The Wastelander Rifle Revisited

I wrote an article not too long ago about a concept a friend and I had discussed about what would make a good survival rifle in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. That article can be read HERE.

In my perusing the internet for entertainment and information I came across a video of someone shooting a 300 Blackout model of the Ruger American Ranch. In the video it was equipped with an Energetic Armament VOX suppressor. I don’t own a VOX, but the video had me considering eventually adding one to my collection. The VOX is interesting because it utilizes a wipe at the muzzle end which really does a good job of trapping the gasses from a 300 Blackout being fired through a 16″ barrel. In the video the rifle hardly made a sound, which is what really got me interested in the VOX. Suppressors, however, are not particularly affordable, especially with the $200 tax stamp required to take ownership of one. I do own a Surefire SOCOM762-RC2, which I purchased to use with my sniper rifle that I had built back before Covid by Mile High Shooting Accessories (https://www.milehighshooting.com/). So I have the capability of suppressing a 300 Blackout.

One of the specifications of the rifle in the previous article was that it had to be capable of firing surplus military ammunition. For the second iteration, off the shelf ammo was perfectly acceptable. This rifle would be more of a “stealth” option than the previous setup. 300 Blackout is available at most places that sell ammunition nowadays in both supersonic and subsonic offerings. Subsonic is really the focus here. This rifle is not going to be expected to fire sub-MOA groups at 1000 meters. This is going to be a quiet, 300 meters and in, lightweight rifle.

The Ruger American Ranch Gen2 did a lot to address some of the problems I had with the Gen1 I used for the 5.56mm build. The bolt is more substantial which helps keep it from tilting in the receiver and getting bound up when cycling it. The bolt knob is also more substantial. I had to change out the bolt knob on my Gen1 because it felt like it was designed for a child. It didn’t handle well in the factory configuration. That has been improved on the Gen2. Unfortunately, the change in dimensions of the bolt don’t allow it to drop into the Magpul stock I got for the Gen1. The action drops in, but the magazine does not seat and lock properly. The factory stock on the Gen2 is a significant improvement over the Gen1, so swapping for the Magpul is less of a necessity. The new stock design also has interchangeable cheek risers. I have a set on order just so I can get a slightly higher cheek weld with the optic system I chose to mount to the rifle.

Originally I had planned to run the 300 Blackout with a red dot and call it good, but ultimately I decided to use a Nightforce NX8 1-8 FFP LPVO. I have it mounted in a Spuhr mount for use on my AR builds, but it works for the Ruger just fine. The magnification will be more than enough for the ranges at which the rifle is considered effective, and with the addition of a high cheek riser it should aim quickly and easily.

The barrel on the Gen2 Ranch is spiral fluted, which reduces the weight of the barrel to the point that the setup with the NX8 and the SOCOM762-RC2 actually balances fairly well. It doesn’t feel like I have to fight the weight of the gun to maneuver it, which is important for a build like this.

I’m not a hunter by any stretch of the imagination. I shoot for fun and I come from a background of military and law enforcement training and experience. That being said, I feel like the setup as it sits would make for a good hog gun. 300 blackout has enough oomph behind it to take wild hogs and with the optic and suppressor, I think it would make a hog expedition successful. It doesn’t have the speed of a gas gun, but what it lacks in speed it makes up for in stealth. Not having the action cycle with each pull of the trigger and not having the gas pop of the impingement system more than makes up for the speed of the AR platform in this case. For those same reasons I feel this would make for an excellent option as a “Wasteland Rifle”.

With the exception of not working properly with the Magpul stock, the Ruger American Ranch Gen2 in 300 Blackout is everything I was hoping it would be. Lightweight, accurate, and quiet. I know there are other, potentially better suppressors out there. Perhaps in the future I will explore some of those options. Maybe even a VOX as mentioned earlier in the article. But until then, the setup does the job well and I would suggest having a Ruger American Ranch in any collection. Especially if one already has a surplus of STANAG-pattern magazines to feed it with.