The Ruger American Rimfire Compact is short, light and handy. Iron sight zero and accuracy were checked with three different loads.

The Ruger American Rifle series has been quite a hit out in the middle of America. At a range outing recently, I was discussing my current project with a gun club official and he told me of family members that had examples of the centerfire Ruger American rifle in a pair of calibers – and they were effusive in their praise of the design and execution of the new guns. I selected the Rimfire Compact because I'm more likely to shoot rimfire rifles for enjoyment and utility these days. The Compact was a hit with me due to the "real normal" length of pull – 12 ½" – with the possibility of getting the long length of pull stock modules (they're interchangeable) that are supplied with the Standard American Rimfire guns.

Ruger photo.

The barrel is short at 18" – I'd have been okay with a sixteen-inch barrel, but 18 will do. It's handy and quick. The gun sans optics weighs in at just under 5 1/2 pounds empty. The Rimfire American is supplied with iron sights – the front is a fiber-optic unit from Williams Gunsights. The smart move for Ruger would have been to match the rotary magazine from what may be the most popular .22 rifle in decades, the 10/22 – so they did. It was smart to avoid the tendency to have proprietary magazines for various guns in a product line. Integral bedding blocks in the synthetic composite stock and the Ruger Marksman adjustable trigger amount to gravy: neither were really required on a short utility rifle, but they can't hurt. The safety is tang-mounted, as Jeff Quinn ofGunblast.com is known to say, "where God intended it." I couldn't agree more.

The rear sight has a sliding notch to adjust for elevation.

The threaded barrel – handy for a suppressor – has the standard ½" – 28 thread pattern and is covered with a thread protecting cap. This carbine cries out for use suppressed. The sad thing is the federal buffoonery known as the National Firearms Act of 1934. According to the factory, the bolt's arc of movement is 60°, keeping it clear of a rifle scope. Most people will saddle the light, handy, compact carbine with glass – and have good reasons for doing it. Speaking of rifle scopes, unless you want to use the old rimfire 3/8" scope base arrangement, you will need to buy bases. The 3/8" rimfire scope base is machined into the receiver but it's also drilled and tapped for Weaver #12 bases. You have to buy the Weaver #12 bases – and you need a pair of them. Don't think that by ordering one up, you're good to go. The Ruger American Rimfire user manual is very clear, but you need to follow the directions precisely. I wasn't going to mount an optic until I shot the rifle. I took it to the range with a small assortment of .22 LR ammo ("small assortments" of rimfire ammo are order of the day in the current 'paradise' in which we find ourselves). Using a small rest, designed for a handgun, I made an effort to get on paper at fifty yards.

The first five rounds went into a vertical group just over a foot low from the center of the target. It's less than 2", with a called flier, from 50 yards.

Following instructions – something I ignored with the Ruger 10/22 which has identical iron sights – I buried the front sight in the rear notch. There's a notch in the sliding blade and it was situated ¾ of the way up the rear sight unit from the factory. I found the group was vertical, but printed just over a foot low. The second five were fired using the front sight top equal with the top of the rear sight unit. Still low, it was closer to zero. The first five out of the gun fell into just under two-inches with a called flier – from a new gun, never fired outside the factory by someone who isn't much of a rifle shooter. The trigger was only a little firm but very clean. It definitely made life easier. My aging eyes with the standard sights made a mess of things. As I tried different loads – I found elevation differences. At this early trip, Remington 22 Thunderbolt seemed to be favored by the Ruger carbine but shot the lowest. Federal Champion 40 grain was less accurate, followed by Federal American Eagle. This is fairly typical of guns chambered for .22 LR: they seem to favor one or two loads over all others. For this particular gun, Thunderbolt was the early leader. At this writing, the Ruger American Rimfire Compact has an MSRP of less than $370, a light price for the performance. It uses the very common and easy to find Ruger 10/22 magazine. Still need a light utility rifle but more power than .22 LR can provide? No sweat, the Ruger American Rimfire Compact is also available in .22 WMR and .17 HMR. While you look at the Ruger website, I'll be mounting a nice rimfire rifle optic and rechecking the accuracy while using a 'visual aide' – and will report back later. -- Rich Grassi