Rimfire Roustabout

You've got a brand new Ruger American Rimfire sitting at home and it looks good, no doubt about it, but does it shoot? I took mine to the range with two other rifles and a Blue Heeler, to find out.

I Love The Range!

Blue Plinker thought this was a pretty neat game and jumped for joy, literally, when he saw me laying out the rifles on the bench. He had to be relegated to the shooting house after that; he will try and catch bullets with his teeth.

Big Rectangle = 3 Rounds

I started out with iron sights at an easy 30 or so yards, prone, and the new Ruger went first. It was fun to shoot and performed flawlessly, producing one of the the best groups of the day, 3 rounds in pretty much the same hole.

The Higgins did well too, and is certainly capable of good accuracy, though its trigger's heavier than the Ruger, and the old gun doesn't always feed too smoothly from its 17 round tube magazine. It was fun to move up to the more powerful, and more expensive, .17 HMR, a hot little round. 

After proving to myself that I could still shoot with iron sights, I scoped up the new Ruger with a cheap fixed 4 power optic, which came off the .17 HMR, and dialed it in from 50 yards. I used my coat as a rest, being a ballistic scientist. When paper got boring, it was time to shift fire onto a different enemy, old Gatorade tops.

They didn't stand a chance! Breathe, squeeze, off flies the florescent plastic top. Big fun. A tin can got itself in trouble, too. Take that, can, and Gatorade tops.

Good Work, Gun

All this proved that the wood stocked Ruger American Rimfire .22 LR works just fine. I think I'll adjust the trigger pull downwards a bit to 3 1/2 pounds or so, and take it out again with a Lead Sled for a more scientific dial-in at 100 yards. I'll also have to get a new scope for the .17 HMR, but that's a different story.

And so is open carry. The more CHL holders I talk to, the more the song remains the same. I don't want anyone to know I'm carrying, that's what they say.

Shoot straight,

LSP

Sunday Hunt

I'd no sooner recovered from the pleasurable ministry of gun blessing, than a friend turned up from Dallas to go hunting. Nothing fancy, just an evening attempt to call coyotes.

So what happened? That's simple; we loaded up my truck, headed out to the fields, got into cover downwind and started to call. But the coyotes weren't buying, unlike the frogs, which were. Too bad we weren't on a frog hunt.

That's not to say the wiley beasts weren't there and we did hear a distant pack, yapping and howling into the night. Then, as we were loading back up to go, a lone howl cut through the starlit night, not too far away, though distances can be deceptive. Should we stay or should we go?

We left, and got a bite to eat at Dickey's BBQ Pit. This is a chain that started in Dallas and it serves "Q", which is fine by me. They were playing Waylon & Willie, which is also fine by me, as was the pulled pork sandwich, mac & cheese, and fried okra that I decided to buy.

"What's your special?" my friend asked Dickey's.

"Everything," Dickey's replied, impertinently.

You see, Dickey's does not have a Sunday "special" though your kids can eat there free, one per adult, if they're under 12. 

Ponder that.

LSP

ANew Day, A New Gun

I've been after a "hot rimfire" for a while. So after a well-deserved breakfast of Huevos Rancheros, I spun down to Gebo's "Great Service, Low Prices" (all true here) and got one. A Ruger American .17 HMR (Hornady Magnum Rimfire).

I know. I like wood and steel and this gun's black plastic and steel but the price was right, well under "retail," and the build seemed far superior to other rifles I checked out in the same caliber and price range. Solid and substantial, as opposed to tinny and flimsy. 

The Ruger American comes with a folding-leaf rear sight and a green fiber-optic Williams front sight, that sits on top of its match-crowned, free-floating 22"barrel. The receiver is drilled and tapped for bases and has two grooves machined into it for 1/8" rings. It also has a sturdy 9 round rotary magazine, 10/22-style; a pleasant change from the tinny, flimsy, offerings of competitors. Take note, Savage and Marlin. 

I won't go into this rifle's unique-to-Ruger bedding but suffice to say, it incorporates many of the features you'll find in the American's higher caliber iterations. A lot of quality put into the humble rimfire. And I almost forgot, it comes with an adjustable trigger. It weighs 6 lbs. The rifle, not the trigger.

But did it work? Sure it did, and then some, taking down a steel turkey time and again at 100 yards, with it's bright-as-you-like front sight, smoothly working bolt and crisp trigger. How heavy is the trigger, out of the box? I'd say appx. 4 Ilbs and that's adjustable up to 5 and down to 3. How's the finish? Just fine, what you'd expect from Ruger. But what about the black plastic? Deal with it, it's waterproof. How much does it cost? Stop whining and anyway, not much. Would you recommend it to your friends? I most definitely would.

Is this rifle a "game changer"? Some reviewers think so and that remains to be seen. In the meanwhile, I'd say a lot of quality for very little money.

Get a Ruger American 17 HMR, if you like. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

LSP