Ruger American Rifle Compact Bolt-Action Rifle – 7mm-08 Remington

This is by far the nicest entry level economy priced rifle I have seen yet. Great adjustable trigger, smooth bolt (can't bind it if you tried) extremely accurate. I chose the 7mm-08 cartridge. Chose the compact version as a tree stand/walking rifle. Shoots sub MOA (7/8" at 100 yds) with inexpensive 140gr sp PPU ammo and a Redfield Revolution 2-7 scope (soon to be avail as a package from Ruger in 2014). Looking forward to purchasing another in .223 in the near future. Read many reviews before deciding on the Ruger American Compact. Very pleased.

I own many rifles of many makes. Picked this up to try something in 7MM 08 for my son. The trigger is better than expected, really quite good. Reliability has been perfect. Accuracy is acceptable. After trying 4 loads it has ranged from 4 inches to 1.5 inches at 100 yards. I really prefer to work a load into 1 inch but 1.5 will do for its purposes. Recoil is higher than I anticipated but shouldn't be too big of a surprise given the light weight. I like the magazine as well. This is a great starter rifle.

I bought this rifle for my wife to do her first shooting and hunting with. The selling point for me was the price point and 100% american made. I think this is an easy choice over the competition, which I compared many. I outfitted it with a Redfield revolution 3-9x40 and weaver grand slam rings to complete the american made setup and it looks very good. The red accents on the scope match the ruger accents well. This setup weighs right at 7 lbs. I use managed recoil rounds with it and my wife finds the felt recoil tolerable. (she is very sensitive to recoil) I have only used this one kind of ammunition and am getting about 1.5-2" groups with it (100yds) which is plenty good for this rifle and it's uses. The recoil pad is soft and similar to competitive recoil dampening pads. The stock is about what you would expect, very light, not rigid. The trigger guard is plastic and is integrated into the stock. The magazine is also plastic, but satisfactory in function. My complaint about that is the spring action on the magazine release. I do not expect it to last long but time will tell. The release is a part of the magazine and could be easily fixed with a replacement magazine should the problem ever arise. The bolt shroud is also plastic. This is not a huge concern for me as I do not reload or push pressures. The safety is tang style, which I like. It is not a true tang safety as it is a separate piece but satisfactory in function. It is however probably the loudest safety I have heard. The trigger is better than any other rifle I have tried in the price range. It has no creep and breaks clean. Though I am not a huge fan of this style of trigger, my wife doesn't mind it and I do like the added safety. I really like the 70 degree bolt lift. This was a key selling feature for me also. Overall I am very pleased to be getting this many of my favorite features in a rifle of this price...and that it is American made seals the deal. It's not perfection, or particularly easy on the eyes, but it is a heck of a rifle and I highly recommend it.

For the price, the Ruger American Rifle (RAR) deserves 5 stars had Ruger done a better job of quality control. I picked up a RAR in .223 Rem about two weeks ago. It was topped with a compact 3-9 optic. About 300 rounds have been put through it so far. First thing that struck me is that the magazine would not feed. Visited 3 other dealers and all the RARs in 223 on the rack had the same issue. Review of online blogs indicated that magazine feeding has been an issue for over a year for the 223. Ruger was very good about offering a replacement magazine. Unfortunately, they also said that magazines were out of stock for the foreseeable future. I was able to modify the magazine to get the rifle up and running. I was also able to purchase a second (functional) magazine at the retail level. Before you buy, have the salesman run one dummy round through the magazine. If it's going to jam, it will do so nearly every time with the last round. It's really a fun little gun to shoot. Once the mag issues were fixed, there were absolutely no problems with function. The rifle consistently shot 0.75" to 1.2" @ 100 yards with just about everything 55 grains and up. Groups started to open up with bullets under 50 grs. The extra couple of inches of barrel noticeably reduces muzzle blast compared to a 16" barrel with a muzzle break or flash hider. Recoil was negligible even for a 10 year old. Bolt operation was smooth. The 70 degree throw allows scope to be mounted low enough for good eye alignment without adding a cheek piece. The bolt was tough to close on some bargain priced steel cased ammo. Trigger is adjustable to under 3 pounds. There is a small amount of creep and it could be a bit smoother. Trigger is better than many but not quite as good as what you would find on some similar designs. Rifle comes with 2 piece Weaver scope bases. The bases are pretty far apart which leaves little wiggle room for getting just the right eye relief and some compact AR style scopes might not fit. A one piece Picatinny style rail would be a better choice. Low scope mounts provided plenty of clearance for a scope with a 40mm objective. The tang safety has always been one of my favorite features of Rugers. This one is two position that is easy to operate. The bolt can be operated in both the "safe" and "fire" positions. There is no way to lock the bolt in the closed position. Finally, the rifle seems to be purpose built for brass cased factory 223 Remington ammo with bullet weights between 55 and 64 grains. The RAR's design does NOT allow use of 5.56 NATO ammo and has limitations for hand loads with bullets over 60 grains.

I recently purchased a Ruger American compact rifle in .308. I had been looking for a light rifle to use in the jack pine forests and pine beetle jungles of Colo., and this rifle I think will do the job. I put a Nikon 1x4x20 "African" Monarch scope on it and have zeroed it for 100 yards. It seems quite accurate (I am not a sub-minute shooter) for the task. It is as I suspected a bit of a thumper, due to the light weight, but two shots are all you are going to get anyway. It weighs, with scope, covers, and full magazine six pounds, fourteen and three quarters ounces. I have been shooting 160 gr Nosler, 168 gr Hornady, and 168 Barnes tsx's, and not any noticeable differences. The only reason that I did not give the rifle four stars is the loading, and magazine. One cannot top load the rifle, and the magazine is poorly thought out. Mine would not feed the second round until you took it out and rapped it on something. I sprayed it full of silicone spray, and that helped a lot. Ruger needs to make an old fashioned double stack metal magazine, and that would solve that issue! Obviously, I haven't had a chance to hunt Elk with it, but I expect good things.

I bought the Ruger American Compact in .243 and with Hornady American Whitetail 100gr, I get .7" groups with most going in the same hole. It was way better then I expected. Awesome little rifle. In my opinion, the American rifle line is the best value rifle on the market.

I bought the Ruger American Compact in .308 for my 12 year old daughter for her first hunting season. We put a Leupold VX-1 2-7x33 on it and she is shooting Hornady custom lite 125gr SST out of it. This rifle is a dream to shoot and she loves it. it's overall a well balanced rifle that is fun to shoot. The bolt is a bit tight when first lifting it, but is smooth enough when being cycled. The clip fits well and we haven't had any issues with it. The stock has plenty of grip, we hunt in Western Washington and it's usually raining. This may be a budget rifle, but it shoots well and I would recommend this rifle to anyone.

Have this chambered in 243 win. Overall its an excellent rifle and would make a great starter rifle for a young hunter. I got it for my son to use as a starter rifle. We both like it so much we won't part with it. I find that the light weight and short barrel make it easy to get on target while in a tree stand or small shooting house. We consistently get 1.25 to 1.5" groups from the bench. Although the stock is plastic I think it has a nice feel to it. The magazine is plastic as well and feels a bit on the cheap side but has held up well in the over 2 years we've had this rifle. Smooth bolt and good recoil pad. I am considering getting this in 7mm-08 and recommend this rifle to anyone looking for a nice rifle at a fair price.

AWESOME RIFLE!!!!! My dad got this rifle for me for Christmas. I hunted with it without siting in the scope that I got for it. I killed a 9 point buck with one shot. Shot the buck directly in the heart first shot. GREAT GUN!!!!!!!!!

Bought this in 7mm-08 for my children who are early teens and we all love shooting this little rifle! The entry-level composite stock wont fool you into thinking this is a premium rifle, but then we didn't expect it to. It shoots consistent groups and the trigger is excellent for this level of rifle; its crisp and clean, which can really help new or occasional shooters. The rifle build, and the fit/finish of the detachable clip are above average. The recoil using 140gr Federals is very tolerable for a 'big-game' load, no extra padding required. Overall a fantastic compact rifle!

I have the American Compact in both .308 and .243 both have Nikon Prostaff scopes, and I can attest to the fact that both rifles will produce 1/2" groups off the bench at 100 yards. The .308 likes the Barnes Vortec 150 grain TSX, and the .243 likes Winchester Whitetail 100 grain. For the price, you can't beat the quality, performance and value. Two deer, one bear and one moose thus far with the .308.

I bought this rifle (.243) for my grandson to use, however he was unable to hunt this past season, due to sports commitments. His loss my gain because I used it just to test it out make sure it is a hunting rifle. It is a fantastic rifle easy to pack, accurate, and the calibre suitable for deer. It is now my go to rifle for deer hunting. I will likely buy another, in a bit heavier calibre, if my grandson gets it together for the coming season.

I bought this rifle in .308 last year as an all around firearm to hunt big game in central Canada. This rifle handles well and has great accuracy for a production rifle. Would recommend to anyone looking for a quality firearm without breaking the bank.

Bought this rifle in 7mm-08 and after a box of rounds the bolt began to seize up and would not chamber rounds! To add insult to injury the magazine broke when sliding out the rounds. Returned to get another one and the other 7mm-08 Americans where all the same. Not expected from ruger!

Bought this in 7mm 08 for my daughter. Easy to sight in with a new Vortex 3x9. So far this little, lightweight gun has killed 4 bucks the furthest at 209 yards and an elk at 218 yards. All the kills were with one shot. It has never had a mis-feed or problem sighting in. It is a killing machine. It is the youth (compact) model and is a great fit. She does not even notice the kick. Great gun for younger hunters and I love shooting it myself. I leave my 30.06 at home more often than not.

Perfect rifle for females/youth! Easy to shoot, almost no kick, just over 6 lbs with mounted scope. Sighted in to 150 yds, very accurate. Love it!

I bought this gun for my 12 year old 7mm-08. It fits him great. I went with the 7mm-08 for a bigger bolt over the 243 as my kid hopefully use it to get an moose or an elk as well as whitetail deer.The clip is a piece of junk. look it out of the box put 4 shells in it does slide in gun nice 3rd and 4th shell did not come up when cycling the bolt. Kid dropped the clip and it broke fix it and found why 3rd and 4th bolts are coming up. Fix that and it been OK. For the kid I get him only to put 3 shells in as it is easy for him to lock the clip in place. I think the guns decide but a little disappointed in the clip. Still better than savage axis or the remington 783

I feel the need to write this review to warn anyone who is considering this rifle. I bought this rifle for my wife in 7mm-08. It would not feed shells from the start, a new clip was sent to me from Korth Group Canada, it made no difference. Ultimately the gun was sent to Quebec for 6 months for repair (new stock was put on). After the new stock was installed it cycled perfectly.....until hunting season. All my clips (3) will not feed the 2nd and 3rd rounds in the cold (-2 to -10 C) and resulted in no followup shots during hunting season. IMO the clips shrink in cold weather which causes the spring to bind on the clip body. Accuracy of this rifle is outstanding but i cant recommend this rifle, at least in colder Canadian weather.

I've checked out lots of youth rifles. With the possible exception of the Tikka ($$$ and didn't like the stock). This rifle pulls up well, is light , and has great proportions for the young hunter. The action is smoother than the competition, and the balance is great, My gun dealer sells a bunch of these and says they are accurate (I got the 7mm-08), I like everything about this rifle except the magazine. It feeds well, but is difficult to load, For hunting purposes, I think the answer is to buy a second magazine. I think having a rifle that "fits" a young hunter is a big deal. This rifle fills the bill and is a great value.

Fantastic, lightweight rifle that is very accuarate with my vortex optics. The bolt action is a little too tight on these rifles but not a deal breaker. My 10 year old is spot on with this rifle.