Sharps Bros Heatseeker for the Ruger American Ranch: Keep Your AR Mags (SHOT Show 2023 Look Back)

Squat Squad, this one is a look back to SHOT Show 2023 in Las Vegas (the video went up in February 2023). If you’ve been around the channel, you know we’ve been running the Sharps Bros Heatseeker chassis on our Ruger American. But the one thing you guys kept pointing out was the magazines: the original Heatseeker uses AICS pattern short action mags, so when we started playing with 6.5 Grendel Ruger Americans and converting them to 6mm ARC, we were stuck messing with AICS mags and adapters. So at the Sharps Bros booth, I asked John to walk me through how they solved that: a Heatseeker made for the Ruger American Ranch that takes plain old AR magazines.

Quick note: this is a short booth walkthrough with John from Sharps Bros at SHOT Show 2023, not a SlavGuns range test and evaluation of this AR-mag version. If you want my full thoughts on the original short action Heatseeker and whether a Ruger American even needs a chassis, read Sharps Bros Heatseeker Chassis: Worth Upgrading Your Ruger American?

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Why an AR-mag Heatseeker?

The Heatseeker chassis Sharps Bros already made for the Ruger American, Remington 700 and Savage 110 short actions all run AICS pattern mags. That’s great for a lot of rifles, but Ruger builds the American Ranch in a bunch of AR-family calibers that come from the factory feeding from AR magazines. If you own one of those, switching to AICS meant buying new mags or fiddling with adapters.

So Sharps Bros made a Ranch version that keeps you on AR mags. John was upfront that this wasn’t a trivial change. In his experience, it’s pretty difficult to get a .223 or another small AR-type cartridge to feed well in a Ruger three-lug bolt, so a lot of their development time went into exactly where and how the magazine sits in the chassis. The display rifle at the booth had a Daniel Defense mag in it.

AR mags or AICS: which way should you go?

This was the part of the conversation I found most useful, because the answer isn’t “AR mags are always better.” The way we broke it down:

• Go AR mags (the new Ranch version) if you hunt or just want to keep it simple. Buy factory ammo, keep the magazines you already have for those calibers, and skip any conversion kits.
• Go AICS (the regular short action Heatseeker) if you’re a gun gamer or a hand loader who wants to load long. John confirmed that a Ruger American in something like 6.5 Grendel or 7.62×39 will still function on AICS mags. It’s the same action, it just feeds a little differently, and the AICS route gives you more room for longer loads.

So you have both options: native AR mags for simplicity, AICS for flexibility.

Build and features

• Billet aluminum: machined out of the same type of billet aluminum blocks as Sharps Bros’ other products (their product page lists 6061-T6), finished in matte black Cerakote.
• Two-piece system that includes steel lugs the whole system floats on. John’s pitch: accurate and well made.
• AR buffer extension so you choose your own stock. John’s experience with most short actions is that you don’t need much cheek rise if you’re using medium height scope rings.
• AR grip interface. Both rifles at the booth wore the Sharps Bros Brazilian Cherry grip set, which includes the grip and matching panels.
• Fore end: plenty of QD slots for a sling, plus M-LOK all the way around, so you can add weights, ARCA rails or whatever else you run.
• Folding stock? You can, but skip AR folders with a key on the bottom. John pointed to the buffer-extension folders from Hera Arms and SB Tactical as nice options.

Personally, I still don’t totally get hunting with a chassis rifle, but a lot of people do, and this Ranch version is really aimed at them as much as at the gamers.

Worth checking before you buy

A lot has happened since this booth visit. Sharps Bros’ current product page for the AR magazine fed Ruger American chassis (SBC05) now lists more calibers, including 6mm ARC, 22 ARC and 338 ARC, and says it’s compatible with all Gen 2 rifles. For Gen 1 rifles, they say to check that your action opening is wide enough for a modern magazine, because some of the earliest Gen 1 rifles were made with narrower openings. There’s also a version with a 1913 rail interface instead of the AR buffer extension (SBC05-1913). Check the fit for your exact rifle before you order.

Our take

The Heatseeker is still my favorite chassis for the Ruger American for fit and finish, so seeing Sharps Bros fix the one thing people complained about was a good sign. If your Ranch rifle already runs AR mags and you just want a modern, modular chassis without changing your whole mag setup, this is the native way to do it. If you load long or play games, the AICS version still makes sense. Just keep in mind this was a booth look, not a SlavGuns range test of the AR-mag version. For more from the same booth that year, check out the Sharps Bros P365 aluminum grip module from SHOT Show 2023, and if you’re building out a Ruger American, see our Ruger American upgrades guide.

Where to find it

• Sharps Bros Heatseeker Chassis for Ruger American Ranch (SBC05) at MidwayUSA
• Precision rifle upgrades: Anarchy Outdoors
• Everything else I run: SlavGuns Amazon storefront
• Support the channel: join the Squat Squad on YouTube

If you have a Ruger American that runs AR mags, do you keep them or switch to AICS pattern mags? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading, and keep on squatting!

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