Ruger American Rimfire

The interest in pushing the humble .22 Long Rifle cartridge well past its apparently practical limits has been a growing force in the last few years. It has become perhaps more high profile after the Precision Rifle League introduced a .22 LR class, for those who want all the challenge, but not in a centrefire format or the hassle of reloading, plus they make great trainers too. For people like me, the fun and challenge of seeing how far we can push our .22 LRs with acceptable accuracy, has become a bit addictive and a discipline in itself.

The challenge is definitely there as the performance from the calibre is variable, to say the least, and from what I can make out it’s more about ammo quality and ability, than the actual rifles. However, the thought of a more purposebuilt machine is always attractive. So, I would draw your attention to what Ruger has to offer.

Ruger gets precise

Although this test is on their latest rimfire, we must look back a bit to see the provenance of the model. Ruger surprised us all a few years ago with their Precision Rifle, built around their centrefire American chassis, it had more the look and feel of an AR15, albeit in bolt-action format.

The American series was their attempt at a cheaper, yet no less effective gun to their flagship and long-lived, M77 centrefire family. Not long after they did the same thing and created the American Rimfire that was again a cheaper rifle compared to their M77/22 line, which still offered a lot. Inevitably, the success of the Precision Rifle gave birth to a similar gun in .22 LR and .17 HMR (Precision Rimfire) and a great piece of kit it is.

The M77 is still with us, with the latest incarnation being the Hawkeye series, which offers a model called the Long Range Target (LRT). As the name suggests, it shows a heavy barrel and fully adjustable, stock. Ed Jackson (Editor Gun Mart) did a video on one in August 2020 and rated it. In keeping with the Precision Rifle’s centrefire and rimfire personas, the LRT now offers the same parallel development, with the American Rimfire LRT. I did a video this year in February so check out the website; www.gunmart.net

Getting heavier

The American Rimfire action remains the same with its Marksman adjustable trigger (3-5lbs) and Power Bedding System, which shows alloy blocks inset into the action void that engage with the base of the action. At the rear is a tangmounted safety (my favourite kind) and there’s an enlarged bolt handle, which promotes fast operation with its 60 lift angle.

Feed is from Ruger’s BX-1, 10-shot rotary mag, which is essentially a 10/22 magazine. Unsurprisingly, it will also accept the extended BX-15 and BX-25 versions too. The release catch is an extended paddle at the rear of the well, which operates efficiently.

The stock shows a brown/tan paint job and a black over-web, that aids grip, and despite what you might think, the material is wood laminate and not synthetic. The build is McMillan-like, with a large and vertical grip, plus a squared-off butt with a shallow hand stop underneath. As well as a nice grippy recoil pad, it features a height and lengthadjustable comb/cheekpiece.

The length of pull (LOP) can be increased by adding spacers, although, I found the maximum LOP of 13.5” a little short and could have done with some more spacers. Annoying really, as the Hawkeye LRT offers a more acceptable 14.5”. There are no QD sling studs fitted, instead, there are four QD cup sockets, two on either side, front, and rear.

Fat tube

The action is steel and mated to this is a 22”, 0.860” diameter, parallel barrel, threaded 1/2x28 UNEF with a protector. It’s cold hammer-forged and shows the usual 1-16” twist rate and is free-floated in the generous forend. Underneath is a flush-fit M-Lok rail and as I intended to use a Harris BRS bipod, I fitted a Magpul QD stud adaptor. Ruger has fitted a Picatinny rail onto the standard, integral 12mm dovetail, so scope mounting is not an issue. I fitted a Discovery 4-24x50 FFP, ½-Mil reticle scope.

In comparison to the full-bore LRT that weighs 11 lbs, the Rimfire gun tips the scale at 8 lbs, which is not inconsiderable for this sort of rifle. Equally, it measures 40.5” as opposed to 48”, like the various centrefire options, all who use a 26” barrel with a muzzle brake.

First impressions

Overall, the LRT is a well presented and laid out rifle. The shorter LOP is a bit annoying but nothing you can’t cope with, and shootability is high. To be honest, I don’t think it needs a 22” barrel! I picked four different loads for the video review: Winchester 40 and 42-grain sub-sonics, CCI 40-grain Mini Mags and SK’s 40-grain Long Range Match (LRM).

The rifle was quite new and although results were good, they were not as good as I had hoped and I felt with some running in, it would do better. Given the main role of the LRT is longer range precision, I came back to it after a few hundred rounds up the pipe with the SK LRM, with its quoted ballistic coefficient (BC) of 0.172, which is pretty good for a .22 LR. Research shows it’s also one of, if not the best .22 rimfire fodder. The first time around it was shooting 0.7-0.8” at 50m, this time possible sub-1” at 100m, so it bodes well for pushing the envelope, given the weather and your ability.

After action report

Overall, a very shootable rifle! The tang safety is just the best in terms of position and ease of operation, with minimum disturbance to the firing hand position as the thumb pushes/pulls it forward and back. The magazine release is easy to operate and much better than the flush-fitted plate on the 77/22 and 10/22. I fitted my BX-15 magazine and found it had a lot of side float in the well, it did not affect feed unduly but was a bit annoying.

Like the safety, I loved the comb/cheekpiece. The best thing about it was that it could be moved forward and back, as I have found that I prefer it more forward as it gives better head support. LOP was too short for me, not unworkable I hasten to add, but another couple of ½” spacers would have done the trick. I can’t see why Ruger didn’t leave it at 14.5” like the M77 LRT!

The trigger was sweet, it’s much like a Savage AccuTrigger with its blade-in-blade system and came factory set at the lowest 3 lbs. In terms of control, the good thing is that as you take up the inner (safety) blade you are immediately aware that you are just a few ounces away from firing and I found it focused the mind well in preparation for the shot. The M-Lok rail allows you to fit a Picatinny base if you wish, but it wouldn’t have killed them to fit a QD stud up front, to save buying an adaptor. Like Ruger’s Precision Rimfire rifle, which is available in either .22 LR and .17 HMR, I think that the addition of the latter calibre would only add to the LRT’s appeal.

Priced at around £780, it’s quite a lot of gun for the money when compared to some of the opposition. More importantly, it’s ready to go from the box, with just about everything you require from this sort of rifle.