The Gen II Ruger American Rifle’s new stock is more rigid and ergonomic. It features a removable length-of- pull spacer, a removable comb riser, a soft-rubber recoil pad, and steel sling-swivel studs.
Winchester, and .450 Bush- master. According to the company, coming later in 2024 will be .22 ARC, 6mm ARC, 6mm Creedmoor, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5 PRC, .270 Winchester, 7mm PRC, .30-06, .300 Winchester Magnum, .350 Legend, and .400 Legend. The other new introductory Gen II model, the Ranch rifle, comes with a 16.1-inch barrel and a three-, five-, or 10-round magazine, depending on the chambering. The stock is Flat Dark Earth with black splatters, and the barrel and receiver are finished in Cobalt Cerakote. Initial chamberings include 5.56 NATO, .300 Blackout, 7.62x39, and .450 Bushmaster, with .22 ARC, 6mm ARC, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5 Creedmoor, .350 Legend, and .400 Legend slated to be available later in 2024. Range Report I reasoned that most shooters who choose the new Gen II Amer- ican Rifle will most likely be using it for hunting, so I test-fired a selection of 6.5 Creedmoor factory ammo that’s intended for hunting big game. The bullet weights ranged from 120 grains to 143 grains. The loads were chronographed with a Compe- tition Electronics ProChrono Digital chronograph placed 12 feet from the gun’s muzzle, and all velocity data shown are aver- ages of five rounds. The accuracy results are averages of three, five-shot groups for each loading fired from a benchrest at a distance of 100 yards. As you can see from the accompa- nying chart, four of the five loads averaged 1.00 inch or less, with the overall average for all five loads coming in at 0.94 inch.
The Ruger Marksman Adjustable Trigger is user-adjustable from 3.0 to 5.0 pounds of pull. Our sample rifle’s trigger pull averaged 4.5 pounds straight from the box.
magazine release is a lever type that is located under the receiver immediately behind the magazine well. It pushes forward to release the magazine. As our photographs show, the Gen II Standard has a Picatinny rail on top of the receiver (which makes scope installation fast and easy), and the rifle has a spiral-fluted barrel. The receiver and the barrel are finished in Gun Metal Gray Cerakote. The Standard rifle’s barrel is 20 inches long, cold-hammer-forged, and medium in contour. The 6.5 Creedmoor muzzle is threaded 5/8-24, and it comes with a removable radial muzzle brake installed. The twist rate for the 6.5 Creed- moor rifle is one turn in eight inches. Of course,
the twist rate varies depending on the chambering, and so does the muzzle thread rate. Ruger says this allows the mounting of common muzzle devices for the specific caliber.
My best accuracy with the new Gen II rifle came with the Federal Fusion 140- grain ammo. It averaged 0.75 inch. That load produced an average velocity of 2,560
Initial chambering offerings for the Gen II Standard American Rifle include 6.5 Creedmoor (as tested), .204 Ruger, .223 Remington, .243 Winchester, 7mm-08, .308
The American Rifle’s bolt has three locking lugs and a threaded bolt handle that allows customization of the bolt knob.
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APRIL 2024 • SHOOTING TIMES
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