[FyrepowrX]

Stopped by the local toy store on a whim to visit with the guys, they had just returned from SHOT show & I was curious if they had seen anything noteworthy.

Had to nose around in their racks, and handled a Go Wild .22LR. On sheer impulse, decided to adopt it. Not yet sure why, other than just because it was there. I had kind of been toying with the thought of the same one in .22Mag, but the LR was here in hand and the Magnum was not...so now i guess i definitely gotta get the .22mag as well.

Action feels OK, as does general ergonomics, and i'm liking the bronze finish too. Trigger pull totally sucks and would make a strong man cry, so i'm going to bust out my zip-lock big baggy of assorted springs to see what will smooth that up. Haven't dug up my pull gauge, but i'm guessing it at 6-8lbs.

did some glass scrounging and looked through the stash of "spare scopes in case something new arrives", and i had a Burris 2x7 with E1 reticle, so that got mounted in low rings.

Will post some updates on trigger fix, and some accuracy results when i get it on the bench.

 

[22lr_is_the_best]

That's slick lookin. No irons on that model?

 

[Boilerjack22]

Saw the sling, for about 2-3 seconds, it looked like a snake

 

[FyrepowrX]

That's slick lookin. No irons on that model?

nope, no irons on that one, would have liked that if it did...does have a threaded barrel though.

 

[Cowpokey]

Rifle looks good.

I don't know what you can "easily" do to improve the stock trigger. I have a Target (8366), factory trigger left a lot to be desired, so I put a Timney in it.

 

[TheGunNut]

Good looking gun! I like the color of the bolt/receiver/barrel

 

[wproct]

Nice looking Ruger!! I'll tell ya, for the money these are very nice rifles. I've had my standard 22 inch bbl RAR in .22 magnum for several years and love it. I went with a lighter trigger return spring and the resulting trigger pull is quite crisp and nice. Accuracy is quite acceptable for general hunting/varmint shooting. You're gonna enjoy it.

 

[FyrepowrX]

Found my pull gauge, as issued trigger was at 6lb 4oz. Its getting a spring job today.

 

[atlantafireman]

issued trigger was at 6lb 4oz.

Let us know the result of your spring job.

I put a ‘click pen’ spring in mine (#8334). I have several pen springs, and I selected one that gave a light release, while still having enough tension to push the trigger forward before sear release (re-engage the trigger safety). I save just about every spring, washer, bolt, nut, nail, etc. that I can.

 

[FyrepowrX]

I went digging for suitable springs , have a big ziplock bag that has a big pile of springs in it, and found the ones i have were either too fat, too skinny, too short, or just as heavy as what was in there... 500 springs in there, all of them wrong. Went on a scavenger spring hunt & took apart most of the ink pens at work till i found one that seemed promising and i made that one fit, after i clipped a couple of coils off it worked fine.

Pull weight is now about 3.5#, might have been able to go lighter but this one is adequate for now. Trigger still has a bit of take-up & feels a bit gritty, so may end up doing some polishing work, but even with that, it feels way better than it did at 6+ lbs.

also, noticed something interesting....in the various pics & videos online showing the trigger assembly, the set screw in front that is for pull weight adjustment...my trigger assembly had no screw. Threaded hole is there, but appears they never put a screw in it.

updates to follow with some accuracy reports when i get it out & work with it a bit.

 

[FyrepowrX]

Also, just a heads-up, for anyone interested...looks like the .22mag version (#8373) is back in circulation, and some popped up . I snagged one of those too, so in a week or so, will report on the .22mag as well.

The magnum was what i had really wanted from the start, so we'll see how the trigger & accuracy on that one goes when it arrives.

 

[wreckster84]

Tagged for accuracy results. My older RAR with OD green stock looks very similar and also wears the same Burris E1. Like the combo, trigger is just OK but is adjustable.

I also like the Go Wild camo and Burnt Bronze cerakote, have the bigger brother to it in .308.

 

[FyrepowrX]

Hauled a few shooting projects down to deer camp today, weather was beautiful, sunny, calm with almost no wind...pretty much all the things that didnt happen while squirrel season was open.

Target set at 40 yards, and after a quick zero i started with an assortment of varying .22LR, including both Subs and Hi-Vel stuff. Action was a bit stiff at first but smoothed up nicely within the first 50 rounds or so. After zeroing it, i plinked a bit at empty shotshells & cans & stuff to get the feel of the trigger, then shot some groups. Included in this go-round was:

Eley SSHP
RWS SSHP
PMC Moderator SSHP
CCI SSHP
W-W 45gr Super Suppressed 45gr SSHP
W-W Super-X SSHP (The silver box truncated cone subs...one of my favorites)
CCI SGB's
CCI Mini Mags
CCI Mini Mag segmented HP's
CCI Stingers
CCI Velocitors

Also had brought along some Meateater all copper 21gr HP's...but never did shoot any of those. The rifle functioned fine with no failures to feed, fire, or eject.

Overall, at 40 yards it gave some "ok" accuracy with a bunch of loads, meaning about dime sized groups, with most of the Sub-HP's, except it hated the 45gr WW black box heavies & those groups were 1.5-2" at 40 yards.
Groups with Mini-Mags, and W-W super-speed HP's were about the size of a quarter. Those segmented HP mini mags didnt shoot very well either, groups about 1.5" or so.

Already have a pile of rifles sighted with various Sub-HP's, so was pondering what other Hi-Vel HP's i might feed it that shot better, as i didnt bring along a few other options i have in the stash. On a whim i tried Stingers; wasn't expecting much as i don't ever recall having had Stingers come in first place for accuracy, but i had some in the box so gave it a whirl.

Turns out that the rifle DID like Stingers, so maybe the boxes of those i've been sitting on for ages will finally see some action.

In all, probably ran 150 round through it today. Liking it so far, and packed it around while i went out to retrieve trail cams i had left out since deer season. The trigger is still too heavy for my liking & i need to work on that some more...that will be the next project. A benchrest gun it aint, but i bought it as a truck gun that i cant strap on the 4-wheeler & haul around in case assorted skunks/armadillos/trash pandas/etc decide to show up when i'm running around on the farm.

Groups with "Stangers" (always one round that doesnt play nice & screws up a group!)

the handy-dandy deer camp bench: