Solid rifle for the cost! Can't beat the quality of a Ruger, and the recoil is extremely moderate! I recommend this to both new and experienced shooters alike!

I have been buying guns from Bud's for many year and generally happy with the purchases. However, this rifle totally shocked me, not in a good way. Here are several issues: 1. The bolt has so many sharp edges and metal fines that I have never seen in any new or used guns. I had to take it apart just to be sure there wasn't surprise for me. 2. Initially, the bolt can be pulled all the way to the back only at certain angle what really scared me. But, it eventually smoothed out after I pulled it back and forth a few hundred times and oiled it. 3. But, the abrasion marks left in the action and the bolt show me that Ruger hasn't done a good job producing this rifle at the first place. 4. The bore was a little dirty when I inspected it at FFL dealer yesterday. But, when I cleaned it I was totally blown away by the dirtiness. I had to run at least 10 cleaning patches with gun oil and still showing some back color. I gave up cleaning now. ha 4. The front end of the polymer stock still touched the barrel. Not free floating. I had to cut some materials with utility knife several times so that I can pass the $1 bill free float test. 5. The initial trigger pull was 4.5 lbs, but no matter how I adjusted it. according to the booklet, counterclockwise, or clockwise trying to get to 3.5 lbs, only got 5 lbs. After struggling 20 minutes I finally got it back to 4.5 lbs. I will have to take it as is until I have more time to work on it. In general, this inexpensive rifle needs your TLC before shooting. There is no free lunch. I will update my in a few weeks.

I was lucky enough to snag one on Buds even when availability was limited. So what do I think? It's not bad. The heavy (bull-like) barrel seems to add a bit more weight to it. It's a bit heavier than Ruger's regular American Rifle. It really limits the recoil. (Let's face it. .243 doesn't have much recoil anyway) It's a pleasure to shoot. When I shoot 100 grain deer loads it only feels like a 58 grain Varmint round. Overall, I'm satisfied. Just trying to figure out why this gun is so hard to get. Honestly, I could have settled for the regular version of Ruger's American in .243 and would have been just as happy and saved a few bucks. I suppose the option to have a suppressor on the end of the barrel is the reason why it's a few dollars more. It's not my thing but still, this is a cool rifle. Even better with my Redfield 3x9x52 Revenge scope.