a couple of years ago when i decided to start this hunting journey,i spent a lot of time researching cartridges for spot and stalk hunting/shooting across canyons and clearcuts decent distances. i really focused on ballistics first and foremost having never owned a rifle, and something that could easily take deer,elk,bear,and any other big game species i may hunt in the future.
I eventually decided on a 7mm PRC, but the difficulty in this was the cartridge was still very new. I was taking a gamble in the cartridge sticking in popularity, and even then, would i be able to find ammo? at the time, my budget was also tight,and this made for a challenge in finding a rifle that was likely to be reliably accurate. after talking with a friend, he suggested either a tikka t3 or a ruger american as a good budget rifle that is accurate. at this time, the only one i could find in the cartridge was the ruger.
The rifle is a ruger american go wild edition, featuring a go wild camo stock,burnt bronze cerakote, picatinny rail, and a muzzle brake. the rifle isn't very appealing to me with the specific stock camo. however it does the job and shoots well.
Lets talk about some of the pros and cons of this rifle.
It's decently cost effective- at a price point of $650 at the time i purchased, it didn't terribly break the bank for a good big game rifle.
It's accurate. Ruger has a reputation for putting out accurate rifles, even their budget offerings. My rifle consistently shoots half inch 3 shot groups at 100yds, and im still a very novice shooter. hitting small targets between 300-500 yards has not been difficult. the gun is a lazer beam shooting factory ammo.
the full length picatinny rail is great and easy to have a riflescope mounted. without the headache of needing to buy a mount and mess with getting it placed.
factory muzzle brake/ threaded barrel - The muzzle brake helps with recoil. especially for a novice shooter like myself, 7mm PRC has quite a bit of recoil. the brake helps dampen that a decent bit. threaded barrel for any other muzzle devices you choose.
adjustable trigger- though it isn't perfect and you could definitely upgrade the trigger- mine gets down to around 3lbs.
magazine- a 3 round box magazine that is easy to insert and release. it has always reliably fed and easy to use. cant as for much more out of it.
Set up on a shooting table to zero.
No rifle is exactly perfect. some of these cons may be cartridge related instead of the rifle itself, but i certainly factor them in
Ammo cost- . shooting isnt cheap! but this cartridge is really not cheap
Ammo availability- 7mm PRC has come a long ways since i purchased my rifle. There are now several offerings of factory ammunition available. Hornady and federal are leading the pack with these- having a gun that is ammo picky could be a real con with this cartridge- my gun likes the 175gr hornady eld-x , so i haven't bothered to try others.however if your gun only likes one factory load of 7mm PRC and itr is hard to find, you could be out of luck.
velocity concerns- 7mm PRC was tested and developed using reloader 26 propelant, which really is impossible to find. so, hornady factory ammunition famously is not getting the 3,000FPS box velocity. however, it appears this is being achieved by other manufacturers.
Barrel length- this rifle has a 24 inch barrel, so its a bit on the long side for a suppressor if you plan to hunt suppressed.
the stock is pretty cheap and flimsy, and the paint rubs off very easy. i recommend a paint job if you own one of these (coming up in a future post)
safety- 2 position safety with no bolt lock, your bolt can easy open and close when moving around/hiking, which Ive experienced with this rifle.
overall with this rifle as a non over the top but a simple and functional gun- it has exceeded my expectations and has turned out to be a great tool for the job i ask it to do. shooting distance at big game critters. Since i purchased this rifle, ruger has released the ruger American gen 2, which has addressed some of the cons or concerns i have listed in this review.
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