Ruger American Rimfire

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Bases and Rails

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 Rimfire Review

Ruger American Standard in .22 LR

Figure 1: Ruger American Standard in .22 LR (Source: Ruger.com)

Ruger American Rimfire is a series of bolt-action rifles that was designed in 2011 and has been in production since 2012. Visually similar to the Ruger American Rifle (which went into production at the same time), the American Rimfire was developed during the major economic crisis to provide a budget-friendly rifle for a very budget-hostile time.

The Ruger American Rimfire's stock includes a V-shaped pillar bedding that is constructed using the same "Power Bedding" concept as the larger Ruger American Rifle, but it has different dimensions and only has one pillar that is located on the magazine's front.

One particularly interesting thing with these Ruger rifles is that versions with synthetic stocks come with two removable buttstock modules that offer different choices for comb height. These modules can be replaced in a matter of seconds by simply unscrewing the rear sling swivel stud, and the best part is that the rifle owners can do it all from the comfort of their homes.

The steel barrel of American Rimfire is cold-hammer-forged, free-floated, and threaded for the mounting of barrel devices. The length of the barrel ranges from 406.4 mm (16 in) to 558.8 mm (22 in).

One thing that is especially hard to miss is the Ruger Marksman AdjustableTM trigger, which allows the users to adjust the weight of the pull from 1.2—2.3 kg (3—5 lb) with just a little bit of tinkering with the screw in front of the trigger assembly. The Ruger Marksman Adjustable (RMA) trigger looks very similar to Savage’s AccuTrigger^TM , which arguably served as the inspiration for it, but the two work on slightly different principles. While the AccuTrigger 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.

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.

The action of the American Rimfire is also made of steel and hosts a bolt with a 60° throw that offers sufficient scope clearance, and the bolt may be easily withdrawn without pulling the trigger thanks to the receiver-mounted, simple-to-use bolt release.

The receiver has a ⅜” dovetail machined on it and is also drilled and tapped for other scope bases. There are plenty of Picatinny bases available for this series, for instance.

Those that are familiar with the Ruger 10/22 rifles will be gladdened to learn that the American Rimfire models that shoot .22 LR come with a detachable, flush-mounted BX-1, 10-round rotary magazine, and they accept all 10/22® magazines, including the BX-15®, BX-25®, and BX-25®x2.

Models that are chambered for .22 Magnum and 17 HMR, on the other hand, employ the flush-mounted, detachable JMX-1, 9-round rotary magazine, and they also accept the BX-15® Magnum magazine.

Ruger American Rimfire Calibers

The Ruger American Rimfire can be chambered for:

.17 GMR
.22 LR
.22 WMR

Ruger American Rimfire Variants

Several variants of the Ruger American Rimfire are available, and it is important to note that there are also many sub-variants. Ruger American Rimfire Standard, for instance, comes in 20 different configurations.

These are the Ruger American Rimfire variants:

Ruger American Rimfire Standard
Ruger American Rimfire Compact
Ruger American Rimfire Wood Stock
Ruger American Rimfire Target
Ruger American Rimfire Long-Range Target

The receiver of the Ruger American Rimfire features a 3/8” dovetail but is also drilled and tapped for scope mounts.

Ruger American Rimfire receiver

Figure 2: The receiver of the Ruger American Rimfire (Source: https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/ruger-american-rimfire/)

These are the receiver dimensions of the long-action Ruger American Rimfire:

Ruger American Rimfire

A: 12.7 mm

B: 63.8 mm

C: 12.7 mm

D: 3/8"

BHU: 0 mm

Fi: 6-48

R1: 12.7

R2: 12.7

Scope Mounts Interchangeable with Ruger American Rimfire

Rifles That Have One-Piece Scope Mounts Interchangeable with Ruger American Rimfire

The necessary condition for rifles to have one-piece scope mounts interchangeable is that the mounting surfaces of these rifles match in every dimension.

Because Ruger American Rimfire features a 3/8” dovetail, any rifle with the same mounting standard will have one-piece scope mounts interchangeable with it.

However, if you are trying to find out which rifles have scope mounts interchangeable with the drilled and tapped mounting surface, then we sadly cannot help you much since we have insufficient data available at this time.

Should you have any additional information regarding possible mount matches, please contact us. We will gladly accept your help and expand our database accordingly.

Rifles That Have Two-Piece Scope Mounts Interchangeable with Ruger American Rimfire

For two-piece scope mounts to be interchangeable, the mounting surfaces of the rifles must match in every dimension except the action length which can vary (distance B on the image above). This is because the distance between the two pieces of the mount is not fixed.

Same as above, because Ruger American Rimfire features a 3/8” dovetail, any rifle with the same mounting standard will have two-piece scope mounts interchangeable with it.

If you, however are trying to find rifles that have drilled and tapped receivers and have two-piece scope mounts interchangeable with the drilled and tapped receiver of the Ruger American Rimfire, then this is the list:

Best Scope Mounts for Ruger American Rimfire

Fixed Scope Mounts for Ruger American Rimfire

When it comes to true American households such as Ruger, DNZ Products always delivers its best of the best. This is why we recommend this DNZ 30 mm Game Reaper (fixed scope mount) for your Ruger American Rimfire. It is made of top-grade aluminum and it fits both right and left-hand models:

Fixed Scope Mounts for Ruger American Rimfire (3/8” Dovetail)

If you are looking for a fixed scope mount to fit on the rounded 3/8” dovetail of the Ruger American Rimfire, you would be hard-pressed to find a better solution than these BKL 0.6" Long Dovetail Rings.

They are made of aluminum and offer an abundance of quality for their price.

Detachable Repeatable Scope Mounts for Ruger American Rimfire

The Henneberger HMS Swift Mount is definitely our top pick of a detachable repeatable scope mount for Ruger American Rimfire. It will, however, need to be coupled with a Picatinny rail. We recommend the EGW Ruger American Rimfire Picatinny Rail, but you can also use the BKL 4" Long Dovetail to Weaver/Picatinny Rimfire Adaptor Mount:

Picatinny Rails for Ruger American Rimfire

This EGW Ruger American Rimfire Picatinny Rail is a great choice for Ruger American Rimfire:

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