The heat dissipation is very good. A few short minutes after firing 20 or more rounds, I can leave my hand on the barrel. That's even in the hot midday Summer Sun. This rifle cools very quickly!
My gen1 shoots 124 grain Tula soft points to a 3/4 inch group at 100 yards. Devastating on deer and coyotes. A spare 5 round magazine fits in a back pocket just fine. I'm excited to see what you will do with this Gen 2. Fun stuff!
My gen 1 ranch shoots 122gr Tula surprisingly well. I put barreled action in an Oryx chassis and threw the Ruger stock into some burning brush. I hated that stock so much I didn’t want it to exist any longer.
Thank you for watching and QUITE welcome. It was instantly noticeable. I am not going to say it is on the levels of Tikka, CZ or Savage 110, but it is significantly improved over Gen 1. You can smooth up the Gen 1 action and one of our subscribers has a video on it, but this one is fairly smooth out of t he box.
Great review and interesting points made! My Gen 1 Ruger American Ranch 7.62x39 regularly shoots 3 shot groups that are moa or even under, even with steel cased ammo. There is a fairly recent video up on my channel where it shot under 1 inch with Barnaul steel cased FMJs on the first group after sight-in. I'm expecting your rifle to shoot even better. Can't wait to see your future videos on it!
It was so hard for me not to spill the beans on this one. I was very impressed with this rifle. Feels good in the hand, the action has gotten a lot more smooth, an that barrel looks awesome.
The only disappointment for me with the Gen 2 is they don’t include the thread protector…only the brake, which is great for those that want to use the brake, but if I buy one I’m going to have to search the internet for a thread protector that fits the barrel profile, but the color isn’t going to match. Just kind of annoying to buy a rifle and be forced to spend more on something that likely costs them less than $1 to include.
@scotteger6271 I agree. That's my one complaint also. I neither want nor need a muzzle break with the extra blast they produce and thread protector cap would have been a nice option to include with the rifle. Better yet would be an extended cap that matched the profile of the brake without the holes!
Ruger looked at trends in the buyer market. They saw more and more people not care about thread caps on threaded barrels. It has become more prevalent that people buy their own brake, flash hider, or silencer. Same reason they don't include the differently sized spaces and cheek pieces. The stock as-is will fit most people. Thus, most people will not need the accessories. It's just economics for Ruger.
I’m torn on the Gen 2. They’ve improved areas that were lacking, like the rough “zipper” bolt and the flimsy feeling stock, plus the adjustable comb and LOP is nice, but then they don’t include any spacers and the one that’s there is a monster. Takes it from like 13.75” to 12” LOP…that’s a huge jump. Sure they sell 12.75” and 13.25” spacers as a kit, same with a comb height kit, but you’re asking your customers to spend more for a semi-custom fit? Savage 110 comes standard with comb and LOP spacers…a bunch of them. I appreciate that they cerakoted the barrels and are providing a brake for customers that want that, but no thread protector in the box for customers that don’t want/need a brake. So the customer yet again has to shop around for another part to buy, which isn’t going to match either cerakote color…plus Ruger themselves can’t be bothered to even sell one on their own store that matches the color or profile. That’s just bad business in my book. To me it feels like they’re more interesting in making money than making happy customers. I’ll be honest I have been thinking about one in this same configuration, but all of those things still annoy me. I’m not a tall guy, like 5’9” and with heavy hunting clothes and a backpack I’ve found that a 13” LOP is about perfect for me. I could make their 12.75” LOP spacer work for me…I just don’t like spending $30 more to get it and what am I going to do with the 13.25” spacer? I’m also not going to use the brake so I’m into like $15-20 for a decent one of those, assuming I can find one to roughly match the barrel outside diameter.
The LOP spacers and Riser Spacers included in the box is the major reason I went with a Savage 110 in 30:06, plus, Ruger can't seem to get the Gen 2 in 30:06 out to the market.
@@ronross6430 Thanks. I would try 308 bullets as well. The bore on the Rugers is a tad of a hybrid. Interesingly, a friend loaded same load with both 308 and 311 bullets and I had same or slightly better groups with the 308 cal.
On the other hand with the Ruger 9mm PCC take down they offer an adapter for Glock mags, they should offer this capability on the Ranch as well for AR and/or AK mags.
@@doejohn8674 I actually have the Ruger PC carbine, it makes sense for them to make a Glock adapter for those because Ruger doesn’t make extended 9 mm magazines, I would like to see them make a CZ scorpion pattern, magazine adapter because they’re cheaper and just as reliable as Glock mags
That’s an interesting point to think about, I disappointed, never thought of mini 30 mags as per proprietary. I will certainly be asking them for the full review if there was an engineering reason for going with these magazines.
Indeed I did. =) I did want 6mm ARC or 6.5 Grendel or 22 ARC but they were not out yet. Always wanted one in 7.62x39 but could not justify. Kind of glad I did. Full video out on it very soon and just got my chassis for this gun today!
@@SlavGuns nice man. I just think it’s kinda of cool that when someone asks you what the thing is shooting and by default you can say “Oh… AK47 rounds” and watch their impressed looks haha
When you are at Shot Show could you swing by Beretta's booth and find out more about their recent purchase of Victrix Armaments and their precision rifle products ? Thanks
Thanks for sharing. Interesting on the 308, I do have some that will play around with, "for science." Some people had good luck, others did not. Because these bores are a tad tighter, could work? and if so... many more choices avail.
@@SlavGuns it was a AR bushmaster. Why would they do a tighter bore. That would make it not saami and create pressure spikes and make it unsafe. That don’t sound right. .311 or .312, but I could be wrong. The bullets I used was .310 and they was accurate.
quite a few guns are not built to saami specs. plus keep in mind, there are various versions as well. then you have european standards too. as I said in the video, they go to around .3105... and early Rugers actually used .308 barrels. @@SpudOutdoors
All intermediate adjustment LOP pieces are extra through shop Ruger, as are the comb pieces per one of the Ruger product managers. As for slop, you have the Ranch with a milled bolt body, getting slop out of that design is near impossible, the round bolt bodies of the AICS are better feeling in terms of slop. As for manufacturing facilities, they were produced in both facilities for years but as of this summer all Americans have been moved to Mayodan NC. The Predator will be 22 inch standard with possible exceptions for magnum calibers. Ruger went mini30 in the x39 cause they make mini30 mags so why not use them in their own products. Great unboxing review by the way!
Honestly I wish the 223/5.56, 300 blackout and 350 legend used a mag like the mini 30…it’s neat that the 5.56 and 300 BLK take cheap AR mags, I just hate how far they hang down
@scotteger6271 I wonder how much difference there is in size between mini30 and mini14 mags. Because if there isn't any external dimension differences then you could in theory call up Ruger and request a mini30 insert to replace the ar15 insert. I don't know if they'd sell it, but it might be worth a try if you're really serious about it.
Do you know if gen 1 aftermarket stocks work on the gen 2? I still don’t like the stock design but would buy one, provided it’ll fit in one of the many aftermarket stocks already available for the gen 1.
I am always happy when I hear a gun manufacturer relocates from a state that is hostile to gun owners and 2A. Job losses in one state mean job gains in another. Remember folks, “Elections have consequences!”
Nice looking Rifle. Do you have suppressed ? You will be surprised on how quiet it runs with standard ammo . I have a gen 1 that shoots great groups with Wolf Ammunition.
I see this comment all the time on rifle videos but then a company offers a model with irons and they sell terribly. People say they want something until it’s made then the people that all complained don’t buy anything. Or people buy a rifle with irons and add a scope…lever guns, savage hog hunter…I see it all the time
OK Sue made a 20 minute video on the gun when he didn’t have it and he made another 20 minute video on the gun when you do have it and you still have not shot it I’m new to your channel but it seems to me like most people care about how they gonna shoes not how much you can talk about it I’m just saying
I bought a FDE gen 2 ranch 5.56 a week a go when I saw the local Scheels had just 1 in stock amongst the other gen 1 ranch models. So far so good just getting it on paper. Ruger has the combs and spacers for sale online for like $30 at that cost they should just include them and raise the cost a hair.
@@SlavGuns On that same front for my Magpul Hunter stock I have to buy the extra combs which is dumb considering it comes with the spacers. I have kids so at times when they go out plinking with me I'll likely just completely remove the spacer.
@@SlavGunssame with a thread protector…should’ve been a color matched one in the box…forces customers that don’t want a brake, especially a cartridge like this, to either use a brake they don’t want or search the internet trying to find a thread protector of the correct OD so it doesn’t look stupid but still isn’t going to match. The Go Wilds had both in the box. Ruger is starting to show how much they care about making money and how little they care about their customers.
appreciate it, and that is what I do to my actual review videos. There are tens of thousands of people who do like these long long videos however as shown by our internal stats on YT.