So when I got the bolt action itch again, I thought I try something that would not break my piggy bank so much. I picked up a Ruger American Predator 223. Besides its relatively cheap price, some other plusses are it uses the same ammo and mags as my AR15s. Added a Vortex Strike Eagle 3-18x44 FFP scope in Warne Mountain Tech rings and an Amazon cheek rest. While the rifle itself didn't break the bank, adding the scope and rings kind of bent it. They were almost double the price of the rifle itself but it was money well spent.
On the first range trip I shot it with no mods in case it had any warranty issues. It showed a lot of promise. Shooting off a concrete bench using a Harris Bipod and bags under the stock, I was able to get some repeatable one MOA 5 shot groups at 100 yards with quality 69 & 77 gr ammo. Bulk 55 grain grouped around 2 to 3 inches. Might not be world class shooting for a lot of folks but I was happy - this near sighted arthritic trigger puller is normally lucky to keep his shots in the same ZIP code much less forward of his 3-9 line.
After the first range session, I made a couple of changes. The plastic factory stock is kind of flimsy. So I epoxied some 1/4" stainless steel tubes into the barrel channel while making sure the barrel was still free floating. I then used aluminum tape to shim and stiffen the mag well adapter. I also lightened up the trigger pull to just above 2 pounds using the ball point pen spring mod I found on one of the Ruger forums.
The mods seem to help. On the second range trip, my 5 shot 100 yard groups tightened up to around 3/4" with an occasional 1/2" with the quality stuff. Bulk groups were also a little tighter. Moving out to 200 yards my groups were 2-3 inches with most of that probably on me. This is the first time I've had a scope where I could really see movement due to my heart beat.
Overall, not a bad little rifle. It's going to make a great truck gun that I'm not afraid to put a few dings in.
