As I was falling asleep last night, I was trying to remember all of the upgrades I did to the rifle. Of course, I bedded it. Then, I
Changed out the magazine from four to AICS and ten rounds.
Adjusted the stock trigger down.
Added a muzzle brake.
Ordered a suppressor.
Received the suppressor 14 months later.
Swapped out the trigger.
I forget.
Let’s see about photos during this process:
Then I went to Texas with some shooting buddies/budettes.
I was the only one to engage the 750 target out next to the big tree. First shot left edge. Adjust. 3 good ones. A buddy knew I could shoot ok, but didn’t know how much. He brought back this pic:
I went out today to see if my 5 year old rifle with over 3000 rounds through it was still functioning. I’ll show you tomorrow.
I remember seeing the first ads come out for the 6.5 Creedmoor round in about 2008. Usually second page on the right side of American Rifleman or other magazines – the best ad placement. I didn’t pay much attention as it did not seem to be anything I needed or wanted. It looked sort of funny with all that bullet exposed, compared to sensible rounds like 5.56.
But I kept noticing it over the years, and it gained in popularity. In the 20 teens I was reloading for 5.56, .243 Winchester and .223 Winchester Super Short Magnum (that was a real barn burner at over 4,000 fps muzzle velocity. Barrel burner, too.) When I decided to reach out very long distances, the 6.5 Creedmoor seemed like the way to go.
But pricing of those rifles was just out of reach. That is, until Ruger came along. The Predator was well under a grand, and it was getting great accuracy reviews. But it had a really crappy, flimsy plastic stock and a tiny 4-round magazine. Still, it had a rep for shooting straight.
When I took mine out of the box, the first thing I noticed was that the free-floated barrel wasn’t. The right side of the fore-end was right up against the barrel. Thus began the first of many fixes/improvements/upgrades. Sandpaper took care of the first. So, how did she shoot. First shots:
Two sighters, then three vertically. OK! We can work with this. Then a dining room table picture to show 1 MOA:
And I shot Federal Premium until I had enough brass to start reloading.
Now we are cooking.
Ooh! A quarter MOA.
And at 300 yards?
Yep, fairly accurate. Tomorrow, we’ll talk about upgrades. And then maybe some long distance shooting?
As part of my 2020 New Year’s resolution, I resolved to hit steel at 1,000 yards. At Christmas 2019, Santa brought me a Vortex Viper 6×24 second focal plane scope. That was go time to order a Ruger American Predator in 6.5 Creedmoor from my LGS. It showed up in February.
And that is where the glass is going to go.
Getting level (I now have a Wheeler tool that does this a lot better).
Yup. Still level.
Getting there.
Let’s add a bipod.
Looks pretty. I wonder how she’ll shoot?
Find out tomorrow in Part 2: The Hunt for Predator Precision!
KatNap Fever! 