Comparing Budget Rimfire SA Revolvers

[Crunchy Frog]

The Greenville Gunfighters will begin allowing shooters of all ages to shoot .22 LR rifle and revolvers beginning with our January 2022 monthly match. Previously we adhered to the official SASS categories which meant only those aged 13 and younger could shoot rimfire.

Before the introduction of the Ruger Wrangler the young shooters were using a variety of revolvers including the Ruger Single Six, Ruger Bearcat and the Heritage Rough Rider.

Ruger centerfire SA revolvers are very popular in cowboy action. Now that Ruger is making the Wrangler it has developed a following.

Cowboy action shooters use a pair of revolvers so price is a factor, especially since a "Buckaroo" shooter will "age out" of a Rimfire and have to acquire centerfire revolvers. Alternatively if a local club allows adults to shoot rimfire the reasoning is usually to get new people into the game at a lower cost of firearms and ammo.

The Wrangler's street price hovers around $200 but two stores had them on sale recently for $179. The Heritage is often less expensive and there is a $20 rebate currently.

Does anyone have hands-on experience with both? Share your impressions.

 

[Imaduckin]

ive had both and cant find fault in either, the heritage occasionally has finish faults but so does a used ruger after awhile

 

[nightstryke]

I'm going to buy a Rough Rider myself soon, I like the Wrangler, but every time I go to buy one it ends up being twice the price of the Heritage and yeah the Heritage is rough around the edges, but I've heard nothing but good things about them so I'd imagine you can't go wrong with either choice.

 

[Crunchy Frog]

The Ruger has a free spinning cylinder. This was a popular modification on the large framed Ruger Blackhawk and original Vaquero, to overcome the slight misalignment of the chambers with the loading gate.

My New Vaquero have a "reverse indexing pawl" that lines up the chambers perfectly.

I've shot a Wrangler and find the free spinning cylinder odd. There are no clicks as you advance the cylinder to give you a tactile clue that it's time to poke another little cartridge into a chamber.

Probably something one would get used to.

The Ruger is oversprung out of the box. Not very difficult to change out the hammer spring. The hammer throw is long, but again that is true of the centerfire Ruger SAs as well.