I purchased my SFAR from a buddy who purchased it a couple years ago and never shot it. It also came with 12 boxes of Remington Corelok 180gr ammo. The first time I took it to the range it ran fine with just a few FTE. This was on Rugers recommended setting of 3 to break it in. The second time I took it to the range with the gas still set to 3 it was a jammomatic with FTF, FTE, light primer strikes and would ONLY shoot the Remington ammo into anything which resembled a group. My hand loads would not chamber or if they did, would not extract without being mortared out.

I did some research and found out some of these guns left out of the factory with chambers shorter than SAMMI spec. I contacted Ruger, told them the issues I was having and sent the gun in. I received the gun back one week from the day I sent it in. That was shocking. They replaced the entire barrel assembly and gas regulator, test fired with a low quality ammo to function test and then 5 rds of FGGM 168GR and sent me the test target. The gun now shoots anything I put into it. My son shot a nice sow two days ago which will be a tasty meal soon .

I had considered selling the gun, but now it is my hunting rifle. I love the light weight even with the 20” barrel and the low recoil. The moment my son killed the pig was the first time he had fired that rifle. I asked him how was the recoiled compared to your 5.56/.223 guns and he stated, “what recoil, I didn’t even feel it”.


My hand loads after barrel replacement. Those stringers are all me. It was 30 degrees here in Florida when I shot the gun.



Remington Corelok 180gr after barrel swap. The original barrel shot the ammo better, but again, it was freezing and I was shivering . I know I can tighten those up.




Remington Corelok 180gr with original barrel 100yds


My son with his pig from Tuesday hunt.


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Looks great! So good to hear about good customer service.

Good to hear. Ruger CS is generally outstanding.

There's an updated gas regulator that has been released within the last year or two. Owners of older SFARs with reliability issues, or whose SFARs will only function on gas setting 3, can contact Ruger to get that newer part to see if swapping that in helps, before resorting to sending in the whole rifle. (Though that wouldn't have solved your specific chamber issue.)

Thanks for the update. It's good to hear these accounts.

quote:

Good to hear. Ruger CS is generally outstanding.

And without an express written warranty, too.

I had an LCP that for some reason broke off an entire frame rail. They replaced the entire gun.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Good to hear. Ruger CS is generally outstanding.

There's an updated gas regulator that has been released within the last year or two. Owners of older SFARs with reliability issues, or whose SFARs will only function on gas setting 3, can contact Ruger to get that newer part to see if swapping that in helps, before resorting to sending in the whole rifle. (Though that wouldn't have solved your specific chamber issue.)

This is good to know, just bought (waiting period to pick up) an SFAR to replace that heavy ass PSA AR-10 you warned me about.

I’ll put it through its paces when I get back to the farm property and contact Ruger if needed.

I know I know, I shoulda heeded your warnings but I should break even, even after learning my lesson.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: OttoSig,

Going to keep an eye out for your future update Otto because I have been eyeing one of these for the past year but refused to move forward based on some of the reliability and accuracy issues.

My current 7.65 rifle is a Springfield Armory M1A SOCOM, which I love, but is heavy (8 lbs. 8 ozs.) with the synthetic stock vs. the weight of the Ruger (6 lbs 13 ozs).

Thanks for the real life feedback. I keep looking at these and thinking I need one, but the issues have me kinda scared. I got to handle both the 16" and 20" a while back and was really impressed with how light and well balance the gun with the longer barrel was. I was attracted to the superior ballistics of the longer gun, but had been concerned that it might be ungainly compared to the carbine. I didn't find that to be the case at all. If I end up getting one it'll be the 20".

Now that they're offering it in 6.5 I've gotta make that decision, too. I'll be watching this thread with interest...looking forward to any further input from the OP down the road, and from Otto as you get your new one out to the range.

quote:

Originally posted by OttoSig:
This is good to know, just bought (waiting period to pick up) an SFAR to replace that heavy ass PSA AR-10 you warned me about.

I’ll put it through its paces when I get back to the farm property and contact Ruger if needed.

If you bought it new, it should have the newer updated regulator already, and shouldn't be one of the older batches with out of spec chambers.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by OttoSig:
This is good to know, just bought (waiting period to pick up) an SFAR to replace that heavy ass PSA AR-10 you warned me about.

I’ll put it through its paces when I get back to the farm property and contact Ruger if needed.

If you bought it new, it should have the newer updated regulator already, and shouldn't be one of the older batches with out of spec chambers.

Unfortunately it was bought used. I'll get it today or tomorrow and check the serial and see what I'm dealing with.

Great to hear Ruger once again stands behind its product. That has been my experience with the one time I had a problem. And nice photo with the hog, some good eating I hope followed.

quote:

Originally posted by usncorpsman:
The first time I took it to the range it ran fine with just a few FTE.

Extract, or eject? It would have been interesting to get a bore scope image of the chamber, there were some on snipershide (I think) that were pretty gruesome. Good to hear it’s running well now. If Ruger had left the SFAR in the oven a bit longer it would have been a license to print money.

quote:

Originally posted by Voshterkoff:
If Ruger had left the SFAR in the oven a bit longer it would have been a license to print money.

Same story with their previous .308 AR, the SR762. The first batches had some issues, but they got them sorted and ended up with a solid rifle.

Good to hear! I’m interested in one.

As am I. The only other real player in this class is, as others have said, the POF Rogue/Revolution line at significantly more $$$.

That's true for current offerings.

But prior to the Remington bankruptcy sale in 2020, DPMS also offered a line of SF .308 AR models, their G2 line.

(And considering that DPMS was acquired by PSA's parent company, I wouldn't be surprised if a PSA SF .308 AR based on the G2 design was released at some point.)

Remington, Zev, and Adams Arms also did small runs of SF .308 ARs in years past.