As a mother of three sons, I quickly learned that they didn’t want to spend a lot of time indoors – ever. As a result, during their formative years, we spent loads of time outdoors, and as they got older they began shooting (rifles, shotguns and pistols) with us and hunting with my husband (my journey into hunting began after they were on their own). When we get together with the younger two these days, with them being grown men with families of their own, we still head outdoors to hunt and shoot. They have both expressed a keen interest in long range rifle shooting and have begun shooting at a range in North Carolina that hosts long range competitions, and so, I decided to ask Ruger if I might try out a Precision Rifle (RPR), chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor. I’d like to get it ready to go long range, and join them.
A few years ago, after shooting one of the first Ruger Precision Rifles (chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor), I got my hands on a Ruger Precision Rifle chambered in .308 WIN. Our two sons and their families joined us during Thanksgiving week, which meant we all tried the RPR on the rifle range near us. You may read about that experience here.
I always like to tell people to teach their kids to hunt and shoot … because, if you teach them to hunt, and provide access to hunting, they’ll more than likely come home as adults to spend time with you. Since deer hunting (rifle season) occurs right before Thanksgiving in Missouri, it’s a win-win – hunting and a holiday.
We had a great day on the range that day, but now it’s time for me to focus on the next step – getting this new and improved RPR ready for a trip this fall to a long range with my sons.
It’ll be different because they won’t be coming to my range; I’ll be going to a long range in North Carolina for this experience. Our home range stretches out to 400 yards, which is just barely pushing the capabilities of this rifle, whereas their range will challenge this gun and go out to 1000 yards.
For this experience, I asked to try the newer model of the RPR, introduced in 2024, and chambered in a popular caliber (6.5 Creedmoor) for the sport of long-range shooting. Ruger listened to rifle shooters and made some adjustments to previous RPR models, including the following:
As I always do with any new gun that I receive, I disassembled the RPR, cleaned and oiled it. Then, I took it out on the range, and sighted in the scope. I didn’t yet have a scope for the rifle – I should have one by the time I head to North Carolina – so my husband loaned me a Leupold Mk 4 8.5-25×50 Mil Dot, on a LaRue .50 BMG quick detach mount that he switches to different rifles for ballistic testing. Since the RPR has a 20 MOA Picatinny rail as its scope mounting interface, attaching the mounted scope to the rifle was a breeze.
When you have a rifle, such as this one, paired with a good scope, it’s easy to get results.
You’ll also need these things to help you with long range shooting:
For the range work, I chose to use Hornady’s 6.5 Creedmoor 140-grain, ELD MATCH. Hornady has earned a stellar reputation for competition ammo in the shooting world, and since I trust it for so many other uses, I chose it for this purpose and have not been disappointed. In fact, according to Hornady, “From the bullet seating to the optimal charges and velocities, Hornady® Match™ ammunition is designed to live up to company founder, J.W. Hornady’s original goal: “Ten bullets through one hole.” Now, that’s a good goal to have, and I look forward to the story and memories my sons and I will create soon with this rifle.
The RPR in 6.5 Creedmoor has an MSRP of $2209. You may find out more about this rifle’s specs at the Ruger website.
Publisher/Editor Barbara Baird is a freelance writer in hunting, shooting and outdoor markets. Her bylines are found at several top hunting and shooting publications. She also is a travel writer, and you can follow her at https://www.ozarkian.com. View all posts by Barbara Baird
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