The Ruger American has a receiver made from 4140 chrome-molybar stock and a hammer-forged barrel with a bluedblack oxide finish, mounted onto a black polymer compositestock. Some models are also available in a stainless steel variant. Rather than using a traditional recoil lug, the rifle's barreled action is secured in the stock by a bedding system known as "Power Bedding®", which uses two V-shaped steel action blocks that wedge the receiver firmly in place to prevent lateral shifts and also serve as recoil lugs. Because the front and back action screws are fastened through the centers of the action blocks, the blocks also functionally act as pillar beddings and allows the barrel to be free-floated. The rifle feeds cartridges into the chamber from a proprietary detachable rotary magazine via a push-feed mechanism employing dual cocking cams on the stainless steel bolt, which has three locking lugs allowing for a smaller 70° throw angle of the bolt handle. The trademarked "Ruger Marksman Adjustable™" trigger is a functionally two-stage trigger similar in design to the SavageAccuTrigger, which allows the user to adjust the weight of pull between by means of a set screw on the trigger housing. The rifle comes with a tang-mounted safety.
Ruger American Rimfire
The rimfire line of the Ruger American series shares similar features and designs with its centerfire counterpart, including the Power Bedding, the Marksman trigger and the tang safety, although it uses a unique stainless steel single-extractor rimfire bolt with a 70° degree bolt throw and having only eight parts for easier disassembly, and feeds exclusively from the famed BX series rotary magazines from the prolific Ruger 10/22 family of semi-automatic rifles.
Models
Centerfire
Standard: alloy steel sporter barrel, with an overall length of for short-action or for long-action cartridges.
Compact: alloy steel sporter barrel, shorter length of pull than the standard model, with an overall length of, and chambered for short-action cartridges only.
Magnum: the long-action models for magnum cartridges, with a threaded stainless steel barrel and an overall length of, and comes with factory Weaver rail installed.
Predator: varmint/target model with an 18 in or 22 in threaded alloy steel Medium Palma barrel, with an overall length of or, and comes with factory Weaver rail installed. STANAG magazines are found on the Predator versions with model numbers 26922 and 26944. AICS style magazines are found on the Predator versions with model numbers # 26948, # 26971, 26972, # 26973 , # 26974 and # 36902.
Ranch: short-barrel carbine version of the Predator model with a threaded alloy steel Medium Palma barrel, with an overall length of, chambered for 5.56 NATO/.223 Rem,.300 Blackout,.450 Bushmaster,.350 Legend and 7.62 Soviet cartridges, and comes with factory Weaver or Picatinny rail installed. In early 2018, Ruger introduced variant models for the 5.56 NATO/.223 Rem and.300 Blackout that accept STANAG magazines.
Hunter: a heavy barrel version bedded into the Magpul "Hunter American" stock using AICS-pattern PMAG® 7.62 AC box magazines, with a threaded alloy steel barrel factory-equipped with a muzzle brake, chambered for 6.5mm Creedmoor and.308 Win.
Rimfire
Standard: 18" or 22" alloy steel barrel with the Ruger 10/22-style Williams™ fiber opticopen sight, with an overall length of or. Chambered for.17 HMR,.22 LR and.22 WMR. The buttstock piece can be removed and replaced between a straight flat comb and a raised Monte Carlo-type comb.
Compact: Essentially identical to the 18" barrel Standard model but has a thinner butt end plate and thus a shorter length of pull, with an overall length of. The buttstock piece can be removed and swapped with a Standard model piece, which will convert the rifle into an 18" barrel Standard model.
Wood Stock: Essentially identical to the 22" barrel Standard model but with a walnut stock instead of the black synthetic one. Available only in.22 LR caliber via Ruger, but all of.22 LR,.22 WMR and.17 HMR are available in offer via TALO Distributors.
OD Green: Officially designated as the Model 8334 or 8335, it has the same dimensions as the 18" barrel Standard model, but with a threaded varminter-style straight tapered barrel with no iron sights, and comes with factory Weaver rail installed. Because of the many similarities in appearance to the Predator model from the centerfire line, it has been nicknamed the "Rimfire Predator" by some users.
Stainless: New addition to the lineup in 2017, the Stainless models are similar in appearance to the OD Green models with factory Weaver rail and a threaded 18" 416 stainless steel barrel with no iron sights, but has a black synthetic stock and also comes in.17 HMR in addition to.22 LR and.22 WMR. Furthermore, in October 2017 TALO Distributors introduced a special production run of stainless version Wood Stock models in.22 LR and later in.22 WMR and.17 HMR that come fitted with an engraved walnut stock, 22-in barrel and open iron sights in addition to the receiver being drilled and tapped for scope bases.
Target: Same dimensions as the 18" barrel Standard model but with a threaded heavy bull barrel with no iron sights, as well as a black laminated stock with a straight comb and comes with factory Weaver rail installed. It is available for.22 LR as well as.22 WMR and.17 HMR calibers. In late 2017, Ruger also introduced a thumbhole stock version for.22 LR with a fenestrated fore-end and rollover cheekpiece. In early 2019, Ruger introduced stainless steel variants of all the previous four Target models.
