July 9, 2018, Nampa Idaho.
Lot’s of folks love their Ruger American rifles, and they love them for all types of reasons. Most are infatuated with the intrinsic accuracy the platform demonstrates, others simply dig the “bang for the buck” that they’ve been treated to. Many bought them initially because they are inexpensive but after they shoot them a few times they realize they have found a tack driver hiding within the often slightly warped oem plastic stock. Some folks leave them almost completely stock, but others take advantage of the ever growing aftermarket to customize their RA’s, RAR’s, and RAP’s (Ruger American, Ruger American Ranch, and Ruger American Predator, respectively).
Many owners enjoy adding a different stock or going with a chassis set up, toying with various optics, and generally hot-rodding their budget rifles into some high performing but not budget busting rifles that they can be certain will hold their own in any endeavor. From mild to wild, RA owners are no strangers to seeking out what performs well.
One of the items frequently changed from the OEM part is the plastic bolt shroud. It gets replaced with an aftermarket offering typically made of aluminum or titanium. While there is nothing inherently “wrong” with the plastic shroud other than the material it is made from, the manufacturers of metal bolt shrouds have enjoyed brisk business with folks looking to get rid of the polymer. Now they have a value added reason to do so…
We at Indian Creek Design, being more concerned with function over form if there needs to be a decision made between the two, often wondered what the draw was as we’d never had any issues with our 6.5 Creedmoor RAP’s OEM bolt shroud. While not being enamored with the plastic part, it’s not a high function part, being simply there to cover the mechanical bits of the firing pin assembly. Then we had a crazy idea, and after some strenuous R/D testing, we are happy to debut our Ruger American SACS (Sportsman’s Anti Cant Shroud).
Yes, you read that right, a bolt shroud with an incorporated spirit level to indicate cant. We’ve heard it before, the “but wait, that can’t work!” crowd weighing in. The doubters were all over our BFD (Blast Forwarding Device) too, and if you have used one of those we know because can see your satisfied smile from here. We’ll level with ya, it can work, it does work, and it is pretty awesome. Enough of the puns already though. The level is mounted in the shroud, which just happens to be on the bore axis, so the cant indication is much more immediate than with a similar size level hanging off the scope a few inches off the axis. This different vector allows the SACS to indicate before a scope mounted level even budges.
We fully understand that some long distance folks will want to opt for higher tech devices, wider/longer levels, or the cool electronic levels, and that’s perfectly OK with us. If you’re hunter who wants to make sure you’re doing what you can to ensure an ethical shot is in the offing, without hanging more brush grabbing stuff off the side of your optic, then we have got something for you. For the PRS guys running RA’s & RAP’s, the SACS is an awesome way to not have to bob your head to see that scope mounted level while you are on the clock. You don’t “look at” the SACS so much as just “see” it while you are on the scope. It doesn’t require any head movement whatsoever.
The bottom line is, now you don’t just replace your OEM bolt shroud because it is plastic, you can replace it because you want to add more integrity AND some functional utility, all in one device. The ICD SACS are machined from 6061 Aluminum and they are finished in a black Type II anodizing, all with an MSRP of under $55.00. As with all of our products, they are 100% made in America in our southwest Idaho machining center.
http://www.indiancreekdesigninc.com/shop-online/sportsmans-anti-cant-shroud
