36 3/8 long
6 lb 3.0 oz including 10 round magazine
Trigger Pull out of the box just a smidge over 3 lbs
Stock weight 1 lb 9 oz
Barreled action weight with bolt and action screws 4 lb 6.5 oz
Barrel and action without bolt/action screws 3 lb 10.5 oz
Bolt weight 11.5 oz
Action screws 0.5 oz
Magazine weight 3.0 oz (c-products xcl-r 10 rnd 7.62x39 pistol mag I previously ordered)
Scope rail length 6.0
Barrel contour medium
Rifle did not come with a magazine (Ive emailed seller about this, supposed to come 5 round pinned)
14 LOP (CZ 527 13 7/8)
Cycles 10 rounds with the c-products magazine no problem
Stock feels solid/dense, easily live with it as is, barrel channel is excellent and even
Action bedded into dual aluminum v-blocks and action screws were very snug from factory
Balance point naked carrying one handed in front of the magazine is close to neutral, slightly tips towards tail,
noticeable better than my 20 CZ Grendel
Overall it feels fantastic, I am well impressed with Ruger! Its better than I expected. Two thumbs to Ruger.
Thanks. I admit I'm not a huge Ruger fan though I've owned a couple of their .22s over the years. But no one else is offering this package; a compact bolt action that takes cheap and plentiful AR mags.
Please check back in with us after some range time.
Paul Peloquin
Did government credibility die of Covid or with Covid?
That would feel better than lugging around the Predator like I did a few daze last season. 22" barrel Predator with a Nikon Prostaff 6x18, epoxy filled barrel chamber, one pound of weight in the stock, a plastic cheek piece, 5 round magazine and a strap and I feel like I carried firewood all day. I probably don't want to know what it really weighs.
I have a leupold 6x36 (9.5 oz) and some weaver 1" lows (2.5 oz) on it and it sits 6 lb 15 oz. The scope height is great. I think one could save 2.5-3.0 oz by removing the factory rail and order up some Talley rings if one trying to do as light as possible, i'm not going that route with this one. Just want this one to go to work as simply as possible.
I'm already modding it. The recoil pad has a 1/4" thick contact patch floating on a suspension so to speak and i cut that off with a box cutter and rounded up the corners a bit. It opens things up to the hollow butt stock via a pattern of nice round holes about 3/8" two wide but i'm ok with that. I found the lop a touch long, recoil pad too squishy and sticky. This removed 1 oz from the weight, and now oal is 36 1/8" and the lop is 13 3/4". I'll be drilling a couple holes in the stock to take a frank proctor sling, one at front on side of nose of stock to run the string through, tie a knot that will live in the hollow under the barrel, then two through the top of the stock just in front of the recoil pad to run the paracord loop through.
I'm also going to have my machinest run a few picatinny slots into bottom side of the nose of the stock under the barrel for a streamlight tlr-8 (2.6 oz) so it can double up on defense capability (camp or home), similar to ruger pc9 fore stock, looks to be enough meat there to accomplish this.
The 6x36 was already at leupold custom for a cds-zl elevation turret, the perfect turret finally for the 1" tube scopes, which can dial up 14.8 moa in one revolution and has the button zero lock from the new vx5-6 scopes. If it does 2400 fps with the short barrel, 14.5 moa will get me to 550 yards at my elevation. Which will be ideal and totally efficient to the cartridge.
Total weights will be as follows.
6 lb 14 oz scoped rifle
2.6 oz light/laser
3.0 oz sling (estimated, stats show 2.4-4 oz)
6.5 oz for 10 rounds of ammo
7 lb 10 oz loaded and heading down the trail (smidge over 7 1/2 lbs all up)
picked up a Blue Force vickers unpadded 2 point sling. Removed the sling studs on stock, and then slotted the fore stock and butt stock to accept direct webbing through the stock install. Stock now weighs 1 lb 11.5 oz after all mods. Rifle is 7 lb 1 oz unloaded, 7 lb 7.7 oz with 10 rounds ready to go. Just missing the streamlight tlr-8 (2.6 oz) which is on order. My machinest will slot the tip of the fore stock to accept it's install. This rifle is short and handy enough to run a two point sling set up, even though i primarily hunt, this will lend well for carry front to back, easy to get into action quickly. Almost done, just need to finish break in, zero, collect drop data and order the cds-zl turret to match when done.
0-550 yard do all carbine at 7.6 lbs all up and 36" long.
05-23-2020, 04:22 PM (This post was last modified: 05-24-2020, 08:53 PM by biodsl.)
Stinky Coyote Wrote:0-550 yard do all carbine at 7.6 lbs all up and 36" long.
Thanks for bringing us along for the ride. I think you're on the right path.
Things have changed a lot since Jeff Cooper came up with his Scout Rifle concept. Most bolt actions had blind magazines so a forward scope mount allowed for quick single reloading. Peripheral vision is also less of an issue; we know have 1x scopes. Many bolt guns now have a box magazine. I'd argue that scopes are much more robust than 50 years ago and the need for back up sights is less of a consideration. You could carry a quick detach red dot of that's a concern. The weight and length is in keeping with Cooper's dimensions. Some would argue the Grendel might not be a powerful enough cartridge, we know it can kill a bull elk at 400 yards.
Yes, a fella could do a lot worst than this.
Paul Peloquin
Did government credibility die of Covid or with Covid?
Well said, i agree. I wanted to use a 45 degree offset bracket with a holosun 507c red dot also zero'd at 10 yards for the fast coyotes. The holosun also 2.6 oz and tiny, much like the AR set ups, just a quick tilt. This would be great for those coyotes that run in on your lap while calling but otherwise i've done really well with scopes even 4x at 30 yard coyotes. Having said that, i think if i could have squeezed the 45 degree bracket onto the rail somehow i might have added it, that will only be possible with a scope tube mount like the ade advanced optics 1" adapter, or to go with the chassis system which can use the tons of m-lok options to achieve goal. I just don't think i need all three options. The light/laser combo will do fine in defense situations so i have my 10 yard defense option covered, day or night. The 6x scope will do fine from 30 yards to 550 yards for my combined predator/big game use. This one may not qualify for the scout completely but it's my interpretation of a 'do all'. The only thing it doesn't do is have adjustable LOP to fit all size shooters, so it's adult only lop. The chassis build would offer that but then it will end up 9-10 lbs depending on options and then it fits smaller people but too heavy to make handy for them, tripod/bipod type stuff only. Also removed the quick easy handling for adults too. A similar build and then just order a 'compact' stock for when smaller shooters may shoot would be the right plan vs the chassis build imo. If life was more range less hunting then the chassis build likely just fine as you'll be on the bench or prone on bipods most of the time anyhow. This one will see plenty of miles carried so it needed to stay lightweight.
Doing a similar break-in as proof research recommends. 3 clean, 3 clean, 5 clean and done (11 shots). Ruger test shoots them in factory so not sure how many they do? I cleaned, shot 3, cleaned, today i shot 4, and cleaning before i'll do the last 5.
I chronographed todays shots average at 2395 fps with hornady black at 17 degrees C. I was guessing this would be a 2400 fps rig, hopefully pics up a little speed as it gets to the 100 round mark.
Also cut 2 coils off the trigger spring, that is such an easy job btw. It dropped to 2 1/4 lbs exactly but i found it a little too light, so i put some tension back on it to bring up to 2 5/8' and that's as light as i'd want to go, bit of creep in this trigger but shouldn't hamper my ability to shoot good groups when setting it up.
Well, shot it to 500 yards today to get it's drop data and see if it can shoot at distance. All development is done, from break-in, chrony work, drop data collection. All told about 65 rounds on barrel outside of what Hornady put through it before it left the factory. Here goes...
Initial Impressions & Measures:
36 3/8 long
6 lb 3.0 oz including 10 round magazine
Trigger Pull out of the box just a smidge over 3 lbs
Stock weight 1 lb 9 oz
Barreled action weight with bolt and action screws 4 lb 6.5 oz
Barrel and action without bolt/action screws 3 lb 10.5 oz
Bolt weight 11.5 oz
Action screws 0.5 oz
Magazine weight 3.0 oz (c-products xcl-r 10 rnd pistol mag I previously ordered)
Scope rail length 6.0
Barrel contour medium
Rifle did not come with a magazine (Ive emailed Clay about this) He had to send them off to get pinned, it's apparently on way.
14 LOP (CZ 527 13 7/8)
Cycles 10 rounds with the c-products magazine no problem
You can cycle it with safety on
Stock feels solid, barrel channel clearance great and even
Action bedded into dual aluminum v-blocks and action screws were very tight from factory
Balance point naked carrying one handed in front of the magazine is close to neutral, slightly tips towards tail, noticeable better than my 20 CZ
Did a variation of the Proof Research break-in (shoot 3 clean, repeat, shoot 5 clean and done) I did 3,4&5. Cleaned up quicker than i was expecting from a factory barrel, not as quick as the Proof Barrel i did before this but somewhere between it and typical factory barrels i've done in the past.
June 2, 2020, first on paper, for 200 yard zero and group checks. First 2 shots at 200 from bore sighting, were almost in the same hole, what a start. Took a few singles to bring into center of target and tracked in very easy. Then first two 3-shot groups shot, one right at moa and the other just over ½ moa (factory hornady black ammo). Then chrony work, 10-shot string averaged 2386 fps. The 4 shot string I took previously averaged the exact same so not quite at 2400 fps but maybe in time? (apparently 100-150 rounds to see peak speeds) Likely closing in on 45 rounds on barrel. Conditions 21 degree c, 29% humidity, 1006 in/hg and 23 km/h winds gusting. I shot into the wind, I know myself and the gun can do better, feels like ¾ moa wont be a problem in good conditions. Next shoot to collect drop data to 500 so a turret can be ordered up. Nearly done, very happy.
June 6, 2020, 500 yard drop data collected and converted. On this scope the cds-zl turret adds 1.2 moa per 4 clicks instead of 1. Bonus! As it gets me another 50 yards in dial up, they say 14.8 moa dial up capable on cds-zl turret, well 600 yards now comes at 13.5 moa and 625 at 14.58, so should see 50 yard markings from 250 to 600 yards no prob and still dial right to 625, further to this a just a touch under 1600 fps lands right at 600 yards also(efficiency maxed).
Last two shots at 500 yards were 2.5-2.75 apart, I felt very good about both, they were on a clean target, no other shots taken. I knew Id ruin the group by not pulling a 3rd shot as perfectly as those two so I didnt take a 3rd shot. All evidence to this point shows its just a bit over ½ moa potential and there it did it again at 500 yards. Always end a day on a high note. It mirrored my better groups from previous 200 yard day.
Now, i've also taken the trigger spring out and cut a couple coils off which brought it down to 2.5 lbs but found it too light, used the little allan adjustment screw to bring it back up to 2 3/4 lbs.
Now, here's for the downsides, and maybe a bit nitpicky.
1. Bolt doesn't lock down on safety, you can unload it on safe. This is a pro/con to people. I'd probably prefer the bolt locked down on safe, not a huge deal.
2. The trigger has creep. If you play with it at home, or i'm sure on the bench squeaking out the best groups you can you'll notice it. I did not notice it shooting the drop data etc. today. So for real world not much of an issue imo.
Something else to note:
On the 200 yard paper day...i shot my 20" howa and 20 1/4" cz grendel same day. Chronied all 3 and checked some accuracy etc.
A major bonus is the Ruger handles the recoil the best, it's the lightest hitter even though with ammo it's about 7.5 lbs and same as the CZ. The CZ has the sharpest recoil. The Howa in the middle and whats cool about that is the Howa is 6.75 lbs scoped with its 5 rounds of ammo(3.25 oz per 5 rounds of ammo) (custom in milled out mdt chassis build). The average velocity of the CZ is 2529 fps now with 20 1/4" barrel(Original 23 5/8" barrel it did 2552 fps, so only lost 23 fps), the Howa does 2503 fps and the Ruger 2386. So maybe felt recoil is directly related to the velocity of these 3? hmmm Accuracy wise the Howa is a rock star, it's half moa or less easily, hunting or paper, just incredible really, one of the most accurate rigs i've ever had. The cz for me puts out a few 1/2 moa-ish groups out but probably 75% more groups around the moa mark. The Ruger is doing 50/50 on the 1/2moa/1moa groups so it feels more accurate than the CZ. I'll take it.
All shooting done with factory hornady black 123gr eld-m ammo.
Anyway, this little Ruger is pretty handy little carbine. I'm quite pleased with it's performance and handling.
I topped the Ruger with a Leupold fxII 6x36 wide duplex that went to Korth for a cds-zl elevation turret, went there at 9.5 oz and came back at 9.5 oz (new turrets this year, 1" zero lock, one revolution). As i discovered putting a target turret on a fixed 4x leupold before, the moa count is not as the scopes come...ie; 1/4 moa per click. I should have been 11.5 moa to 500 from 200 yard zero but in this case with the RAR Grendel and the 6x36...i got to 500 with 9.5 moa(in clicks) i got 1.2 moa per 4 clicks instead of 1moa. Which turned out to be a bonus as i'll get another 50 yards out of a revolution, gets me to 625 yards in the 14.8 moa of adjustment these cds-zl's will allow. Anyway, getting pretty technical and it took a little excel work to get it all converted but now have all the data to order up the turret i need for the elevations/temps i want.
Good to read this report, I have been thinking about picking up a Ruger Ranch for the wife. Not sure which we will go wth yet though.
On the CZ 527 rifles all that I own and have owned became more consistent shooters with Pillar and Glass bedding. My Grendel made before CZ would get off their butts and chamber for it started life as a 7.62X39 carbine. Finished rifle with a 3-9X40 Kahles scope loaded with sling weighs 7.3oz with the custom taper 22 inch fluted Obermeyer barrel
06-07-2020, 05:52 AM (This post was last modified: 06-07-2020, 06:07 AM by Stinky Coyote.)
Ya my cz is pillar and glass bedded, crowned. I slick the action up with jb bore paste a few hundred times and polish feed lips of magazine also. Standard cz527 affair. Mine is currently wearing a Leupold fxII 4x33 and is 6 lb 15.5 oz. it was 7 lb 3.5 oz with Leupold Vx3i 3.5-10x40 cds. Mine is just under 40 long now. Usually rides with a 2.5 oz sling additional plus 3.25 oz of ammo equals 7 lb 5.25 oz as you head afield.(4x Leupold)
My ruger Ranch sits at 6 lb 14.5 oz just scoped rifle. Sling is 3.5 oz and 10 rounds is 6.5 oz for heading afield at 7 lb 8.5 oz.(6x Leupold)
Howa lightweight modified mdt lss chassis with mft blm butt stock, Talley rings and Leupold vx3i 3.5-10x40 cds is 6 lb 10.5 oz scoped. 2.5 oz sling and 5 rounds gets you to 7 lb 0.5 oz headed down the trail.
It sounds like a great gun SC. I know I played with my trigger to get it just a hair under 3.5 lb. My Predator also has a hint of creep but it's the weight of your rifle that makes me drool. I did weigh mine to compare to your Ranch Rifle.
It tips the scale at 8.8 lbs.
Magazine in but no shells loaded!
Nikon 6 x 18 x 40.
No sling.
Epoxy bedded the barrel channel and added a couple ounces of lead weight to off-set the epoxy. (With the 22" heavy barrel and epoxy, I had to balance it). I essentially turned it into a bench and field gun. It's very accurate but it isn't a deer rifle.
06-17-2020, 04:44 PM (This post was last modified: 06-20-2020, 04:00 PM by Edmo.)
Stinky Coyote, nice write up and review of Rugers baby Grendel...
Ive built several AR pattern guns in 6.5 Grendel and have become a fan of the caliber, especially for hunting whitetails. Last fall my son dropped a whitetail at approximately 100 yards with his 12 Grendel AR. He fired a single 123 grain Hornady SST and the deer dropped like it was hit by a bolt of lightning. When I saw the Ruger Ranch chambered in 6.5 Grendel sitting in my local dealers lineup, I almost sprained my arm reaching for my wallet.
I topped mine with a Leupold 2-7 power scope with the Fire Dot illuminated center of the crosshairs. The reticle lines in this scope are a bit thicker than I like for a long range scope, however the dot allows me to take a shot in the dark woods at the end of legal shooting. Additionally, the 2 power is perfect for an in-the-woods short range shot and at 7 power I can make good hits out past any distance this rifle might see.
This is a short and handy rifle! Ive put a flash hider/suppressor host on the nose to allow me to quickly twist on a SilencerCo Omega 300 can. The suppressor muffles the Grendel round to where it sounds like an unsuppressed 22LR fired from a rifle. Easily hearing safe.
My complaints are similar to SCs. First, I am accustomed to having the ability to lock the bolt. This feature becomes a plus when moving through brush which can snag and inadvertently open your action. I assume the simplicity of the rifles action precludes adding this feature without prohibitively increasing cost.
Second, I find the butt-pad is too sticky and can prematurely grab clothing before I have it properly positioned on my shoulder. Although the Grendel doesnt have recoil requiring such a robust pad, they likely designed it to soak up the thump of another Ranch caliber, the 450 Bushmaster. On that, will any of Rugers other butt-pads fit the Ranch stock with a less sticky material? When I say fit I mean it will screw on without any fitting.
Overall, this little rifle will compete for my favor when I reach for a deer rifle this fall. Currently my other Grendel choice is an 18 AR with a 1-8 Trijicon LPVO. Both are more than enough gun for whitetails in my area; Both are handy and quick to point; Both have clear glass suitably powered for in-the-woods short range and any longer range shots I might take; And both are set up to accept my suppressor.
I think the short little Ranch Rifle will be my choice.
06-19-2020, 11:34 AM (This post was last modified: 06-19-2020, 11:36 AM by Stinky Coyote.)
Great notes, thanks guys. One thing for sure is its so easy to add weight to rifles with the scope and rings choices. Reason Ive been a fan of Leupold and Talley for so long, in this case weaver lows are same 2.5 oz as a set of Talley rings. And its easy to find great glass from 1/2 to 1 lb from Leupold. I personally like to scope a rifle including rings for 1 lb or less.
As for the recoil pad. I have made mods. If anyone has Instagram find pics and write up @gladiatoryyc. I used a box cutter and cut the full 1/4 rubber pad off, well just that solid layer that rests up against your shoulder, the back half remains, the layer I cut off floats on a suspension of sorts, it opened 8 good size holes into the hollow butt stock. Ive filled the stock expanding foam and used a thin wider weatherstrip cut to fit under the recoil pad and compress the expanding foam somewhat as the recoil pad is reinstalled. There are some holes that open up to the inside of the stock when you cut that squishy tacky pad off and the hollow stock just became too noisy. Now its solid and quiet like wood. Im not afraid of taking these sorts of mods on my own so its not for everyone. Ruger could take a lesson from cz on what recoil pad for these should be.
Agreed, I dont post on forums, if it cant just come off my phone easy peasy. Mine looks great with the low weavers and a compact fixed 6x36. I also slotted it at forearm tip and top of rear butt stock to accept directly webbing a blue force vickers 2-point sling through the slots. But you have to go to Instagram @gladiatoryyc to see mine. The page is mostly my Jeep gladiator on 37s but a few posts down youll see my RAR Grendel.
