Posted on 06/19/2009 4:30:52 AM PDT by marktwain
A few entries ago, you were promised that as soon as we got our hands on the latest new Ruger rifle, you’d hear back. Well, we muckled onto three or so of ‘em this past week, so here we go. As noted here earlier, the rifle is designated SR556, for Sturm, Ruger 5.56 millimeter. It takes standard AR15/M16 magazines, and comes with three of them, produced by Magpul, one of the best makers.
It’s the most “vendor-outsourced” firearm this company has ever assembled – really, pretty much everything but the barrel and barrel extension come from outside the factory – but it’s an AR15 clone, after all, and that’s the logical way to make one given the nature of the industry.
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Ruger’s switchover to “lean manufacturing” has changed the look of the factory dramatically in the last few years. SR556s were literally flowing off the production line.
But, enough of that: how does it SHOOT? The subtle feel of the mechanism as it cycles is different from your usual Stoner-type AR15, because the Ruger entry works of a piston design, specifically a proprietary two-piece piston. One of my fellow shooters said, “It feels like a whoosh, not a sproing.” That about describes it, even if it ain’t engineer terminology. My buddy Russ Lary threw a 6.5-20X variable power Leupold Tactical scope onto his T&E SR556, and cranked it all the way up. Twenty power magnification ain’t much for sophisticated bench rest shooters, but for us meat n’ potatoes riflemen, think “Hubble telescope with crosshairs.” At about 100 yards, he found sub-one-inch groups easy, with Match grade 69 grain and 77 grain loads from Black Hills Ammunition shooting the tightest.
(Excerpt) Read more at backwoodshome.com ...
You should see him in person - hysterical. Constant deadpan flow between amazingly insightful commentary and ROTFLOL jokes & colorful descriptions.
How "late" is later? Mine are from the 2001-2002 years.
You just have to remember to maintain it. There’s a reason the service manual is over 300 pages.
That is so nice. I have one and after having it refinished in grey it looks brand new. I just don’t have a good enough reason to drag it out of the toybox enough.
Love the gas piston design.
Had a Mini 14. Thing would shoot anything and go bang every time. Couldn’t hit a basket ball at 50 yards with it though.
Exactly. It’s too bad the barrel doesn’t warp so you can track a running coyote without changing the sights. I think my barrel always drooped downward.
Maybe I should have suicidal targets that get closer as I shoot?
Some of that inaccuracy was the fault of the owners. A new owner would swap out the wooden stock for something really cool looking and not realize the screws on the gas block could only be tightened to 14 INCH pounds. Not Foot pounds. The barrel would get sqeezed and goodby simply bad accuracy to something truly horrible.
*Bang ping*
Never checked that. It was a “stock” stock, but didn’t check the screws.
Sold it for a wedding ring, and then bought an AR!~
>>One problem - BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGclackPIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!<<
No problem - eight dead bad guys i what — 10 seconds. Reload in 10; eight more bad guys; repeat until there are no more bad guys.
Clean her up; run a couple of patches through the barrel; a light coat of oil; a couple of more patches. Time for a beer. Wait for a new batch of bad guys who want to die.
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