Ruger American .22 rifle on the way

[FergusonTO35]

Hit a few little snags with the rifle this weekend. I ordered a Williams FP-GR for the American, same as I have on the Henry. The receiver is grooved for tip off mounts, however the rear groove isn't cut forward enough from the factory to allow bolt handle clearance. I took a swiss file and carefully extended the grooves forward so the sight could mount forward a bit more. That done, the FP-GR mounts up perfectly.

Took it out shooting and the front sight is a wee bit too short. With the elevation bottomed out, I am still hitting about 2" high at 50 yards. I really do like the fiber optic front, and Williams makes this type in their Firesights line. Turns out Williams has a front and rear set for this rifle consisting of a WGRS rear sight and front ramp/Firesight unit. The Williams front ramp does look taller than the original, and the WGRS rear looks to sit a bit higher than the FP-GR does. The set was only $32.00 so I went ahead and ordered it. If the new Williams front is about .050 higher than the OEM sight that would be about perfect.

 

[srb08]

Hit a few little snags with the rifle this weekend. I ordered a Williams FP-GR for the American, same as I have on the Henry. The receiver is grooved for tip off mounts, however the rear groove isn't cut forward enough from the factory to allow bolt handle clearance. I took a swiss file and carefully extended the grooves forward so the sight could mount forward a bit more. That done, the FP-GR mounts up perfectly.

Took it out shooting and the front sight is a wee bit too short. With the elevation bottomed out, I am still hitting about 2" high at 50 yards. I really do like the fiber optic front, and Williams makes this type in their Firesights line. Turns out Williams has a front and rear set for this rifle consisting of a WGRS rear sight and front ramp/Firesight unit. The Williams front ramp does look taller than the original, and the WGRS rear looks to sit a bit higher than the FP-GR does. The set was only $32.00 so I went ahead and ordered it. If the new Williams front is about .050 higher than the OEM sight that would be about perfect.

Sounds like it's coming together nicely!

 

[FergusonTO35]

Yes, it seems to be. Would you know if Lyman makes the OEM rear sight for Ruger .22 rifles? I have an aperture blade that fits my original perfectly, however it needs a taller rear sight to work with the OEM front. Lyman makes one that looks really close and is taller, the 16C.

 

[srb08]

Yes, it seems to be. Would you know if Lyman makes the OEM rear sight for Ruger .22 rifles? I have an aperture blade that fits my original perfectly, however it needs a taller rear sight to work with the OEM front. Lyman makes one that looks really close and is taller, the 16C.

Sorry, I don't know.
The Lyman is for a 3/8" dovetail, so if the rifle has a standard 3/8" dovetail, it should work.

 

[FergusonTO35]

Thanks.

 

[FergusonTO35]

Ok, the new front sight showed up and I put it on. To my eyes, it looks to be around .035 taller than the original. Took the rifle out today and the new sight was exactly what I needed. With Thunderduds it was doing about 1.5" at 50 yards off the bipod, which is as good as my Henry.

 

[srb08]

Ok, the new front sight showed up and I put it on. To my eyes, it looks to be around .035 taller than the original. Took the rifle out today and the new sight was exactly what I needed. With Thunderduds it was doing about 1.5" at 50 yards off the bipod, which is as good as my Henry.

1.5" at 50 yds with open sights and cheap ammo, is pretty damn good!

 

[FergusonTO35]

Thanks bro. I picked up some high velocity Winchester Power Points today, look forward to seeing how they do. I've tried the 1435 fps hyper velocity version and the Browning BPR twin and they shoot pretty good, I imagine the 1280 fps high velocity version would do even better accuracy wise. I'm a big fan of the 40 grain Power Point bullet, it hits pretty hard. It has a blunt nose with a very shallow hollow point cavity.

 

[srb08]

Thanks bro. I picked up some high velocity Winchester Power Points today, look forward to seeing how they do. I've tried the 1435 fps hyper velocity version and the Browning BPR twin and they shoot pretty good, I imagine the 1280 fps high velocity version would do even better accuracy wise. I'm a big fan of the 40 grain Power Point bullet, it hits pretty hard. It has a blunt nose with a very shallow hollow point cavity.

I've read good things about the Winchester Power Points. A lot of people swear by them.

 

[FergusonTO35]

I'm a big fan of flat point lead bullets, which is basically what the Power Point is. I doubt the shallow hollow point does much in the way of expansion. W-W seems to put more care in their manufacture too. Every box is very consistent in my experience.

 

[srb08]

I'm a big fan of flat point lead bullets, which is basically what the Power Point is. I doubt the shallow hollow point does much in the way of expansion. W-W seems to put more care in their manufacture too. Every box is very consistent in my experience.

If you ever want to experiment with different types of ammo, nose configurations or hp depths, look into one of these.
This is a die from Neal Waltz, that allows you to make standard RN bullets into a hollow point or flat point configuration. The size and depth of the hollow point is variable, as is the diameter of the flat point. During the nose reconfiguration the bullet is sized to .225.
This die isn't the only game in town. Paco Kelly makes one of brass that allows you to vary the the bullet diameter as well as nose configuration. It works like a Lee loading tool and requires you to hit the top punch with a mallet.
Below are some photos of the Waltz die and what it does.

Die, shell holder and top punches.

L-R.
Unaltered CCI standard velocity RN.
Small shallow HP
Large deep HP
Flat nose



I have several bolt action .22's that shoot well with standard velocity, mid grade, match ammo from various manufacturers. This die allows me to turn that ammo into effective hunting ammo. The large HP expands well at the lower velocity.
The flat point, while touted for accuracy, is also very effective on small game and produces a distinctive "THWACK" when it hits.
I haven't turned any ultra high velocity HP rounds into flat points but suspect the results would be impressive.

 

[FergusonTO35]

Sweet! Gonna have to get me some of those!

 

[alleyyooper]

I have a Ruger 77-22 LR shoots great and is/was good cheap practice for my Ruger 77 220 Swift and 77-243 rifles.
The 77-22 pretty much sits in the safe since the shortage of 22lr ammo made me go out and buy a 77 - 22hornet and down load the ammo to 22lr speeds.

Al