THE RUSSIAN RUGER AMERICAN

Ruger's American Ranch rifle is a popular option for shooters looking for a compact, rugged bolt-action. Available in half a dozen chamberings, I've always been fascinated by the version chambered for the 7.62x39mm Russian round. My interest has been focused on whether this cartridge is capable of any reasonable degree of precision when fired from a bolt-action platform. Having only shot this cartridge from surplus semi-autos, with uniformly terrible accuracy, I recently grabbed a Ranch rifle chambered for the little Russian cartridge to explore its capabilities.

My initial efforts using cheap, surplus military ammo provided more of those dismal accuracy results, with five-shot groups averaging about 2.5 MOA. However, the more I shot this rifle, the more it grew on me. So, I took the next step and tried some current production factory ammo from reputable manufacturers. Ammo with full metal jacket bullets showed some improvement, regularly putting five shots under 2 MOA, so I moved on to factory ammo loaded with modern expanding bullets. The only commercial factory ammo I had available was Winchester's 123-grain soft point load, and it produced 1.5 MOA groups at an average velocity of 2263 fps. That gave me a standard to meet or exceed in handloading.

Trying BL-C(2) powder proved a bust, as maximum velocities were too low. That left me with H4198 and H335 as suitable powders in my cupboard. Lots of shooting with Hornady's 123-grain SP bullets yielded velocities similar to the Winchester factory ammo, with five-shot groups averaging about 2 MOA.

Switching to Hornady's 123-grain SST bullets saw an immediate reduction in group size, particularly with a maximum charge of H335 powder. Five-shot groups averaged right around 1 MOA with a velocity of 2241 fps, only about 20 fps slower than the Winchester factory ammo. This was my go-to load for the rifle for some time, until I decided I liked it well enough to take it up to the next level with some customization.

My desire to do this customization stemmed from MDT's announcement of their TIMBR CORE rifle stock, with an inlet to fit the Ruger American. It's a serious upgrade from the factory polymer stock, but the rifle was worth it. Additionally, it would allow me to use AICS magazines in the rifle, increasing capacity from the factory's five-shot option. While MDT doesn't offer a magazine specifically for the 7.62x39, their 6 ARC magazine should work fine. However, MDT staff warned me they've had no luck in getting any of their magazines to work reliably with the little Russian round, the problem being too much taper in the case body for the cartridges to stack correctly in a straight-line magazine like the AI pattern. Undeterred, I decided to modify an existing magazine to work with the 7.62x39.

Installing the TIMBR CORE stock was simple; however, the rear action screw is hidden under the magazine release, so it must be removed and reinstalled every time the action is removed. It's an inconvenience, but it's worth using the AI magazines and taking advantage of the aluminum bedding this stock features. While things were disassembled, I added a Timney trigger, which also gave the rifle a serious upgrade. And I'd already added a blast can to that stubby barrel, simply to increase shooter comfort. Yes, I'd love to add a suppressor, but they are illegal in my jurisdiction, so no joy there.

My efforts to get the 6 ARC magazine to feed the Russian round reliably proved that the MDT staff were completely correct. Reliability was awful, as the rounds kept nose-diving into the magazine box, jamming things up effectively. A look at the internals of the polymer 6 ARC magazine I was using showed a significant gap in the front portion of the magazine box, an area the leaf spring powering the follower doesn't occupy. A long coil spring placed in this gap should help keep the forward tip of the follower from nose-diving, and I quickly found a suitable candidate in my parts box.

Installing it showed promise, but the coil spring seemed to be kinking under load, so I fabricated a brass guide rod to fit inside the spring. The good news is that it worked well, giving me reliable feeding, but the bad news is that it reduced magazine capacity to six. Still, that's one more than the factory magazine, making this a small gain. At least there's no alteration to the original magazine, so I haven't "ruined" anything. I took this limited win and moved on to shooting the modified rifle, hoping that MDT would one day design a dedicated magazine for the Russian round and fill a gap in the marketplace.

A new Primary Arms 1-8x LPVO sight with a calibrated reticle replaced the scope I'd been using, and a friend's suggestion to try Hodgdon's CFE BLK propellant in my handloads proved to be a valuable upgrade. Velocities with CFE BLK bumped significantly to 2477 fps, gaining 200 fps over my previous efforts. Testing for accuracy with three consecutive 5-shot groups revealed an average just under the 1 MOA mark.

Now, this cheap little rifle shoots and handles better than it has any right to, and it has become a favorite for hunting chores and range work. Those other five chamberings the Ranch Rifle is available in would be great candidates for a similar makeover. However, check with MDT to ensure magazine compatibility for whatever cartridge you're looking at, and then proceed from there.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Al Voth calls himself a "student of the gun." Retired from a 35-year career in law enforcement, including nine years on an Emergency Response Team, he now works as an editor, freelance writer, and photographer, in addition to keeping active as a consultant in the field he most recently left behind—forensic firearm examination. He is a court-qualified expert in that forensic discipline, having worked in that capacity in three countries. These days, when he's not working, you'll likely find him hunting varmints and predators (the 4-legged variety)