After a thorough cleaning and the installation of the parts
I got for it yesterday, I made it out to our range this afternoon and wrung out
my new Ruger Ranch Rifle.  All told I ran
88 rds of my 62grn .223 handloads through it with
operation as expected; no issues (8 is my lucky number). The rifle felt good on the shoulder as it should being a
scaled down version of my M1A.  Sighting
in at 50yds initially was uneventful as the Mini200 rear sight gave me a
good sight picture and the smaller aperture helped me see the front sight and
target more clearly.

Initial groups were 4-5” as I got used to it but after
10-15rds I settled down and the groups shrank down to the 2-3” before I
adjusted the sights to 1” high (for a zero at 200yds).  Now, with a whopping 20rds through it, I
moved the target back to 100yds and bore down trying for small groups and
checking zero.  After some fine tuning with the windage and elevation, my
groups settled in at 2” high (again where I want them for 200yd zero) and held
at 3” which I consider as good as I can shoot with my 67yr old eyes.  I didn’t see any evidence of flyers, however,
with open sights and my age, who knows but I’m very pleased with it’s
performance.  
The minor trigger stoning I did made for a decent trigger but it's still got a long second stage before it breaks so I'm considering a complete trigger workup when I have time.  I also noted that it beats the brass up a bit and the op rod right in front of the charging lever took a few hits from flying brass as they came screaming out. Just with those 88rds I noticed that the action is smoothing out a bit and I expect it to get better as we go forward.  Its no where near as smooth as my Springfield M1A's action is but I feel it will get better with time. Unsurprisingly, all five of my Ruger 20rd mags worked without issue so it feeds perfectly.

One complaint . . . . . . . . . sort of. Our range is connected to the aerospace company I retired from
and it’s a good thing because even with 2 Wilson buffers (fore and aft) I found
that I was launching the brass into the next county and some I’m certain had a
shot at a low earth orbit!!   I shoot full power loads and the hike to retrieve my brass
was quite a workout.   There is no
doubt that I’m getting some smaller gas system bushings and now I feel that the .045”
one may be the largest I try, not the middle.
Finally, I've got to say that I had a good time with this little rifle and I fully intend to keep it in the mix assuming I can get the brass launch velocities down to a normal rifle level.
Has anyone tried a
.040” bushing or possibly a .035” bushing yet? Did your rifle still cycle correctly?



ETA:  I found the Accuracy Systems $20 set and I think I'll give them a try.