RUGER American Rifles need a BOLT LOCK!

Litehiker

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2012
Messages
2,878
Location
Mojave Desert, Nevada
I have a Ruger American Predator in 6.5 Creedmoor. It is an amazingly accurate rifle giving me 1/2 MOA with Hornady's 143 gr. ELD-X ammo. I'm just amazed at the accuracy and that's why I went to the trouble of adding a Timmy trigger and Boyd's Classic laminated stock.
I topped it with a SWFA 5- 15 x 42 FFP, mil/mil scope B/C of its excellent glass and, like the RAP, very reasonable price.

Howsomever... Ruger gave the rifle NO bolt lock! As a result if you carry it with a round chambered the bolt can easily open and you can inadvertently lose that chambered round. Don't ask how I know.

This is a serious flaw in an otherwise very well designed rifle and Ruger needs to correct it. PERIOD.

Eric B.
 
Yep, more than a few times I looked down and saw my bolt open and chamber empty on an old Remington I carried. I decided that was lame. I'm a big fan of 3 position safeties. Not much you can do about it other than rig something to keep it closed.
 
This feels like déjà vu. Didn't we go through this on a thread already? IMO carry the **** thing empty till ur ready to shoot. The bolt lock is why I won't buy an xbolt.
Besides the rar is the budget rifle of budget rifles, they're not gonna be tricked out with every feature, but they certainly show how accurate a modern cnc machined action with a decent barrel can be!
 
Last edited:
Same here Eric, I bought me a budget 223 for the truck, mines the Ruger American compact 18"bbl. and it gets out the truck window quick on a coyote fleeing the ranch! However, carry the rifle on a sling and it won't be long till you notice that with the slightest rub or bump to the little bolt and up she has moved. Haven't had a round drop out, but I'm constantly checking she's in the right place, had a wife like that once! But unlike the x-wife I'm gonna keep the little coyote killer! Thinking of trying some Velcro maybe. It's a rifle I don't mind getn scuffed when the path gets bumpy. She wears a nice Leupold vx-3 and accuracy is ok. I don't think the problem Ruger can fix from my research.
 
All,
Solved my problem and sold my very accurate 6.5 CM RAP to one guy and the nice Boyd's stock to another.

THEN I bought a Browning X-Bolt Pro at 4x the cost of the RAP. Yeah, I know, sounds crazy but I was thinking of building a custom mountain rifle anyway. However after looking at all the goodies on the X-Bolt Pro I realized it gave me everything I wanted and then some at a significantly lower price than beginning with a NUCLEUS action, top end trigger and a Bartlein barrel as I had planned, not to mention a carbon fiber stock.

X-Bolt Pro features
1. stainless barreled action
2. fluted barrel W/ thread protector cap and/or radial ported brake
3. factory lapped barrel (!)
4. carbon fiber stock
5. fluted bolt and bolt handle (WITH bolt locking feature)
6. excellent Feather Trigger (a bit better than the one on the SAKO Carbonlite)
7. burnt bronze Cerakote on all metal and the CF stock (eliminates CF finish glare)

And best of all it is just as accurate as the RAP (1/2 MOA with Hornady ELD- X and ELD-M cartridges).

I really liked my RAP especially once I added a Timmy trigger and the beautiful Boyd's laminated stock. Together it made the rifle look, feel and shoot like a much higher quality rifle.

It's a **** shame Ruger could not see its way to what would be an inexpensive bolt lock (when on SAFE). But, hey, we might see it if enough of us tell them. I've called them about it long ago.

Eric B.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 5 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.
Top