Ruger Gen II Predator 6.5 Creedmoor Review

This budget-friendly 6.5 Creedmoor hunts light, cycles smoothly, and stacks tight groups. After Ruger fixed an early extraction hiccup, the rifle flat-out performed.

Sub MOA On A Budget Meet The Ruger American Gen II Predator

The Ruger American Gen II Predator proved to be a sub-MOA budget bolt-action rifle with a fluted and threaded barrel and modern hunting stock. Ruger’s latest Predator variant brings meaningful upgrades to a platform already known for blending practicality with solid accuracy. This variant delivers a lightweight rifle that performs well above its price range. Coming in with a street price around $600 street, the Gen II Predator incorporates a fluted, threaded, and Cerakoted barrel, an upgraded stock with an adjustable length of pull, and intuitive controls to make it a compelling choice in its class.

What You Get Out Of The Box And Why It Matters

The Gen II Predator arrives where you’d expect a rifle in this class. Well packaged, with everything needed to start shooting except an optic and a box of ammo. Ruger includes one 3-round magazine and steel sling swivel studs front and rear. A factory-installed Picatinny scope base is ready for just about any mount you want to throw at it.

First impressions were positive: the rifle feels balanced, and the spiral flutes give it a lighter feel toward the muzzle without sacrificing perceived rigidity.

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Stock Texture, Fit, And Field Comfort

Ruger’s updated stock on the Gen II Predator works well. The green splatter pattern not only visually complements the Cerakoted barrel and controls, but its texture is raised enough to enhance grip. The classic hunting-oriented grip has a low angle that most shooters will find comfortable when carrying or offhand, and the recessed palm swell fits my hands well. The rubber butt pad features a generous radius on the heel and progressively collapses to soften recoil impulse. It also helped keep the rifle from slipping around on my shoulder, which is always appreciated.

Also, the rear sling swivel is recessed so it doesn’t snag. A thoughtful and appreciated feature. While I never ran a sling during my testing, I did run an MDT ORYX bipod attached to the front sling swivel, and it held solid and secure.

Length of pull is adjustable from 12″ to 13.75″ using the included spacer. A low comb cheek riser is installed at the factory, which improved sight alignment with lower scope mounts, but was a bit low for my Vortex Razor 4-24 in a 39mm tall Reptillia AUS mount. Ruger offers additional stock spacers and cheek risers for those who want an even more tailored fit. While this stock is clean and simple, having an adjustable cheek riser built in would have been a great touch.

Action And Reliability After The Fix

The Ruger Marksman Adjustable trigger and three lug bolt are familiar from other American series rifles, and they work well here. The one-piece bolt is CNC machined from stainless steel, offering smooth cycling with extra scope clearance with its 70° lift. The oversized bolt handle is easy to manipulate confidently, even with gloves.

However, during early testing, I ran into a significant extraction problem. Fired brass would stick in the chamber and require mortaring the buttstock on the ground to break loose. Unfired rounds could easily be chambered and removed, but once fired, the brass was very difficult to remove. After some quick email troubleshooting with Ruger, they had me ship the rifle back for inspection. They ended up replacing the barrel and bolt, and when it returned, the rifle ran without a single extraction or feeding problem. While this was disheartening to see, it was great to see them stand behind their product and get the issue fixed. Once fixed, everything ran great.

Trigger Feel And Adjustability

The Marksman Adjustable trigger on this rifle measured between 3.5 and 4.0 lbs consistently from the factory. It presents a smooth take-up before hitting the wall, and then there’s a bit of creep before it breaks. Either way, the trigger feels good, and I have no complaints for a rifle in this price range. The trigger is also user-adjustable between 3–5 lbs.

Magazine Behavior: What Works And What Fusses

The proprietary AI style magazine worked fine and fed every round during testing, but seating it is not as intuitive as most modern rifles. It takes a firm push and a slight rock to lock it into place. Once it’s seated, it stays put, but it’s more fussy than other designs.

I would have very much preferred compatibility with AICS pattern magazines for the ease of finding and swapping mags, especially for shooters who already own platforms that use that standard. Proprietary mags limit aftermarket options. However, Ruger does offer 3, 5, and 10-round AI-style mags for $42.95.

Barrel Details: Flutes, Finish, And Muzzle Device

The medium contour fluted barrel is a standout feature for this rifle. Deep spiral flutes reduce weight at the muzzle end and increase surface area to help the barrel shed heat faster. Ruger’s cold hammer forged process yields very precise rifling, and the burnt bronze Cerakote finish is durable and easy to maintain.

The factory-installed radial port muzzle brake does well to reduce recoil, but I hate radial brakes since they kick up so much dust when shooting prone. I immediately swapped out the included brake and installed a SilencerCo ASR brake. This was for even further reduced recoil and the ability to use my suppressors with their QD mounts.

Precision Testing Real Groups Across Loads

Ammunitiontogo.com was the official ammunition sponsor for this review, and I ordered a variety of Hornady 6.5 Creedmoor loads to test accuracy and consistency. Their website offers a wide selection of competitively priced ammo with quick shipping and easy ordering. For those considering 6.5 Creedmoor’s suitability for your needs, Ammunitiontogo has a helpful article comparing the cartridge to .308: 6.5 Creedmoor vs 308

Due to the issue previously described, I ended up shooting groups with two barrels. The original (barrel #1) and the replacement Ruger sent after servicing (barrel #2) are shown in the table below. Barrel 1 groups were shot at 100 yards, and Barrel 2 at 50 yards, but all group sizes have been normalized to MOA. Across multiple loads, the rifle demonstrated precision that punches well above what you’d expect at this price point. With two barrels and 5 types of ammunition, I am quite pleased with the consistency of precision I was able to squeeze out of this rifle.