Kent Goldings
.357 mag
Yesterday, I stopped by a certain big-boxed sporting good store to get a couple t-shirts. I walked back through the hunting/fishing department to check on ammo availability and was delighted to spot a Ruger American Rimfire with the go-wild camo stock.
Being a huge Ruger fanboy, I had promised myself I’d buy the first one of these I found in the store. I only have two other 22 bolt guns and they are both more target guns than hunting guns.
So, on full impulse, I made the purchase.
I mounted a Leopold VX1 2-7x28 Rimfire scope that was previously unemployed. The gold banding and bronze Leopold medallion matched the bronze cerekote very well. As we know, a rifle needs to look good to shoot good.
I thought I’d offer a few first impressions. I haven’t broken it in yet. I’ve only shot about 100 rounds to sight it in.
The good.
The rifle looks great and Ruger nails the fit and finish. The composite stock and cerekote make the rifle all-weather capable. The rifle maintains the sophisticated bedding system of the American centerfires. The feel of the rifle is familiar, since I own two of the larger caliber American rifles. The rifle weights in at a scanty 6 pounds with scope and fully loaded.
Not so good.
No matter how sophisticated, the factory composite stock feels a little flimsy. The forend is narrow and has noticeable flex. However, I don’t thing the free floating was effected.
The American Rimfires have optional stock modules. However, since this model has no iron sights, they only included the highrise stock module with full pull. Given the light weight, it would have been nice to have the shorter pull module so I could let my daughter shoot it. But, you can buy these separately.
Nevertheless, the included stock module did not quite raise the comb high enough for a scope mounted to the factory installed pic-rail. So, I needed up removing the factory rail and using the dove-tail mounts. The result was a perfect fit. But, it would have been nice to be able to use the factory rail without having to modify the stock.
The undecided.
I sighted in using Federal Auto Match at the local 25 yard pistol range. Auto match is not known for consistency. But, I didn’t want to squander my dwindling supply of CCI SV to break in a new barrel. Suffice it to say, it doesn’t rival the CZ for out of the box accuracy. Given that you can buy a CZ-457 American for about the same price, that is a little disappointing. But, I’m willing to give the rifle some time to break in and it does have a good working accuracy. Also, unlike CZ, it is made in America. (j/k my CZ is still the queen of my Rimfires) I look forward to stretching its legs with better ammo. But, I have no doubts that rifle will fulfill its role as A mid to late season squirreling gun.
Being a huge Ruger fanboy, I had promised myself I’d buy the first one of these I found in the store. I only have two other 22 bolt guns and they are both more target guns than hunting guns.
So, on full impulse, I made the purchase.
I mounted a Leopold VX1 2-7x28 Rimfire scope that was previously unemployed. The gold banding and bronze Leopold medallion matched the bronze cerekote very well. As we know, a rifle needs to look good to shoot good.
I thought I’d offer a few first impressions. I haven’t broken it in yet. I’ve only shot about 100 rounds to sight it in.
The good.
The rifle looks great and Ruger nails the fit and finish. The composite stock and cerekote make the rifle all-weather capable. The rifle maintains the sophisticated bedding system of the American centerfires. The feel of the rifle is familiar, since I own two of the larger caliber American rifles. The rifle weights in at a scanty 6 pounds with scope and fully loaded.
Not so good.
No matter how sophisticated, the factory composite stock feels a little flimsy. The forend is narrow and has noticeable flex. However, I don’t thing the free floating was effected.
The American Rimfires have optional stock modules. However, since this model has no iron sights, they only included the highrise stock module with full pull. Given the light weight, it would have been nice to have the shorter pull module so I could let my daughter shoot it. But, you can buy these separately.
Nevertheless, the included stock module did not quite raise the comb high enough for a scope mounted to the factory installed pic-rail. So, I needed up removing the factory rail and using the dove-tail mounts. The result was a perfect fit. But, it would have been nice to be able to use the factory rail without having to modify the stock.
The undecided.
I sighted in using Federal Auto Match at the local 25 yard pistol range. Auto match is not known for consistency. But, I didn’t want to squander my dwindling supply of CCI SV to break in a new barrel. Suffice it to say, it doesn’t rival the CZ for out of the box accuracy. Given that you can buy a CZ-457 American for about the same price, that is a little disappointing. But, I’m willing to give the rifle some time to break in and it does have a good working accuracy. Also, unlike CZ, it is made in America. (j/k my CZ is still the queen of my Rimfires) I look forward to stretching its legs with better ammo. But, I have no doubts that rifle will fulfill its role as A mid to late season squirreling gun.
