Ruger XGI .308 Rifle

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psyclone66

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I remember reading about these years ago. They never got the accuracy issues debugged. Looks like somebody is getting one. 8)
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewIt ... =158064380

pix97133171.jpg
 

BlkHawk73

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Yup, already a couple threads on this auction here already. This is the second such model Ruger has pulled from it's closet to auction.
 

HAWKEYE#28

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:) 5K + $'s...........the buyer really needs the first 1985 catalog and the factory press kit with the glossy 8 1/2 by 11 photos that was released.....I watched WBR explode when he was in Jensen's Custom Ammo, Tucson, AZ, (late on a rainy Saturday afternoon) and Lathrop Supply, January of '85. Dan Terchero, lead floor Mgr for Bob Jensen, greeted WBR and put a copy (stack of same) of the then new catalog in front of WBR. Naturally, he opened it......Naturally#2, it opened to the centerfold...........There, in all it's glory, was the full two page centerfold of the XGI............He said,(QUOTE) "Goddamn it, I told the Boys we were not going to sell that GD gun", and stormed out of the store. A significant event in my life of collecting Rugers..........I still have the press kit and photos......... It came from the John Amber estate........It's real and so is the gun..........BTW, there is no way in hades that a company goes to catalog, press kit release and then says.........."No sale here, Boys, the gun is not accurate............" I think there was much more to the story.............JMO, so, prove me wrong. MIKE
 

psyclone66

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That is a great story Hawkeye! I know I would like to get a look under her wood at the gasworks. Is that a fixed piston design, Garand style or some sorta quasi-M14 type cylinder/piston configuration? It certainly is a good looking rifle. :)
 

chet15

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psyclone66":3vis1g5r said:
That is a great story Hawkeye! I know I would like to get a look under her wood at the gasworks. Is that a fixed piston design, Garand style or some sorta quasi-M14 type cylinder/piston configuration? It certainly is a good looking rifle. :)


And with the technology today that is available, I still think Ruger should be able to build that gun. Upsize the Mini-14 on the computer program that is available and PRESTO!
Would be something that a lot of folks are still looking for.
Ruger's SR556 is successful in the black gun market, though that market has slid quite a bit lately....but an XGI I think would outsell the SR556. And of course they could offer it in .308, .243 and ? and ?
Again...that's about the only model series that Ruger has never shipped commercially in their history.
Chet15
 

psyclone66

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I searched and never found a schematic of how the oprod/gas system was configured. It is obviously different from the Mini14/30 series.

I did find these rather dismissive remarks on other forums. :oops:

"Mini-30's are better now. Some of the first ones had .308" barrels because Bill Ruger used up the barrels intended for his ill fated XGI project. How do you safely use .310" to .311" bullets in a .308" bore? Ruger chambered for a .311 bullet, but after the throat had a taper in the bore from .311 to .308. This worked, but accuracy went out the door. The irony is Bill Ruger was such a stickler for SAAMI specs. Yeah, apparently until it came to a pile of barrels to use up. "

"The reason they didn't go into production is the blued receivers couldn't handle the .308 and broke after a few thousand rounds. Ever wonder why the first Mini-30s had .308" barrels? Now you know."
 

HAWKEYE#28

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:shock: I spent 2 1/2 decades with Big Blue. Product Test(Independent FUNCTION that straightlined to the Dev. Director/VP) had an A, B, C test.....NOTHING went anywhere until it passed, in multiples, each of the Alpha testing processes. What the hell happened here?Ruger: Print the '85 initial catalog, send out press kits with photos and then, pull it because of accuracy? HORSE HOCKEY!! I'D LIKE THE (real) STORY.BUT, SORRY, ALL THE OLD INDIAN FIGHTERS ARE DEAD, ALONG WITH THE OLD INDIANS.......... My theory: Think "someone/somebody put the kabosh on the gun because of the cartridge"...........Your Turn.............. 8)
 

martyj

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I talked to Ruger about there mini 14 and lack of accuracy on some rifles.

There comment was. " 2 inch group at 50 yards is acceptable and if a mini 14 wasn't complying in that order it could be sent back to the factory"

I do know some will do that at 100 yards easy and used to own one and paid 160.00 for it brand new. The one I have now is cutting the accuracy issue close.
With that policy of a 2 inch group acceptable standards it really doesn't matter what caliber they make them in.
I am happy to say it is the only Ruger rifle I have that wont shoot less than 1 inch at 100 and some will do that at 200 or 300.
 
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Bill Ruger is credited with saying that he considered the Mini-14 to be merely a "big plinker".

2" at 100 yards is "minute of critter", and about as good as I can do anyway.

;)
 

Snake45

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chet15":mqctpaah said:
And with the technology today that is available, I still think Ruger should be able to build that gun. Upsize the Mini-14 on the computer program that is available and PRESTO!
Would be something that a lot of folks are still looking for.
What would work even better for them, IMHO, is to just go ahead and clone the semiauto M14, using GI-interchangable parts. Price it to undersell Springfield by a couple hundred and then all you have to worry about is hiring the people to run the production line three shifts, 24 hours a day....

Even those (such as myself) who say they're not interested in a Ruger 1911 would be interested in a GI-spec Ruger M14. (Let 'em call it the Maxi-14. :wink: )
 

MAC702

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To this day, I am amazed Ruger did not make M14s. They would outsell Mini-14s and SR-556s combined.
 

G2

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fyi . . . . Ruger offered one up at last years NRA dinner/auction, only to buy it back. :shock:
 

chet15

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jimbo1096":2bcbkbw4 said:
SO- is there any guesses as to how many XGIs are in the hands of individuals? And how did they get there if WBR pulled the plug before they were available to the public?

Ruger sold 2 on their internet auctions and another was pulled from auction as mentioned above.
When the XGI was first announced, Ruger shipped some out to the various gun writers and it is rumored that not all returned. Don't know where they're at though. This is probably why some of the XGI marked magazines are around.
Ruger's first XGI auction described it as being one of less than 100 that were fully assembled. But, there were at least 449 receivers serial numbered as evidenced by the example pictured in Ruger & His Guns, sn 800-01449 (serial numbering reportedly began at 800-01001).
Chet15 (still awaiting the first XGI in .243 to show up in a future Ruger auction).
 

radicalrod

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I bought the MAG at the Harrisburg auction.....story goes that the original "owner" picked it up off a desk at the factory.....with permission of course...just need to find a used example to go with it......see ya RR.
 
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In "Ruger & His Guns" there's a photo showing a disassembled Mini-14 and a disassembled XGI . . . page 146. They are very similar.

The Mini has the "fixed piston" arrangement, while the XGI has the reverse arrangement with the gas chamber fixed to the barrel and the piston on the op-rod.

No "direct gas impingement" here.

The only apparent difference is that the XGI parts appear to be a little bigger than those of the Mini, as you would expect.

:)

Edited to add, same picture shown here . . .

http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB/viewtop ... hlight=xgi
 

psyclone66

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Look at the first picture in this thread. The rifle in the auction appears to have a portion of gas cylinder protuding from the front of the gas block. The pictures Ale81 just linked back to have no such protrusion. Say what? :shock:
 
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