ve done as I like the Ruger American platform and like to tinker a bit.

Did you send the rifle off somewhere to have the bolt and barrel fluted or was it done locally by your gunsmith?

If you were to do it over, would you have chosen a smaller caliber for the project, considering how much it kicks?

 

[IdahoElk]

I appreciate all the info and have considered doing a lot of what you’ve done as I like the Ruger American platform and like to tinker a bit.

Did you send the rifle off somewhere to have the bolt and barrel fluted or was it done locally by your gunsmith?

If you were to do it over, would you have chosen a smaller caliber for the project, considering how much it kicks?

Sent parts here, great to work with.

Bolt and Barrel Fluting

I would have done a 7-08 but I have other .308's and really like them plus I have a lot of ammo.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Just got done replacing the stock on my Ruger American Ranch 5.56 with a Boyds hardwood laminate, and the trigger with a Timney. Bedded the lugs with JB Weld and used chapstick for release. Drying now.

Before:

After:

 

[FLATHEAD]

Sighted in my .308 Predator w/Leupold 1.5x5 the other day, 3 shots was all it took.
I think I need the Ranch in 5.56 now.

 

[whoami-72]

Soooo is it just my gun that has a fairly decent trigger? My shooting buddy had a super high end tikka which he upgraded further and my ruger trigger was 99% as good but was just a heavier pull since his was not drop safe. We both would regularly shoot out to 500-1000 yards and I’d keep up with his gun that cost 4x mine.

Other then that. I don’t use the safety on mine while hunting unless walking through thick brush. The action definitely sucks and is even worse with dirt in it.

 

[crich]

Sent parts here, great to work with.

Bolt and Barrel Fluting

I would have done a 7-08 but I have other .308's and really like them plus I have a lot of ammo.

Rifle looks good. I have a 7-08 compact that Ill be removing as much material from as possible in the near future. Did you do the receiver work yourself or have the same shop do it that did your fluting?

 

[IdahoElk]

Rifle looks good. I have a 7-08 compact that Ill be removing as much material from as possible in the near future. Did you do the receiver work yourself or have the same shop do it that did your fluting?

Same shop did everything.

 

[Rich M]

The trigger on my RARR is fine - not gritty, or anything like that. It came at a comfortable pull weight and shoots lights out.

 

[BOGART08]

plus 1 for Timney.......

 

[justinspicher]

I just picked up RARR in 556, shoots incredible, trigger is smooth, action will get smoother, but that stock is awful. It’s getting replaced asap.

 

[grfox92]

I'm currently struggling immensely to get my Ruger in 308 to group how I want it to. Tight groups with flyers with most loads I've tried.

I adjusted the factory trigger last night and it lightened up quite a bit.

Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

 

[RockAndSage]

The biggest problem I have with the Ruger American stocks are their physical flexibility, and how they contact the barrel pretty easily. It resulted for me in some serious POI shift when using the sling for supported shooting, and when putting any load on the bipod. The stock also had that hollow loudness when tapped. What was frustrating is that it was otherwise sub-MOA with the loads I worked up for it. With its otherwise inherent accuracy, and the glass I have mounted on it costing 4x what I paid for the gun, I decided to have something of a fun, gonzo lark of a project to see what I could do in getting the stock up to speed.

Fun was had, as were overall great results in solving all of this for the most part, going after one problem at a time and then coming back for more (putting in QD sling cups, Spartan Bipod mount, Arca rail segment, etc.). I mean, I went full Bubba-after-tax-return on this stock. Overall, I got about 85% of the rigidity I wanted, and all the performance was "sufficient". However, for the time and component/materials put into it with each of these visits to my work bench, it was definitely not "cost effective". Again, fun lark, but a year or so later I went with a Boyd's Prairie Hunter stock, and have been very happy with it. There's just no way to get the full rigidity out of tupperware that you can get from other stock materials.

If efficiency and cost were my priorities, I would have definitely gone with the Boyd's to begin with. Probably the best upgrade you can do for a Ruger American other than trigger and good glass.

 

[grfox92]

I was warned about that stock flexing into the barrel, so far even with loading the piss out of my bipod I have ample room. My buddy has one in .270 and the stock moves and changes while shooting. Barrel heat maybe? You can start with a gap on both sides and after a few down range the left side is close to touching the barrel.

Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

 

[RockAndSage]

I was warned about that stock flexing into the barrel, so far even with loading the piss out of my bipod I have ample room. My buddy has one in .270 and the stock moves and changes while shooting. Barrel heat maybe? You can start with a gap on both sides and after a few down range the left side is close to touching the barrel.

Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

That left side is what put a tiny bit of rub wear on my barrel. Apparently, they're known to be too close on the left, whether cold or after firing. Some sort of warp from design, or bad molds?

 

[grfox92]

That left side is what put a tiny bit of rub wear on my barrel. Apparently, they're known to be too close on the left, whether cold or after firing. Some sort of warp from design, or bad molds?

I had planed on trimming mine out if it was an issue but so far not a problem on my Predator in 308. Now if I can figure out why I'm getting flyers I'd be pretty happy with mine.

Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

I put my .308 RA into a Boyd's Prairie Hunter. It has ample free float and with the factory pillars installed and with provided epoxy to bed, it's a shooter. However, it is very finicky on ammo. I achieved best groups with Federal 180 TBT, Federal 175 TA, and Hornady Precision 178. These all group .75-1.5 at 100. Federal blue box and fusions open up to 2-4" at 100. Winchester white box do not group at all.

I've never thought the trigger was terrible, but I'm not a huge fan of the accutrigger. The creep on the blade and overtravel after the shot aren't great. I like my Tikka's factory trigger much better.

 

[BLJ]

I put my .308 RA into a Boyd's Prairie Hunter. It has ample free float and with the factory pillars installed and with provided epoxy to bed, it's a shooter. However, it is very finicky on ammo. I achieved best groups with Federal 180 TBT, Federal 175 TA, and Hornady Precision 178. These all group .75-1.5 at 100. Federal blue box and fusions open up to 2-4" at 100. Winchester white box do not group at all.

I've never thought the trigger was terrible, but I'm not a huge fan of the accutrigger. The creep on the blade and overtravel after the shot aren't great. I like my Tikka's factory trigger much better.

Mine is the opposite with the Federal Blue Box 150’s. 1.25-1.5 MOA at 100 consistently.