John, thanks so much for your time and experience. Really like your approach to analyzing the inaccuracy of this mass produced rifle. Very educational.
First up, thank you for putting together a series of videos on the Ruger American Rimfire rifle. I have watched a lot of videos more than 35+, and it boiled down to Ruger's American Rimfire rifle. For all the steps that showed in your videos, I will be making an inspection in those areas. I will be replacing the trigger spring and installing a barrel tuner, on a18" barrel. Thank you much!
Hi John, I can help you with your project. I am a hand loader; in hand loading we tune cartridges to barrels by varying the powder change and seating depth. With rimfire, it is impractical to change the powder load or seating depth so I flipped it around and tuned the barrel to the the cartridge. The first thing I did was take all the different 22 rounds I had in stock out to the range, put the rifle on a sled and found the round that produced the most desirable barrel harmonics. This is commonly referred to as "what the barrel 'likes'" (I hate that phrase). I found two different rounds that my barrel 'liked' but - it didn't like them very much. lousy 2 MOA groups. I started investigating barrel tuners. I bought a LimbSaver Sharpshooter X-Ring Barrel Dampener on Amazon for $9.99. After one adjustment my 100% factory RAR shoots .4 moa groups. In theory you should be able to produce the exact same results so I will tell you: The ammo brand my barrel "likes" the most is Prime semi-auto which is a re-packaged Geco. The tuner is 1.275 off the end of the barrel. (I took the front sight off and ended up leaving it off because I can take my cheapo RAR out to 300+ yds with a scope). If you try it, I would love to know your results. Since I know my theory works I am going to take the next step and have a Harrells tunerbreak installed to find the different tunings for the different types of ammo I have in stock. I have to confess it is a lot of fun showing up at the range and hammering with a cheapo RAR sleeper.
Hi Rick, Thanks for sharing your experience with barrel tuners. I am a believer in them, also. Back in the mid-'90s, Popular Mechanics did an article on the Browning Boss tuner and compared the accuracy on 5 different 270 Win rifles. I was one of the trigger pullers that day. It was my first experience with tuners and I was impressed. For my RAR I am heading in a different direction which, hopefully, you'll find very interesting. Please be patient and stay "tuned".
@@dauntlessendeavors1000 Hi John, You definitely have my attention. I am an electro-acoustic consultant so most of my perspective producing defendable repeatable accurate results is centered around barrel harmonics. (go with what you know) Additionally, I have only been shooting for a few years so I have no idea how you are going to produce sub 1/2 MOA groups taking "a different direction". Thank you for taking the time, happy to learn from someone with your experience. I am looking forward to your final results. I am # 139
Thanks for that informational comment, Rick!! I hate that phrase also, it kind of angers me but I suppose it is easy to say “likes” rather than “performs best with” etc
I've enjoyed watching several parts of your series while owning an American Rimfire Target. Your ammo choice is going to be a big issue from my experience. Please consider switching over to CCI SV on your next range visit. This is the most consistently accurate CCI ammunition I have experienced. There are a few high dollar match ammunition boxes that may get you a 16th of an inch tighter groups at 50 yards and an even better difference at 100 possibly. I expect with the ammunition change you'll enjoy better groups in your Ruger 22s. Save that higher velocity stuff for your pistols :)
My Ruger American Rimfire in .22 WMR is a tack driver out to 200 yards.Shoots dime size groups with Hornady 30gr ammo. Speer ammo is next best ammo. Make sure you torque stock screws to 35 inch pounds like it says in the Ruger manual. Also try CCI standard velocity ammo
Keep 'em coming, John. I have been very disappointed in my RAR .22LR. It doesn't shoot as well as my Glenfield Model 75, which I have never seen hyped for accuracy. I bought the RAR expecting _better_ results than the Glenfield. My Ruger American center fire shoots terrific. So, without replacing major components, I am eager to see what improves performance.
Yeah, I could live with groups 1" or less at 50 yards if it weren't for 1 or 2 pesky flyers out of every ten rounds. I have more videos in the works so please be patient and stay tuned.
I am nearly buying this gun because I like the features of it, but I am seeing a lot of people saying the accuracy is noticeably worse than guns that cost $100+ less (like the marlin or even the savage). My question: would you guys buy it again knowing what you know now?
@@pb7379-j2k I would not buy one considering my initial experience, nor would I recommend it. I will keep shooting it. Maybe I can find some tweeks. Maybe I will sell it if I can get a reasonable price.
I love this great series!! I want you to know I have caught some of the extremely dry jokes you toss out occasionally. “Ruger 10-22’ger”?? I guffawed. Did you make that up or is it known by that name?
I kind of live in my own little bubble, so I don't know if others use that term. It just seems to roll off the tongue, though. Ha, 40 years ago, my English teacher singled me out in class for having a very dry sense of humor. I try not to disappoint her.
I have to find some research on this whole “my gun likes brand x ammo” because my gut reaction is that the whole idea is nonsense that wouldn’t survive a double-blind test
@@pb7379-j2k Hi Paul, instead of ‘finding research’, grab some different types of .22 ammo and head out to the range. .22 ammo varies by bullet weight, bullet shape, and velocity. Shoot from a solid rest (front and rear) and you will see a difference.