Chris Parkin is in the beautiful Welsh countryside, enjoying the weather with an equally enjoyable Ruger precision rifle in .338 Lapua.
Chris Parkin puts the Ruger Precision Rifle in .338 through its paces: We spent the day at WMS Firearms Training to test the rifle and see how it performs on the range at 1000 metres. Immediately, whilst zeroing off the turrets, it became clear that the bore sighting worked remarkably well, and the rifle was smooth and stable to use. One of the most impressive attributes of the rifle was its ability to manage recoil and muzzle jump. The Ruger Magnum muzzle brake compensated for any recoil whilst the in-line recoil path that runs directly from the receiver to the buttstock, rather than through a traditional bedding system, provided improved accuracy and performance. There was absolutely no muzzle flip or rise during the testing. The bolt operation was excellent, with an oversized handle for easy manipulation, and Ruger have used a 5/16”-24 thread pattern to ensure replacement is easy. A cold hammer forged barrel, at 26” has been finished in a very aesthetic Type III black hard-coat. With a pull range of 2.25 to 5 pounds, the Ruger Marksman Adjustable trigger functions well to ensure good performance. Out in the field, at a range of 1000m, the excellent functionality of the three-lug bolt was apparent. With a 70mm bolt handle, the long bolt pulls back into buffer zone in the stock and has three springs on its sides to keep it centralised and prevent it from stuttering as you load your ammunition into the chamber. Find out more about our range of Ruger Precision Rifles: It feels like and old school Mauser 98 railroad feel. During the set-up phase of testing, the advantages of the AR style stock the 338 Lapua came with became clear. Both the cheek piece and recoil pad can be easily adjusted simultaneously to maximise performance, and locks back into place securely without rattling when being shot.
For a 9kg rifle, including a scope and bipod, it was overall a very enjoyable gun to use and at £2,500 I am surprised by the level of quality. Perhaps it needs some slight modifications to be perfect across the board, but for a heavy rifle the Ruger Lapua 338 is well worth it.
