Ruger American 30-06

I'm a Ruger fan And when I wanted to upgrade to two new hunting rifles for my son and I, I didn't hesitate to buy two rifles.
Being a Ruger fan and owning several Ruger rifles and pistols, I had no thoughts that something wouldn't be right with them.
Taking them to the range, 100 yards with 4 different kinds of ammunition, I was not able to make anything smaller than 4" - three round groups with either rifle.
I tried again a few months later, same results with several more brands and weights of ammunition. ......4" groups.
The worst part of it is the "flyers", using a Caldwell sled and careful aim, 6" and 8" flyers out of the groups were not uncommon. :shock:

Since then, I traded them both off and bought two Tikka T3X's, now, my groups are 1/2" MOA....

HAS ANYONE had this kind of experience with the Ruger American in 30-06?

I've never had a Ruger American, in any caliber, but, when I asked a LGS employee what he thought of it, he said it was an entry level rifle. ie., he was not impressed. So, a couple weeks later I bought a Mossberg Patriot .308 (for whatever reason). Well, I had nothing but trouble with it. Every 2 or 3 shots the box magazine would fall out. Annoying but not catostrophic. And then I started noticing that the groups would get bigger and bigger the hotter the barrel got. Expected, maybe, I guess. But, I could not achieve any kind of consistent accuracy with it at all. I finally gave up and traded it for something else. I think my point is ... it seems the ole axiom of "you get what you pay for" applies here as well. I don't know ... I was fairly disappointed.

Now, a year after that I bought a Ruger Guide gun in 30.06. Cost me a few $, but even shooting n rounds per hour to sight in the scope and just practice with it ... it's POI was consistent.

I don't think I would ever buy a Ruger American rifle given your story and my experience. Glad you're happy with your new ones though.

My experience is just the opposite.
Bought a 6.5 Creed and it does .5 MOA with good handloads and under 1 MOA
with factory ammo. Also I have several friends with the same rifle in .223 to 30-06
and all shoot well. I shot one today in .223 and with 50gr. sp it shot right at MOA.
So today I order myself one.
However I just sighted my brothers new Tikka in last week and it was .5 MOA
So looks like the Tikka T3X's are great shooters, Congrat's.

Let's not forget the slightly used, older rifles out there. Just was at a nice gunshow last weekend, plenty of nice options. Of course, vet the seller at bit. Some like to just send trash down the road.

I bought one a couple years ago in 30-06. I mounted a Leupold VXII in Warne medium height split rings. I get 1" to 1.25 " three shot groups at 100 yards; off a concrete bench using sand bags. I use Winchester factory ammo and hand loads featuring the 150 grain PowerPoint bullet. My favorite bullet for deer. My rifle is consistent. If the original poster is getting 4" groups something is wrong.

My gun came from Gander Mountain when they went out of business. I paid $199.99 for it in the final days of their sale. Best deal I've ever had the luck to partake in. No regrets here. Great rifle. I'd like one in 6.5 Creedmore as well.

My experience is just the opposite also. I have shot and owned multiple Ruger Americans. I didn't buy them because they were cheap, entry level rifles, but because they were reported to be great shooters, regardless of price. Mine have followed suit, and although I'm sure there are exceptions in either direction, I believe the Ruger American to be more accurate than the majority of new Hawkeye Rifles. Certainly more accurate than some of the Hawkeye and MkII rifles I have owned.

My experience was with only 1 Ruger American in 3006 with factory 180 grains might have been Remington, but not positive. And only 3 shots fired.The owner is not much of a rifle shooter. He shoots a few in a 2 or 3 inch group then the group goes all over. He starts jerking the trigger. He asked that I shoot it. I shot a group that was around an inch. Shot 2 and 3 were touching.
My 77 in 7mm rem mag shoots 140 grain Remington's in 3 shot groups in about 4 inches shotgun pattern.
Hand loading the 7mm does 1 inch to a little smaller 3 shot groups. All shooting listed was at 100 yards.
I was impressed with his 3006 American. I told him I could hand load some rounds and maybe get better. He does not want to, he is happy.

Speaking of Remington ammo...I cannot get new-production Core-Lokt's to shoot well in anything I own. At the same time, I can shoot my stockpiled Core-Lokt's from decades past, and they shoot wonderfully. Whatever Remington has changed with this ammo, my rifles don't like it.

And ironically, as we speak, Ruger is replacing my latest American Rifle. Just two weeks ago I received it in damaged condition with a mangled box, but the shipping sleeve was not damaged at all. Looks like it was damaged before it was shipped. :? And they shipped it anyway?

Gotta watch 'em like a hawk. :shock:

I have had six Americans and still have five, 3 centerfire and 2 rimfire. All of these five are extremely accurate. My 308 and my 243 shoot under an inch at 200 yards. My 17 HMR is as accurate as my Volquartsen 17. I am very impressed with them.

I had a 308 that shot good as long as the stock wasn't touching the barrel. When putting the stock back on, I had to use shims on either side of the barrel, and pull them out when stock was tightened down. If not, barrel would touch one side of the barrel channel and accuracy went to hell.

I have 2 Americans. One in '06 and one in 22-250. Both shoot Sub-MOA, the '06 with factory Remington Core-Lokt 180gr. They out shoot comparable 77's from my experience. As stated in another post elsewhere, it reminds me of the 788 Remington when compared to the 700 series. Cheaper is sometimes better....

Dave

I have a left handed stainless model in .30-06 that I bought for my son. It was one of the first production runs. At the range, it shot 165 grain factory ammo better than 150 and 180's. Federal blue box shot the best, getting pretty close to 1" groups at 100 yards. Certainly adequate for hunting.

Regarding accuracy, it was accurate enough for hunting with the right loads; however, the barrel got hot very quick and it would spray bullets like a shot gun. Typically after 3-4 shots in succession. Wasn't a problem while hunting, but irritating nonetheless since it took me several boxes at the range to figure this out. Also, the "stainless" finish, really just a coating, starting getting little rust spots after the first year. I don't live in a humid or wet environment either.