Thoughts on the RUGER PRECISION RIMFIRE RIFLE?

[TheFirearmEnthusiast]

Hey guys

I was thinking of purchasing the RUGER PRECISION RIMFIRE RIFLE 22LR that sells for approximately $850

Do you guys have any feedback regarding that firearm?

- Pros
- Cons
- Accuracy of it over long distance
- Ease of use
- Durability/Quality of the firearm
Etc

P.S; I love shooting long distance targets
So the feedback of how accurate it is over long distance is probably my main concern

Thanks Folks

[marksman]

sorry l dont have any input for a review on this rifle
l do like the rugers and own 2
but as far as being a long distance rifle this is not one, it is a 22 rimfire
people will put targets out at distance for fun and to learn a bit about wind reading
in general 100m is a long way for a 22 to shoot precisely
good luck with your venture

[bladeracer]

Hey guys

I was thinking of purchasing the RUGER PRECISION RIMFIRE RIFLE 22LR that sells for approximately $850

Do you guys have any feedback regarding that firearm?

- Pros
- Cons
- Accuracy of it over long distance
- Ease of use
- Durability/Quality of the firearm
Etc

P.S; I love shooting long distance targets
So the feedback of how accurate it is over long distance is probably my main concern

Thanks Folks

I love mine.
I can't think of any cons, except not being able to buy extra BX15 mags for it. I'd prefer a 60MoA rail over the 30MoA one, but most owners probably aren't going be shooting much past 200m.
Being Ruger means no concerns about quality or longevity.
I use the Bushnell AR Optics 4.5-18x40 which gives me 105 minutes of elevation adjustment, enough to get out past 300m while still keeping a 50m zero for hunting. I'm using an adjustable mount currently set up at 60 minutes.
The rifle consistently holds 1MoA at 100m. At 300m I'm dialing up 93MoA from memory.

[SCJ429]

Hey guy

P.S; I love shooting long distance targets
So the feedback of how accurate it is over long distance is probably my main concern

Thanks Folks

What rifle and caliber are you currently using to shoot targets over long distances?

[in2anity]

There’s no denying Ruger barrels are accurate. Surprisingly accurate for their price-point. With a bit of adjustment and the right ammo, those Ruger 22s can hold a tight group. Have a look at this thread which is a good indication for what you might be able to achieve: viewtopic.php?f=71&t=12769

[Kelsey Cooter]

Bought my wife one and put a vx2 3-9×40 and bipod on it. She loves it, its a great little rifle. I've seen a post on facebook about them where alot of people said they were having trouble with feed issues, but I don't think ours has ever failed to feed.
Shoots cci standards great
I also have a ruger 77/22

[wildcard6]

I had one very briefly but don't have it now - it was a dud. I had feeding problems from the start. It would not feed the final round in the magazine, so it was sent back to NIOA for rectification. I knew it was NOT a magazine problem because it did the same thing with FIVE different magazines [all of which worked okay in someone else's RPR, but NIOA 'FIXED' the magazine and sent it back to me... At that stage, it WOULD feed the last round, but with force required to do so. I examined the bullets after they chambered and they were scratched badly = no accuracy. I sent it back again and this time their workshop boss rng me and said they couldn't fix the problem, which he described as a common fault with Ruger rimfires! I took a refund and bought a CZ 457 Varmint for $200 more and am very happy with it. I have seen many people happy with their RPR's, so they can't all be duds, but if you buy one, don't register it until you've given it a good test because that money is lost when the rifle is refunded. I have also seen a Ruger TARGET rimfire that had a piece of rifling missing from the barrel [ !!!!! ] that had to be replaced [Kaching again $$ to the owner] and the replacement is none too accurate with [again] a feeding issue that scratches the bullets. Final point to consider; these rifles are only suitable for bench/rested shooting. I tried shooting it 'standing post' position and it was agonising to shoot this way because all the weight is in the front, on your hand's webbing and the metal hand-guard provides no comfortable interface with the human hand holding it. That's my 2 cents-worth.

[bladeracer]

I had one very briefly but don't have it now - it was a dud. I had feeding problems from the start. It would not feed the final round in the magazine, so it was sent back to NIOA for rectification. I knew it was NOT a magazine problem because it did the same thing with FIVE different magazines [all of which worked okay in someone else's RPR, but NIOA 'FIXED' the magazine and sent it back to me... At that stage, it WOULD feed the last round, but with force required to do so. I examined the bullets after they chambered and they were scratched badly = no accuracy. I sent it back again and this time their workshop boss rng me and said they couldn't fix the problem, which he described as a common fault with Ruger rimfires! I took a refund and bought a CZ 457 Varmint for $200 more and am very happy with it. I have seen many people happy with their RPR's, so they can't all be duds, but if you buy one, don't register it until you've given it a good test because that money is lost when the rifle is refunded. I have also seen a Ruger TARGET rimfire that had a piece of rifling missing from the barrel [ !!!!! ] that had to be replaced [Kaching again $$ to the owner] and the replacement is none too accurate with [again] a feeding issue that scratches the bullets. Final point to consider; these rifles are only suitable for bench/rested shooting. I tried shooting it 'standing post' position and it was agonising to shoot this way because all the weight is in the front, on your hand's webbing and the metal hand-guard provides no comfortable interface with the human hand holding it. That's my 2 cents-worth.

I find the RPR excellent for offhand shooting, the large round forend giving much better grip and control than my MDT chassis. I don't find it uncomfortable at all, quite the opposite. Although I agree that the Target American is quite front heavy I can't say the same about the RPR, even with a bipod on it.

[SCJ429]

Bought my wife one and put a vx2 3-9×40 and bipod on it. She loves it, its a great little rifle. I've seen a post on facebook about them where alot of people said they were having trouble with feed issues, but I don't think ours has ever failed to feed.
Shoots cci standards great
I also have a ruger 77/22

How do you find it compared to your 77/22? I have an old 77/22 with tens of thousands of rounds through it. Still shoots acceptably well but is starting to feel a little loose.

[Bugman]

I had a 77/22 and it shot very well. Had a change of mind and sold it and ended up with a Lithgow LA101. I really like it and probably, imo, on par with the Ruger with the right ammo.

[Shootermick]

Maybe a stupid question, but... How do you go about cleaning and wiping down the outside of the barrel with the vented forend fully surrounding the barrel??

[bladeracer]

Maybe a stupid question, but... How do you go about cleaning and wiping down the outside of the barrel with the vented forend fully surrounding the barrel??

Same as you would with any other vented hand guard rifle, remove the hand guard. Two screws to remove the lower, then loosen two pinch bolts under the hand guard and slide it off. The rifle functions just fine without the hand guard as well.
http://ruger-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/_manuals/RugerPrecisionRimfire.pdf

[DJay]

So I got a RPRR a few months back, the factory barrel wasn’t great after about 1000 rounds, so I swapped it out for a IBI drop in barrel. 2 trips the range and so far so go. Much better than the original for me at least.

[in2anity]

So I got a RPRR a few months back, the factory barrel wasn’t great after about 1000 rounds, so I swapped it out for a IBI drop in barrel. 2 trips the range and so far so go. Much better than the original for me at least.

Well done mate - I think the biggest complaint with said gun is accuracy. Yet another example of how your barrel is overwhelmingly the biggest contributor to accruracy!

[TheFirearmEnthusiast]

Djay:
Funny you said that
I have another friend who did exactly the same thing
Now he loves his ruger
It shoots extremely well he told me
Same thing as you, crazy


In5anity:
I know huh?
How good
It's great to hear that the barrel plays such an important part in the accuracy!
That helps me as a new shooter to know what's going on

[Sergeant Hartman]

That's why i got put off the ruger. Get a gun and then very likely spend more $$$$ on a barrel. If they had spent another 100 on the barrel it would make this gun very awesome.

The standard rpr are quite accurate, unlike this pout of the box

[mikejay]

That's why i got put off the ruger. Get a gun and then very likely spend more $$$$ on a barrel. If they had spent another 100 on the barrel it would make this gun very awesome.

The standard rpr are quite accurate, unlike this pout of the box

Ah yup, Savage 22's come standard with button rifled barrels with Bentz chambers, you have to be unlucky to get a bad one as opposed to being lucky to get a good one with a platform that runs cold hammer forged barrels with slu...I mean standard chambers. The chamber is more important in 22LR than in every other calibre, it is or rather should be the cornerstone around which the rest of the rifle is built, and to all intents and purposes it is, CZ never said the 45x range is supposed to be match level accurate, Ruger's naming of the Precision Rimfire is in reference to the quality of the build being precise not the accuracy.

I don't mean to bang on about Savage but hand straightened and button rifled barrels with Bentz chambers as standard for the same or less money than competitors means something and in a good way. Put some time into fixing some of their mass produced fit and finish issues, aka bed it, and you have yourself a tac driver with a lot less expenditure and minimal effort.

[Sergeant Hartman]

No that's the marketing team and bean counters at work mate. They know they have a big market that like their RPR series centrefire rifles and wanted a cheap rifle equivalent. Not that by the time the rprr reaches Australia it's cheap.

Well that's my take on it, esp reading the American Facebook pages

[bladeracer]

No that's the marketing team and bean counters at work mate. They know they have a big market that like their RPR series centrefire rifles and wanted a cheap rifle equivalent. Not that by the time the rprr reaches Australia it's cheap.

Well that's my take on it, esp reading the American Facebook pages

I consider any .22LR that can consistently hold 1MOA to 100m to be very good, and all three of my Rugers do so, is that somehow not good enough these days for an off the shelf $800 rifle?

[Sergeant Hartman]

BR no that's pretty good, But what i mean is with rprr there is a big proportion of rifles that can't do that... resulting in many having to spend 400usd on a new barrel. Sure there are also many who do it before firing a single round.

[bladeracer]

BR no that's pretty good, But what i mean is with rprr there is a big proportion of rifles that can't do that... resulting in many having to spend 40usd on a new barrel. Sure there are also many who do it before firing a single round.

I would suggest they need to test a lot more ammo types to find out what the rifle prefers before changing the barrel, unless the ability to put an aftermarket barrel on was why they bought it in the first place. I've seen comments complaining about the Ruger American Rimfires not being able to use aftermarket barrels, and some people want to put an aftermarket barrel on everything regardless of how the OEM barrel shoots.

I would also suggest getting at least 1000rds down the tube before deciding it won't shoot.

I have tested about a dozen types that won't group (in my Rugers) ten rounds better than about 65mm at 50m (about 4.5MoA), if those happened to be the only ammo I'd tried I would've been horrendously disappointed in the rifle - despite "trying more than a dozen different types!". I've found three so far that hold 1MoA out to 100m though, and six that hold 1.5MoA or better, and another dozen that hold 2MoA at 100m.

I've been collecting and have about twenty more types to test, a few more will give me a hundred different types so far tested.
On that, does anybody know of anywhere that has the Hornady subsonic .22LR ammo yet?

[mikejay]

I would suggest they need to test a lot more ammo types...........

We put about 1000 rounds through my bro's RPRimfire, from CCI SV, all through the Eley range from Club to Tennex, Most of the SK range, a few Fiocchi types, some RWS types, average was 3 - 4 MOA (1.5 to 2 inches) at 50 meters and that barely changed no matter what ammo you used. As a definitive test we took it to SISC's ballistics test range, where they clamp it in a vice and put a whole lot of different round through it at 50 m..... it didn't do so well. So yeah, changing out the barrel was pretty justified.

[mikejay]

I consider any .22LR that can consistently hold 1MOA to 100m to be very good, and all three of my Rugers do so, is that somehow not good enough these days for an off the shelf $800 rifle?

That's good shooting, imaging how much better you could do with a match chamber and barrel made using better processes than Ruger use for their 22's

[bladeracer]

[quote="bladeracer"
I consider any .22LR that can consistently hold 1MOA to 100m to be very good, and all three of my Rugers do so, is that somehow not good enough these days for an off the shelf $800 rifle?[/quote

That's good shooting, imaging how much better you could do with a match chamber and barrel made using better processes than Ruger use for their 22's

I'm not sure it's possible to do much better with a .22LR rifle for under $1000 though, or much of a need for better than that.
I'm no kind of target shooter so I'm certain some members here could shoot much better than me with my own rifles.

What .22LR rifles are you getting significantly-sub-MoA out of at 100m?

I just did a quick search for long-range precision .22 rifles and found this.
https://www.precision22lr.com/post/most-accurate-22-rifle-out-of-the-box
https://www.precision22lr.com/22lr-bolt-action-rifle-spec-compari

[mikejay]

What .22LR rifles are you getting significantly-sub-MoA out of at 100m?

I just did a quick search for long-range precision .22 rifles and found this.
https://www.precision22lr.com/post/most-accurate-22-rifle-out-of-the-box
https://www.precision22lr.com/22lr-bolt-action-rifle-spec-compari

I've never shot out to 100m yet, just got my license in October last year, best I'm doing at the moment is 1/4 to 1/2 MOA at 50m, I'm still figuring out posture and breathing and the like. I'm running a Savage MKII BTVLSS, best ammo it like so far are SK Rifle Match and Eley Match, does ok with CCI SV but has too many flyers for my liking.

My brother's RPRimfire now with the IBI barrel, after 2 sessions is getting some consistency, still playing with different ammo, at about the same 1/4 to 1/2 MOA at 50m using Centre-X. He's also a new shooter, going through the motions of figuring out all the fun stuff like posture and breathing, trigger control etc etc.

What do either of us want? consistent 1/4 MOA groups at 50m, either of our rifles can do it, we can't ... yet.

I've done a bit of work to my rifle on my own like pillars, bedding, widened barrel channel, lightened trigger (1.1 pounds now), re profiled firing pin, fixed Savage's 22LR magazine feed issues.

[Stix]

So mikejay...
Are you actually shooting what you say...?

If you're shooting .125"-.25" (which is 1/4-1/2 moa @ 50m) thats fantastic...!!

Maybe ill get you to pimp up my 22's...! !

[bladeracer]

I've never shot out to 100m yet, just got my license in October last year, best I'm doing at the moment is 1/4 to 1/2 MOA at 50m, I'm still figuring out posture and breathing and the like. I'm running a Savage MKII BTVLSS, best ammo it like so far are SK Rifle Match and Eley Match, does ok with CCI SV but has too many flyers for my liking.

My brother's RPRimfire now with the IBI barrel, after 2 sessions is getting some consistency, still playing with different ammo, at about the same 1/4 to 1/2 MOA at 50m using Centre-X. He's also a new shooter, going through the motions of figuring out all the fun stuff like posture and breathing, trigger control etc etc.

What do either of us want? consistent 1/4 MOA groups at 50m, either of our rifles can do it, we can't ... yet.

I've done a bit of work to my rifle on my own like pillars, bedding, widened barrel channel, lightened trigger (1.1 pounds now), re profiled firing pin, fixed Savage's 22LR magazine feed issues.

At 50m, one-quarter minute is a 3.6mm group! Even half-MoA is still a 7.5mm group. I have shot a 6.5mm group at 50m but it was an anomaly, far from the norm.
If you can shoot .22LR quarter-minute groups you need to get into national Benchrest competition.
Centre-X doesn't shoot very well in my rifles, around 1.5MoA at 100m for ten rounds.

I've done nothing at all to my rifles, I've never even adjusted the triggers, I just shoot them in the paddocks, but I do shoot them a lot.

[mikejay]

At 50m, one-quarter minute is a 3.6mm group! Even half-MoA is still a 7.5mm group. I have shot a 6.5mm group at 50m but it was an anomaly, far from the norm.
If you can shoot .22LR quarter-minute groups you need to get into national Benchrest competition.
Centre-X doesn't shoot very well in my rifles, around 1.5MoA at 100m for ten rounds.

I can do 1/4 MOA @ 50m but not with any great consistency yet. 1/2 MOA @ 50m I can do more often. My self printed bulls are 5mm OD centres with a 9.5mm OD ring.
I get some groups inside the ring, I get a few groups inside the bull, I'm starting to do that for a few bulls in a row, I'll get better aka more consistent over time, I'm still a newbie.

Mine doesn't like Centre-X either, my bro's does.

[mikejay]

So mikejay...
Are you actually shooting what you say...?

If you're shooting .125"-.25" (which is 1/4-1/2 moa @ 50m) thats fantastic...!!

Maybe ill get you to pimp up my 22's...! !

Thanks man!

I don't know what I'm doing re. tuning rifles in general, I just watch a lot of YouTube vids and read a lot of forum posts that apply to my Savage. Oh. and having a bit of guts to try things on my rifle that could go completely the wrong way, looking at my firing pin here.

I was going to say biggest improvement for me was getting a better rear bag and front rest, but that's not true, they just helped me eliminate things I was doing badly or inconsistently. Everything is important and fixing things and or doing things better all add up. I know, I know, preaching to the choir.

[SCJ429]

Last year at the Canberra Rimfire Fly the best group was 0.93 I think, at 200 metres using an Anschutz 54 action and Eley Tenex.