Rough Riders?

[ThomasT]

SteadyD try rereading post #48.

If you take a bullet from a 22lr and try to insert it in a .224 bore normally meant for a 22 mag you will have to hammer the 22lr bullet down the bore. IT WILL NOT FALL THROUGH THE BORE. It will be a tight fit. And the soft lead 22 bullets will bump up to fit the bore when firing. As stated in post #48 it is a non issue.

 

[SteadyD]

SteadyD try rereading post #48.

If you take a bullet from a 22lr and try to insert it in a .224 bore normally meant for a 22 mag you will have to hammer the 22lr bullet down the bore. IT WILL NOT FALL THROUGH THE BORE. It will be a tight fit. And the soft lead 22 bullets will bump up to fit the bore when firing. As stated in post #48 it is a non issue.

I didn't say the bullet would fall through the bore. I said according to tests ruger did it wouldn't effect accuracy. So... What did I miss? I already read that you didn't notice any effect in accuracy. I was merely following that up with Ruger themselves saying as much. If this is some sort of major faux pas then I offer my sincerest of apologies.

 

[Jim K]

I guess the low price makes the Heritage guns attractive, and they may be OK for inexpensive knock around guns. But they are cheap; and they look and feel cheap. The frame and grip frame seldom fit together well, nor do the grips, and the machining is of poor quality. I don't know what the frame is made from (the factory won't say), but it is almost certainly not steel.. Will they serve the customer who wants an inexpensive gun for short term use and is OK with not expecting much in the way of quality or durability? Yes, but consider it a toy, not a serious gun for hard use or for self defense.

Jim

 

[CraigC]

IMHO, far too much has been made about the bore/bullet sizes between the .22LR and .22Mag with regards to accuracy.

 

[gotboostvr]

All this talk about the Rough Riders here lately is making me want another.

Or at least go handle one. It's been a few years since I last had one. I've much more experience with SA's and revolvers in general than when I last had a RR as a knock around plinker. While I remember it fondly, I just want to make sure I'm not looking at it through rose colored glasses.

I was entirely a DA/SA semi auto shooter and had just got my first revolver (a gently used 19-3). Since then I've been a almost entirely revolver shooter with many more SA & DA revolvers, so I may have a different opinion if I were to revisit them now. It'll be interesting in the least, and I always like an excuse to go fondle with some new guns.

 

[ThomasT]

SteadyD no apologies needed. Like CraigC stated too much is made about bore sizes between the 22 and 22 mag. I have never seen a 22lr bullet that measures anything close to .223. They are all bigger than that. Ruger or anyone else who makes a duel cylinder gun will need to make the bore to fit the 22 mag round. The 22 mag is loaded to much higher pressures with a harder bullet. It would be stupid to make a 22 mag gun with an undersized bore. But thats ok because the 22lr bullets are soft and oversized so they will form to fit the bore. Even if 22lr bullets were .223 they would slug up to fit the larger .224 bore.

I sometimes wonder if some people no how small the .001 difference really is? I have measured several human hairs and they run from .002 to .004 for a big one. So a bore that is .224 is one half of a thin human hair bigger. Or look at it this way. It is .0005 one each side of the bore bigger. Five ten thousandths of an inch or 1/4th of a thin human hair.

Ruger makes a single 10 that is 22lr only. And I'll bet you a Happy Meal that they use the exact same barrels on that gun as on the convertible. What would would be the point if the 22lr bullets are all oversized anyway?

 

[CraigC]

Ruger has used the same barrels for all .22 Single Sixes since 1968, convertible or not.

 

[ThomasT]

Well there ya go Craig. You confirmed what I suspected. It was the gun writer Terry Murbach that brought out the Ruger would buy barrels from a barrel maker that made target barrels for 22 rifles and any barrel not up to the standards of the barrel maker were sold to Ruger who then cut them and turned them to fit on the single six guns. So those should be some pretty accurate barrels. I am not sure what made the barrels unacceptable for the barrel maker but they must have been really picky to reject enough barrels to keep Ruger supplied. Of course one rifle barrel would make at least 3 handgun barrels.

 

[gotboostvr]

Well there ya go Craig. You confirmed what I suspected. It was the gun writer Terry Murbach that brought out the Ruger would buy barrels from a barrel maker that made target barrels for 22 rifles and any barrel not up to the standards of the barrel maker were sold to Ruger who then cut them and turned them to fit on the single six guns. So those should be some pretty accurate barrels. I am not sure what made the barrels unacceptable for the barrel maker but they must have been really picky to reject enough barrels to keep Ruger supplied. Of course one rifle barrel would make at least 3 handgun barrels.

I doubt that's truly the case. I could belive they were made on the same tooling, or to the same specifications as the target rifles. I find it hard to belive any one target rifle was made in such great numbers that just their rejected barrels were enough to produce so many Rugers.

 

[ThomasT]

Believe it or not. No matter to me. The information came from a very well known gun writer and it was discussed over on the Firing Line forum if you care to do a search. But I agree. That would be a heck of a lot of rejected barrels.

 

[MedWheeler]

Cooldill writes:

I think I am hearing a little too much good about the Rough Rider to turn it down, especially at that price tag. I plan to use the gun as a little plinkster, popping cans and things.

So, did you pick one up yet?

 

[Jeb Stuart]

For the money, Rough Riders are okay guns. I could see buying one or two for children use if I had such a need, but I don't. I'll stick with Ruger, S&W, and Colt for my 22's.

The convertible sounds like a wonderful thing, but the reality is that you will likely keep the same cylinder in it and never change it. I would rather have two guns.

Lol, for children? I have one and I really enjoy it and I am up there in age. I have the 22mag cylinder also but do shoot mostly 22.lr. Just because right now 22.mag ammo is so expensive. However I do splurge occasionally because the Mag ammo is so fun to shoot. I find the Heritage to be a excellent and fun revolver. Man you cannot beat it for the cost.
Ps. I am a Ruger fan, and I do own the Blackhawk 9mm/357 which is built like a tank and meant to last generations.

 

[farm23]

My single six convertible has taught 3 children a number of grand children and will teach great grand children how to safely shoot. It has taken a bunch of small game and when it goes afield it has the 22 mag. I have shot more 22lr [1000's more] but I like having the 22 mag cylinder for field work. If I ever have to get another SA it will be a single six.

 

[375supermag]

Hi...
I have no experience with the Heritage Rough Rider but do own and shoot a Western Six from Kimel Industries.
I have been told it is basically the same gun imported by a different company.
I shoot it with both the .22LR and .22Magnum cylinders. It is a nice little revolver that has proven quite durable over the thousands and thousands of rounds I have shot through it.
Definitely good enough for clay birds and tin cans out to 25yds. Fun little plinking gun that lets me practice without the blast and recoil of the bigger caliber revolvers.

 

[22-rimfire]

Lol, for children? I have one and I really enjoy it and I am up there in age. I have the 22mag cylinder also but do shoot mostly 22.lr. Just because right now 22.mag ammo is so expensive. However I do splurge occasionally because the Mag ammo is so fun to shoot. I find the Heritage to be a excellent and fun revolver. Man you cannot beat it for the cost.

Or the children in us.... 22 Mag ammo has always been expensive. But that's okay, I don't use it for plinking. But target and plinking has been pretty much my only use for the last 5 years or so. Stopped hunting. May do a re-start.

 

[C5rider]

I like both, I OWN both.

Had a friend pick up my HRR for the first time at the range. I was shooting the metal nails out of roofing paper tacks, the plastic ones with the metal nail in the center. They were about 7 yrds away. He asked how my "new gun" shot, so I loaded a cylinder up for him. He pulls up, one shot and drops a roofing tack! He put the gun down and said, "Yup! Pretty accurate!" I told him there were three more roofing tacks and a mostly loaded cylinder. He walked away. Smart man! LOL!

Did a little unscientific test between my two 22s and posted a thread here on THR. You can find it here: https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/heritage-vs-the-single-six.640428/