with the fact that the 22" barrel is fully floated, the only sup- port the entire barreled action has occurs at these four tiny contact points. Ruger refers to it as Power Bedding, and it is unique, though the Tikka T3 is somewhat similar in that it has a single lateral groove at the bottom of its receiver ring that abuts a steel plate embedded in the stock to provide a
recoil surface.
Other than the triple lugs, the head of the bolt is rather conventional in that it has a recessed face, a plunger ejector, and an extractor that slides radially within a T-slot housed in the right-side locking lug. Having a recessed bolt face, this is of course a push-feed action. The bolt stop, which is a pivoting lever located on the left side of the receiver bridge, also serves as the bolt guide.
The slope of the shroud at the rear of the bolt matches a similar angle at the rear of the receiver, making for a pleasing silhouette that blends nicely with the top line of the grip. A tail on the rear of the cocking piece juts out from beneath the shroud to indicate both visually and tactilely that the action is cocked. When the bolt is in battery, the base of the handle lowers into a slot in the right side of the receiver, thus serving as a third or safety lug.
Baffles in the forend make for a fairly stiff stock for an injection-molded polymer.
As already mentioned, the tang safety is a two-position affair that looks very much like that of the original Ruger Model 77, but it’s part of an extension of the trigger hous- ing, whereas with the 77 it was an extension of the receiver itself. With the safety engaged, trigger movement is blocked, but the action still can be cycled. The primary safety works in conjunction with a passive, trigger-mounted one that’s conceptually similar to Savage’s AccuTrigger, Mossberg’s LBA, and Marlin’s Pro-Fire. As such, unless the central blade that juts out from the finger piece is depressed, the trigger remains blocked. Ruger has dubbed this new trigger system, which is contained within a sturdy, one-piece alloy casting that’s cross-pinned to the receiver at both the front and back, “Marksman.” As it came from the box, the test gun’s trigger broke at 3.5 lbs., with no noticeable creep, though it is said to be adjustable down to 3 lbs. With a firing pin fall of only 0.150", the lock time is extremely fast, which of course is a good thing.
Shown here is the “fat bolt” of the American compared to the Mauser-type bolt of its sibling, the Ruger 77.
A polymer bolt sleeve encloses a dual cocking cam arrangement. The cam notch seen here is duplicated on the other side of the bolt. Only six pounds of upward lift on the bolt handle is required to cock the action.
Page 34 Winter 2013
Typical of rifles in this price class, the American features an injection-molded polymer stock with an integral trigger guard bow. Other than the unique bedding system already described, it’s quite conventional in all other aspects. The grip and fore-end feature stylized panels that are relatively functional, but I would prefer molded-in checkering panels of traditional point pattern. All in all, though, it’s a good-looking stock in the classic, straight comb tradition found on all other Ruger rifles, both rimfire and centerfire. Like most new rifles today, the American employs a detachable magazine, and this one is among the best. I be- lieve polycarbonate is the best material from which to make a magazine because the entire box – front, back, sides and bottom, along with the follower – can be molded as one piece, complete with integral feed lips. Such magazines weigh less than half that of a comparable steel one; they are incredibly strong, and the feed lips cannot be bent by an inadvertent drop on a hard surface. The last cartridge feeds smoothly and with less noise because there’s a natural lubricity to polycarbonate. One magazine that I am particularly high on is that of the Browning X-Bolt, which instead of stacking cartridges in a single or staggered row, employs a rotary box wherein the follower rotates around a central spool and stacks cartridges in a “C” orientation. It’s nothing new; the basic concept was developed in the 1880s by Ritter Von Mannlicher and was first seen in an American rifle in the Savage 99 (that’s 1899!).
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