Ruger American ranch 16”

[Stinky Coyote]

double post oops

[Stinky Coyote]

I have some updates, pulled the rail off the RAR, it's 2.5 oz, replace that with 2.0 oz Talley 1" low rings. I'm going with Trijicon 3-9x40 accupoint green duplex at 13.4 oz, i've weighed the rings/scope together at 15.5 oz. Kenton makes speed dial turrets for these also so dial ups can happen when needed.

I had my machinest give the mdt chassis a bit of a diet but mdt is on the game, he was only able to get 3.0 oz out of it for me. MDT is milling out a fair bit of fat from the get go now.

So in modified chassis, with trijicon 3-9x40/talley 1" lows, magpul moe-k grip and ctr butt stock, strike industries buffer tube with generic castle nut, a magpul 3 slot rail for the light laser and ermo m-lok rail covers over 5 slots, i'm exactly 8 lb 2.5 oz scoped rifle (no ammo, no sling) and i can add my streamlight tlr-8 light/laser for additional 2.5 oz.

10 rounds of ammo adds 6.5 oz and i like blue force vickers slings 4 oz. That'd get me loaded down the trail at just a hair under 9 lbs with light/laser, 8.8 lbs without. I'm building duplicates for the kids except they won't get the chassis diets nor the light/laser combos so they will weigh exactly the same.

My previous scope was leupold fxII 6x36 and was 9.5 oz, plus 2.5 oz weaver low rings, plus the 2.5 oz factory rail....total 14.5 oz. If you just ran that scope in talley's you'd only be adding 12 oz to the rifle instead of 14.5...as it is i was able to go up to a 3-9x40 illum. reticle scope with the talley's for a 1 oz penalty, grand total 15.5 oz for the combo.

If you're obsessive about weight you can keep the chassis builds reasonable. I think the only other avenue to pursue beyond what i'm doing would be to flute the moderately heavy barrel and flute the bolt body, possibly hollow out the bolt handle. The barreled action on these little guys is pretty stout. 4 lb 4 oz without action screws or the rail (68 oz exactly). I'd wager you could drop close to half a pound with the fluting/hollow. Then you'd need to re-cerakote the barrel though.

I'm ok with the weights however, it's a good weight to shoot them well, keeps recoil very pleasant.

A scope line worth of checking out are the new Leupold vd3-hd, they have revamped the lighter weight options that so many of us love like the 2.5-8x36 etc., biggest improvement is the cds-zl turret. Now if they could just add the fire-dot to that line as options then really be perking with lightweight and illum. reticle which is a rare combo to find period. I've gone trijicon accupoint 3-9x40 green duplex for this reason, it's about the lightest option going at 13.4 oz.

Another option to save a few ounces would be use a mission first battle link minimalist butt stock, there is lighter smoke composites carbon but fixed lengths (one for folding adapter and without) but i need/want the adjustability of the adjustable style. I prefer the magpul ctr as it still rides nice in hand when prone shooting and supporting butt stock with non-trigger hand, i found the battle link more open hook didn't feel right or ride a bag worth a crap, the ctr can ride a bag, it also adjusts easier and then locks, the battlelink is just a tighter fit so no lock but stiffer to adjust (about 2.5 oz saved with battlelink). So i could be under 8 lbs scoped with the mft battlelink butt stock.

Also note: If i didn't say before. The magpul ctr without any cheek risers is ideal for scope alignment with low rings. I measured to center of tube with rail/weaver low rings which i was running before and happy with and then when i took the rail off for the talley low rings it puts center of scope tube identical height. The trijicon 40mm objective has about 1/8" clearance over the barrel in low rings fyi and it's where the barrel is the fattest before the taper starts...it's ideal. You may be able to squeak a 42mm in low rings and if the scope is longer possibly 44 as the barrel starts to taper away but that may push you to needing medium rings then might want a 1/4" cheek riser on the ctr to line things up nice...all of which will start to add that weight. Stay minimal and you can keep the chassis reasonable for hunting weights(sheep hunters mindset).

[Dr. Froghopper]

Ain’t our fair Governor a fine and dandy lady? 26 of 33 counties are 2A sanctuary counties. Our state is predominantly red in the rural areas and only blue in the urban areas. I’m kinda sick of my rural, country life being run by a bunch of left wing socialist city slickers. I’d say that we should vote them out but now even election fraud is a constant concern.

[Owyhee H]

Stinky - I am about to pull the trigger on one of those VX3HD's and will see how they do. I trust Leupold on all my hunting rifles because they are light and reliable. The 2.5-8 is one of my favorite and I'm glad they finally put the turret on in factory form, especially with the lock as that was one of my biggest complaints of the old CDS. My new scope will be the 3.5-10 as I want reach out a little further as it's going on a 7mm-08. My Grendel wears the VX2 3-9x33 CDS (discontinued) but I would gladly upgrade to that 2.5-8 as the glass is much better for a very small weight penalty.

Froggy - Land doesn't vote, people do. Whether you like that fact or not the populated cities control the vote by numbers fair and square. Unless you have actual fact about election fraud you should keep the conspiracy theories to your bunker and discuss Grendel relevant topics. A number of the Representatives that protested the last election results were elected on the same ballots they were protesting....now that is some kind of special reasoning. Someone is not going to like the result of every election, local, state, or federal. Politics swing back and fourth, its important to be civil about the process. The citiots and hicks will live to debate another day.

[raamaudio]

I love low weight, fast on target, reliable, etc.......that is why I put a 1.5-4 VX Freedom Circle dot, with some hashmarks, on my 10/22, 12.8 ounces! I liked it so much I bought one for the Grendel Pistol though I wish it was 1-6 or better 1-8 but do not like the reticle as well and they are $$ and $$$ more money.

Really like this thread, I am leaning hard towards a RAR and DIY mods to keep it cheap, low weight as I can, reliable and accurate.

Thanks!
Rick

[Stinky Coyote]

Yes, and now for lightweight illuminated reticle options, i see a couple in the new vx lineup. I just put a trijicon accu-point 3-9x40 green dot duplex on my ranch this winter and collected drop data to 425 yards from 200 yard zero for kenton speed dial turret to match things back up and my youngest son just killed his first big game animal with it, a blackbear in the shady woods at about 10 yards lol, i'm sure there was a lot of black in that sight picture but that illum. green dot would have been the hot ticket no doubt....the accupoint is 13.4 oz, talley rings 2.0 oz and i verified on the scale, i pulled off the factory rail which is about 2.5 oz and then put the talley low 1" rings and the trijicon on and it was 15.5 oz total. note: talley 1" low rings put scope height exactly same as weaver lows on the rail...40mm objective clears perfectly

Here's some things to note about the trijicon vs leupold (and i'm diehard leupold guy). 1. the glass is better, 2. the feel of adjusters (magnification/turrets) also feels a touch above(overall quality). 3. only 12 moa per rotation of turret vs leupolds 15 moa. 4. the illumination will dim if you're in a blind.

So just in case anyone curious the trijicon with 200 yard zero and hornady black ammo on the ruger ranch will dial up to exactly 500 yards on one revolution of the speed dial turret...which is flippin perfect for me as primarily a hunter who has no issues sending it on hung up coyotes. And we don't do a lot of blind hunting so a leupold firedot or the battery powered trijicon options better. I like green dots, always found them brighter on my archery sights etc.

overall the trijicon 3-9x40 accupoint green duplex is turning out to be a winner, on my black 15" circular gong at 425 yards and scope on 9x the dot looks to cover about 4-5" circle in the middle of that gong (approx. 1.2 moa is my estimate, i took pics etc. and really sussed out if this scope was going to work for me and it is working out awesome so far)

if leupold starts adding some firedot options to the lightweight 1" tube scopes in that vx3hd lineup that we love, like the 6x36, 2.5-8x36, 3-9x40 etc. then with that cds-zl turret it will be the ultimate hunters options imo...they need to keep the weight range from 12-15 oz imo otherwise you don't compete with the trijicon accupoint

since the trijcon accupoint 3-9x40 exists this is the way to go for me now, that illum. dot is sweet, it's very intuitive right off the bat and i think i'll just grow to love it, it brings in more light than whats outside, so if you're in the sun even pointing it as straight snow you see the dot bright as heck against the worst backdrop imaginable, i tested it like i often sit for coyotes on a sunny day where i get in a shady dip and the dot dims but remains green and visible against the snow, against a coyote it will be just as inuitive, these are conditions i routinely find myself in so it was important for me to see if this set up would be ideal...and it is, very happy so far, sure i gotta spin the cap off and dial up longer shots but there's pros and cons to everything, usually if i'm dialing i have the time to do so and turret stays on zero otherwise and fully protected, a cds-zl turret would be perfect but i'm actually happy with the 3-9x range better than the beloved fixed 6x leupolds i'm a fan of and 9x on the trijicon seems like a true 9x, felt more like 10x to me where leupolds often actually less mag than they list

hope that helps, we have moose, bighorn sheep, whitetail, mule deer, and black bear on grendels now...elk and pronghorn antelope on deck and maybe get into bc or nwt for goat and caribou one day, maybe dahl sheep...will keep on trucking, 7 head of big game, average shot distance 151 yards, average recovered distance 4.3 yards...hornady black from 16" ruger, 20" howa, 24" cz...barrel length isn't showing us any advantage in the field

[raamaudio]

This one would be great if 2.5-8 and just a bit lower in weight, Mark 3 HD, 3-9x40, Firedot, 15.4 ounces, $699 retail.
accu-point 3-9x40 green dot.

I had silver 2.5-8 Leupold on a Tikka Superlite fluted SS barreled .308, loved the combination. I only sold the scope because I sold the rifle and had nothing to put it on.

[Stinky Coyote]

agree, have always been a fan of the 30mm tube leupold with the 40mm objective, they run 15.8 oz, they've been called mark 4, 4.5-14x40 30mm side focus etc. and now i see they switching in illumination instead of side focus for the vx3hd 3.5-10x40 twilight hunter and the mark 3 you just suggested, they look like good options but 30mm rings will likely be a touch heavier and the scope already just about 1 lb...our hunty goals are 1 lb or less including rings, so where are the 1" tube lightweight illuminated options leupold, so we wait...the trijicon at 13.4 oz with 1" tube does the trick better, they need fire dot 3-9x40 1" at 13.5 oz and 2.5-8x36 at 11.5-12 oz imo and a fixed 6x36 firedot at 10 oz (my 6x36 is 9.5 oz with a cds-zl turret on it...just need illumination...maybe 10.5 oz tops)

it's like leupold is dancing all around perfection but just not quite there yet haha, 1" lightweight fire dot's please, take the gold standards and add 1 oz and watch them fly off the shelf...vx3hd, 1" tube, cds-zl, fire dot....LIGHTWEIGHT, Leupold you listening?

[Owyhee H]

Hopefully they are listening because that sounds perfect. The Mark3 looks good but I don't like the firedot tmr. A plain firedot would be much cleaner.

[Stinky Coyote]

agree that mark3 is dancing on the edges and getting our mouths watering a little, but 30mm tube not necessary, only for their illumination block, so they need to tool up a new illumination block that still fits their fire dot guts and the cr2032 battery but is threaded for the 1" tube, can't be that hard, maybe i should go work for them?

the vx3hd is a fantastic lineup and most of my career to this point would have been dreamy to have a 2.5-8x36 cds-zl...but as they eye get worse and wanting to go illum. dot for speed etc. now that's a scope that could get me off this trijicon, maybe, i'm pretty fond of this green dot, if they offer green dot versions oh heck ya, i do like the cds-zl as the best turret on the market period, i do like the size/weights of the 1" tube leupolds as best available also, the glass is adequate, warranty of course is amazing, but this trijicon impresses every time i look through it, i should have been on these sooner, trying to get two more for the kids ranches and have been waiting awhile so i keep looking at leupold for options but none to pull the trigger on yet, so i wait...also agree plain firedot duplex style reticle is what hunters would benefit most from, less busy the better, focal point is the dot on the kill zone and boom

leupold usually comes to the plate so i'm sure there are many like minded souls with more influence suggesting, already seeing these twilight models etc. and the mark3 now etc. but they need to quit dancing and build that 1" block for illum. on the vx3hd 1" tube lineup and by golly bring back the fxII 6x36 with the cds-zl and firedot also...with green dots, too much to ask? hahaha

[raamaudio]

I can see why you went with the Trijicon, nice scope for the price, weight reasonable, etc....

[raamaudio]

No ranch for me, decided to go with Howa Mini, started new thread about modding it.

Rick

[Bucktail99]

Kodiak was a successful hunt for the Grendel ranch 3 shots 3 kills with a 2yo fork head shot at 209 yards! 123 eldm and xbr8208
[ATTACH=CONFIG]18394[/ATTACH]
3x3 buck shot base of head right through jugular exiting back of neck DRT
Also bagged a red fox
This little gun is fantastic
Temps were in the teens and no problems, I wouldn’t mind getting Teflon coated for some better corrosion resistance but all in all great job Ruger!

[Les Staley]

My spouse and I tag teamed with our RAR on three whitetails here in North Idaho. She got a fat doe at 109 yds and a three by three buck at 175 yds, each with a single shot. I caught an antlerless buck at 80 yds and ruined the heart with a Pro hunter 120 gr @2400fps . I installed another set of Uncle Mikes sling studs on the left side of the stock. Bolt handle is away from your back and the 10 shot AR magazine sticks out to the right side of your body. Super comfortable to sling it that way.

[Happy2Shoot]

I installed another set of Uncle Mikes sling studs on the left side of the stock. Bolt handle is away from your back and the 10 shot AR magazine sticks out to the right side of your body. Super comfortable to sling it that way.

@Les Staley

Could you post a picture of you work, and a link for the product? Thanks. I am not familiar with what you are talking about. Are they screws?

[Les Staley]

@Les Staley

Could you post a picture of you work, and a link for the product? Thanks. I am not familiar with what you are talking about. Are they screws?

Happy, I’ll try to get a photo or two posted in a day or two.

[Happy2Shoot]

Happy, I’ll try to get a photo or two posted in a day or two.

Thank you!

[Les Staley]

Thank you!

My photos are too big. Don’t know how to resize smaller. If someone would help in that regard I will send the pics(2) in an email or text. Thanks

[Brazz04]

My photos are too big. Don’t know how to resize smaller. If someone would help in that regard I will send the pics(2) in an email or text. Thanks

Send them to brazz_04@yahoo.com, I'll resize them for you

[Les Staley]

Happy, here’s how I did it. Get the studs with the machine screw shanks, not wood screw. Remove recoil pad, drill hole thru wall of buttstock and use a fender(large flat washer) inside and a little locktite on the threads with the nut. Forearm, remove barreled action from stock, pick a void under the barrel channel and center your hole so there’s room for a small flat washer on the stud. Same deal, locktite and you’re good to go.