Ruger Wrangler .22

S

Savage30L

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Joined
Mar 7, 2023
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647
Location
Central KY
Does anyone have any experience with this model? Bud's has them at a good price, and I would like a .22 single action for teaching my wife (and possibly others) to shoot.

Comments, please.
 
There have been at least a dozen Wrangler threads on here in the last few months.
The guns seem to be hit or miss in the Quality department, but I have been happy with the 2 I have.
DO NOT try to compare a Wrangler to a Single Six. They aren't even in the same league.
If you really want an inexpensive SA .22, they are a reasonable option.
 
A lot of THR members have one or more. I have two, a standard and a Birdshead. I have also seen that CraigC has a pair of the 7.5” ones.

A few guys had issues; cerakote in the bore, mine had a timing issue, etc. Look it over well before you accept it to be sure that the bore isn’t sprayed and all seems tight.

Pros:

Price is good, guns have been reasonably accurate (if the bore is clear), lots of aftermarket grip options (recommended, factory grips are water thin plastic), if you have an issue Rugers customer service handles it, holsters for single six guns fit.

Cons:

Some guns were not as accurate as Rough Riders, No WMR cylinder option, not as robust as a single six (1/3 the price though!) and some actions/loading gates have been stiff when new.

I am no bullseye shooter, but mine shoot ok. The standard is much more accurate in my hands than the Birdshead is.

F464A888-FAD6-42B7-AEF2-AF76968C8220.jpeg 5BA128A6-63FB-4ED8-89DB-893B7E421613.jpeg

I bought mine to teach my son. He really enjoyed learning how to shoot with it.

Stay safe.
 
Thanks for the replies, fellows. This is just the sort of feedback I was looking for.

My cousin has a Colt New Frontier. I hoped he'd bring it up here before he moved to Thailand. Maybe I can convince him to bring it up.
 
As critical as I am of Ruger these days if people are looking for a cheap single action .22 I would point them towards Heritage as the quality is nowhere near as inconsistent as the Wrangler and the price is less. That and if you want adjustable sights and a .22 Mag spare cylinder the Heritage offers that.

About the only things the Wrangler offers over the Heritage is the lack of the safety on the frame and the loading gate unlocks the cylinder meaning no half cock needed. Oh, and Ruger, having Ruger somewhere on the firearm apparently makes it worth more to some people.

How the barrels are connected to the frame and main spring construction are talking points, but I have yet to see reports of massive failures of either of those in either Ruger or Heritage.
 
Savage - if I remember correctly, the Wrangler may be restricted in some states (like IL-ANNOY) because of a "low melting point" of some of the metal parts. Some of the Heritage guns suffer from the same restrictions.
 
I have two of them at the moment, one with the birdshead grip and one plow handle grip with a 5.5" barrel. I would not buy one to teach new shooters because its a lot of fiddling to load and eject for only 6 rounds. Fiddling with loading and unloading and then having to move their grip to cock the hammer for each shot is not going to help anyone focus on sights and trigger and consistency. I find the grip on both of mine to be kind of an awkward shape, and the sights are crap just like most non adjustable sight revolvers. You would not be doing anybody any favors trying to teach them to shoot one of these in my opinion. A buckmark or a ruger Mk2 or Mk4 would be much better suited to that role.
 
Yup, I 100% agree.
someguy2800 said:
I have two of them at the moment, one with the birdshead grip and one plow handle grip with a 5.5" barrel. I would not buy one to teach new shooters because its a lot of fiddling to load and eject for only 6 rounds. Fiddling with loading and unloading and then having to move their grip to cock the hammer for each shot is not going to help anyone focus on sights and trigger and consistency. I find the grip on both of mine to be kind of an awkward shape, and the sights are crap just like most non adjustable sight revolvers. You would not be doing anybody any favors trying to teach them to shoot one of these in my opinion. A buckmark or a ruger Mk2 or Mk4 would be much better suited to that role.
Click to expand...
 
Savage30L said:
Does anyone have any experience with this model? Bud's has them at a good price, and I would like a .22 single action for teaching my wife (and possibly others) to shoot.

Comments, please.
Click to expand...

a 22lr something is an excellent educational tool, probably how many of us here started with firearms. a 22lr rifle can be good too, especially if you can shoot outdoors regularly. the previous posts accurately describe the wrangler but here is my dime’s worth of advice anyway. it used to cost just a nickel, before fjb.

i am a rimfire addict. for single action rimfire revolvers i have the ruger single six, wrangler (4.5” plowhandle & 3.5” birdshead), bearcat, and heritage roughrider.

if you can find a used ruger single six on gb.com for $300ish spend the extra money, get it and be happily done. you will soon forget the extra $100+. your unborn grandchildren won’t forget how nice is a rss.

the bearcat is unique and well made, but isn’t a one-and-done rimfire revolver, and not worth the cost of a new one.

if you have $200 and no more, and will only forever get just one rimfire revolver, then get the wrangler. forget saving $50 or having 22wmr, as the latter doesn’t offer much tangible result over 22lr from a handgun.

if you can wait to black friday get a $100 hrr.

another way to look at it is what to get rid of. i’m considering to downsize my tool collection. i won’t get anything for the hrr so the wranglers will likely go to a consignment sale. the hrr will end up as trade piece.
 
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I'm perfectly satisfied with the Wrangler I've had several years. My grandson loves it.

All of this is based on one example.
 
My great grand kids that are large enough to hold them well love shooting my "cowboy" guns. I started each out on a Ruger SR 22 because of grip size and loading as a single shot until I decided they were safe with a handgun. Now the two oldest get to shoot whatever handgun I own if they think they can handle it and they often choose the single actions.
 
Riomouse911 said:
A lot of THR members have one or more. I have two, a standard and a Birdshead.
I am no bullseye shooter, but mine shoot ok. The standard is much more accurate in my hands than the Birdshead is.

I bought mine to teach my son. He really enjoyed learning how to shoot with it.
Click to expand...

How dare you teach your son to shoot with a single action revolver!

:evil:
 
Very good guns.

Would make an excellent house gun for the little lady. Next to nothing recoil so she will be able to handle it effectively and won’t be scared off and made gunshy.

There are personal defense long rifle cartridges now designed to bounce around in the skull/interior and are very affective.
 
Savage30L said:
After reading a few of those, I have no more interest in a Wrangler.

My cousin has a Colt New Frontier. I wish I could talk him out of it.
Click to expand...

I've had two Ruger Wranglers, both were hot steaming piles that Ruger had to take back and destroy as they were "unsafe to repair".
I'd buy another in a hot minute though, because you have a 50/50 chance of getting either a decent little six shooter for a good price, or a coupon for a new Ruger at half off MSRP, minus MSRP of the Wrangler.
In my case, I ended up paying just over $500 each for two Ruger SFAR replacements.

I might not get them because of Washington states impending AW ban, we'll see what passes first, the ban or the mandatory waiting period on the transfer, but thats not on Ruger.

The Wrangler is a blight upon Rugers reputation, IMO.
But Ruger will make it right.
 
silicosys4 said:
I've had two Ruger Wranglers, both were hot steaming piles that Ruger had to take back and destroy as they were "unsafe to repair".
I'd buy another in a hot minute though, because you have a 50/50 chance of getting either a decent little six shooter for a good price, or a coupon for a new Ruger at half off MSRP, minus MSRP of the Wrangler.
In my case, I ended up paying just over $500 each for two Ruger SFAR replacements.

The Wrangler is a blight upon Rugers reputation, IMO.
But Ruger will make it right.
Click to expand...

Poppycock.

Every manufacturer makes a lemon from time-to-time. It’s the nature of mass industrial automated manufacture. But the Wrangler is a fine sixgun that is made to last and to be made affordable for the working man. The one I own is absolutely fantastic and I’ve heard nothing but good remarks from my shootist colleagues regarding their experiences with the little Wranglers.
 
JCooperfan1911 said:
Poppycock.

Every manufacturer makes a lemon from time-to-time. It’s the nature of mass industrial automated manufacture. But the Wrangler is a fine sixgun that is made to last and to be made affordable for the working man. The one I own is absolutely fantastic and I’ve heard nothing but good remarks from my shootist colleagues regarding their experiences with the little Wranglers.
Click to expand...

My experiences
lumpy bore.jpg

my target with keyholes.jpg

Screenshot 2023-03-26 at 11-46-32 replacement letter ruger.pdf.png
And others
Tenncvol said:
Last year I purchased a Ruger Wrangler 22LR pistol just to have fun with it at the range. I realized it would not be a high precision pistol at the low price point. It was inconsistent, and often would shoot as expected given the simple sights and my skills. However, there were some real bad flyers that I could not blame on my shooting. Closer inspection revealed the holes in the paper were oblong, not round. I think the term is "keyholing". The Ruger customer service lady was not surprised and arranged for it to be returned for repair. I received notice that it could not be repaired and was offered a replacement which I accepted.

The replacement Wrangler made a bad first impression as cartridges had to be firmly pushed into three of the cylinder chambers. After shooting, empties would not come out of the chambers except by removing the cylinder and using a punch and mallet to force them out. I rigged up a way to polish the inside of the chambers and solved that problem. Once I was able to shoot it again - guess what. It keyholed worse than its predecessor. I put it back in its new box and traded for it boxes of Mini-mags. Consider yourself lucky if you got a good Wangler.
Click to expand...

doubleh said:
Keyholing is apparently a big issue with them if what I read on various forums is true. I have one and have managed to cure the keyhole problem but you wouldn't use accurate to describe it.
Click to expand...

Biblethumpncop said:
I did notice a couple rounds of Winchester M-22 key holing, but Super X, Aguila, Federal and CCI didn't.
Click to expand...

Shooterbob said:
I traded into a wrangler recently and it shoots very low . Like 6 inches low at 12 yards. Only had it to the range once. Shot several different kinds of ammo and I think the standard velocity cci was the best. But not terrible groups but not as good groups as a few rough riders I have shot.The gun is new not used.
Click to expand...

MacAR said:
I had one of the first ones to come into this area. No complaints on fit and finish, but it keyholed right off the bat. I recut the crown, did the poor boy trigger job, and replaced the grips with a pair of wood ones. It shot as well as could be expected for what it was, but my single six shoots much better and so the wrangler went to a new home. The fella that got it seems to like it quite a bit, but it's his trap line gun and nothing else. I have a tendency to recommend them over the hrr only because of the silly safety on the heritage. Otherwise, save your money and buy a single six you can pass to your grand kids!
Mac
Click to expand...

Autodidactic said:
I bought one. I probably fired 300 rounds through it. It did fine most of the time but yes some keyholing. Another thing. Two of the cylinder holes the cartridges had to be pushed strongly in, and it took a lot of force to get them out.
After a year I got bored of it and sold it.
Click to expand...
 
I've got five of them. If they were crap I wouldn't keep buying them. Please note that Ruger has been selling the hell out of Wranglers. The handful of complaints you see online are statistically insignificant. I've also got eight Single Sixes plus a Bearcat, S&W's, Colt's and a USFA 12/22. I find no reason to turn my nose up at the Wrangler like I do the Heritage.

I also think a single action revolver is an excellent choice for teaching new shooters.
 
My wife has the burnt bronze Wrangler with the birdshead grip. She also has the LCRx .22WMR snubby, LCRx .22WMR 3", and LCRx .22lr 3". The Wrangler is her favorite range gun, and she hasn't had a bit of trouble with it.
 
someguy2800 said:
I sure wish I could find a single 6 for $300
Click to expand...

2 of my 4 were purchased for less than 300.00.
One from Cabela’s (believe it or not) is a 1956 flat gate. $269.00 IIRC 3 years ago.
And a 1976/77 vintage with both cylinders from a Tactical Tommy LGS for $279.00 6 months ago.
Just keep your eyes peeled and cash in your wallet, you'll find one.
 
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