Ruger Precision Rifle Review
By John Johnston
Long range shooting and hunting have definitely got manufacturers scrambling to get a piece of the pie. There are so many different genres that bleed over into others that manufacturers have a difficult time focusing their efforts, that is until now. Jon Mather, a design engineer for Ruger and long range shooter, approached Mike Fifer, the CEO of Ruger, with the idea of a dedicated long range rifle, and thus the Ruger Precision Rifle was conceived. Mike Fifer demanded that the rifle be capable of five shots in one inch or better at 100 yards. When you pick up a Ruger Precision Rifle for the first time you will immediately appreciate the thought and complicated design work that went into this new rifle. I actually got to fondle and shoot one last May while at the FTW Ranch. The Ruger design team had been to the ranch to wring out the Precision rifle and left one for writers to check out. It was difficult to honor the verbal "do not disclose" agreement. The best I could do was to get one of the first shipped to me for T & E. I have had a Ruger Precision Rifle for about sixty days, and the rifle truly amazes me.
Full length view of the new Ruger Precision Rifle.
To describe this new rifle in detail would take a very long article, but I will give you the highlights. Starting at the .75 inch muzzle, which is threaded for a muzzle brake or suppressor and has a protective cap, the barrel tapers to 1 inch at the action. The barrel is hammer forged with 5R rifling and is 24 inches long on the 6.5 Creedmoor. 5R rifling seems to be very popular in the industry and rightfully so. It keeps fouling down, reduces the time of barrel break in and makes cleaning far easier. I hope to see Ruger using it for other models. The barrel attaches to the action with an AR type barrel nut and floats inside a Samson Evolution 15 inch forearm. This has the Key Mod attachment slots, and Ruger furnishes one Picatinny attachment for accessories.
For the heart of this rifle Ruger used their American rifle action, which has proven to have great accuracy since it came out in 2012. The bolt is the same but has some extra millwork to allow for magazine feeding. The AR type safety is on the right side. The magazine release extends down on the rear of the magazine housing. Ruger wanted shooters to be able to use all types of magazines. In order to accomplish this design, they had to split the action housing to perform the necessary machining. For the shooter this means easy access to the trigger group.
The trigger is the American style but can be easily adjusted down to 2.25 pounds with a tool that is conveniently stored in a cap attached to the end of the bolt. My trigger was 2.25 pounds out of the box.
Since the shooter has to pull the bolt out for cleaning, Ruger decided to fold the stock at the rear of the bolt. You push a button and the butt folds to the left side and you can lock it in that position. This does make it wider than most AR cases will accept, plus it may not fit your work vise. When the bolt is removed you will notice a plastic cap that houses the trigger adjustment tool. You will need to make sure your cleaning rod is long enough to get your brush all the way through the barrel. This will take a pretty long cleaning rod for the .243, which has a 26 inch barrel.
As you can see, the bolt is rather long with the added extension. Also, note the mil cuts on the bolt to accommodate the use of a magazine.
By John Johnston
Long range shooting and hunting have definitely got manufacturers scrambling to get a piece of the pie. There are so many different genres that bleed over into others that manufacturers have a difficult time focusing their efforts, that is until now. Jon Mather, a design engineer for Ruger and long range shooter, approached Mike Fifer, the CEO of Ruger, with the idea of a dedicated long range rifle, and thus the Ruger Precision Rifle was conceived. Mike Fifer demanded that the rifle be capable of five shots in one inch or better at 100 yards. When you pick up a Ruger Precision Rifle for the first time you will immediately appreciate the thought and complicated design work that went into this new rifle. I actually got to fondle and shoot one last May while at the FTW Ranch. The Ruger design team had been to the ranch to wring out the Precision rifle and left one for writers to check out. It was difficult to honor the verbal "do not disclose" agreement. The best I could do was to get one of the first shipped to me for T & E. I have had a Ruger Precision Rifle for about sixty days, and the rifle truly amazes me.
Full length view of the new Ruger Precision Rifle.
To describe this new rifle in detail would take a very long article, but I will give you the highlights. Starting at the .75 inch muzzle, which is threaded for a muzzle brake or suppressor and has a protective cap, the barrel tapers to 1 inch at the action. The barrel is hammer forged with 5R rifling and is 24 inches long on the 6.5 Creedmoor. 5R rifling seems to be very popular in the industry and rightfully so. It keeps fouling down, reduces the time of barrel break in and makes cleaning far easier. I hope to see Ruger using it for other models. The barrel attaches to the action with an AR type barrel nut and floats inside a Samson Evolution 15 inch forearm. This has the Key Mod attachment slots, and Ruger furnishes one Picatinny attachment for accessories.
For the heart of this rifle Ruger used their American rifle action, which has proven to have great accuracy since it came out in 2012. The bolt is the same but has some extra millwork to allow for magazine feeding. The AR type safety is on the right side. The magazine release extends down on the rear of the magazine housing. Ruger wanted shooters to be able to use all types of magazines. In order to accomplish this design, they had to split the action housing to perform the necessary machining. For the shooter this means easy access to the trigger group.
The trigger is the American style but can be easily adjusted down to 2.25 pounds with a tool that is conveniently stored in a cap attached to the end of the bolt. My trigger was 2.25 pounds out of the box.
Since the shooter has to pull the bolt out for cleaning, Ruger decided to fold the stock at the rear of the bolt. You push a button and the butt folds to the left side and you can lock it in that position. This does make it wider than most AR cases will accept, plus it may not fit your work vise. When the bolt is removed you will notice a plastic cap that houses the trigger adjustment tool. You will need to make sure your cleaning rod is long enough to get your brush all the way through the barrel. This will take a pretty long cleaning rod for the .243, which has a 26 inch barrel.
As you can see, the bolt is rather long with the added extension. Also, note the mil cuts on the bolt to accommodate the use of a magazine.
Ruger Precision Rifle Review
The buttstock of the Ruger Precision Rifle is really a work of art. It is an AR design and can be replaced by an AR aftermarket stock as well as the can the pistol grip. The cheek piece is adjustable for height, the length of pull is fully adjustable and the recoil pad can be adjusted for cant. There is a Picatinny rail on the bottom of the stock for attaching an aftermarket pod for prone shooting. The bolt, when pulled back, slides into the area where the recoil spring would be on an AR. There is a place to attach a flush type swivel. Mounted on top of the action is a 20 MOA scope base which would come in handy for those long shots. Ruger really thought of it all in designing this rifle.
Shooting is over for the day.
When you first get to hold a Ruger Precision Rifle, right away you will notice the weight. Out of the box weight is just under 11 pounds. With my Trijicon TR-23 mounted in Burris tactical rings and a full (10 rounds) of 6.5 Creedmoor, it weighs in at 14.5 pounds. However, with this weight and the design of the rifle, the recoil was very mild and comfortable.
Included with the rifle are two 10 round Magpul P-Mag-10 magazines, a Key Mod attachment for attaching accessories. The magazines are marked .308 and I noticed that with factory Hornady 6.5 Creedmoor 140gr. A-Max, there was very little space to increase the overall length for reloads. So 2.78 inches is very close to maximum length for all three calibers.
This is all the ammunition tested. At the time of the test, this was every type of 6.5 Creedmoor ammunition available.
Since there has been a lot of information put out in the media about this rifle, I decided to keep it a while and really give it a work out. Would the rifle meet the demands of Mike Fifer: five shots under 1 inch at 100 yards? I did break the rifle in but it did not take too many rounds. I assume this was due to the 5R rifling. The weather in Texas was HOT. Some days it was over 100 degrees when I stopped shooting. Since my shooting room has air conditioning it had no effect on me or the ammunition. However, the mirage was terrible. So I actually tested all the ammunition on five different days. The results are the best groups fired. I did foul the barrel with one shot before each test.
These groups are five shot groups, fired at 100 yards. The velocities are the average of five shots fired over a chronograph which was set at 12ft. from the muzzle.
As you can see, the new Ruger Precision Rifle meets Ruger CEO Mike Fifer's demand, and more, of being capable of five shots in one inch or better at 100 yards. Even though I did not measure the three shot groups, I can say some of them were under .50 inch. I did not have a chance to shoot this rifle at more than 100 yards due to the heat, but I see no reason why it would not be just as accurate.
With a suggested retail price of $1399 and a street price of under $1200, this rifle is bound to be a hit with the precision, tactical, F Class, and the rest of us steel bangers. For more information go to: http://www.ruger.com/micros/rpr/.
After twenty-five years with a major law enforcement agency, John Johnston retired to the hill country of central Texas. His law enforcement career was diverse with assignments with the tactical/motorcycle unit, patrol, and criminal investigation. After retiring, writing became his calling. He started with a newspaper column, which he still writes, and then he moved up to major magazines in the area of shooting and hunting. He is known for his unbiased product testing and evaluations. Having a full size range from 25-450 yards next to his home was his dream come true. 2010 marked his fiftieth anniversary in the hunting, shooting and reloading sports. You will notice his writing style is quite relaxed and he prefers to write like he is speaking to you around a camp fire. John welcomes questions and comments whether good or bad. You can reach John at [email protected].
Shooting is over for the day.
When you first get to hold a Ruger Precision Rifle, right away you will notice the weight. Out of the box weight is just under 11 pounds. With my Trijicon TR-23 mounted in Burris tactical rings and a full (10 rounds) of 6.5 Creedmoor, it weighs in at 14.5 pounds. However, with this weight and the design of the rifle, the recoil was very mild and comfortable.
Included with the rifle are two 10 round Magpul P-Mag-10 magazines, a Key Mod attachment for attaching accessories. The magazines are marked .308 and I noticed that with factory Hornady 6.5 Creedmoor 140gr. A-Max, there was very little space to increase the overall length for reloads. So 2.78 inches is very close to maximum length for all three calibers.
This is all the ammunition tested. At the time of the test, this was every type of 6.5 Creedmoor ammunition available.
Since there has been a lot of information put out in the media about this rifle, I decided to keep it a while and really give it a work out. Would the rifle meet the demands of Mike Fifer: five shots under 1 inch at 100 yards? I did break the rifle in but it did not take too many rounds. I assume this was due to the 5R rifling. The weather in Texas was HOT. Some days it was over 100 degrees when I stopped shooting. Since my shooting room has air conditioning it had no effect on me or the ammunition. However, the mirage was terrible. So I actually tested all the ammunition on five different days. The results are the best groups fired. I did foul the barrel with one shot before each test.
These groups are five shot groups, fired at 100 yards. The velocities are the average of five shots fired over a chronograph which was set at 12ft. from the muzzle.
As you can see, the new Ruger Precision Rifle meets Ruger CEO Mike Fifer's demand, and more, of being capable of five shots in one inch or better at 100 yards. Even though I did not measure the three shot groups, I can say some of them were under .50 inch. I did not have a chance to shoot this rifle at more than 100 yards due to the heat, but I see no reason why it would not be just as accurate.
With a suggested retail price of $1399 and a street price of under $1200, this rifle is bound to be a hit with the precision, tactical, F Class, and the rest of us steel bangers. For more information go to: http://www.ruger.com/micros/rpr/.
After twenty-five years with a major law enforcement agency, John Johnston retired to the hill country of central Texas. His law enforcement career was diverse with assignments with the tactical/motorcycle unit, patrol, and criminal investigation. After retiring, writing became his calling. He started with a newspaper column, which he still writes, and then he moved up to major magazines in the area of shooting and hunting. He is known for his unbiased product testing and evaluations. Having a full size range from 25-450 yards next to his home was his dream come true. 2010 marked his fiftieth anniversary in the hunting, shooting and reloading sports. You will notice his writing style is quite relaxed and he prefers to write like he is speaking to you around a camp fire. John welcomes questions and comments whether good or bad. You can reach John at [email protected].
