The second-to-last day of the gun season in Montana, I decided to hit a ranch I've had permission to hunt now for the past six or seven years. It's kind of the fail-safe and a good place to harvest whitetails. This was by no means the biggest buck I saw yesterday and definitely not something I would have burned a tag on had it been a week ago but with the season closing, I figured it was time to put one in the freezer.
Like I said, it wasn't the biggest deer I saw yesterday. Early in the morning, I watched a monster whitetail bed down with a doe a few yards on the wrong side of the fence. The doe was actually on some block management land so I decided to see how close I could get and maybe that buck would jump the fence. I was able to sneak within about 325 yards of that buck and he did jump the fence to where I could shoot him but at that distance, I really wanted to make sure I'd get a good shot with a good rest and it just never happened. I had him in the crosshairs a number of times but just never felt comfortable.
Later on, I glassed this guy bedded down with a doe and managed to put the sneak on him. In the tall grass, all I could see was his neck but with a good rest and feeling comfortable that he wasn't going to suddenly move, I squeezed one off at about 200 yards and he never moved.
I love shooting this American Ruger because it's deadly accurate. I actually shot a coyote yesterday at about 135 yards as well. The one problem I'm having though, is this gun's propensity to misfire. About 45 minutes after shooting the coyote, I was set up on this deer and squeezed and all I got was a click. I ejected the shell and racked another and that one went off and like I said, the deer never moved.
I've had that happen now with this gun four times since I bought it brand new and it's all been as I've been shooting at deer or antelope. I've changed ammo and I do clean my guns. Each time it happens, the primer on the cartridge has a tiny little nick on it but not the full dimple that you would normally see. I sent the gun in last year but Ruger wouldn't pay for the shipping because it was outside the warranty since it was over a year-old. The only reason I didn't send it in sooner was because I was told to really clean out the firing pin mechanism of any grease from shipping, (which they don't do anymore,) and try it again. Well, I didn't get another chance on an animal until the next year and when it happened again, it was too late for Ruger to pay to ship it back.
I did send it in and Ruger did replace the firing pin along with a couple other things with the trigger and I hoped that had fixed the problem. Well, it didn't and now every time I pull up on an animal I have to wonder if the shell is going to go off.
I don't normally bash products on this blog and to be honest, I love how accurate the gun is but this misfiring thing is a real bummer. I've talked to a number of people from gun shops and I'm literally the only person that I have heard of that's had a problem with the Ruger American. It has only happened while sneaking up on a deer or antelope when there has been a chambered round for more than a few minutes. It hasn't been terribly cold when it happens either. I guess I'll be on the phone with Ruger again for a while on Monday.
Keep 'em where they live..
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