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Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan

pistols, Product review, Shooting hardware, , , ,

Big wheelguns

Powerful revolvers carry more than just a cylinder full of cartridges, they also carry some mystique. The hero of every old Western film always had a big iron to deal justice. While that may not be our purpose here today it’s nice to keep it in mind. Today we are taking a closer look at the Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan.

Alaskan?

The Super Redhawk line of pistols from Ruger has a long history of performance, but what does the Alaskan do you might say? I suppose the Alaskan model was purpose built thinking of those who might spend time up north. Folks who prefer not to be without six doses of bear medicine. The Super Redhawk Alaskan is a stainless steel double-action revolver, a hammer forged 2.5 inch barrel. It comes with a Hogue Tamer grip to keep a good hold of the gun. You’ll need a good grip because the Alaskan’s robust cylinder has holes bored for six cartridges in only three calibers; .44 Remington mag, 454 Casull, and .480 Ruger. These powerful choices in chambering are nothing to shake a stick at as my father would say. And certainly enough to make even a brown bear reconsider you as a snack.

Loading 300 grain .454 Casull rounds

Considerable size

Despite the large chamberings for the Redhawk, the pistol isn’t so big as to be cumbersome. The short barrel makes it a reasonable gun to carry in a holster, even if you are engaged in other activities. The Alaskan would be a great choice for fisherman who anticipate potential close encounters with awnry eight hundred pound salmon fishermen. Or just someone who is out in rough country and wants to be safe.
The Alaskan is big enough to stand up to the tasks of bear country, and yet small enough to bring along on a fly fishing trip. And even if you aren’t in the cold white north, it alway gives some solace to have a good strong pistol close. I’ve spent enough time in the incredibly dark and remote forests of northern Montana and Idaho to appreciate the comfort of that heavy steel piece riding on the hip. The extra 2.75 pounds is worth having to me.

A pair of Super Redhawks, note fluted cylinder of .44 Mag model

Shooting time

Shooting the Super Redhawk Alaskan was going to be expensive in today’s market. Especially since I had both the .44 Magnum model, and the 454 Casull to feed. Both pistols are dual chambered to allow for shooting lighter loads with .44 Special and .45 Colt cartridges. But I didn’t have any of those, so it was full house power loads from Hornady to test these guns.

I have shot plenty of .44 Magnum over the years, so shooting the Redhawk wasn’t significantly new. Noticing immediately the comfortable grip, which allowed me excellent purchase to control the pistol. The 454 Casull pistol had a bit more power behind it, and you could feel it. Recoil and muzzle blast from the two are fairly comparable, with the Casull showing a bit more unsurprisingly. I was shooting 225 grain Horandy FTX ammunition in the .44 Magnum model, and in the .454 I was shooting Hornady’s 300 grain flat point.

Evaluating the Redhawks Power

Considering the purpose I initially mentioned for these pistols they shoot quite well. A dangerous game defensive pistol like this certainly needs to hit what your aiming at. I found both pistols to be easy enough to control despite the significant recoil from the heavy loads. Obviously that would change if an angry sow was charging at me. But I’d like to think I could shoot them well enough to hit a moving target at danger close distances.

The impressive power of the Super Redhawks wasn’t the only thing that stood out when shooting them. Both models felt fantastic in the hand, the soft rubber Hogue grips made them very comfortable to shoot. The quality of the operation also struck me, smooth controls and very clean breaking triggers added to the superior feeling of these pistols.

Shop all Ruger revolvers here

The adjustable sights of the Alaskan aren’t exactly huge, they come across as pretty simple and no nonsense. That said I found them to be more than adequate for the purposes of relatively close shooting. That is to say anything inside of fifty-yards or so that rivaled the size of a paper plate was bound to be perforated with a big hole.

Ammunition for this article was supplied by Gun Mag Warehouse

Pros and Cons

Pros

I have always been a fan of Ruger’s revolvers, so it should come as no surprise that I found a great many things I like about the Super Redhawk Alaskan. First of all, it’s just a plain handsome design. It has all the classic and sexy features of the hero’s gun from the old westerns we watched as kids. And yet it has just enough modern flair to make it appealing as a modern firearm as well.
The simplicity of the Alaskan’s design also makes it very quick to put into service. It’s double-action design makes it ideal for a gun that needs to be jerked from the holster and immediately fired at inbound danger. The reliable operating system rolls the next chamber full of wrath right into position to deal one blow after another of heavy hitting power.
A quality finish of the pistol also makes it built to last. The Alaskan is built from stainless steel to protect it from the rough weather you’d be sure to encounter up north. Features like the clean breaking trigger, triple locked cylinder, and modern transfer bar allow the gun to serve its power with finesse, precision and safety.

Cons

I had a really hard time coming up with cons for this pistol. It has a fairly specific purpose and it serves that purpose extremely well in my opinion. Perhaps it wouldn’t be ideal for day to day carrying in places where dangerous predators over five-hundred pounds aren’t expected. It might be a bit heavy for a purpose like that. Though I won’t deny having conceal carried one of the Redhawks on multiple occasions.
There is the obvious downside of having to feed these large and expensive cartridges to such a large pistol. But if you truly need a pistol like this I’d wager you are willing to pay quite a randsome to ensure it has plenty of ammo.

Continue reading here…

Conclusion

I have really enjoyed shooting the Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan pistols. Despite the impressive power, they are still very fun pistols to shoot and can serve you well as a defensive firearm. Perhaps the most important aspect of the pistol is that it is pleasant enough to shoot that you won’t be afraid of it if the time ever comes that you need to use it. Having enjoyed shooting the pistol as much as I have, I think it wouldn’t be hard to gain a level of proficiency suitable for shooting it well under pressure.

If you need a defensive sidearm for dangerous animals, or if you just find yourself enchanted by the big bore of the Super Redhawks, this is a great option to buy.

-CBM

Ruger American 6.5 Creedmoor

Product review, Shooting hardware, , ,

Background

Over the years I have had quite a few Ruger firearms and for the most part my experience with the company has been a good one. My first real rifle was a Ruger, and both family and friends have also used a bunch of different Ruger models over the years.

My opinion has been that Ruger produced a good firearm for the price. Today we will be taking my first look at the Ruger American line of rifles. I’m curious to see if they match up to my decades of experience with Ruger. Today we will be reviewing the Ruger American 6.5 Creedmoor.

Before you get too far, check out my review of the Ruger American Gen 2, click here to read that one next.

Ruger American Gen 2, maven optics, silencer

Go Wild, The Ruger American

There are many different Ruger American models, but the one I will be looking at today is the Go Wild model. This model comes with custom Cerakote and camouflage, and it’s chambered in the very popular 6.5 Creedmoor. As I opened the box I thought it had a handsome look to it, but looks don’t go very far in these mountains so I wanted to see how it performed more than anything.
Lifting the gun from the box, the first thing I thought was it seemed lighter than it looked if that makes sense. It was noticeably lighter than I expected it to be, and other comparable rifles nearby. This is obviously a good thing in my estimation, as I had planned on having my wife use the rifle during our hunting season. She is quite petite, so smaller and lighter is better.

With the gun shouldered, I ran the bolt a few times which felt better than I expected. The three-lug bolt of the American needs less lift to unlock from the breech, sixty-degrees of lift instead of the standard ninety-degrees. The smooth raceway had the bolt sliding very clean, and with the short lift it made it quick to reload.

Shifting my attention to the synthetic stock, it came as no surprise that the stock felt a bit cheap. Its unfortunate that many gun manufacturers are using these very flexible polymer stocks, but it is also very predictable. And to be fair, if the gun shoots well I probably wont be complaining about the flexible stock too much.

Burnt Bronze Cerakote protects the barreled action, that goes well with the camo pattern on the stock. At the muzzle of the twenty-two inch barrel its threaded 5/8-24 and comes with a radially ported brake to aid in recoil reduction. One in eight barrel twist is a pretty standard one and used here.us optics

Feeding the rifle is done through a detachable box magazine compatible with AICS type magazines. This came as a pleasant surprise as I have an assortment of magazines I’d like to try in the rifle.
At the rear a tang mounted safety was easy to reach and manipulate. As was the bolt release on the left rear side of the action. With a simple design it was easily understood and in no time I was ready to outfit it. Ruger saw fit to include a scope rail already mounted which made mounting a scope much easier. To that I mounted one of my scopes in a pair of Warne low rings, the US Optics TS25X fit perfectly on top of the rifle. Though I think I will also add a stock-pack to get a better cheekweld.

Range time with the Ruger American 6.5 Creedmoor

After getting the rifle setup with a scope, bipod and some ammo, it was time to get it hot. I arrived at one of my shooting spots with an assortment of ammunition. Some Hornady Match 120 grain, as well as some Federal 130 grain Gold Medal ammunition. I had also brought some handloads of my favorite hunting load, which consisted of Cayuga solid copper bullets. I’ve used them several times in the past on both deer and elk, and if my better half was to use this rifle for hunting I wanted to see how it shot these bullets.
With a target set up at one hundred yards, I laid on my shooting mat to zero the little Ruger. Using the Hornady ammunition I zeroed the rifle, and fired a quick three-shot group.

After correcting the point of impact to correlate with my point of aim,  it was time to have some fun. Followed by my other ammo selections, and all of them shot very comparable which is always nice. Then I turned my attention to the hill beyond my target, surely there was an opportunity to test this rifle at some longer ranges.

ruger american, us optics ts25x, yhm suppressor
the US Optics TS25 was a great fit for this rifles capabilities

With my binoculars I picked out a couple targets that were about ten inches in diameter. One of them I ranged at four-hundred and sixty yards. Not too far but definitely something realistic for a deer in these mountains. After zeroing the turrets on my scope, I adjusted 2.1 MRAD of elevation to correct for the distance. The wind was dead calm, so I held center on the target, and pressed the trigger.

Since I hadn’t mentioned the trigger yet, it was better than I expected it to be. I’m not a big fan of blade safeties on bolt action rifles. But this certainly hasn’t prevented a clean and easy break on this rifle. The trigger had no discernable friction, the only movement I noticed was when it broke.

Long-Range Shooting

Observing the bullet impact my target a little high of center, I need to chronograph these bullets from this rifle. As I think they are flying a little faster than I expected. After firing another shot to confirm, I began a search for another even further target. One was found that measured eight-hundred yards away according to my rangefinder. This was a shot I was confident the little Ruger and I could make. With 5.2 MRAD dialed into the riflescope, I leveled up the rifle on my rear bag. Adjusting the parallax on my scope made a clear image of the target, all that was left was a clean release.

Shop Ruger firearms, because the ATF doesn’t want you armed…

I could do this all day. This Ruger American was just a hoot to shoot, I was impressed with how much I liked it. I made this and several other shots at similar distances, until I was quite sure that the rifle would be suitable for a spot on our hunting team. The fun factor doubled when I installed my Yankee Hill Machine Nitro N20.  The titanium suppressor added mere ounces to the rifle, and took away the need for hearing protection in this wide open country. Watching and hearing bullets impact at these great distances was very satisfying.

PROS & CONS

Ruger American Go Wild Rifle
The action is nice, but I do wish the gun had a more solid stock.

There was much to like about this rifle – the weight, reliable function, perfectly reliable detachable box magazine. A reliable accuracy on par with the price point, and a great trigger. It is just a handsome little rifle as well.

The strikes I might score against the American would definitely be the flimsy stock. While it wasn’t obvious that it reduced the shooting performance, I can’t help but think it would shoot better in a more rigid stock or chassis. I think this would be an excellent choice for a rifle with a very short barrel. It was tempting to cut it off at 16 inches to make it even lighter and more maneuverable. But obviously, that is my selfish purposes showing through.

FINAL WORDS

I was optimistic that this rifle wouldn’t let me down. After spending a good deal of time shooting it, I feel it has lived up to my expectations from Ruger rifles. The only thing I wasn’t able to test was the rifle’s durability over a few seasons of hard hunting.

For sure, the rifle will get at least one chance to go on a hunt, and I am really looking forward to it. I know I wouldn’t feel under-gunned with this rifle, so if the $769.00 MSRP is within your budget, give this handsome little Ruger American a try. With the release of the Gen 2 American, the price has come down on the first gen of the Ruger American. They can be had for under $500 many places.

-CBM

an unlucky hare, the American suppressed with a YHM R9 suppressor

2022 Update

We used the Ruger for a deer hunt this season, and managed to take these two little bucks with it. One shot was all it took for both of them. I also just reviewed the Gen 2 version of this rifle, you can read about it here.

Ruger EC9 9mm pistol

pistols, Product review, Shooting hardware, , , ,

Though I have been lucky to handle untold quantities of pistols over the years, I’d never consider myself an expert on the subject. I am a gun nut though, and that is the only qualification I can claim expertise in. I love a good pistol the same as the next guy, and today I’d like to present another new-to-me pistol: The Ruger EC9.

The EC9 with 7 round magazine and extended 10 round magazine

The EC9

I owned a Ruger pistol once, back in the nineties, the P89 was the first pistol I ever owned. It worked great for what I needed at the time, and it met my skill level which was none. Ruger has changed quite a bit since then, as have pistols in general. Entry level pistols akin to my old P89 are everywhere and many of them nowadays are polymer framed, as are many CCW pistols.

The EC9 is one of those, a striker-fired compact CCW type pistol that uses a single-stack magazine to keep it thin and easy to conceal. It utilizes a slender steel slide with rounded edges to avoid snagging on clothing. It features both a manual safety and a trigger safety, the blade type that deactivates the trigger safety when the trigger is properly pressed. The gun uses a seven round magazine.  Ruger also offers a ten round extended magazine with additional grip area added to the bottom as well.

Un-boxing

Upon receiving the EC9, I promptly opened the box eager to see what lay inside. There I found the Cobalt slate blue framed EC9. Shipped with a magazine, chamber-flag, a standard throwaway lock.  As well as a strange orange magazine that appeared to be for training or something. More on that later.
Straight into the palm of my hand went the little pistol, to see how it felt. My initial concern about the gun was it’s size; would it fit in my hand properly? It did feel a bit small, which was no surprise, but it was certainly serviceable.

I gave the pistol a vigorous course of draw and point exercises. Which quickly began to give me the feel for this gun. Drawing the slide back I familiarized myself with the controls of the EC9. I found it to be a pretty stiff little pistol, the recoil spring is quite stout in my opinion.

Controls

The slide release is located in the typical location for the thumb to operate, and behind that there is a safety. Initial inspection of the gun made it quite apparent that Ruger was aiming for the CCW crowd with this model. The trim control surfaces were very subtle to avoid snags.

The magazine release sits at the front edge of the left grip area, and again it is fairly diminutive to avoid inadvertent release of the magazine. The sights are machined into the slide, making them both robust and un-adjustable. I purchased the extra ten round magazine to utilize in this pistol review, mainly because I figured it would help me hold onto it better.

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Pistol controls, front to back: disassembly opening, slide release, and two position safety at the rear.

GOIN’ HOT ON INITIAL RANGE THOUGHTS

With a bucket of 115-grain FMJ ammo in hand, I headed out to the desert to see how this pistol runs. After loading the magazine, I pointed the pistol downrange at my target and started squeezing. As it often happens, we ran through a lot more ammo than I anticipated in a short amount of time. Which is a good time to point out, since with seven-round magazines you spend a lot of time loading.

The extended 10 round magazine gives more purchase for those with larger hands.

My very first impression as the little Ruger barked and how much more recoil I could feel when compared to my other pistols. Obviously, this is a 9mm, so I’m not talking about a ton of recoil, just noticeably more than what I am used to. That is to be expected though. A smaller pistol is not going to buck recoil like a heavier full-size pistol will.

Shop all the Ruger EC9 models at Palmetto State Armory

The trigger-pull seemed a smidge longer than I would have liked, but again this model is aimed at concealed carry users. The reset was also longer than I would have liked, requiring a good sweep both fore and aft to keep this little lead pump humming. I’m not a huge fan of trigger safeties, but I did find that this one was hardly noticeable.

MORE ROUNDS AND A FRESH PERSPECTIVE

We continued to bang through more ammo than we should have with the EC9s, and it didn’t take long for me to start forming a few opinions on it. But before I did, I wanted to get some additional hands on the gun. Particularly my wife’s hands. She has much more petite hands, and I wanted to see how the pistol met her stature. Just as importantly, I wanted to see how she felt about the gun. Guns are still a bit new to her, but nevertheless, I was interested in her beginner’s perspective.

She took no time in getting used to the grip of the EC9s, and she was slapping targets after some modest instruction. We did discover some challenges for smaller shooters. The grip and pull required to draw the slide was a bit of a challenge for her, as I mentioned above the gun is quite stiff. But even with her smaller hands, she was able to grip the pistol properly and run the gun effectively.

Firearms Depot also has a full selection of Ruger EC9 pistols 

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE EC9S

I’ll give you my pros first, of which I think there are plenty. After shooting a moderate amount of ammunition through this little gun, I was impressed with its reliability. Through all the rounds fired, I don’t think there were more than a few stoppages. All of which I am quite confident were user induced. The little Ruger just seems to shoot.

I am certainly no pistol marksman, but I found it was pretty easy to hit what I was aiming at. The same went for my wife, and what I think she perhaps enjoyed most was hitting what she aimed at.

With a price point around $280 over the counter, this little gun is easily attained. I was worried its price point would dictate much of the quality, but the handsome collection of color options and other features seem to make it worthwhile. The larger 10-round magazine made the gun much easier for me to shoot, while my better half was happy with either magazine length.

SOME STONES TO THROW

There are a few cons that I would point out, but I am ready to admit that many of them are fairly subjective. First of all, I’d address the stiffness of the pistol, it’s not very big, so there isn’t a lot to hold onto and purchase. The strong pull of the recoil spring also made it very difficult to operate the slide release, to the point that I nearly quit using it entirely and simply pulled the slide to release. Many will say that’s better anyway, so it may be a moot point for you.

I don’t really use safeties, especially on carry guns. But this safety actually took a second to figure out, the natural motion for me was to swipe at it with my thumb a la 1911. But the safety actually pivots from the front, so I had to make a conscious motion to push and pull at the rear of the safety. Not a big deal, and it’s something I could simply learn if needs be.

I spoke about the orange dummy magazine that came with the gun. Its sole purpose is to aid in disassembling the pistol. You use the magazine as part of the safe deactivation and takedown. Again, probably not a huge deal, but something worth mentioning.

I already mentioned I would have liked a shorter and lighter trigger. But I am also perfectly willing to concede that concealed carry guns are probably better off with longer and even heavier pulls. My last two gripes are perhaps the most subjective and probably due to my hand construction.

I found the mag release to be just a tad awkward to reach with my thumb. It took a very deliberate motion to release the magazine. Again, this may be by design, so you don’t drop your mag in a gunfight or while leaning against the counter at the convenience store.

Lastly, I would really prefer to have more than 10 rounds available in a carry pistol, but I also understand there are compromises.

CONCLUSION

I frequently carry a full-size pistol. Compared to that, this little pistol is a fresh breath of air and a much smaller pain in the waist. The single-stack design of the pistol and its compact size seem to square up the grip area some. This felt to me just a little less comfortable than I’d like, but these are just one person’s opinions.

All things considered, I think the EC9s is a decent choice. I like the gun more than I expected to. The price point makes it an extremely easy pistol to get into carrying. The various safeties and its small size also make it an easy choice for newcomers to the concealed carry gang. I think it punches at its price point. But you won’t want to compare it with something like a Sig P239.

Now that you’ve heard my opinion, go check one of these out. If you drive a diesel, it may cost you more to get to the gun shop than to pick up a Ruger EC9s.

-CBM

If you like this review, check out our other pistol reviews

Ruger Charger 10/22 pistol

pistols, Product review, Shooting hardware, , ,

The Ruger 10/22

Few firearms enjoy so much use as those chambered in the time-honored .22 long rifle. Inexpensive and fun shooting can be had, and every fundamental part of shooting can be applied and practiced save only perhaps recoil management. The Ruger 10/22 is one of the many firearms thus chambered, and over many decades it has become one a many stalwarts setting a bar for others to be measured against. The natural progression of design and advancement have created many different variants, and today’s subject is one of those.

The Ruger 10/22 Charger Pistol

The Ruger Charger pistol is a 10/22 variant, some of which incorporates Ruger’s takedown technology, among others. The Charger was designed as a pistol, likely to take advantage of the pistol brace craze that is determined to rewrite the SBR tenet held by everyone’s favorite three letter agency. The pistol utilizes a polymer chassis, much like the rifle versions of the 10/22. The differences include using a pic rail at the back for installing any kind of implement akin to, but without being a buttstock. It also has a sling stud up front for utilizing a bipod or other support device.
The model I tested is the 22 Charger Lite, I assume this is achieved with the lighter barrel contour and vented shroud. The muzzle of the ten-inch barrel is threaded 1/2-28 which is an excellent thing to do nowadays. The overall length of the pistol is nineteen-inches, and weighs in at 57 ounces. A picatinny scope mount is also included with the Charger for the bargain price of $719.00 MSRP.

the scope was mounted in a Zro Delta scope mount

Upon opening the case of the Charger, I started thinking and evaluating just what such a gun would be used for. The takedown feature made it extremely easy to store in a backpack, which would make it an obvious choice for a camping gun. The threaded barrel made it a good choice for a suppressor host, which I intended to do a few minutes later. I decided I would reserve my judgement until further experience with the Charger deemed it worthy of my praise.
The Charger came in a handy soft carrying case, which was handy for heading to the range, but I avoid that place like a TSA checkpoint. After mounting a scope on top of the rifle, I disassembled the rifle using the takedown feature. I was quite impressed with the simplicity of the mechanism, simply lock the bolt back and use the thumb of one hand to depress the takedown release, and twist the two halves of the gun a part. And just as quickly it went right back together, “pretty slick” I mumbled to myself as I finished prepping some ancillary equipment for my shooting trip.

Range Testing

With a few boxes of ammo, I made my way into the mountains above my house to see what the Charger could do. With a full magazine I set to zeroing the scope, which turned out to be a little tougher than I expected. This is likely due to using a riflescope on a pistol with no stock or brace to stabilize it with, something that would show up again later.
My initial impression of the gun was quite positive, it was easy to get on targets and functioned as good as one would expect with a 10/22. I installed my Yankee Hill Machine Phantom 22 suppressor, which is a must-have if you are a serious rimfire shooter. You can read more about the suppressor here.

the Charger with a US Optics TS6X riflescope

With the report of the little Charger now suppressed, it became even more fun. Once I figured out how to hold it steady the Charger made for brilliant fun, plinking at targets all over the hillside. It chewed through a very expensive pile of cartridges, most of which seemed to work great. I did have a couple malfunctions using some Federal ammunition, but I’m not entirely sure that was the ammunitions fault. I believe it had more to do with the gun resting on magazine while shooting, it seemed to create additional friction that reduced bolt inertia and caused it to stovepipe or something similar. Obviously using a bipod will eliminate this issue, or using shorter magazines.

 

 

WHY I LIKE IT

The takedown feature is very handy when your main mode of transport is on foot. It allows you to easily stow the Charger in whatever space you may have available in your pack. It’s so quick to reassemble that you can even get the drop on a squirrel if needed.

The Charger was accurate enough for a rifle of this size, shooting small game and cans was predictable. I can only assume the trigger is a standard 10/22 trigger set, but here is an easy BX Upgrade. It’s nothing fancy but very serviceable. Little things like the extended mag release and an included scope mount make this pistol a very user-friendly and range-ready option. That’s a common trait for the 10/22 family of firearms in general.

Shop Ruger at Firearm Depot
Also shop Ruger products at Brownells
Palmetto State Armory also has Ruger products

DOWNSIDES?

There are only a few things about the Charger I didn’t like, and they may or may not be of concern to you. First of all, I hate the ridiculous rules around SBRs. But we will have to deal with it until brighter minds are installed. That said, I find the Charger a little awkward to align and shoot without a rear support like a brace or buttstock.

Ruger Charger Lite .22 LR Pistol
I rather despise the rules around SBRs, but the little charger does have the ability to add on other features like a brace or bipod. 

It is very easy to misalign your shooting eye with a scope when you don’t have anything to keep your face centered behind it. So, as much as I don’t like the idea of an arm brace, I would recommend getting one as it will likely improve both your accuracy and shooting experience. Or, if you choose to be a victim of the ATF, go ahead and register this little fella as an SBR and mount a stock.

The other thing I didn’t like was the slight wobble between the front and rear pieces of the rifle when assembled. This is obviously a result of the takedown feature of the rifle. I have no idea how much this wiggle affected the accuracy capability of the Charger, but I must think it had some effect.

I believe both of these gripes had something to do with the overall accuracy of the pistol. For me, only accurate firearms are interesting. So, even though the Charger was only acceptable in my estimation, it may be more than accurate enough for your purposes.

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CONCLUSION

Ruger Charger Light .22 LR Pistol

It’s fair to say I enjoyed shooting the Ruger 22 Charger despite my few complaints. I found it to be a very fun little gun for plinking. If you like to backpack, camp, or anything else that dictates having a compact firearm that is easily taken down and stowed, this one is for you. The 22 Charger Lite gives legendary 10/22 function in a small pistol that the whole family can enjoy.

-CBM

The Ruger Precision Rifle 6.5 Creedmoor

Product review, Shooting hardware, , , , , ,

Introduction

The Ruger Precision rifle 6.5 Creedmoor took the precision rifle world for quite a ride when it first came out. Ruger made an excellent move by introducing an affordable rifle into an arena that was dominated by expensive custom-built rifles and actual sniper rifles. And in another stroke of genius they managed to make a rifle that appealed to the AR-15 crowd at the same time, which brought even more customers into their fold.
Ruger Precision rifle 6.5 creedmoor

The RPR

The Ruger Precision Rifle utilizes a bolt action receiver that is built into a chassis. It is fed by SR-25 pattern 308 sized P-mags for the 308, 6mm, and 6.5 chambered rifles. This rifle seems to almost clone the aesthetics of the extremely popular AR 15. Using the same pistol grip, and similar operation for the safety. Today’s test model also includes a folding butt stock for shortening the footprint of the rifle when transporting.

A twenty-four inch hammer forged barrel uses 5R rifling which if you ask the internet is the only good kind of rifling.  Long-range shooters prefer things like the one-in-eight twist barrel as it is ideal for launching the heavy for caliber bullets.  Weighing in at ten and a half pounds, the rifle is about forty-five inches long unless you fold it, in which case it is thirty-five inches long.

Check out my review of the Ruger RPR .22LR as well

Try It

Having been one of those in the community with a preference for the custom built rifle, it took me some time to actually give the Ruger a try. To be honest I did look down at it a bit, perhaps like many others I was angry that it shot just as good as rifles that cost twice as much or more.

But it didn’t take long for the RPR to prove its worth to those in the community, and now a days its common to see them shooting at top PRS events. I shot in the Hornady Precision Rifle Challenge this past summer. There we saw several RPR’s including Doug Koenig who did extremely well shooting with significantly more expensive competitors, taking home the top Production Rifle trophy.
Ruger Precision Rifle 6.5 Creedmoor
After all this time I figured it was time for me to open up to the Ruger, so I took the opportunity when it came. Opening up the box, I found the all black rifle complete with a magazine, bipod and a few other items. It took a few minutes to familiarize myself with the rifle, and get a feel for the controls and such. For me there are couple things that stand out when first handling a rifle, the first one is throwing the bolt. Quickly I shouldered the rifle and ran the bolt a few times, you can tell a lot about a rifle by the feel of the bolt-throw.

More Ruger Precision Rifle features

Bolt manipulation of the Ruger Precision Rifle was smooth and had a positive lockup feel when closed into battery. You could also feel a metal on plastic sensation a little bit which I assumed to be the piece at the rear of the bolt. Not that there was anything negative about it, as plastic on metal frequently gives a low-friction feeling which I do like. Bolt lift was not bad, but did take a little bit of getting used to. Not bad, obviously not as good as some of the other rifle actions frequently used today.

Among the features that seal the deal for me is the trigger pull. While I don’t consider myself a trigger snob, I do enjoy a perfect trigger whenever I can. Ruger’s trigger on the RPR was a good one, clean and without the abrasive skipping often felt on triggers of lower tiered firearms. I’ve never been a big fan of blade safeties. When they first came out many years ago, the first thing I did was figure out how to remove them. That being said I wasn’t so hateful of this one to look for a way to remove it.

Shop ruger Precision Rifles here

The main safety was in the same place your traditional AR style rifle safety goes, which made it very convenient and familiar to use. It wouldn’t hurt my feelings if they put it on both sides like AR’s often do, but certainly not a deal breaker.

This RPR runs on 308 sized P-Mags, and it came with a ten-round magazine. After some range time I would try the twenty-round ones as well, just in case you ever needed to do some long strings of fire.
Including a folding buttstock of the rifle made it much shorter for transportation, and doubled as a quick way to remove the bolt for inspection, lube, or cleaning. Up front we had the hammer-forged twenty-four inch barrel inside a free-floated handguard. Cut into the muzzle of the barrel are 5/8-24 threads. Which was great because I planned on mounting some stuff there.

The handguard on my particular rifle uses KeyMod for accessory attachment. But they are also available in the more modern and useful M-Lok. I secured the Atlas bipod to the pic rail underneath, and then I was ready to mount up a riflescope. Continue Reading Here…

A good rifle deserves an even better scope, like the US Optics FDN17x

FIRST SHOTS

Running the bolt forward on a cartridge felt smooth and controlled. I could often feel the slightest bind as the bolt closed the last few degrees. Almost like the extractor was having trouble snapping over the cartridge rims. As I brought the reticle to rest on my point of aim, I took up the slack in the trigger and gave it a steady press.

Repeating the process another four times and made a nice little vertically strung group. I have noticed this tendency during this cold time of year. Particularly when both rifle and ammo are below freezing temperatures.

As the bore warms and each round is chambered into a progressively warmer chamber. Velocity increases slightly and brings the point of impact up a touch with each shot. Horizontal dispersion was minimal, and the overall group size was just under an inch.

That’s not too shabby using what most would consider plinking ammo, and the results were even better when shooting 140-grain match ammunition. I pushed the RPR out to half a mile to see how it performed. As I suspected, it was easy impacts. Recoil on the rifle wasn’t terrible, allowing me to spot my impacts at those extended ranges.

federal 6.5 creedmoor ammunition american eagle
Even the inexpensive American Eagle 120 grain ammo shot well

Suppressed

Shooting this rifle go without seeing how it does with a suppressor wasn’t an option to me. To that end, I pulled out my Yankee Hill Machine Nitro N20 suppressor. During my range time I noticed only a small change in point of impact. Likely due to the light weight of the Nitro.

It was beautiful to shoot in the open country of the mountains and listen to the long journey of the bullets. They hissed through the sky before they thumped into the target. I think the RPR deserves a good suppressor, it makes a great little rifle even better.

POSSIBLE DOWNSIDES?

At first, I wondered why they made it a 24-inch barrel versus a 26-inch barrel. After running around with this thing, I understand why.  If I had the ability to order the RPR from the factory, I would have done so with a shorter barrel length that was more like 20 inches.

Ruger Precision rifle 6.5 Creedmoor
rifle details; notice QD sling cup behind the grip, and locking mechanism for folding stock just above it

Adding a folding stock is great for reducing the length of the rifle, at least when you are trying to transport it. But another one of my complaints has to do with the folding mechanism, mainly that it only locks in the shooting position.

While it’s not a deal-breaker for me,  it would be really easy to get something pinched in the pivot point. Especially when the stock inevitably comes swinging back as you try and maneuver it.

The magazine release was also a touch tough for my taste. It was easy to falsely engage the magazine on this rifle to where it looked like it was in. Making you think it was secure, but was not really secured.

Ruger’s magazine release also seemed to require a touch more force than I would expect for such a simple and common motion. This is likely something that can be adjusted or corrected by the user, so don’t worry too much about it.

MY CONCLUSION

As I suspected, the Ruger Precision Rifle 6.5 Creedmoor is just what I thought it would be – a great-shooting production rifle with an entry-level price tag but professional results. Sure, it’s not as nice as the custom precision rifles out there.

And you can feel that it has been mass-produced. But nonetheless, the rifle performs very well in its capacity. It gives the user accurate shots, a familiar manual of arms, and pleasing aesthetics.

Above and beyond that, there are countless ways to customize and improve the rifle with excellent aftermarket support. I have some nice rifles in my safe. I wouldn’t trade any of them for a Ruger RPR, but I wouldn’t mind having a couple RPRs in the safe to give them company.

-CBM

Ruger RPR 6.5
The Atlas bipod makes an excellent addition to the rifle

Ruger 22LR Precision Rifle

Product review, Shooting hardware, , ,

Intro to the Ruger RPR 22

Steal his look with a jacket from KUIU

Sometimes we get the cart before the horse, and I’ll admit that I’ve done a few things out of order over the years. One instance where I think I started at the wrong end was a few years back, when I first put my hands on a Ruger Precision Rifle (RPR). Normally I like to start with a light recoiling rifle, get comfortable and proficient with its function, and then step up to the next bigger platform.
The first RPR I ever shot was the big one, in 338 Lapua Magnum. I later was able to shoot one chambered in 308 Winchester, which was obviously a little softer. And finally today, I have reached the small end of the RPR family, chambered in .22 Long Rifle.

A Natural Evolution

I remember when the first RPR hit the market, it started gaining fans immediately due to its many features and benefits. Ruger’s design quickly caught on to several large groups of rifle shooters, and in the process helped open new shooting activities to those shooters. The RPR at a glance could be mistaken for a Modern Sporting Rifle (MSR) or an AR type rifle, it’s simple yet handsome aesthetics appeal to the Black Rifle crowd just as much as it does to the precision rifle shooting crowd. Ruger was clever in the way the gun was made and marketed, the price-point of the RPR brought affordability to a shooting class that before then had been reserved to expensive custom rifles, or actual sniper rifles.
As the popularity and success of the RPR soared, additional models and calibers were introduced using the same basic idea, and it was only proper to have a rimfire version.

The Ruger Precision Rifle .22LR

The RPR .22LR is a bolt action magazine fed rifle, built in a chassis with fully adjustable comb and recoil pad. The rifle uses an eighteen-inch hammer forged steel barrel which is threaded 1/2-28 at the muzzle to install your favorite muzzle furnishings. The chassis utilizes a free-floating handguard with M-Lok slots for adding accessories, and also uses standard AR type pistol grips so you can install whatever model you desire. The rifle has a built in optics mounting rail atop the receiver and in a brilliant stroke of genius, it was designed to use the incredibly popular Ruger 10/22 magazines, with fifteen and twenty-five round magazines shown in this article. All these intuitive features come with an MSRP of $579.00.

Getting Started

I’m currently on a rimfire kick, so this rifle couldn’t have fallen into a better lap. Upon receiving the rifle, I promptly started the process of fiddling and figuring it out. The rifle came to me with a Vortex scope already mounted in a one-piece scope mount, and a few extra magazines. All I needed was a bipod and my Yankee Hill Machine Phantom 22 suppressor  and an Atlas Bipod to make this rifle complete.

Luckily for me, I had several great options for ammunition testing. Plenty of the cheap bulk-packed ammo from manufacturers like Federal and Winchester, as well as match grade ammo from companies like Aguila and CCI. I was excited to see how it all came together in the little RPR. Once I had rifle, ammo, and everything else I needed, I headed to my shooting line to get it warmed up.

Shop .22LR Ammo at Wideners.com

Once there, I bore-sighted the scope and started loading magazines. I started with some of the Winchester bulk packed ammo, just to get a close zero. At one-hundred yards it was not particularly impressive, with shots dodging between two and four inches across a five-shot spread.
Running the bolt on the RPR was just a tiny bit glitchy, which I believe is simply getting used to it, and breaking in the action. One thing that I’ve noticed on most bolt action rimfires is that the shorter bolt is more susceptible to binding in the short action, I believe this is due to distribution of force being focused on just a few small surfaces. I have run the bolt on other RPR’s and found the bolts to be perfectly smooth, so it could simply be that this gun is new and needs some working.
I usually don’t use safeties much, I prefer to simply keep it empty until ready to fire. But when talking about 22’s, there will almost invariably be children around. In fact I used the RPR 22 for one of my kids hunter safety course, as it was a perfect fit for him. The safety on the RPR was a little stiffer than I would have liked, the kids actually thought there was something wrong with it. But this again could just be needed to be broken in, not a deal breaker for me.

Continue Reading Here…

Still, the adjustments of the buttstock of the rifle made it easy to match it to other shooters like my kids, making their shooting experience even more enjoyable. Though, one other small concern I had was mag feeding. Particularly when loaded to a full 25 rounds, the first few rounds were a little finicky when feeding. This also varied with different ammunition, so it could have had something to do with that as well.

ACCURACY

After trying four different types of ammo, there was clearly a winner. The cheap bulk-packed ammo worked fine but didn’t produce the best results as you might imagine. Both the Winchester and Federal produced groups around 3 to 4 inches at 100 yards, and the CCI was a little better but not much.

Get you some high quality Lapua 22lr Match ammo here

As you might imagine, the Aguila Match ammo was superior, producing 10-shot patterns around 1.5 inches. Five-shot groups were even better, some of them even shooting 1/2-inch groups. I was happy with the results, but I would have preferred better accuracy with the cheap stuff. At least I know what to use should I need to head-shoot squirrels from across the creek.

.22 Aguila Ammo and a target
With the right ammo, you can achieve some very nice groupings. 

SUPPRESSED

Bolt-action .22 LR Ruger Precision Rifle

Nowadays, suppressors are becoming more and more popular, so I had to shoot the rifle with a couple of different suppressors just to satisfy my curiosity. First was the Dead Air Mask, followed by my favorite Yankee Hill Machine Phantom 22. Both of them worked perfectly, making the report of the little rifle comparable to the BB gun I got when I turned 10.

In the open Rocky Mountains, it is hard to discern the difference between two rimfire suppressors, but the YHM wins because of it weighs a third less. Shooting suppressed rimfires is addicting, and the Ruger RPR makes it even better with great accuracy and the ability to adapt to each member of the family.

CONCLUSION

It should come as no surprise that the RPR 22 is an excellent choice for a good shooting rimfire rifle. Ruger has near-legendary experience in the rimfire market and adding a .22 LR rifle to the Precision Rifle family was exactly the right move. Despite the few hiccups I had with the rifle, I can hardly see a reason to own a different .22. Unless you have an extremely small budget, or desperately need a semi-automatic .22, you will love the Ruger Precision rifle in .22 Long Rifle.

-CBM

The Ruger MPR in 350 Legend

Product review, Shooting hardware, , ,

Intro

Ruger joined the AR 15 market some time ago, and I’d been meaning to see how well they had done on their initial offerings. But life being what it is, I only just recently got the opportunity. Always a glutton for shooting, I jumped in with both feet.

The Legend

No not the Will Smith movie where he takes poorly aimed shots at post apocalyptic deer of some kind as they run through the city with his M4 variant. Im referring to the 350 Legend, and Will Smith would have probably done a little better against deer sized game had he been shooting 180 grain Federal blue box 350 Legend. But hey, zombie apocalypse makes for strange hunting practices.

The MPR with US Optics scope and Atlas Bipod

Continue reading here

350 legend ammo with a ruger mpr
.350 Legend is a great match for the Ruger MPR

The .350 Legend came from Winchester Ammunition. They tout it as the fastest straight-walled cartridge available today. The Legend looks like a straight-walled .223 case with a .35 caliber bullet at the front instead of a bottleneck. Legend ammo can be had from 140 grains all the way up to 255-grain sub-sonics, making it very adaptable to your purposes.

THE RUGER MPR

The Ruger MPR is like most AR-styled rifles, and it has all the familiar controls and features. The only difference between this and many others I’ve shot (besides the obvious .35 bore) was the use of a .350 legend magazine and a shorter gas tube.

As tested here, the rifle featured a 16-inch barrel, taking up just half of the overall length of 33 inches when the buttstock is collapsed. The rifle weighs in at 6.5 pounds and comes with Ruger’s Elite 452 two-stage trigger. The muzzle is threaded at 1/2-28 and comes with Ruger’s own radial ported muzzle brake.

The Ruger MPR paired nicely with the R9 suppressor from YHM and an LVPO from U.S. Optics. 

I installed just a couple of accessories to the rifle prior to testing. First was one of my standby optics, an LVPO from U.S. Optics. Second, I added a bipod to the hand guard for better stability when needed. Lastly, I ran the rifle with two of my newest 9mm suppressors from Yankee Hill Machine, the Nitro N20 and the R9.

Before I had even made it to the range though, the rifle was quickly gaining my favor. Just basic handling of the gun proved it to be lighter than I was used to – a welcome feature that made it quick to shoulder and point. Fairly standard collapsible Magpul MOE stock and pistol grip felt like a perfect match to the rest of the rifle. The trigger that Ruger put in this rifle felt very serviceable at 4.5 pounds. It was great for almost any situation I would use this gun. A 45-degree safety was another nice feature I hadn’t expected.

PACKING LIGHT IN THE MOUNTAINS

After some playing around in my basement for a bit with the rifle, I decided to take it for a hike into the mountains. I purposely left without a sling because the lightness of the rifle impressed me. I wanted to see if that impression remained after hauling it around for a mile. Before leaving, I stuffed a box of Winchester 145-grain FMJ ammo into my back pocket.

The Ruger MPR proved to be an easy rifle to haul up the mountain

As I walked up the partially icy trail, it was immediately evident that this lighter rifle was far more pleasant to pack than what I was used to carrying. It was easily carried around in one hand either by the grip or around the handguard.

In what seemed like a shorter time than normal, I found myself at my shooting spot. I surveyed the landscape as I caught my breath. A bit of movement caught my eye just across the canyon from where I was perched, a young deer made its way up the opposite ridge, perhaps having heard or seen me.us optics

PRACTICAL ACCURACY TESTING

I had previously bore-sighted the scope before leaving the house, so my plan was to see how close I was by shooting into a small dirt pile clearing approximately 100 yards in front of me. With my U.S. Optics scope zoomed into 6x, I took a few preliminary shots. Hitting just a few inches high and right. After a few minor adjustments, it was on target.

I wasn’t expecting a significant amount of recoil, as I’d shot plenty of .350 Legend in the past through my Desert Tech MDRX. But this Ruger was a significant amount lighter, so I thought this might increase the recoil I felt. Whether it was the muzzle brake or the suppressors I mounted, this rifle was a smooth and soft shooter. It was easily something I could put my 12-year-old daughter behind.

The Ruger MPR is a capable deer rifle. 

After a few rounds getting comfortable with the rifle, I decided to see just how useful the rifle would be had the deer I saw been a buck. I looked back to the spot where I had seen the deer, and there in the game trail was a patch of wet dirt. Likely, it had been snow only hours earlier before the sun had its way. The wet patch appeared to measure eight or so inches, and I figured it was as good a test as any. This was deer country at deer ranges, and the scenario could have easily played out during deer season. But was the rifle up to it?

I fired a few shots at the wet patch of earth, easily hitting it and sending mud splattering across the clean white rocks nearby. The distance was just over 180 yards. With the ability to make hits on vital-sized targets at that range, it seems like a no-brainer. This rifle would make an excellent deer rifle within the envelope of the Legend’s capabilities. With its lightweight and easy manipulation, a person could handily take down a deer inside 250 yards.

I think the six-power scope is a great partner for this rifle. It provides quick target acquisition and engagement for those shorter distances inside 300 yards. The muzzle brake provided by Ruger seems to tame the already light recoil to a very soft impulse, giving you plenty of control for multiple shots should you need them.

ACCURACY

I shot the gun on paper to see how it performed concerning accuracy, and the results seemed to be on par with what I had seen in the field. Groups averaged just under an inch at 100 yards, certainly good enough for smacking deer and hog-sized game within a reasonable distance. This gun seemed to prefer the heavier ammunition, like the 170 and 180 grain from Federal and Hornady. That is fine by me, as that seems like the appropriate proportions for the above-mentioned animals.

The Ruger MPR proved to be very accurate in formal testing as well

CONCLUSION

I was pleasantly surprised by this little package. It was light, handy, and very functional. The great benefits of the AR platform are exemplified here in what would make a perfect little ranch gun, swamp shooter, or even apocalyptic urban deer slayer.

-CBM