this pertains to the target model.

is the trigger group / housing on these polymer or metal?

I know they are using polymer on the 10/22 and wonder about if they are doing the same with the American Rimfire.

any owners out there that can answer this?

thanks.

It's metal but it is garbage.  Replaced mine with a Timney.

dang, I was afraid of that.

any comments on the rest of the rifle, quality wise?

thinking about getting the target model in 22 WMR and laminate stock.

It's metal but nothing to shake a stick at.  For a target gun you should upgrade the trigger.

I love my RAR Predator .22lr, I've been using it to drop pest birds lately, it doesn't dissapoint! The trigger seems great to me. It's NOTHING like a 10/22 factory trigger! It's a very short, crisp pull and can be adjusted fairly light from the factory. If you want lighter than that you can swap trigger return springs or remove it entirely to get a REALLY light, good-for-nothing-but-bench-shooting pull! I'm running a spring from a ballpoint pen right now to go just a little lighter than the adjustment would allow, while still being usable in the field.

Just my opinion but a trigger is about the last thing I would buy for this gun, unless they have gotten worse since I got mine a year or two ago, or mine is a fluke!  

sounds good.

my thoughts are that the 22 mag caliber with a Leupold rimfire scope would make a fine knock around / truck gun.

don't think I would need to embellish it any further...

Mine was gritty, seemed like miles of take up and the trigger itself moved side to side and just wasn't consistent. At all.  Same issue on the Ruger American 300 blkout I got.  Put a Timney trigger in both of them.  My rimfire wasn't a predator model, so that might be the difference, I don't know.  

Yeah that doesn't sound very good. On mine you have to really focus to even feel it move (after you get the safety blade depressed) before it goes off! It's impressed everyone that's tried it, hard to believe for a $200-$300 rimfire!

Mine breaks at 2.5# with no creep at all.  Good enough for my needs.  I tried pulling out the return spring but sub 12 ounce pulls are not for me.

I've had six of the RAR.  All the triggers have been fine on mine.  I have only shot them at 25 and 50 yards for zero and toying around, but one time when I was at the range, I let some guy shoot one of them chambered in 22mag.  He took it to the 100 yard line where other people had been shooting those orange clays with their ARs.  He was taking out the one inch or so fragments that were left over, with my rifle which was topped with a Nikon 3-9 rimfire.

I got to put a couple rounds through mine yesterday. It's a classic sorter type model (#8329). They may have put a bit extra care into it because of this.

I'd say the trigger breaks around 3lbs. You apply the pressure, and it breaks. Almost no travel. I'm very pleased with it, and will not be attempting to modify it in any way.

As far as overall quality of the rifle, IMO (price is influencing my quality expectations), it's excellent. The action fits nicely into the stock. It has a deep black finish that shines nicely with some oil on it. No tool marks, but it's also not super high polished (just good cuts on the mill/lathe).

The bolt fits in tight, locks down like fort knox, but isn't sticky or unreasonable to open/close. The bolt travel is not sloppy, but does have some grit, you can feel the machining grinding into itself. After about 50 bolt cycles and fresh oil, it smoothed out considerably.

The trigger is good to go. The safety is positive and easy to operate, yet stiff enough it will not get bumped off.

The wood of the stock seems high quality and is finished well. The "checkering" is enough to actually provide grip. The cut of the butt/comb is such that a normal sized guy can use iron sights or a medium mounted scope, without crushing his face or having a chin weld. The recoil pad is soft and grippy, it sticks well to your shirt. Plenty soft to keep it from damage if you set it down harshly. The inlet cuts are precise and even, the action mates up nicely, and the barrel free floats straight down the forearm.

The magazine insert/removal has softened up some, when I first got it, it was quite difficult to use. A couple minutes of fiddling broke the parts in and trained me on its use. FWIW I've never owned a 10/22 style magazine before this rifle, so that action is new to me.

It balances well, and is light enough for all day carry by a grown man. This model is not a youth size, it's definitely a grown up. Does not feel like a toy at all (like the base model plastic 10/22).

I'm not going to comment on accuracy yet, as I haven't fired it enough to get some fouling in the barrel, nor try various loads.

Overall, great rifle for the money.

The vortex diamondback 2-7x35 I got for it is quite nice for the $180. Seems like typical vortex low end. High quality to price ratio. Good glass, good finish, smooth movement across magnification range, positive clicks. The turrets, while capped, are easy to use as they have knurling and a screwdriver slot for adjustment. So you don't need a tool to adjust it.

It's a classic, traditional looking rifle. I think it's sexy. I put a usgi green parade sling on it to finish the job.

My RAR had a "OK" but nothing great trigger out of the box.

I then followed some advice from over on Rimfirecentral.com, and removed the trigger return spring. This take less than 5 minutes to do, and can be returned to original condition in the same amount of time.

This dropped my trigger pull to a nice, crisp 1.5lb pull. Basically, the blade safety spring then acts as the trigger return spring, so most of the pull weight is you pushing on the blade safety.

Since it was so easy to do, and not a permanent change, I figured why not. I'm very pleased with the results.

I've only shot it a few times with a old Redfield 6X scope I had on the shelf. I just mounted up a Nikon Prostaff 3x9 EFR scope on it, and will try to get some range time this week to see how that does.

From what I've read, these need a break in period to shoot their best, so we'll see about that. I bought this to be my suppressor host bolt action, so I'll see how it does with & without the Spectre II.

Take care,
Bob S.

So happy I got a good one from what you guys are saying.

Mine has to be around 3lbs and total movement is around a heavy 1/16". Less than 1/32" pull to break, and the rest in over travel that doesn't seem to have much of a hard stop.

Think that ruger may have put special care into mine because it's not a typical model? I doubt they'd really do more than just drop it in the different stock...

mine came in the other day.

thought i'd share a few observations.

the fit and finish is very good, the "bluing" is well done and even.

the trigger feels just right for me but the bolt needs to wear in some before it becomes smooth.

haven't shot it yet 'cause the post office lost my Leupold rimfire scope somewhere in their system.

if the HPA becomes a reality i'll put a suppressor on it just for shits and giggles.

all in all I'm pretty happy with it, now if I can just get used to the black, tan and greenish grey stock...

oh, and thanks for all your input guys.

If it's like mine, the bolt will smooth out a lot after about 200 rounds. The trigger pull didn't shorten, but it did smooth out (not much room to improve, really), and dropped 1/2lb probably.

My brother and I took turns blasting while the other loaded mags until we got bored and switched. Made it about 350 rounds into a brick of thunderturds before we shot other loads for accuracy.

Surprisingly the thunderturds didn't have a single failure to feed or fire! They grouped about 2" at 35 yards though...

It shot all loads as most others report. It loves CCI SV, putting those into a 1/2" hole at 35 yards. FED HV match did the best at 3/8". The quiets are literally "click--impact". Stupid quiet... not very accurate though.

Most generic loads were around 5/8".

Should have bought a CZ..........