102 http://www.rifleshootermagazine.co.ukAfter carefully assembling the rifle/scope/moderator
combination, I double checked that all the bolts were
suitably tight and set off to get a basic zero and to bed the
barrel in. Oddly, the rifle has imperial sized fasteners while
the scope mounts employ European Torx bolts. I’d gathered
a useful quantity of Winchester Varmint X 55gr and some
Geko Express 56gr ammo to run my tests. Both rounds use
a ballistic tip and are designed to expand quickly on
light-skinned quarry, such as fox, so were ideal for my needs.
After bore-sighting at 25-yards and firing one round to be
sure, I moved the target card back to 100 yards and fired a
three-shot group. I was delighted to see some tidy groups
appear and, with just a few clicks, I had the shots falling an
inch high of centre, as I wanted.
The Ruger Marksman adjustable trigger has a central
safety tab that you take up before you connect with the main
trigger blade. This is a feature designed to satisfy the
litigious American market, yet for me, has no down side. Isoon forgot it was there. The trigger was a little heavier than
I’m used to at 4lb, but it did break cleanly and I noticed no
creep. Ruger says it can be adjusted down to 3lb, so that
deserves investigation.
One of the things I’d hoped to benefit from with .223
Remington was light recoil, but this felt hardly any different to
my .243 Howa rig. Sure, my Howa is heavier, but I’d hoped
that the .223 would be much softer so that I could more
easily watch the shots land – that simply wasn’t the case.
Was it the weight of the rifle, the stock shape or the loads? I
was hoping to watch each round land, but I found myself
unable. The Geko rounds seemed noticeably softer than the
Winchester ones and were more accurate too, so that’s
where I’ll be going. I’ve had great success with the Geko
ammo in my .243 on roe, fallow, sika and muntjac deer, so
I’d be delighted to use them in my fox rifle too.
The Ruger feels like it needs a good running-in period to
rub off some of the sharp edges on the bolt to help it smooth
out. Even after a good degrease and a careful relubrication
job, it felt a little notchy through my first few sessions.
The Magpul magazine is quite unusual for a hunting rifle in
that it’s a 10-shot, AR or M4 style, synthetic job, but I’d have
been just as happy with a flush-fitting three- or four-shot
metal job that used a softer spring.
Unsurprisingly, the stock is of the usual slender American
sporting style with quite a straight, short pull length of just
13.75". This meant that I had to mount the scope well
forward to get the best sight picture. The low comb, behind
the high Weaver rail, meant that cheek contact with the
stock was minimal, but fitting a padded cheekpiece would
easily remedy this.
With everything ready, I settled down to shoot some
groups. As mentioned, I found the 4lb trigger a little
heavier than ideal for ultimate range accuracy, but it
will provide good safety when shooting with gloved
hands in colder months. I was consistently scoring
groups around the 1¼" at 100 yards size, showing
the rifle’s intrinsic accuracy. At 200 yards, the
groups were closer to 2½", which some people will
consider disappointing but shouldn’t. This accuracy
is easily enough to deliver humane shots on a fox and is,
for me, a hugely impressive result from modestly priced kit.
In fact, it’s a fair question to ask if any fox shooter really
needs more? Think about it: this is ‘half minute of fox’ for
Mondeo money – what more can you ask?
Satisfied that I could deliver humane accuracy with the
rifle, the time has come to get out among the foxes to see if
this interesting combination can deliver on its promises.»
RUGER AMERICAN PREDATOR WITH PHILL PRICE
SPECIFICATIONS/PRICES
RUGER // American Predator
Weight ................................................................... 6.6lb
½" x 28 muzzle thread on muzzle
Barrel Length ........................................................... 22"
Twist rate .............................................................. 1 in 8
Length ...................................................................... 42"PRICES
Rifle ...................................................................... £725
Mounts .................................................................... £85
Mod .......................................................................£260
Scope .................................................................... £855CONTACT
http://www.vikingarms.com
Tel 01423 780810ABOVE: Phill believes
the Leupold 4-12x50
scope, fitted on a
Weaver rail, will do
the job nicelyBELOW: The trigger
has a central safety
tab that you take up
before connecting
with the main
trigger blade