The Ruger SR-762 rifle can hold its own on the range, and it really shines as a deer-killing machine.
More than one individual expressed to me the sentiment that William Batterman Ruger is tossing in his grave at the prospect of his company building AR-style rifles. Being a publicly held company, Sturm, Ruger & Company is driven to satisfy investors and consumers alike. So, diving into the river of AR builders to extract some profits is an expected business endeavor.
True to Bill Ruger’s sense of style blended with function, the company created a refined version of Eugene Stoner’s original design. The SR-556 features a cleaner-running piston system and accuracy that exceeds the capabilities of Ruger’s long famous Mini-14. Bill Ruger wanted to deliver an upscaled version of the Mini-14 in .308 Winchester, but shelved the project when its reliability didn’t live up to his standards. After the company introduced the SR-556, it was just a matter of time before their engineers delivered a piston-driven gem, the SR-762.
I’m not sure who coined the phrase, “modern sporting rifle,” but the National Shooting Sports Foundation is well-versed at promoting the concept when they talk about AR-style rifles. I’ve never served this nation’s military, nor employed an “M” anything as an instrument of war. I’m simply a hunter and firearms aficionado, so the moniker of modern sporting rifle fits my personal view quite well. It’s in this pursuit that I first went afield with Ruger’s SR-762.
My entire summer was spent either on a tractor or Bull Dozier cleaning up a derelict southern Middle Tennessee farm. I had carved out a 750-yard strip, on the way toward my goal of a 1,000-yard range. In addition to the freshly cleared and plowed range, I cleared a couple of 3-acre patches for food plots. After the application of 700 pounds of fertilizer by hand, I followed up with a mix of winter rye and Mossy Oak Biologic.
Time went by and dirt patches sprang up green and lush. Trail cameras did their job recording the bucks and does visiting the new food sources, with a select few getting the nod if the opportunity presented itself.
The November morning wasn’t particularly cold, but a north wind forced me to abandon a close-range stand on one food plot in particular that had multiple good bucks cruising through looking for female company.
To keep the food plot upwind, I had to climb an oak tree with my Summit climbing stand that was just over 200 yards to the far side. The sun drove away the shadows, but nothing showed itself for the first hour. The rain the night before soaked the leaf-scattered ground in the narrow strip of woods where I hid. The quiet ground cover was welcome as I snuck to my selected tree, fastened my climber and scaled upward to about 30 feet.
The wet leaves allowing a quiet approach to my stand site was almost my undoing, when without warning I caught movement in my peripheral vision. Looking left, a dandy 8-pointer was 15 yards from my tree, having walked down the fence line toward me in the woods. As he began to pass directly behind me, I stood at the same moment he caught my scent. He bolted and ran about 40 yards before I could catch him in the Bushnell ERS 3.5-21x scope mounted on the Ruger SR-762. When the crosshairs caught up with his shoulder, I broke the shot. He only made it another 10 yards before he slid to his final resting place.
Ruger SR-762 Details
Game in hand, I took the obligatory photos and considered the blessings of the hunt and the gun in my hands. The new Ruger SR-762, brings the .308 Win./7.62 NATO cartridge to their popular SR-556 family of rifles. The SR-762 offers the downrange authority of the .308 cartridge in a two-stage, piston-driven rifle that runs cooler and cleaner than traditional gas-driven AR-style rifles.
The SR-762 is an ideal rifle for those who appreciate the familiar and ergonomic AR-style platform. The .308 Win./7.62 NATO cartridge is perfect for hunting medium and most large-sized game and enhances the capability of the AR-style platform in defensive or tactical role.
SPECIFICATIONS
| Manufacturer: Sturm, Ruger & Co. |
| Model: SR-762 |
| Caliber: .308 |
| Barrel: 16-in., 1:10 twist |
| OA Length: 34 ¾ to 38 inches |
| Weight: 8.6 pounds empty |
| Sights: Picatinny rail w/ flip-up sights & Bushnell ERS 3.5-21x |
| Action: Semi-auto, Piston |
| Finish: Anodized receiver and handguard |
| Capacity: 20-shot magazine |
| MSRP: $2,195 |
The SR-762 retains the features of the original SR-556 that make it a solid performer among AR-style rifles. The patent-pending, two-stage piston delivers a smooth power stroke to the one-piece bolt carrier. This reduces felt recoil and improves the rifle’s durability. The four-position gas regulator allows the shooter to tune the rifle to function reliably with a broad variety of ammunition.
A heavy contour, 16.12-inch chrome-lined, cold hammer forged barrel with a 1:10-inch twist features exterior fluting to minimize weight, yet provides outstanding accuracy. With the Ruger Lightweight Adaptable handguard in place, the SR-762 weighs 8.6 pounds and balances comfortably. The stock trigger has a surprisingly smooth take-up and it breaks cleanly at 6 ½ pounds.
Three 20-round MAGPUL PMAG magazines are provided with the SR-762. Folding backup iron sights, a Hogue Monogrip, Picatinny rail sections and rail covers add considerable value to the package. There’s more: a six-position stock, sight adjustment tool, and a soft-sided carry case.
Ruger SR-762 at the Range
I only had to drag the buck about 35 yards to the end of my rifle range. The field dressing chores completed and a snack left behind for the buzzards, I loaded the buck up and drove to my 100-yard range to finish accuracy testing of the new Ruger. Previous trips to the range had revealed some interesting things about the SR-762. Its stubby 16 1/8-inch barrel didn’t react negatively when I screwed on a Advanced Armament Corporation Cyclone suppressor. It’s impact shift was a mere 1 ½-inch in elevation and just a tad over ¾-inch on the horizontal.
Many other .308-class rifles I’ve compared groups with and without a suppressor attached typically shift their point of impact at least twice as far as the stiff-barreled Ruger. Another pleasant experience was the reduced gassing effect with the suppressor attached. The SR-762’s piston system keeps gas out of the receiver area. That means less carbon fouling common with direct impingement semi-autos. Accuracy differences with or without the can was imperceptible.
Initially, I fired just under 200 rounds through the SR-762, with zero stoppages or feeding problems. The gas system functioned as advertised, and even packing powder gas crud into the system while shooting suppressed (and leaving it dirty) didn’t require the piston system’s most wide-open setting with the can later removed.
Five factory loads were selected for accuracy testing and velocity data gathering. This rifle’s favorite load was Federal’s 175-grain Gold Medal Match. The average groups size stayed under MOA, and even punched a nearly-one-hole 0.464-inch group as its best. The average velocity for 10 shots fired across an Oehler 35P chronograph was 2,370 feet per second.
This rifle’s next favorite load was a toss up between Winchester’s 168-grain Match and Australian Outback’s 168-grain Sierra Match Kings. The Australian Outback load printed a 0.897-inch 5-shot group as its best, but averaged 2.158 inches at 100 yards. The Winchester load’s smallest group was 1.023-inch, but the average for four groups was 1.776 inches.
The new Aussie loads zipped along at an average of 2,574 fps, while the slower Winchester load averaged 2,442 fps. There’s not much difference at short range between these two loads. Stretch things out to 500 yards and it’s obvious that the added velocity for basically the same projectile shows itself.
All things being equal, the faster load will drop nearly 68 inches at 500 yards. The slower bullet will impact nearly 77 inches below a 100-yard zero, by comparison. Add a 10 miles-per-hour cross wind and the faster load will drift 20.3 inches, compared to the other that will drift 22.3 inches. Firing these loads at 500 yards with a 0-3 mph wind verified impact data derived from RCBS.Load.
The next load was Remington’s 175-grain Match. The average velocity produced from this rifle was 2,392 fps. The average 5-shot group at 100 yards was 2.898 inches, with the smallest measuring 2.471 inches.
Nearly the fastest load for this rifle firing 168-grain match loads was Hornady’s AMax Superformance. A 10-shot string averaged 2,522 fps. The smallest 5-shot group at 100 yards measured 2.585 inches.
I was pleasantly surprised at the accuracy levels achieved with the Ruger SR-762. There are few big-production ARs that will print groups ½ MOA and keep pet load averaged below MOA. Ruger has another winner with the SR-762. It serves well in roles like a “modern sporting rifle” for the hunter, or a reliable SWAT counter-sniper weapons system.
PERFORMANCE
| Load | Velocity | Accuracy |
| Federal 175 gr. Gold Medal Match | 2,370 | 0.464 |
| Remington 175 gr. Match | 2,392 | 2.471 |
| Hornady 168 gr. AMax Superformance | 2,522 | 2.585 |
| Winchester 168 gr. Match | 2,442 | 1.023 |
| Australian Outback 168 gr. Sierra Match King | 2,574 | 0.897 |
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