Riomouse911
Member
After reading the post @doubleh put up about his Wrangler accuracy issues I decided to bring out the two Wranglers, my 6.5” Single Six convertible .22 WMR and .22 LR, the 6.5” .32 H&R Bisley and my newest .22, a 6.5” Bisley with the drift sights.
A small variety of ammo was used:
.22 LR; Sellier & Bellot club 40 gr rn, Norma TAC-22 40 gr rn, Aguila Super Extra 40 gr rn, CCI Standard Velocity and Blazer 40 gr rn.
.22 WMR; CCI 40 gr JHP, Armscor 40 gr JHP, Fiocchi 40 gr fmj, and Winchester 40 gr fmj and 45 gr Dynapoint.
The .32 H&R got trusted handloads; Brazos 98 gr wc over 3.9 gr HP-38, Brazos 100 gr rnfp over 3.6 gr HP-38, Missouri 115 gr rnfp over 4.2 gr Unique, a Montana 125 gr swcgc over 4.2 gr Unique and an ACME 115 gr rnfp over 3.9 gr Unique.
I also brought along the 4.2” SP 101 in .327 Federal with two .327 loads I just cooked up for it; 100 gr XTP over 11 gr AA#9 and a 115 gr rnfp over 10 gr AA#9.
As usual time was not on my side, so I only had a chance to fire at one target each with 5 loads. All were shot at roughly 12 yards using a foam block as a rest. The measurements are to the closest 1/8”.
I started with the birdshead Wrangler. Like doubleh’s gun, this one is not super accurate. The combination of the new-to-me grip, silvery colored sights, a stiff trigger pull and short sight radius hampered me a lot. It also shot fairly high and right. (With this first round of shots I set the orange dot on the top of the front sight. After this target, all the rest had the black circle set on the front sight as a 6 o’clock hold.) The height issue was my hold, the shooting right will need some adjustment.
I think one chamber is a clinker, just about every target had one shot that landed way off. The TAC-22 was the “best”, shooting six into 1.5”. The others ran from 2.5 to easily 4”.
The standard Wrangler was next, the only addition are Altamont grips. This gun shot point-of-aim and put the bullets pretty much right where I aimed. This gun likes CCI stuff, both the SV and Blazer were under an inch. The others all ran about 1.5”.
The 6.5” Single Sixes were next. The longer sight radius, smoother trigger and larger/crisper sight pictures sure improved the grouping. The convertible with the .22 LR cylinder was first. It did not like the Aguila, wasn’t happy with Blazers but did well with the others at around 1”.
The new-to-me Bisley .22 was even more accurate on average than my trusty Single Six was. I think the grip and trigger feel of the Bisley just fits my hands better than the standard grip/triggers do. Best was 7/8” with CCI SV, Blazer was 1” even and the others fell into 1 1/8” groups. I must say that for my first time shooting this revolver I was extremely impressed with the gun and how easily it shot.
The Single Six then got the magnum cylinder to see how it shot. Even without adjusting the sights it shot pretty much point-of-aim with all the loads. It did not like the FMJ very much, but the el cheapo Winchester Dynapoint had the best group of anything I fired all day at 5/8”. Even the budget Armscor was shooting under an inch .
The usual WMR fireball from the Ruger primed me for the .32. This was the first Bisley I had ever tried, along with my first .32 caliber handgun, and I must say I was missing out on both for far too long.
I have this regulated at roughly 30 yards, so even with a 6 o’clock hold it hit a bit high at 12. Surprisingly the WC load was the least accurate at a decent 1 3/8”, the others all fell from 1 1/4” to 1”. With a better rest, and a better shooter operating the gun, I bet the .32 could keep them all under an inch at this distance.
The last gun, the SP 101 .327, was a departure from the SA crowd and I will add a couple of observations from this experience.
Accuracy was not bad at all, save for one load. Not quite as good as with the longer-barreled Bisley but it was still pretty good for a small revolver. Only the ACME load was big at 3”.
Both the .327 loads fell under 1.5”, the XTP had three touching right in the bullseye. I would have no qualms using this gun/XTP load combo for SD if pressed.
Observations:
The abbreviated grip of the SP made holding onto it a bit challenging. My little finger was right at the bottom edge of the grip so I did not have full purchase on it. Also, with the magnum loads my middle finger took a pretty good rap with every shot. I think new grips are in line for this gun.
The sights were pretty much spot on, a tad high at 12 but the bullets should fall in at 25-30 yards nicely. The magnums were loud. Not as deep a concussive boom as my bigger magnums, but they certainly knew I was shooting in the lanes next to me.
The first time I shot the SP I did not clean it first so it started stiffening up from crud under the cylinder. That did not happen this time, but I did have a couple of “fail to reset” with the trigger with the magnum loads and a very slow trigger release. (Based on these issues, I see now why I was able to get it in a barely-fired condition.)
When I got home I googled the issue on Ruger forums and did some light polishing with 1500 grit paper on the internal areas suggested. This, some new Wolff hammer-trigger springs and a lot of dry firing last night seems to have removed the hitch in the internals that was causing the hiccup. (Obviously only a return to the range will let me know if I solved it. I’ll know in a couple of weeks when I go back.)
All in all, not a bad 2-hour morning detour to the range. I certainly wasn’t shooting lights out, but for swapping guns about (and the difference between them all) I was pretty darn happy.
Stay safe.
A small variety of ammo was used:
.22 LR; Sellier & Bellot club 40 gr rn, Norma TAC-22 40 gr rn, Aguila Super Extra 40 gr rn, CCI Standard Velocity and Blazer 40 gr rn.
.22 WMR; CCI 40 gr JHP, Armscor 40 gr JHP, Fiocchi 40 gr fmj, and Winchester 40 gr fmj and 45 gr Dynapoint.
The .32 H&R got trusted handloads; Brazos 98 gr wc over 3.9 gr HP-38, Brazos 100 gr rnfp over 3.6 gr HP-38, Missouri 115 gr rnfp over 4.2 gr Unique, a Montana 125 gr swcgc over 4.2 gr Unique and an ACME 115 gr rnfp over 3.9 gr Unique.
I also brought along the 4.2” SP 101 in .327 Federal with two .327 loads I just cooked up for it; 100 gr XTP over 11 gr AA#9 and a 115 gr rnfp over 10 gr AA#9.
As usual time was not on my side, so I only had a chance to fire at one target each with 5 loads. All were shot at roughly 12 yards using a foam block as a rest. The measurements are to the closest 1/8”.
I started with the birdshead Wrangler. Like doubleh’s gun, this one is not super accurate. The combination of the new-to-me grip, silvery colored sights, a stiff trigger pull and short sight radius hampered me a lot. It also shot fairly high and right. (With this first round of shots I set the orange dot on the top of the front sight. After this target, all the rest had the black circle set on the front sight as a 6 o’clock hold.) The height issue was my hold, the shooting right will need some adjustment.
I think one chamber is a clinker, just about every target had one shot that landed way off. The TAC-22 was the “best”, shooting six into 1.5”. The others ran from 2.5 to easily 4”.
The standard Wrangler was next, the only addition are Altamont grips. This gun shot point-of-aim and put the bullets pretty much right where I aimed. This gun likes CCI stuff, both the SV and Blazer were under an inch. The others all ran about 1.5”.
The 6.5” Single Sixes were next. The longer sight radius, smoother trigger and larger/crisper sight pictures sure improved the grouping. The convertible with the .22 LR cylinder was first. It did not like the Aguila, wasn’t happy with Blazers but did well with the others at around 1”.
The new-to-me Bisley .22 was even more accurate on average than my trusty Single Six was. I think the grip and trigger feel of the Bisley just fits my hands better than the standard grip/triggers do. Best was 7/8” with CCI SV, Blazer was 1” even and the others fell into 1 1/8” groups. I must say that for my first time shooting this revolver I was extremely impressed with the gun and how easily it shot.
The Single Six then got the magnum cylinder to see how it shot. Even without adjusting the sights it shot pretty much point-of-aim with all the loads. It did not like the FMJ very much, but the el cheapo Winchester Dynapoint had the best group of anything I fired all day at 5/8”. Even the budget Armscor was shooting under an inch .
The usual WMR fireball from the Ruger primed me for the .32. This was the first Bisley I had ever tried, along with my first .32 caliber handgun, and I must say I was missing out on both for far too long.
I have this regulated at roughly 30 yards, so even with a 6 o’clock hold it hit a bit high at 12. Surprisingly the WC load was the least accurate at a decent 1 3/8”, the others all fell from 1 1/4” to 1”. With a better rest, and a better shooter operating the gun, I bet the .32 could keep them all under an inch at this distance.
The last gun, the SP 101 .327, was a departure from the SA crowd and I will add a couple of observations from this experience.
Accuracy was not bad at all, save for one load. Not quite as good as with the longer-barreled Bisley but it was still pretty good for a small revolver. Only the ACME load was big at 3”.
Both the .327 loads fell under 1.5”, the XTP had three touching right in the bullseye. I would have no qualms using this gun/XTP load combo for SD if pressed.
Observations:
The abbreviated grip of the SP made holding onto it a bit challenging. My little finger was right at the bottom edge of the grip so I did not have full purchase on it. Also, with the magnum loads my middle finger took a pretty good rap with every shot. I think new grips are in line for this gun.
The sights were pretty much spot on, a tad high at 12 but the bullets should fall in at 25-30 yards nicely. The magnums were loud. Not as deep a concussive boom as my bigger magnums, but they certainly knew I was shooting in the lanes next to me.
The first time I shot the SP I did not clean it first so it started stiffening up from crud under the cylinder. That did not happen this time, but I did have a couple of “fail to reset” with the trigger with the magnum loads and a very slow trigger release. (Based on these issues, I see now why I was able to get it in a barely-fired condition.)
When I got home I googled the issue on Ruger forums and did some light polishing with 1500 grit paper on the internal areas suggested. This, some new Wolff hammer-trigger springs and a lot of dry firing last night seems to have removed the hitch in the internals that was causing the hiccup. (Obviously only a return to the range will let me know if I solved it. I’ll know in a couple of weeks when I go back.)
All in all, not a bad 2-hour morning detour to the range. I certainly wasn’t shooting lights out, but for swapping guns about (and the difference between them all) I was pretty darn happy.
Stay safe.
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