The Ruger American: A Best-Selling Bolt-Action Rifle

When Ruger introduced its American bolt-action rifle to the public in 2012, it quickly became a favorite among enthusiasts. A budget-friendly option from a company with a well-deserved reputation for producing rugged and reliable firearms was key, but a large part of the reason it remained near or at the top in this category is because of the variety of models available. Today there’s bound to be a variant that will pique anyone’s interest.

There are two siblings in the American rifle family—centerfire and rimfire. There are nearly 20 different chamberings available in the former. The list already includes the .350 Legend and likely has grown by the time you read this. And there are seven variants, including the Standard, Predator, Ranch, Go Wild I-M Camo Brush, Hunter, Compact and the complete-with-scope Vortex Crossfire II Riflescope.

All feature a user-adjustable trigger shipped from the factory with let-off weights between 3 and 5 pounds. Each have a synthetic stock, one-piece three-lug bolt, patented Power Bedding, Picatinny rail on the receiver for effortless scope mounting and more.

The rimfire branch of this family has five different variants—Standard, Compact, Wood Stock, Target and Long-Range Target. Stainless models are also available.

Chamberings in this line include .22 LR, .22 WMR and .17 HMR. Ruger American rifles that digest the latter took third-place honors in volume of sales on GunBroker.com last year. It held the same position in 2018, up from 2017’s 4th place finish. Models in the same rimfire chambering claimed 6th in both 2016 and 2015.

The Ruger Precision Rifle may dominate the podium in bolt action rifles, but enthusiasts understand the same attention to detail that goes into it, spills generously into the less expensive American series. MSRP for the latter, in rimfire starts at only $359 and goes up to $599 for the priciest model—the Long-Range Target.