(Grendel) Horde Please Help Me; For I bought a Ruger!

[Happy2Shoot]

I bought the Ruger American Predator, not to be confused with the Bale American Psycho (joke).

The rifle is awful. I swear it got good reviews on here.

The bolt is is only roughly machined, no finishing pass, and no ceramic media tumble.

Running the bolt in the action, you can feel it hit and drag across every rough edge. Awful.

The stock comb is for too low for a scope, height is for iron sights only. Too bad it is does NOT have iron sights!

The rail will make the scope that much taller.

The stock is nothing more than safe packaging for the action while in transport.

So I gave the bolt body a hard rub with 600 grit sand paper and some oil. After 5 minutes, it is dramatically smoother to cycle the action.

Now I wish the bolt handle was checkered a little, for better grip.

Magpul is only 308 win mags, right?

Thinking about getting a Boyds Stock.

PRAIRIE HUNTER model

https://www.boydsgunstocks.com/product-configurator/prairie-hunter-ruger-acf-predator-ar-mag-sa-rh-act-3zb145h18zz

With the ALUMINUM PILLAR BEDDING FRONT & REAR

Any thoughts? Any reviews? Will the stock comb be high enough, or do I need an ADJUSTABLE COMB for an extra $60?

Thank you Hoard, you are my only hope.

[grayfox]

My take on the Ruger Predator (I had and have several, well 2 on hand now) maybe "good reviews" on here but I'd say a better description is "mixed."
Yes on the stock, all points.
Yes the bolt action is rough, my 2 do fine now that couple hundred rounds shot. 243 and 6 CM.

I sold the one in grendel, could not get reliable feeding from mags no matter what I did. Some 123's would feed ok but you had to cycle the bolt "smartly"... anyway I went to the howa, and have not looked back, bolt-action wise. (to be fair both require mods, but the howa I've got so it's working well). I could not get shorter rounds like the 90 tnt to feed at all.
The bolt handle can be swapped out for a longer, easier one to use, I did that on 1 of mine (the 6 creed) and love it. Follow the instructions carefully b/c the thingies about the handle and bolt mate-ups can be tricky. But do-able if you're patient, and worth it imo.
One I put in a timney and the other I just honed/smoothed down the trigger and both work well for me now, ~2.5#.

But the feeding from an AR mag.... ARRRRGHHHH!!!!!

I don't think there is any cure for that mag, jmho.

On the boyd's prairie, had that one too, a couple times. The stock-grip around the hand-hold (hand for your trigger finger), well feels kinda blocky to me and slick, so I tried using some tacky stuff on it, which helped some.
The comb will not be high enough for your scope. you will need to either do their adjustable comb or get a kydex, your choice.


Edit to add, never I repeat never get a boyd's in the plain black... always do a laminate. the black's are some kind of single-wood and soft, so bad news all around.

[LR1955]

A Ruger, eh?

You don't say....

When Ruger came out with their imitation of a prone rifle I took a look at one. Everything you just said about the Predator. I knew a guy who had one and shot it at a few 600 yard matches. Its performance was as poor as its fit, finish, and function.

I stay away from all Ruger rifles. Handguns? Nothing wrong with them from my experience but I just do not care for their style or ergonomics. Wonder why their rifles are made so poorly.

That said I would really like to see a straight pull Grendel. Savage is marketing a straight pull rifle in .308 and if they made a short action carbine straight pull in Grendel I would jump on it in a second.

LR-55

[s3silver]

Lol, did you blindly purchase it? I was on the verge on buying one for a good deal until I handled one and said no right away. Agree on all your points.

[Happy2Shoot]

Lol, did you blindly purchase it? I was on the verge on buying one for a good deal until I handled one and said no right away. Agree on all your points.

Lol, yeah...

I wanted a bolt Grendel. Howa had such negative reviews with cheap parts, and so did the CZ with poor accuracy.

Oh well.

[Happy2Shoot]

My take on the Ruger Predator (I had and have several, well 2 on hand now) maybe "good reviews" on here but I'd say a better description is "mixed."
Yes on the stock, all points.
Yes the bolt action is rough, my 2 do fine now that couple hundred rounds shot. 243 and 6 CM.

I sold the one in grendel, could not get reliable feeding from mags no matter what I did. Some 123's would feed ok but you had to cycle the bolt "smartly"... anyway I went to the howa, and have not looked back, bolt-action wise. (to be fair both require mods, but the howa I've got so it's working well). I could not get shorter rounds like the 90 tnt to feed at all.
The bolt handle can be swapped out for a longer, easier one to use, I did that on 1 of mine (the 6 creed) and love it. Follow the instructions carefully b/c the thingies about the handle and bolt mate-ups can be tricky. But do-able if you're patient, and worth it imo.
One I put in a timney and the other I just honed/smoothed down the trigger and both work well for me now, ~2.5#.

But the feeding from an AR mag.... ARRRRGHHHH!!!!!

I don't think there is any cure for that mag, jmho.

On the boyd's prairie, had that one too, a couple times. The stock-grip around the hand-hold (hand for your trigger finger), well feels kinda blocky to me and slick, so I tried using some tacky stuff on it, which helped some.
The comb will not be high enough for your scope. you will need to either do their adjustable comb or get a kydex, your choice.


Edit to add, never I repeat never get a boyd's in the plain black... always do a laminate. the black's are some kind of single-wood and soft, so bad news all around.

My unit seems to feed OK now.

Thanks for telling me I need the adjustable comb$

I'll add on the laser checkering$

Nutmeg laminate is the standard stock. Is that OK?

[grayfox]

The only workable bolt action that does not have "cheap parts" (and no real argument there), is I think, a uintah upper.
The howa I got was a barreled action so didn't worry much about the stock etc.

All this being said, howa at least can be made into a good shooter with good stuff. Needs a stock, chassis, either bottom metal or the mdt style, the mags are quite functional unless you are going into battle or do particularly rough service... what you're really doing is going for the action and barrel, then add the rest. FWIW for those 123's in the RAP, I did get them to shoot pretty well for me... just too much headaches for anything else and I don't want to limit myself to just one bullet.

[grayfox]

on the stock, I do like that nutmeg laminate, nice color.

[Kosh65]

[Happy2Shoot]

Does look good, thanks!

[s3silver]

Lol, yeah...

I wanted a bolt Grendel. Howa had such negative reviews with cheap parts, and so did the CZ with poor accuracy.

Oh well.

I think they all have something that needs improving, so take your pick.

[Lemonaid]

I like the Ruger RAP. I have three, one in 6.5 grendel, one in 6ppc (1-7 twist shilen barrel) and one in .223. All are exceptionally accurate. For better feeding from the grendel mags clipping one or two "links" from the mag spring helps quite a bit, knowing that the last round feeding from the mag is the problem, smartly working the bolt on the last round mostly fixed it for me. You can get fine accuracy with the factory stock even though it feels spongy or you can fill the stock fore arm with bedding compound to help stiffen it. There are stock replacement options if the factory one is intolerable. I have posted accuracy results here on the forum if you want to look them up. I would say they are a good value for the money spent, you might like some of the other choices more but it will cost more as well.

[Harpoon1]

https://victorcompanyusa.com/titan-universal-cheekrest

[Happy2Shoot]

https://victorcompanyusa.com/titan-universal-cheekrest

Harpoon1 this looks like a solid option. Not having a cheek weld on a stock is a deal breaker. Your link could save me a ton of money and weight. Thank you! I have seen other ways of doing this but they looked flimsy or had big wheels/knobs. Have you used this product on a Ruger American Predator?

[grayfox]

Matthew's kydex.
I've used his a few times and recommend him.
'Course there could be others too. So you have 2 options to look at in cheek risers.