Ruger American Rifle (Picatinny)

The History of Sturm, Ruger & Co.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc., more commonly known as Ruger, is an American firearm manufacturing company headquartered in Southport, Connecticut. Founded in 1949 by Alexander McCormick Sturm and William B. Ruger in a rented machine shop in Connecticut, the company has since become one of the largest firearm manufacturers in the world - shadowed only by Remington and perhaps Smith & Wesson.

Ruger is widely recognized for producing firearms that span a broad spectrum of uses such as bolt-action rifles and pistols, semi-automatic rifles, single-shot rifles, shotguns, and revolvers. As recognition of its quality products grew so did the public’s interest in investing in the company’s shares. Ruger went public in 1969 and grew exponentially since then, and it is on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:RGR) since 1990.

In 2020, Ruger made another big move with their acquisition of Marlin Firearms from Remington Outdoor Company.

For decades now both newbie and seasoned shooters have been consistently trusting Ruger’s guns for their excellent accuracy and superior long-term performance as evidenced by its continued success over all these years.

Today, Ruger’s most popular products include the Ruger 10/22 semiautomatic rifle, the .22 rimfire semi-automatic pistol Ruger MK IV, the bolt-action Ruger American rifle, the tried and tested Ruger No.1, and, of course, the timeless Ruger Security-Six revolvers.

Ruger American Rifle (Picatinny) Review

Figure 1: Ruger American Rifle Standard with the Picatinny rail pre-installed (source: ruger.com)

Ruger American Rifle is a family of budget-level hunting and sporting bolt-action rifles, introduced in 2012. These rifles can be purchased with a factory-mounted Redfield Revolution riflescope if the buyer wishes so, making them a convenient and affordable option for those in need of a quality firearm at a wallet-friendly price.

The barrel is hammer-forged and has a blued black oxide finish, and the barrel length ranges from 409 mm (16.12 in) to 610 mm (24 in), while the overall length of the rifle ranges from 910 mm (36 in) to 1130 mm (44.5 in). The barrel is free-floating, which is largely thanks to the dual bedding block system called the “Power Bedding”. It is essentially two bedding blocks in a V shape molded into the stock, with front and back action screws fastened through the centers of these blocks, which in turn then also act as pillar beddings. Hunter variants of the Ruger American Rifle don’t have the Power Bedding.

Ruger American’s action, which is of the push-feed style, hosts a one-piece full-body bolt made entirely of steel. It has three locking lugs for added safety of the rifle, and it is hosted inside an enclosed receiver.

The receiver is made of a 4140 chrome-moly bar and it is drilled and tapped for scope mounts. To our knowledge, it used to be a common practice to receive Weaver bases when the American Rifle is purchased, although nowadays, the rifles from this family come with a pre-installed Picatinny rail. This is a welcome bonus since it is often easier and relatively cheaper to mount a scope on a Picatinny rail than it is on the factory-drilled receivers.

Because the Ruger American Rifle is the product of harsher monetary times and it was developed to give shooters a cheap alternative to the much pricier contemporaries at the market at the time, it has a somewhat dull-looking black composite polymer stock which is so often found on the rifles from that same era. It is, however, very ergonomic with multiple butt-stock choices available, and each model comes with a soft rubber recoil pad that successfully tames even some of the heavier calibers.

We also must not forget to mention the trigger. Anyone who is familiar with Savage’s AccuTrigger^TM will quickly recognize Ruger’s own version of it: the Ruger Marksman AdjustableTM trigger. This is a trigger system that allows the user to adjust the weight of the trigger pull between 1.2—2.3 kg (3—5 lb), and the best part is that they can do it on their own, without the help of the gunsmith. All they have to do is slightly manipulate the screw in front of the trigger assembly and voila – they get their preferred trigger pull weight. 

Ruger Marksman Adjustable (RMA) is of course not a direct copy of the AccuTrigger, but it is visually strikingly similar to it, with one major difference. While Savage’s version blocks the sear to prevent the rifle from misfiring, RMA completely locks the trigger instead, and no matter what you do, the sear should not trip.

Figure 2: Ruger Marksman Adjustable trigger (source: ruger.com)

While the RMA certainly provides some level of safety, it should definitely not be used in place of the traditional safety slide. The latter is located on the rifle’s tang, and it is of the two-position style.

Ruger is famous for their 10/22 semi-automatic rifles, which are some of the most well-known firearms in the United States. If you've ever held one of these rifles, you probably recognize the round, rotating magazine they use. The American Rifle series also uses this design, but with a smaller capacity of only 4 rounds. There are also some variants that feature STANAG or AICS-style magazines.

There is a wide range of calibers that Ruger American Rifle can be chambered for, and the action length depends on it. There are two action lengths for the American –  long-action and short-action.

Ruger American Rifle Calibers

The Ruger American Rifle models can be chambered for:

• .204 Ruger

• 5.56mm NATO

• .223 Rem.

• .22-250 Rem.

• .243 Win.

• 6mm Creedmoor

• 6.5mm Grendel

• 6.5mm Creedmoor

• .270 Winchester

• .30-06 Spring.

• 7mm-08 Rem.

• 7mm Rem. Mag.

• .300 BLK

• .308 Win.

• .300 Win. Mag.

• 7.62 Soviet

• .338 Win. Mag

• .350 Legend

• .450 Bushmaster

Ruger American Rifle Variants

There are several different variants of the Ruger American Rifle available today, and new models are leaving the factory with pre-installed Picatinny rails:

• Ruger American Rifle Standard

• Ruger American Rifle Predator

• Ruger American Rifle Ranch

• Ruger American Rifle Go Wild Camo I-M Brush Stock

• Ruger American Rifle Hunter

• Ruger American Rifle Compact

• Ruger American Rifle Magnum

• Ruger American Rifle All-Weather

• Ruger American Rifle Redfield Riflescope

• Ruger American Rifle Vortex Crossfire II Riflescope

The receiver of the Ruger American Rifle is drilled and tapped for scope mounts, but newer models come with a pre-installed Picatinny rail.

Figure 3: The receiver of Ruger American Rifle Compact with a Picatinny rail (Source: ruger.com)

Scope Mounts Interchangeable with Ruger American Rifle (Picatinny)

Rifles That Have One-Piece Scope Mounts Interchangeable with Ruger American Rifle (Picatinny)

The necessary condition for rifles to have one-piece scope mounts interchangeable is that the mounting surfaces of these rifles match in every dimension. This means that any rifle with a Picatinny rail will have one-piece scope mounts interchangeable with Ruger American Rifle that has a Picatinny rail installed.

Rifles That Have Two-Piece Scope Mounts Interchangeable with Ruger American Rifle (Picatinny)

The situation with two-piece scope mounts is the same as with the one-piece scope mounts when it comes to rifles that are equipped with a Picatinny rail.

Any rifle with a Picatinny rail will have two-piece scope mounts interchangeable with the Ruger American Rifle which has the same mounting solution.

Best Scope Mounts for Ruger American Rifle (Picatinny)

Fixed Scope Mounts for Ruger American Rifle (Picatinny)

Quality and reliability are just two of many positive nouns we could use to describe Contessa scope mounts, and we can confidently recommend these Contessa Picatinny rings as one of the best fixed scope mounts for a Picatinny rail:

Check out Contessa Picatinny rings

Detachable Repeatable Scope Mounts for Ruger American Rifle (Picatinny)

If you want to retain zero without any additional tools or adjustments while attaching or detaching your optics from the rifle, then detachable repeatable scope mounts are the way to go.

The Henneberger HMS Swift Mount is definitely our top pick of a detachable repeatable scope mount for Ruger American Rifle. It is made in Germany and comes with a 30-year warranty:

Order Henneberger HMS Swift mount

Help Us Build Our Riflescope Mounts Database

If you happen to own this or any other rifle, we would appreciate it if you could help us expand our database by sending us some photos of the rifle receiver (the bare mounting surface of the rifle without the mounts installed). For your help, our company offers a fair return in terms of practical rewards.

Please send us an email for more information. You can contact us here: info@optics-trade.eu