Well I finally bought one after much debate.  It was on sale at the local Cabela's for $349.99, figured I couldn't pass up on that price since it's lower than our discount there.  What should I expect out of this thing?  Any normal problems popping up?  I'll post pics when I get my Vortex scope for it

I got the same in 30-06 last year.  It's an excellent rifle.  Mine will clover-leaf group at 100 with my MatchKing handloads until the barrel gets hot then it starts to string a little, but that's to be expected with the thin barrel.

Ordered a Vortex Diamondback 4-12x40 today for it

I've been debating one for an elk rifle because it's so light. Wish they made them in 300 mag or 7mm mag.

A 6.25 pound 300 or 7MM magnum?  Ouch.  I like my magnums a bit on the heavy side.  I think my Ruger Hawkeye with a laminate stock that weighs about 8 pounds is perfect for .300 win mag.  I used to have a cheaper savage 110 with a light synthetic stock in 30-06, my hawkeye recoils less.

I'm a huge Ruger fan and at one point before my divorce, had a huge collection of Rugers. IMHO these American rifles are a poor replacement for the Hawkeye and a big mistake by Ruger. They're slowly whittling away their popular and well made Hawkeye line in favor of the much cheaper made American rifle. My LGS claims Ruger is really pushing the American and that the Hawkeye will be difficult to order and limited in the very near future. Don't know if that's gun shop BS, but I'm personally disappointed in the direction Ruger is headed. They've already eliminated left hand Hawkeyes.

Problems I've read about on individual specimens are:

(1) poorly made stock that is "warped" and has barrel clearance problems. A Dremel tool and 10 minutes of work will fix this, but why should you have to?

(2) spontaneous bolt dissassembly. I've only seen this written a few times, so this may be very isolated. Still concerning about recent Ruger Q.C.

Check around on the various Ruger forums and also professional reviews. There's a lot out there, some good and some bad. Most seem to like theirs for the price. Everyone has different expectations on quality. If it were me, I'd give serious consideration to the Tikka T3 and Weatherby.

I bought a ruger American in 30-06 last oct. and it has performed extremely well for me it shoots hornady 178gr bullets the best with my handloads it will do 1 moa at 100yrds
It has a tendency to open up after barrel warms up I usually wait 1 minute between shots and it does well.
Remember it is a hunting rifle not a long range target rifle the farthest I have shot is 200 yards.

I have one 308 and another in 223.  No complaints from me.  For a maybe 5 to 10 shot a year rifle, its intended purpose, and for about $350 out the door, they are a great option.  Much better than the Remington 710/770 offerings.

The M77s are still listed on the Ruger website, and I see them fairly regularly at various shops that I visit.  If a shop is telling you they can't get them, the guns are either off their production cycle, which makes specific guns harder to get at times, or the shops just don't want to invest that much money in a rifle that may sit on the shelves when they could sell five or ten Americans in the same time period.

That's a good possibility at many stores. This guy was saying he would have problems ordering anything but the most popular calibers. I'm pretty sure they've dropped some calibers out of their Hawkeye and Hawkeye African line. I seem to remember a .223 Hawkeye African for sure.

I wish the American was a top notch rifle, but the many reviews I've read claim different.

Yeah, after looking an American over, I agree that it is a cheesy replacement for the M77. The only advantage I could see was price. A good rifle should be quality and become part of the man who owns and hunts with it.

It isn't a M77 replacement.  It is targeting a different market.  Not everyone can afford a $700+ hunting rifle.

I won a .308 American Rifle in a raffle. Hammer forged barrel, syn. stock. It's a nice rifle. Four shots to zero my scope.
I haven't shot it more than that yet. I think with the quality barrel and the v-block bedding and the adjustable trigger,
 it's going to be an accurate shooter.