Gun Review: Ruger American Rimfire

1. Great review.

   Re .22,LR

   Was talking to a high ranking employee of ATS, the massive company that owns Federal ammo, CCI etc.

   They have a ONE BILLION round backorder for .22LR

   Reason? Purely demand and the ongoing consumer buying behavior of stockpiling every round that can be found.

   • To put that in perspective, even if they can produce .22 at 100 rds per second (might be possible, not terribly familiar with the machines but around 2 rds/sec for a single machine, maybe 50 machines across all brands might get you in the ballpark) it would still take almost 4 months to clear that backorder running around-the-clock, assuming no additional orders come in.

     • Watch the video, they also give you some numbers to go by as well
       http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2014/05/19/22lr-ammo

   • I went into my mom and pop LGS just before close last friday, and low and behold, on the shelves were over a dozen boxes of CCI standard velocity .22. I was amazed. I asked if they had just got an order and he said they put out 30 boxes on Monday and these were still left. He was as amazed as I. Maybe, just maybe, the panic buying and frenzy is over in my area….

     • …but of course I bought everything he had. You know, just in case it’s not!

     • I’ve given up looking for it, really. :\

       Like looking for Sasquatch or Unicorns in WV.

2. I’m partial to large calibers and recoil, but there’s just something about shooting rimfire. Love me some damned rimfire.

   As far as my 22 rifles go, I’ve got two in my stable: a 1941 Remington 512 (bolt action), my father’s first rifle that he bought with my grandfather, who I never had the pleasure of meeting. I’ve had it reblued and had the stock rubbed down with oil.

   I also have a ’67 model year Remington Speedmaster, 552. I’ve heard horror stories of how these guys jam up. Mine jams if its old ammo, or Centurion brand ammo. Otherwise, jams? I’d say it doesn’t. (Then again, I’ve never cleaned it. EVER.)

   Had my 552 scoped with a Leupold VX-1 Rimfire. It likes bullseyes is all I can say.

   As far as adding another 22 rifle to the collection, I’ve thought about it for sure. If I go 10/22, I’m going semi-auto, not bolty. If I do get another 22 rifle, it’ll probably be a CZ with some really good glass on it.

   Oh yeah, been thinking about adding a Nikon Target EFR to the 512. Just for sh*ts and giggles. Why not make a very accurate rifle even more accurate?

   • Good Lord, yes. One of my favorites to shoot is an old Mossberg 151K. I don’t know what it is about that old steel, wood, and rimfire. Having said that, I do enjoy centerfire, too – just in a different way.

   • Agreed on the CZ. You can usually pick up a “minty” CZ-452 for about the same as the Ruger, and it’s a Mercedes compared to the Ruger’s Kia.

     • Don’t knock the Kia’s, they’ve come a long way. Go take a Cadenza or an Optima for a test drive.

3. Correction to previous

   It is ATK
   Alliant Technology Systems Inc.

4. ADDENDUM: Good luck finding any 22 long rifle at any Wal-Marts here in Missouri, BUT there is always 22 long rifle available at local gun shops, granted you don’t mind paying over $5/box of 50.

5. Excellent and useful review. Thanks.

   I have a neat little Ruger 77/22 bolt action – sort of a downsized Model 77, with a wood stock. I use it for our 200 yard metallic silhouette shoots, and have found it’s ammo preferences to change depending on the range. Out to 100 yards, CCI Velocitor (40 gr) gives me the best groups. However, the Velocitor starts throwing the occasional flyer at the 150-200 yard targets (as in, missing the ram by 6-8″). At those longer ranges, the CCI Green Tag 40 gr target/lower velocity ammo gives the most consistent groups. Green Tag doesn’t group as tightly (in my rifle) as the Velocitor does at shorter ranges, but the Green Tag is far more consistent at 200 yards. So I switch ammo depending on which set of targets I am shooting. (And I am really glad I was one of those old farts who bought .22 ammo by the case back when it was cheap, rather than waiting to buy it the day before the match, since it is impossible to find any Green Tag anywhere today.)

   I went through ten different varieties of ammo to come up with these results, back in the day when you could find .22LR (say, 2007-2012).

   Recognizing the difficulty of finding any .22, let alone a collection of ten different brands, every .22 tends to have a definite preference in ammo, and it may take you a while to find the sweet spot for your rifle.

   Now all I need is the new American trigger for my 77/22. Or I may just buy a Ruger American .22.

   • Its so much fun. And more guns is always better right?

     • Tyler more guns is good….More guns AND more ammo is better…..Lol

     • Always remember “Pete’s Law”:

       “You are legally entitled to a MINIMUM of one gun of every type for every year of your life. And I’m not going to try to define “type” for you. Hey, the 4″ barrel means it’s different from a 2″ barrel, right?”

       (Your actual compliance with this law may vary with your bank account and marital status.)

       • If in doubt, use Rolling Stone definition of popular guns.

   • Theory: The high speed CCI Velocitor probably goes sub-sonic at about 120 yards, causing the round to destabilize. The CCI Green Tag probably is sub-sonic the entire trip and thus works better for the entire trip. Solution is likely to be either to find a sub-sonic round your rifle likes better or a super-sonic round that stays super-sonic out to whatever range you require and has the required accuracy.

     Note too that the range at which a round will drop down to sub-sonic is dependent on temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, and altitude. And probably phases-of-the-moon.

     • Good call – that sounds like a high probability for what is going on. My solution has been to use the two different types of ammo for the distances where they work best. The Green Tag has excellent practical accuracy out to 200 yards, where the targets (rams) are about 9″ high by a foot across. The 40 yd chickens are much smaller, so the tighter groups from the Velocitor makes sense at that range.

6. I got one for my daughter. Dropped the trigger to the lowest pull weight, put a <$100 magnified Bushnell with a simple reticle on it and zeroed it with 40 bullets at 75 yards. It hits a tennis ball at that distance every time, has as much recoil as a pellet gun and when she's not shooting it, I can get rabbits with it.

   • Like your style, I would definitely be out harvesting something with some fuzzy britches with this thing 🙂

   • make that: “…zeroed it with 40 grain bullets at 75 yards…”

     • That did seem like an oddly large and specific number of rounds to zero a gun.

7. If, by the benefaction of Zoltron’s golden claw, our overlords allow us the use of 22 LR I won’t be spending money on a BA when my old 10-22 shoots as well or better, for far less money. Just think of the piles of hyper velocity ammo I could buy for the price of a marginal plastic stocked BA rifle!

8. Interesting in that even the PWS .22 biathlon bolt gun I recently purchased (based partly upon the TTAG glowing review) is built on the 10-22 platform, and I can swap mags., rails, barrels, etc. with my 10/22’s. Why Ruger felt it prudent to stray from such a popular platform when building a new bolt gun is confusing. I don’t think I am interested in adding this rifle to my collection.
   Keep up the great, honest reviews – much appreciated.

9. And why, by the rings of Booker5, did they think that slotting the receiver to accept a 3/4″ scope mount added to it’s marketability?
   I’m smelling Remington R-51

10. I think if you want to use 10/22 stuff you should probably buy a 10/22. I don’t think most people are disappointed when their glock magazines don’t fit in their XD.

    • If you were trying to fit a .45 magazine into a 9mm glock maybe, but if theyre not even the same brand…

11. I see all sorts of random gun food on the shelves, just not .22 still ha.

    Takes the same 10 round magazine as the 10/22, SOLD.

12. Good review, Tyler. I put a brick down the pipe of an RAR earlier this year and came to similar conclusions. My criticisms of the rifle are:

    It’s accurate enough, but I found it no more accurate that a box stock 10/22. Three shooters shot the RAR side by side with a 10/22 All Weather, a 10/22 Takedown and a 10/22 with a Volquartsen trigger, all at 50 yards from a sandbag rest. Differences in accuracy were negligible.

    The rifle was a tad nose-heavy. This wasn’t a problem shooting from a rest, but it would be a problem when taking a precision shot offhand.

    The bolt is not a smooth operator. The bolt’s action felt vague and a bit gritty. Maybe it will smooth out in time, maybe not. I believe that the bolt needs a bit of mass to work with greater smoothness, but that’s just a guess. The upside of the bolt is its 60 deg. throw. It’s fast.

    Subjectively, the gun was boring. This would not be the case if I was a youthful shooter and this was my first gun. If those things were true, I’d be over the moon. But for an experienced rifleman, the RAR is not exciting.

    So, my conclusions were that the compact version would make a great trainer for a youthful shooter. It’s safe. It’s accurate enough. It’s reasonably priced. Unlike most youth guns, a kid will not physically outgrow the RAR because of its modular stock setup. The rifle will “grow” as the shooter grows. It’s a lifetime rifle.

    • “Subjectively, the gun was boring. This would not be the case if I was a youthful shooter and this was my first gun. If those things were true, I’d be over the moon. But for an experienced rifleman, the RAR is not exciting.”

      You’re just all jaded and angry. Come to Texas this winter. We’ll shoot some rabbits and eat ’em. You’ll feel better.

13. 22lr at Wallyworld today, clerk said nobody was waiting this morning when they stocked the shelves! Got my 3 boxes of Golden Bulletts at nearly lunch time.

14. Plenty of .22 by me in north New Jersey. It’s 5$ a box but I have no clue what .22 used to cost so that’s normal to me. What did it used to go for for 50 rounds?

    • “Bulk 22LR” means a 500ish-round brick, the going rate was $20-25. Occasionally less, on sale.

    • I seem to recall in the ’60s it was right around 50c. But then, I was reloading .357 mag for around 4 1/2c, of which 3c was the jacketed bullet.

    • Pre-Sandy Hook, around $2/box for the cheap stuff and $6-$7/box of 100 for CCI. At least, those were the prices around where I live.

    • Pre-Sandy Hook: $12.99 for a “bonus” brick of 550 at various shops.
      Pre-2008 Presidential election: $8.99 for those same bonus boxes.

      This was in the Phoenix metro area.

      • Eh, $13 a box was over back in 2011 or so. Right before SH, I was seeing it for more like $22 or so.

    • I’m getting a little soft in the head in my antiquity, but I seem to remember buying bulk Golden Bullets (which my Savage adores) on sale at Big 5 for .02 a round or so about a decade ago. Regular price was $15 or $16, on sale for $10 or $12. But I’ll be happy if they get back to .05 a round instead of the current .10. I remember that when Obama was first elected I bought a few boxes of Minimags at $10 each (100 rounds) and thought that that was kind of steep. I can’t imagine what they’d go for now, if there were any.

    • Where the heck in north Jersey are you? I can’t get much further north without hitting NY or west without hitting PA, and there’s nothing to be found at the LGS’s.

      Not that I need it right now. I saw the writing on the wall 2 years ago and picked up 10 bricks for under 5¢/rd. I’m set for a while while the tide rolls on.

15. Four things
    1. I have a Marlin 25, the mag is troublesome, still like it and it is my comparison.
    2. I have a 10/22 Love it.Bought the RAR Short barrel.
    Loaned the scope that came with the 10/22 to the RAR
    3. I want to compare another RAR to see if the trigger is the same. short pull but mine has a little grind.
    4. Two Butler Creek 30 round mags that fit the 10/22 would not fit in the RAR.
    Laid a piece of sand paper (progressive grades) flat on the bench and sanded off just a hair of material untill it went into the RAR well. Took them out to the range and they worked flawlessly. (Sand the side that doesn’t have the spine all the way down). My Ruger 10/22 10 round mages fit both and vice versa.

16. Not that I “need” another gun, but this could definitely be on the list. I’m curious what the accuracy would be with Lapua and other match .22 LR ammo.

17. Thanks Tyler. Good review. I have to admit I saw one of these a few months ago and had to have it as a kid trainer and plinker at the more than reasonable price.

    I also grabbed a 10/22 takedown;). I have plenty mags for the old 10/22, so it just made sense.

    Still have not found time to shoot either sadly.

18. I highly recommend TechSights. I have them on my Marlin 795 and I can shoot a single 1″ hole all day long in a field sitting position at 25 yards. The stock sights were ok, but there is a reason the US military moved to aperture sights at the beginning of WWII and still use that arrangement for iron sighted rifles.

19. I enjoyed the review. Nice job.

20. I got this rifle for my daughter a couple of weeks ago. It’s a fun rifle to shoot on the cheap. I have a little bit of land but not enough for a large caliber boom. As said this is a great first gun, no kick and easy to operate. I’ve had a great time plinking cans in the back yard.

    I bought my 22s at a gun show in Northern Virginia. They didn’t seem to have any shortage. I bought the Remington “Bucket O’ Bullets” this should last me through the Zombie apocalypse. Do you think a 22lr will put down a Zombie?

    Either way I like the rifle . It’s a nice little 22.

    • Head shot once they have gone a little “squishy.”

21. I got 50 rounds oft .22lr at Rural King for $9. Such a deal.

22. At this point, I’m not interested in a .22 just because of a lack of .22lr. I would almost prefer a high power .22 air rifle or .22wmr instead. I’m not really interested in a gun that I “might” be able to find shells for someday.

23. That was a really good review. Im’a gonna get me one.

24. I bought one in November, within a week of hearing about it! I really like it. If I had it to do over again, I’d purchase the compact 18″ and then get a set of the longer stocks. Instead, I bought the standard 22″ length and it barely fits in my safe. It also doesn’t seem to help the .22lr velocity at all.

    One more thing: It accepts 10/22 10-round magazines, but doesn’t really accept the longer ones, for some reason. Even the BX-25 factory magazine doesn’t really fit without forcing it in. I don’t know why it doesn’t really fit.

25. Ruger really missed the boat when they made this rifle with a non-changeable barrel.

26. Is it safe to fire .22 magnums through a Ruger 10/22?

27. It’ not possible to fire a .22 magnum in a .22 LR chamber. It can’t fit.

28. Bought the little carbine for wife… turned right around and got the standard RAR… VERY NICE!!!

29. I bought the 22″ barreled version of the RAR in 22lr about a year ago. Also purchased both versions of the compact stock modules for it so I would have the complete set. I haven’t shot it too much yet. But from what little shooting I have done, it has the potential to be a real tack driver. And the flush mounted 10/22 mags are the cat’s meow. Wife just bought the same rifle in Muddy Girl camo as she’s obsessed with Muddy Girl anything. Lol!
    Concerning 22lr ammo prices, I think the days of paying 4-5 cents a round are pretty much gone. On occasions it can be found, but expect reasonable prices to be closer to 10 cents a round. Yeah I know that’s about $50 a brick, but that’s still 10 shots from a 22lr compared to 1 shot from the average priced centerfire ammo in a standard caliber.
    I feel the “need” to purchase the RAR in 22mag now 🙂
    Maybe Ruger will eventually offer it in a 17WSM version since it’s now available in their 77/22. How great that would be at maybe a third the price!
    My definition of firearms… Ain’t no such a thing as owning too many, the more the better.

30. Remember to pickup a Volquartsen 10/22 magazine for 22 Shorts. You will be able to shoot Super Colibri’s and 22 Shorts without any issues on your Ruger American Rimfire 22LR.

31. This review was very disappointing in that the level of accuracy for the rifle was atrocious. I would not buy one and would spend more on an Accurate CZ American. At least with it, I can shoot a grouse in the head at 50 yards not so with the Ruger American Rimfire according to this review.

    Also, while lauding the trigger yet complaining about options for upgrades, there was no mention made about whether a trigger that is adjustable from 14 ounces to 2.5 pounds was available for it. Ruger’s 3 pound minimum does not do much for me, whereas the options for barrel and trigger swaps would.

32. Saying this is a 3 MOA gun, and qualifying it with: ‘ I’m not a very good shooter’…yes I believe that, but to say these shoot 3MOA is just a disservice to Ruger and this gun.
    I have one I bought Last year and just got around to playing with it,and it easily…easily shoots closer to 1/2 MOA … and I don’t shoot nearly as good as I did when I was younger.

33. Great gun. But the trigger guard, which is part of the injection-molded stock, is a bit fragile. My trigger-guard broke and it seems getting a factory original stock from Ruger isn’t possible. They wanted me to return the rifle for “inspection”. Duh…the trigger guard is broken. It appears the only real alternative is to get a laminated wood stock from Boyd’s.

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35. Four years later, 2018, the date my 22lr RAR shipped, there is a problem. I picked it up yesterday. 11/10/22. It was in the box and looked like it had never been fired.

    I head straight to the range. Only to learn that ammo wont feed. I look at the magazine and see the front pin us not engaging the hole in the front bedding block. If I hold the magazine in place, it feeds fine. I’m very disappointed. A gun should not have left the factory this way.

    I have made photos and will contact Ruger today to learn a solution.

36. My experience with the RAR:
    Used a brand new RAR with 22″ barrel for under $300 as a donor rifle to build a CMP rimfire sporter (RFS) match legal T-class rifle (7.5 lb max weight, including optics, and empty magazine).
    The molded stock of the RAR is not suitable for shooting with traditional GI sling support on the bicep, the front end warps and it will touch the free floating barrel; the junky stock was replaced with a Boyd’s laminated sporter stock. Next, tried the aperture tech sight and their front sight post; was not competitive. For this game and my presbyopia, the round front post was not ideal and and the aperture was too big, was stringing vertical. Next, switched to optics: Leupold 2×7 rimfire scope with 1/4 moa clicks in low, one piece Talley rings, puts this now semi custom rifle close to the weight limit. Next, optimize ammo selection, Wolf extra match turned out to be consistent and reliable for the targets at hand. How good? 10 shot prone, with GI sling support, in max. 10min, with magazine change after 5 shots, at 50 feet indoor, reduced RFS CMP indoor target: repeatable, clean, 100 pts. perfect scores. Outdoors, at 50 yard CMP RFS target, same shooting position, 95-99 pts. Haven’t shot outdoors as much, I am sure, I will be able to “clean” it as well with more range time. Forgot, I am left eye dominant, shooting from left shoulder, cycling the right hand, 60 deg. bolt of the RAR with no issues in slow and rapid fire stages. Prone rapid fire stage looks like this: 30 seconds for 5 shots, starting from standing before shooting commences from the prone position. So, I NEED an ABSOLUTELY reliable gun, I have NO time to correct malfunctions during rapid fire. I use up the available time cycling the gun and rebuilding my position. The RAR DELIVERS the goods for me with the rotary, flush fit magazine (another benefit: no issues short stocking in standing position), fixed ejector like in a Mauser bolt gun, absolutely solid firing pin impact for reliable ignition, and flawless feeding/ extraction. The bolt appears to be a close copy of the bolt design of yesterday’s rim fire target rifles, but is a lot lighter. I do not have any quarrel with the factory trigger, left it alone, a tad heavier than the RFS rules require. Experienced not a single malfunction to date other than duds due to crappy ammo. I clean after each match/ practice, that’s a minimum of 65 rounds or with a re- entry match, minimum 130 shots. Cons: 1) bolt wobbles a bit more than I would like, but it does not get stuck or fights you while cycling, once the bolt is open, it moves smoothly with barely any force. 2) Force needed to open the bolt could be lower, since I am a lefty, I do not care that much because my position is anyway disturbed cycling with my left hand; that could be a deal breaker for a right handed shooter. Unsupported, shooting the standing 30s rapid stage, I cycle with my right hand and this bolt is lightning fast, giving me more time to settle back on target. After all was set and done, including the detour of the tech sight experiment, I have spend ~$900 with taxes, shipping, and transfer fees. Would I do it again? Maybe not, I overlooked the CZ at the time. The CZ 457 American appears to be serviceable out of the box for RFS and weighs 6.17lbs with a 24″ barrel (would expect it to be a tad steadier offhand than the RAR with 22″). That leaves enough headroom for the same scope in order to meet weight. At 2024 prices, with new components, a CZ457 rig with glass for RFS will break the $1k mark, used components will likely undercut what I spent on customizing the RAR for the RFS game. YMWV.
    The new Hammerli straight pull (similar to a Biathlon rig) will be an interesting attempt to solve the RFS rifle problem (if it is smooth…). That’s for another day.

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