FIELD NOTES ON RUGER RIFLES John Anderson
ern North Dakota more decades ago than I like to think about, it was almost like homecoming when I returned there last June with Ruger Firearms. The hunt brought back a lot of memo- ries as we fi eld tested several Ruger rifl es, Leupold scopes, and Hornady ammunition. We headquartered in Bismarck
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and drove west each morning to hunt on a private ranch. It was rolling grass- lands, typical of the western Dakotas, and provided pasture for cattle. Not surprising for this part of the state, it also was home to prairie dogs … and a strong prairie wind on our fi rst morning. I started out with a Ruger SR-
556FB autoloading rifl e (commonly called AR-15) chambered in 223 (also designated 5.56 NATO) that employs a patent-pending, chrome-plated, two-stage piston-driven operating system. This mechanism provides a cleaner, cooler running, fi rearm with a high level of reliability. The rifle was topped with a Leupold Mark 4 LR/T 8.5-25x50mm scope with target turrets. Another similar rifl e had on it a Leupold VX-3L 4.5-14x56mm with left side focus, standard turrets, and lighted reticle. We were field test- ing Hornady’s new 223 Remington Superformance Varmint ammunition that uses a new propellant provid- ing 100-200 fps higher velocities than conventional loads. With improved velocity, trajectories will be flatter. This ammunition is available with both 50-grain and 53-grain V-Max bullets, at velocities of 3,345 and 3,465 fps, respectively. A strong wind, cool temperature,
and overcast sky that morning com- bined to keep the prairie dogs down. Shots were not as plentiful as I would have liked and the ones I had were, for the most part, at long ranges. Howev- er, such conditions do occur at times, as any experienced prairie dog hunter knows, and you just have to adapt. I won’t claim a really high hit percent-
aving been introduced to prairie dog hunting in west-
Ken Jorgensen, with Ruger, went after North Dakota prairie dogs with a Ruger No. 1 falling block single-shot. This model features stainless action and barrel and gray-black laminated stock. This rifl e is topped with a Leupold 8.5-25x scope with target turrets. Ammunition is the new Hornady Superformance Varmint in 223, with a 53-grain V-Max bullet.
age that morning but I can’t blame the rifl e. The trigger was as good as any I’ve used on a modern sporting rifl e (MSR) … and better than most. I can’t fault the rifl e, scope, or ammunition in any way. One plus about most shots
being long was that I could see where the bullets hit and make adjustments accordingly. So, learning from such misses helped accuracy for subsequent shots. As a result, my hit percentage increased and it did not take long
The Ruger Charger Pistol utilizes the action and rotary magazine of the Ruger 10/22 rifl es. The stock is gray-black laminate and the receiver is fi tted with a slotted base to accept a handgun scope or red dot sight.
www.varminthunter.org Page 97
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