HandgunHTR
WKR
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2022
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- 1,893
For those who are interested in upgrading their Ruger Americans that use AR magazines, here is what I ended up doing.
I have been considering putting my Ruger American Ranch (Gen 1) chambered in 6.5 Grendel into a chassis for a while. The thing that held me back was that there are no 3-5 round ARC/Grendel AICS mags available. While I don't mind a mag that hangs way low when doing range work, I am not fond of them when out in the field. In fact, until Duramag announced their flush-fit mags, the only other "flush" magazine out there was the Hawkins Hunter, which won't work with most chassis systems.
What I ended up doing was modifying a couple of 10-round duramags by removing the end plate, cutting the body almost in half, modifying the followers and springs and then tack-welding the bottom plates back on, but the factory stock has always been a drawback on this rifle.
Just recently I saw that MDT released a version of their LSS-XL chassis for use with Ruger Americans that take AR mags. I was intrigued. I started looking around and I then found Indian Creek Designs. They are a small design and manufacturing company out of Idaho that makes some specialized stuff for a myriad of industries. One of the things that they sell on their website is a chassis for the Ruger American G1/G2 that use AR mags. What drew me to them over the MDT chassis was that two of the forend options available were full ARCA rail forends.
I ended up getting the Lil John forend to go with my chassis.
From order to chassis in hand was 6 days.
Overall, it is a very good chassis. Not too heavy, the forearm attachment is rock solid. The anodizing is top notch and the machining is perfect, at least to my imperfect eye. The grip screw thread is different than a standard AR, but they send a screw with it, so it isn't a big deal. It also comes with new action screws. It does not come with the mag release, but you can use the one from your current rifle. I happened to have a partial AR lower parts kit handy that had the mag release and spring, so I used that. I chose to go with a Magpul PRS lite stock (BCM buffer tube and castle nut) rather than a dedicated chassis stock. I did this mainly because I have that stock on 3 of my ARs and I like it. I did do a bit of a mod on it to remove the hard 90-degree transition where it would normally fit up with an AR lower. I added a MK Machining vertical grip that has a built in thumb rest. Fit is very good on that as well.
I did give it a sponge paint, mainly because all black is kinda boring. Weight as pictured is 10 pounds, 4 oz. 15 oz of that is the Form 1 supressor it has on it. Overall, I am very happy with the setup and I can't wait to get it out after some pigs and crop damage whitetails.
A couple of other notes on this. The current rings on this are lows. I have a set of mediums coming as I have to scrunch down too much to get a good sight picture now. Also, the barrel has been cut back to 18" and rethreaded. 22" is just too long. With the chassis, I think that 16" would be better.
The first picture shows it with my modified mag. The second picture is with a standard 10-round duramag.
I have been considering putting my Ruger American Ranch (Gen 1) chambered in 6.5 Grendel into a chassis for a while. The thing that held me back was that there are no 3-5 round ARC/Grendel AICS mags available. While I don't mind a mag that hangs way low when doing range work, I am not fond of them when out in the field. In fact, until Duramag announced their flush-fit mags, the only other "flush" magazine out there was the Hawkins Hunter, which won't work with most chassis systems.
What I ended up doing was modifying a couple of 10-round duramags by removing the end plate, cutting the body almost in half, modifying the followers and springs and then tack-welding the bottom plates back on, but the factory stock has always been a drawback on this rifle.
Just recently I saw that MDT released a version of their LSS-XL chassis for use with Ruger Americans that take AR mags. I was intrigued. I started looking around and I then found Indian Creek Designs. They are a small design and manufacturing company out of Idaho that makes some specialized stuff for a myriad of industries. One of the things that they sell on their website is a chassis for the Ruger American G1/G2 that use AR mags. What drew me to them over the MDT chassis was that two of the forend options available were full ARCA rail forends.
I ended up getting the Lil John forend to go with my chassis.
From order to chassis in hand was 6 days.
Overall, it is a very good chassis. Not too heavy, the forearm attachment is rock solid. The anodizing is top notch and the machining is perfect, at least to my imperfect eye. The grip screw thread is different than a standard AR, but they send a screw with it, so it isn't a big deal. It also comes with new action screws. It does not come with the mag release, but you can use the one from your current rifle. I happened to have a partial AR lower parts kit handy that had the mag release and spring, so I used that. I chose to go with a Magpul PRS lite stock (BCM buffer tube and castle nut) rather than a dedicated chassis stock. I did this mainly because I have that stock on 3 of my ARs and I like it. I did do a bit of a mod on it to remove the hard 90-degree transition where it would normally fit up with an AR lower. I added a MK Machining vertical grip that has a built in thumb rest. Fit is very good on that as well.
I did give it a sponge paint, mainly because all black is kinda boring. Weight as pictured is 10 pounds, 4 oz. 15 oz of that is the Form 1 supressor it has on it. Overall, I am very happy with the setup and I can't wait to get it out after some pigs and crop damage whitetails.
A couple of other notes on this. The current rings on this are lows. I have a set of mediums coming as I have to scrunch down too much to get a good sight picture now. Also, the barrel has been cut back to 18" and rethreaded. 22" is just too long. With the chassis, I think that 16" would be better.
The first picture shows it with my modified mag. The second picture is with a standard 10-round duramag.
