Heritage Rough Rider

I love mine. I think I got it for around $140 with both cylinders. I'm not sure if they hand fit the cylinders to the guns, but I would recommend buying the set.

Never had an issue at all. Shoots very accurately to point of aim with both 22 mag and 22 lr

Since it has a basic blade sight, I got the golden frame so there is contrast between the lighter frame and the black front blade. If you hold a black on black gun and aim it, you'll see why I picked 2 different colors.

There's been plenty of Rough Rider threads in the past you can read through, but I guess I'll chime in here...

Pros:
-Cheap.
-Wood grips look good and feel good.
-C-O-L-T cocking is cool.
-Has never failed to fire a round, and it's been fed some dirty stuff. I save all my garbage 22LR ammo to put through revolvers.
-Accuracy isn't on the 617 laser beam level, but it's fine.

Cons:
-Some corners have clearly been cut to save money; barrel is LocTited in, metal finish looks like BBQ paint.
-Sights are kind of crappy and are fixed in place.

Neutral/No comment:
-The manual safety doesn't exactly inspire confidence, but I'm not carrying my HRR anywhere, so I don't worry about it. I just leave it set to off.
-Mine came with a 22 Mag cylinder, but I've never switched it in.

I'd say that overall, they're fun little things. Half of it IMO is just the tactile experience of loading and unloading a single action shell by shell, and these guns deliver that very cheaply.

The street price on the HRRs is always less than $200... for that much, I'd say just go ahead and buy it. They're not heirloom guns, but they're not turds either, and you won't be out much either way.

RRs can be bought as .22/.22 WMR combos, but the magnum cylinder can also be purchased separately. I have the combo with 4.75" barrel and birdhead grip -- nothing but good things to say about it.

If you are looking for laser beam accuracy, don't bother with the Rough Rider. Same if you want an heirloom to pass down the generations. But if you want to get the feel for a single action revolver that has reasonable accuracy and is, frankly, a lot of fun then get the Rough Rider with the magnum cylinder. Mine have been completely reliable. Also, the cylinder is indexed, if that's the correct term. When you hear the click it means the cylinder is perfectly aligned to insert a shell or knock out an empty one. That doesn't sound like a big deal but it makes loading and unloading the thing faster and easier. Also, while the manual safety seems odd, it is easy to just leave it off and it does add an extra bit of safety when instructing newcomers, especially kids, to handguns. I picked up a RR during a huge sale to have available as a teaching tool.

I've said this in earlier threads. I think the Heritage Rough Rider is the best value in a plinker revolver. And as you read reviews, you'll notice the word most used is fun.

Jeff

What a lot of people miss out on with convertible revolvers is the fun of the “other” cylinder. 22 mag is a lot more pop than a 22lr and from my experience in 2 HRR and 2 ruger single sixes is that the 22mags are often a bit more accurate.

so my experience with the HRR, I bought both of the ones I had used. They were rough, but functional. Both were accurate, one more so than the other, but both would easily take a squirrels head off at 20 yards. They are a bit lightweight and feel a bit like a toy due to the way they are built. The cylinder swap is super easy. The safety is actually something I like BETTER than the ruger guns because it gives a way to safely drop hammer on a live round without risking an accidental discharge. The “barbecue paint” finish is possibly giving more credit than is due. The ones I got I hit with a Brillo pad and rustoleum and they looked a million times better instantly. Grips look good but skip plastic. The plastic grips didn’t fit well, wood was better. Luckily they sell grips on their website for very reasonable prices.

Sooo... I no longer own a HRR because I bought a ruger long barrel that is more durable and more accurate. For a hunting gun or a trail gun that is my preference. I do fully intend to buy another HRR in birdshead short barrel configuration.

I don't see the barrel being loctited in as a con. Having just a bit of experience with equipment in industrial applications that had to stand up to much more stress that the HRR ever will and had parts that were secured with loctite I believe it's up to the job required by a HRR.

I bought a blem model for $100 last winter. 22LR only. I can't even find the blem. I have put many 100's of rounds down range with it. I ordered the 22 mag cylinder off the web site for $30 and it dropped right in. I only have about 30 or 40 rounds of magnum through it but no issues.

It's a lot of fun, for me, for little investment. If it fell apart tomorrow I wouldn't feel bad about it.

I bought one this year because I couldn't resist the price and all the good reviews from happy owners. I own a good collection of firearms of all types and do a lot of shooting. My handguns range from bargain brand to custom shop and seven of them are in .22LR caliber. I would rate the Heritage Arms Rough Rider as a "best bang for the buck", offering excellent performance per dollar.

I have the 6.5" barrel "Johnny Boy" .22LR/.22WMR combo. It is very accurate with either cylinder installed and has been completely reliable. I will very likely buy another Rough Rider at some point.

Exactly what everyone else has said.
Great value and a fun gun. I have 4 of them in 3 different models. All have been good shooters.
It may save you some money to buy one on sale that is 22lr only and order the mag cylinder from the factory for 30 bucks.
I did that with 2 of mine. The cylinders are drop in with no fitting necessary. Fast shipping from factory too.

I've got two of them, both with the WMR cylinders included. One is the "regular" 4.75 plowhandle version, and the other is the 3.5-inch birdshead.

I like them both a lot. They're reasonably slick in hand, shoot well, and the safety allows for dry-fire if you want.

The Ruger Wrangler is giving them a good run for the money, in .22LR, at least. But I like the black finish and wood stocks on the HRR.

MedWheeler said:

The Ruger Wrangler is giving them a good run for the money, in .22LR, at least.

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The difference in price between these two is too great to call the Wrangler "a good run for the money", imo. Almost, yes, but the cheapest I've seen recently @ my lgs for a Rough Rider is $99.00; the cheapest for a Wrangler being $179.99-just enough difference in price to keep me on the fence. Though I much prefer the Ruger, for twenty more bucks I could get two Rough Riders for the price of one Wrangler.
There's no cushion on my fence.

I knew this would turn into a RR vs Wrangler debate.
@BuckWildM9 I have an ongoing head to head comparison currently running between a RR and a Wrangler. Same round count, same cleaning schedule, same everything.
They are definitely different guns but for every good quality about one of them there is another good quality about the other. Accuracy is nearly identical.
There really isn't a nickel worth of difference.
The Ruger is a bit more refined but that's where the higher cost comes in.
If you like the RR I can say with confidence you should buy it. They are a great value.

ontarget, just mentioning the Wrangler is hardly turning it into a "debate."

Swampwolf, I've yet to see a HRR in a shop for under $165 or so, though this is likely because they all come with both cylinders. I guess I'd forgotten how much lower they run in .22LR only.

I have a heritage rough rider 22lr only i bought new in the box and an old harrington and richardson 922. Both bought through online auction. I paid $100 for each. I much prefer the 922, because the wood grips have a better feel and I feel steadier with the heavier 922. Both are 9 round and make great target guns that are cheap to shoot. The heritage has a spring ejector instead of the pull pin on the 922, but since I'm using them for targets instead of self defense I don't care how quickly i reload.

Good plinker and my grand kids favorite.

MedWheeler said:

ontarget, just mentioning the Wrangler is hardly turning it into a "debate."

Swampwolf, I've yet to see a HRR in a shop for under $165 or so, though this is likely because they all come with both cylinders. I guess I'd forgotten how much lower they run in .22LR only.

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Sorry. I wasn't intending my comment as a jab. I have been reading your comments on THR for years and respect your opinion as much as I do any of the other well respected members here. I just knew before I even opened the thread that the Wrangler would be brought up in comparison.

I bought a used Rough Rider with adjustable sights some time ago. Those sights were GREAT, significantly better than the stock sights on my Single Six. I should've never got rid of the RR; will be buying a replacement eventually.

The bird's head grip is sweet. You an actually buy it as a separate frame and install it yourself.
I actually liked my RR more than my Single Six, both because of the sights and because the RR indexed the cylinder holes even with the ejector rod. You might think that's no big deal, but with just a little practice, emptying the cylinder of a RR was quite a bit faster because of that.

Whatever people want to say about the Ruger Wrangler versus the Rough Rider, there's one undeniable fact: Ruger started making the Wrangler because of the Rough Rider. There was a market niche for a single-action .22 that didn't cost $350+, and the Rough Rider filled it so well that Ruger was forced to respond. Imitation really is a form of flattery. There's very little difference in how the two guns are made; not in finish quality, frame material, internals, etc. The only reason for the price difference is that one gun says "Ruger" on it.

WVGunman said:

There's very little difference in how the two guns are made; not in finish quality, frame material, internals, etc. The only reason for the price difference is that one gun says "Ruger" on it.

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I have to disagree. The Ruger is a better made gun, imo. The question for me becomes, if I'm looking for nothing more than a "good plinker" and less cost means everything, how much "better" is the Wrangler? It's hard to reconcile the Ruger's almost double the price over the Rough Rider if you're just after a good plinker.

WVGunman said:

I bought a used Rough Rider with adjustable sights some time ago. Those sights were GREAT...

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It seems like nobody has adjustable sight versions in stock. Heritage shows the model RR22MB6AS on their website but I can never find one. That will be my next Rough Rider.

SG1 writes:

I bought a blem model for $100 last winter. 22LR only.

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That's how I got my birdshead dual model, through a Taurus blem sale, for $150. There is a tiny, maybe 1mm square, mark on the bottom of the frame near the trigger guard; it almost looks like a tiny QR code that you'd scan with your phone. I'm guessing that's the "blem." It took a while to find it.

My advice is get the ones with the adjustable fiber optic sights. If you look around online, you should be able to find them for not much more than the fixed sight models sell for.

For $142 out the door(with both cylinders), I couldn’t beat it.
Yes, the finish looks like it was done by a 3rd grader, the sights are worse than a Remington 1858, but it’s got heft to it and the .22WMR is so much fun to shoot.

The lowest price I have seen around here on an HRR has been on sale at $129.99 (regular price is listed at $169.99 to $199.99). And that's for a .22LR only model; your choice of barrel length and a couple of different grips are shown in the ad.

This being the case I think I would spend a little extra and go with that "other inexpensive .22LR revolver that shall remain nameless".

MedWheeler said:

There is a tiny, maybe 1mm square, mark on the bottom of the frame near the trigger guard; it almost looks like a tiny QR code that you'd scan with your phone. I'm guessing that's the "blem." It took a while to find it.

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They all have a QR code there on the right side.