The Ruger American Rifle is a family of budget-level

hunting Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, ...

/ sporting

bolt-action Bolt-action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt via a bolt handle, which is most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon (as most users are right-handed). Most bolt-action ...

centerfire Two rounds of .357 Magnum, a centerfire cartridge; notice the circular primer in the center A centerfire cartridge is a firearm metallic cartridge whose primer is located at the center of the base of its casing (i.e. "case head"). Unlike rim ...

rifle made by Sturm, Ruger & Co., which also produces a line of rimfire rifles with similar designs called the Ruger American Rimfire.

Design

The Ruger American has a receiver made from 4140 chrome-moly

bar stock Bar stock, also (colloquially) known as blank, slug or billet, is a common form of raw purified metal, used by industry to manufacture metal parts and products. Bar stock is available in a variety of extrusion shapes and lengths. The most common ...

and a hammer-forged barrel with a blued black oxide finish, mounted onto a polymer composite stock. Some models are also available in a stainless steel variant. Rather than using a traditional recoil lug, the rifle's barreled action is secured in the stock by a

bedding Bedding, also known as bedclothes or bed linen, is the materials laid above the mattress of a bed for hygiene, warmth, protection of the mattress, and decorative effect. Bedding is the removable and washable portion of a human sleeping environm ...

system known as "Power Bedding®", which uses two V-shaped steel action blocks that wedge the receiver firmly in place to prevent lateral shifts and also serve as recoil lugs. Because the front and back action screws are fastened through the centers of the action blocks, the blocks also functionally act as pillar beddings and allows the barrel to be free-floated. The rifle feeds cartridges into the chamber from a proprietary detachable rotary magazine via a push feed mechanism employing dual cocking cams on the stainless steel bolt, which has three locking lugs allowing for a smaller 70° throw angle of the bolt handle. The trademarked "Ruger Marksman Adjustable™" trigger is a functionally two-stage trigger similar in design to the Savage AccuTrigger, which allows the user to adjust the weight of pull between by means of a

set screw In American English, a set screw is a screw that is used to secure an object, by pressure and/or friction, within or against another object, such as fixing a pulley or gear to a shaft. A set screw is normally used without a nut (which distingu ...

on the trigger housing. The rifle comes with a tang-mounted

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

Models

* Standard:

alloy steel Alloy steel is steel that is alloyed with a variety of elements in total amounts between 1.0% and 50% by weight to improve its mechanical properties. Alloy steels are broken down into two groups: low alloy steels and high alloy steels. The differe ...

sporter barrel, with an overall length of for short-action or for long-action cartridges. * Compact: alloy steel sporter barrel, shorter length of pull than the standard model, with an overall length of , and chambered for short-action cartridges only. * Magnum: the long-action models for

magnum cartridge A magnum cartridge is a firearm cartridge with a larger case size than, or derived from, a similar cartridge of the same projectile (bullet) caliber and case shoulder shape. The term derives from the .357 Magnum, the original cartridge with this d ...

s (currently the .300 WM and .338 WM), with a threaded stainless steel barrel and an overall length of , and comes with factory

Weaver rail A Weaver rail mount is a system to connect telescopic sights (often via a scope mount) and other accessories to firearms and certain crossbows. It uses a pair of parallel rails and several slots perpendicular to these rails. The later Picatinn ...

installed. * Predator:

varmint Vermin (colloquially varmint(s) or varmit(s)) are pests or nuisance animals that spread diseases or destroy crops or livestock. Since the term is defined in relation to human activities, which species are included vary by region and enterpri ...

target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, f ...

model with an 18 in (

.308 Win The .308 Winchester is a smokeless powder rimless bottlenecked rifle cartridge widely used for hunting, target shooting, police, military, and personal protection applications globally. It is similar but not identical to the 7.62×51mm NATO ...

only) or threaded alloy steel (stainless option available for

6.5 Creedmoor The 6.5mm Creedmoor (6.5×48 mm), designated 6.5 Creedmoor by SAAMI, 6.5 Creedmoor by the C.I.P. or 6.5 CM or 6.5 CRDMR for short, is a centerfire rifle cartridge (firearms), cartridge introduced by Hornady in 2007. It was developed by Horn ...

) Medium Palma barrel, with an overall length of or , and comes with factory Weaver rail installed. STANAG magazines are found on the Predator versions with model numbers 26922 ( 6.5 mm Grendel) and 26944 ( .223 Rem). AICS style magazines are found on the Predator versions with model numbers # 26948 (6 mm Creedmoor), # 26971 (

.204 Ruger The .204 Ruger is a centerfire rifle cartridge developed by Hornady and Ruger. At the time of its introduction in 2004, the .204 Ruger was the second-highest velocity commercially produced ammunition and the only centerfire cartridge produc ...

), 26972 (

.243 Win The .243 Winchester (6×52mm) is a popular sporting rifle cartridge. Developed as a versatile short action cartridge to hunt both medium game and small game alike, it "took whitetail hunting by storm"Ron Spomer.Whitetail Deer Cartridge Shoot-Out ...

), # 26973 ( 6.5 mm Creedmoor), # 26974 (

) and # 36902 (

.350 Legend The .350 Legend (9×43 mm), also called 350 LGND, is a SAAMI-standardized straight-walled intermediate rifle cartridge developed by Winchester Repeating Arms. The cartridge was designed for use in American states that have specific regu ...

). * Ranch: short-barrel

carbine A carbine ( or ) is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges. The smaller size and lighte ...

version of the Predator model with a threaded alloy steel Medium Palma barrel, with an overall length of , chambered for 5.56 NATO/ .223 Rem (Model # 6965), .300 Blackout (# 6968),

.450 Bushmaster The .450 Bushmaster is a rifle cartridge developed by Tim LeGendre of LeMag Firearms, and licensed to Bushmaster Firearms International. The .450 Bushmaster is designed to be used in standard M16s and AR-15s, using modified magazines and u ...

(# 16950 and # 16978),

and 7.62 Soviet cartridges (# 16976), and comes with factory Weaver or

Picatinny rail The Picatinny rail ( or ), or Pic rail for short, also known as a MIL-STD-1913 rail, 1913 rail or STANAG 2324 rail (cancelled), is a military standard rail interface system that provides a mounting platform for firearm accessories. It was ...

installed. In early 2018, Ruger introduced variant models for the 5.56 NATO/.223 Rem (# 26965) and .300 Blackout (# 26968) that accept STANAG magazines. * Hunter: a heavy barrel version bedded into the

Magpul Magpul Industries Corporation is an American designer and manufacturer of high-tech polymer and composite firearms accessories like M-LOK. Magpul Industries takes its name from its first product, the MagPul (Magazine Puller), an accessory for th ...

"Hunter American" stock using AICS-pattern PMAG® 7.62 AC

box magazine A magazine is an ammunition storage and feeding device for a repeating firearm, either integral within the gun (internal/fixed magazine) or externally attached (detachable magazine). The magazine functions by holding several cartridges with ...

s, with a threaded alloy steel barrel factory-equipped with a

muzzle brake A muzzle brake or recoil compensator is a device connected to, or a feature integral to the construction of, the muzzle or barrel of a firearm or cannon that is intended to redirect a portion of propellant gases to counter recoil and unwanted ...

, chambered for 6.5mm Creedmoor and

References

External links

Ruger American Rifle product page
{{Ruger Bolt-action rifles of the United States American Rifle Rotary magazine firearms .300 BLK firearms 7.62 mm rifles 5.56 mm firearms

Design

Models

See also

References

External links