Posted on 05/15/2009 7:21:23 PM PDT by smokingfrog
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE: RGR) is pleased to introduce the new Ruger® SR-556 autoloading rifle – an innovative two-stage piston driven rifle. The SR-556 offers Ruger’s legendary rugged reliability, redefining the AR platform with piston driven performance. The piston driven SR-556 runs cleaner, cooler, and is easier to maintain than gas driven rifles, offering significantly improved reliability.
The patent pending two-stage piston driven operating system in the Ruger SR-556 provides a smooth power delivery stroke to the action and vents combustion residue out of the bottom of the gas block. The four-position adjustable gas regulator allows the operator to tune the rifle to specific ammunition and rifle conditions, minimizing recoil and maximizing reliability and long-term endurance. Reliability is further enhanced by a one-piece bolt carrier with an integral transfer key.
Designed for long-lasting accuracy, the heavy contour, 16-1/8” chrome lined barrel is cold hammer forged from Mil-Spec 41V45 Chrome-Moly-Vanadium Steel. The barrel has a 1:9 twist rate and is capped with an AC-556 flash suppressor. Chambered in 5.56mm NATO, the Ruger SR-556 also fires .223 Rem. ammunition.
A one-piece, ten-inch Troy Industries Quad Rail Handguard provides ample room for mounting sights, optics and accessories. Made exclusively for Ruger, this SR-556-specific handguard is pinned to the upper receiver and provides a rigid mount for the piston driven transfer rod.
The SR-556 is equipped with Troy Industries Folding BattleSights™. These rugged, high-quality sights co-witness with Mil-Spec optics, and are easily removed or replaced. The sights can be folded down with the push of a button, or quickly flipped up with your thumbs. The windage adjustable rear sight includes an instantly converted short and long range aperture, and the protected front sight is elevation adjustable.
The Ruger SR-556 is equipped with a six-position telescoping M4-style buttstock that houses a Mil-Spec buffer and spring. A Hogue® Monogrip® pistol grip and three Troy Industries Rail Covers provide a comfortable ergonomic hold when carrying or shooting.
Durability and performance of the SR-556 is enhanced with the use of high-performance finishes: The barrel and gas block are chrome lined, while the bolt, bolt carrier, and extractor are chrome plated. The piston driven transfer rod is electroless nickel/Teflon coated. The flash hider and the exterior of the barrel, gas block, and regulator are manganese phosphate coated. All aluminum parts are Mil-Spec hard coat anodized.
The SR-556 is supplied with three, thirty-round Magpul PMAG™ magazines. These lightweight magazines feature a storage/dust cover, a stainless steel spring, and a self-lubricating, anti-tilt follower.
The flat top upper receiver and barrel assembly is specific to the Ruger SR-556. The standard lower receiver is built with Mil-Spec components, including a single stage trigger. The lower receiver is compatible with AR-style magazines, grips, buttstocks, and fire control components.
The 7 lb., 15 oz. (without magazine) Ruger SR-556 autoloading rifle is shipped in a padded carry case that features the Ruger logo, hook-and-loop fasteners to stabilize the rifle within the case, and internal magazine pockets.
And you don’t suppose any power residue is on the bolt of a AK, M-14 or Garand?
I’ll give you an example. On a Super Match M-1A, the receiver can’t be taken out of the wood because of the glass bedding. Even so, the deposits collect on the piston, operating rod and inside the receiver/bolt.
Clean means clean. You’re still going to have to clean around the bolt and inside the receiver. The only reason AK’s get away with it is because of sloppy tolerances.
AK’s are fun but I have never seen one at a shooting match. I did see one guy who claimed he had an accurate AK. He was hitting at 300 yards and he impressed me. He also said he didn’t treat it like an ordinary AK. He cleaned it regularly and never rapid fired it.
The problems of the Mini are not because of .223/5.56. It’s because they made horrible barrels and copied the carbine design that can’t handle anything larger than .30 carbine.
Even so, for a truck gun, thousands of people bought them until they tried to shoot more than ten times at something. That’s why Ruger wasn’t all that excited about large magazines. The Mini was supposed to be a one shot coyote gun.
That’s what you get for putting a bunch of stuff on the end of a barrel without supporting that barrel.
You might be thinking of the Mini-30 where there is a difference between American .308 bullets and Chinese .311.
The Mini 14 is chambered for .223 rounds. The 5.56 round is loaded different. I like the mini 14 other than that. It isnt a laser beam, but it will do the job.
If I was cash heavy, I would buy a Valmet .308 rifle I saw a long time ago. Back then it went for 1200.00, and that was back in the day when that was a lot of money. Or a really loaded Springfield M1A1.
It was more of a joke about their Mini-14, really.
And since the Sturm, Ruger board of directors does not seem to have changed since then, and it was a lot more recent than thirty years ago (more like fifteen), yeah, I’m going to blame them.
They did, however, screw up the barrel on this one. And it’s a press release, not a real article.
Let the recalls begin...
I swear I’m gonna duct tape the Orvis to an AR and catch a trout with it.
I didn’t read the press release. I read the gun report someone posted which gives great accuracy with various factory loads.
I find it odd when gunowners blame American Companies for saving their business while buying Red Chinese products.
i NEVER said it doesn't get into everything... i said it doesn't dump DIRECTLY onto/into the bolt... you still have to clean everything and the ejected rounds dump junk in the receiver tooo like i said, vindication is the fact he got rid of the gas tube on the AR-18
i never shoot my SKS or AK over 250yds, over that i use my M1-A or Mauser as i don't believe the SKS/AK were ever intended to be accurate past 100yds anyway.
If you’re not happy with an AR, I can tell you will never be happy with a loaded M-1A.
I’ll give you a hint. The service manual for the Garand/M-1A series is about an inch thick. The manual for the AR series mostly covers reloading and locking the front sight with a set screw.
I don’t know about a Valmet but I do have a FN-FAL that just doesn’t quite fit me but magazines were at throw away prices. I bought as much as I could at eight dollars used.
p.s. in post #57, when i said "clean" i meant the GasSystem was clean not the rest of the rifle... if i gave any other impression it wasn't not my intent.
The only rifle I didnt really like was the SKS. I found the AR types not bad to shoot, but a little different. I would love to have a M1 Carbine and should have bought one when they were dirt cheap.
Ah, to have a time machine....
I know, especially about the conversion kits. My post was kind of tongue in cheek. I meant it, but it was kind of humor as well.
I bought my carbine from the CMP last year and it would have been better if the ammo prices were a steal. It’s not a bad little rifle but I do have a problem with pistols that try to be rifles and rifles that try to be pistols. I was hoping my daughter in law would love shooting it but she hates rifles. She doesn’t even mind hard hittiing revolver and pistols.
We took it out to try it and it’s never been shot again.
Its' competition is other ARs with piston-type gas systems; as such it's not priced all that high. I'd probably prefer a PTR by Para-USA because it has a telescoping *and* folding buttstock, but it's a bit pricier than the Ruger.
I find it really interesting that Ruger finally realized that an AR pattern rifle wouldn't hurt it's Mini-14 sales, but only bring in more money. Even more interesting that so many "big-name" gunmakers are cranking out AR clones.
If you set it side by side with a bushmaster, can you swap uppers?
I was just looking at the pics and video in this rifle on the Guns & Ammo website. In the video, the Ruger rep says the upper is propriety, but the lower is "standard AR".
At first glance, I'd say this upper uses standard (non-Colt) pin diameters. Of course the upper is proprietary; all of the variations on the gas piston conversion have subtle differences, usually including the way the bolt carrier is machined to accept the piston rod. Oh, and Ruger's version has the company logo on the side of the bolt carrier, right smack in the center of the ejection port.
They molded the Ruger logo into the side of the buttstock, too. I wonder if they left room for Ruger's infamous Legal Disclaimer and Warnings rollmark? ;-)
Seriously, it's a nice-looking rifle. It has about $500 worth of Troy Industries parts (rails, folding sights) in that price, too. Now, let's see if it can shoot.
Zombies?
I guess you never watched “coogan’s bluff”. The opening scene is clint eastwood being shot at by an indian wielding a M1 carbine...iirc
Smith and wesson is making one too.
I think ruger has finally wised up and quit pretending the mini-14 is better than an AR. The AR is the best there is...with the right mods and accessories.
I was a Ruger guy until I met up with Ruger customer service. Slow and indifferent are the first two descriptors that come to mind.
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