Ruger American Hunter 6.5 Creedmoor
TWO burgeoning trends among shooters in Australia - long-range target shooting and long-range hunting - were instigated by developments of our American counterparts and call for extreme precision at extreme ranges.
Bulletmakers have designed long aerodynamic bullets that retain their velocity to hold up better and lie closer to the wind over the long haul; ammomakers have designed more efficient cartridges; and riflemakers are producing rifles that shoot them more accurately.
Up until five years ago the market for such rifles was dominated by custom gunmakers who guaranteed extraordinary accuracy, but at prices that put them beyond the reach of the average rifleman. Some of the major manufacturers made abortive attempts to provide long-range rifles capable of precision, at least in the hunting field - but most of them were merely cobbled-up forms of existing models.
But in 2015 Ruger entered the field with its affordable Precision Rifle designed specifically for long-range sniper competition and precision hunting. More for tactical shooters than hunters, instead of being a re-purposed sporter it was a specialized precision rifle. Designed from the ground up it had a configurable stock, vertical grip, threaded muzzle and high capacity magazine.
It had features which included a configurable hinged stock, vertical grip, threaded muzzle and high-capacity magazine. Sturm, Ruger & Co. has been providing shooters on a budget with value-priced centrefire rifles ever since the introduction of the
