As those of you dear readers who also read my stuff on The National Interest may recall, back on 2 January 2025, my review of the Ruger Wrangler .22 LR single-action (SA) revolver was published. (I had acrually test-fired the gun back on 17 December 2024.) Therein, I’d noted that in 30 years as a gun owner, I’d never owned an SA revolver, and the fact that I’m very fond of Ruger’s double-action (DA) revolvers, especially the GP-100 and Redhawk in .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum, respectively.
However, I also summed up my review of the Wrangler thusly:
“Bottom line, while the Wrangler is a decent gun, it doesn’t impress me as much as the company’s DA revolvers. I’m feeling strongly inclined to try out the Heritage Rough Rider, which carries an MSRP of $207.99 —and also comes with a .22 WMR [Winchester Magnum Rimfire] cylinder as extra ‘bang for the buck’—before I make my final ‘hogleg’ buying decision.”
Fast-forward to Christmastime of 2024. I was unable to find a rental Rough Rider at any of my local ranges. So I rolled the dice and went ahead and purchased one as a late Christmas gift to myself, courtesy of the excellent XCAL gun shop and indoor range facility in Ashburn, Virginia. I decided on the .22 LR/.22 WMR twofer, as back in 2023 a wonderfully generous anonymous friend of mine donated a ginormous honkin’ tub of both ammo calibers to me when he relocated from Maryland to Florida.
Heritage Rough Rider Initial History and Specifications
The manufacturer, Heritage Manufacturing, was founded in 1992 in Miami Lakes, Florida, and was acquired by Taurus International in 2012; Heritage remained an independent manufacturing facility until 2013 when production was moved to Taurus facilities in Miami. In December 2019 Heritage production moved to Taurus’s then-new center of operations located in Bainbridge, GA.
As of 2019, Heritage Mfg. was THE top manufacturer of wheelguns in the world, according to American Handgunner Magazine; 2019 production figures amounted to a whopping 212,000.
Regarding the Rough Rider revolver specifically, it debuted the same year as its manufacturer, 1992. The manufacturer’s official info page proudly proclaims:
“You won’t need to rob any banks to achieve the classic shooting experience with the Heritage Rough Rider®. Affordable and efficient, the single-action rimfire revolver is made with every shooter in mind and inspired by the originals. That means no matter what, it gets the job done, just like Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders.”
My particular specimen “Black Standard” finish, i.e. a black oxide barrel, cylinder, and frame, along with Altamont® White Pearl grips. (The latter item is my mini-homage to Gen. Patton). As for vital stats:
- Barrel Length: 6.5″
- Overall Length: 11.78″
- Overall Height: 5.25″
- Overall Width: 1.5″
- Empty Weight: 33.2 ounces
- Cylinder Capacity: 6 rounds (she’s a true sixgun)
Grand total (tax, registration, etc.) I paid for the little beauty: $200.42 USD.
Shooting Impressions Part I: .22 WMR Cylinder
Okay, great, but how does she shoot? Well, I’m glad y’all asked. Accordingly, I took the gun to another excellent indoor range facility that’s coincidentally also located in Ashburn, Virginia, namely Silver Eagle Group (SEG). My first range session was solely with .22 WMR ammo, specifically 50 rounds of Speer TNT 30-grain jacketed hollowpoint (JHP) and 25 rounds of Remington 40-grain PSP.
Photos: Author
With the TNT ammo, I fired 25 rounds each at 7 yards (head shots) and at 25 yards (torso). With the PSP ammo, just for the hell of it, I took all of my shots at 50 yards (torso again). I conducted all shooting from the Classic Weaver Stance, and the target used was the ICE-QT paper target.
The gun easily made all head shots at 7 yards, keeping them grouped in and around the (paper) bad guy’s nose and eye sockets. At 25 yards, 23 out of rounds 25 stayed within the 5-ring, with seven striking the tiebreaking 5x zone. However, I threw two of my shots into the 2-zone, more specifically the bad guy’s left bicep. (But eh, at least they were tightly grouped together.)
As for the 50-yard stage:
–Thirteen stayed in the 5-zone (though I dunno if you can actually count the very first shot, which strayed high into the head; I mean, I love head shots, but in this instance, the noggin wasn’t my intended target) with zero 5x’s.
–Four hits were in the 4-zone
–Two were in the 2-zone (how symmetrical, eh?), more specifically the ol’ family jewels
–Three were total whiffs, ugh.
Trigger quality and sight picture (fixed front sight post with a notch-style rear sight) were passable if not mind-blowing. But, getting the WMR cylinder to pop into place was a pain-in-the-ass. Ditto for the cylinder’s periodic tendency to freeze up during unloading and unloading. “Break-in” phase for a new cylinder perhaps (especially since it came out of the box with the .22 LR cylinder in place)?
That said, at least the ejection was far more positive and user-friendly than the Ruger Wrangler I rented a coupla weeks back.
Shooting Impressions Part Deux: 22 LR Cylinder
A few days later, I tried the gun out with .22 LR ammo, this time doing so back at XCAL. Ammo used was 50 rounds of CCI “Quiet-22” 40-grain lead round nose (LRN), and I did all shooting from 25 yards, evenly divvied between head and torso shots.
This time, all of the torso shots stayed within the 5-zone, and seven those were 5x’s. (Admittedly, two of those just barely touched the scoring line). As for the head shot attempts:
–One missed completely
–Four strayed out of the 5-zone of the proverbial “coconut” into the 2-zone
–One actually went into the high torso 5-zone
–The remainder were 5-point headers.
Once again, swapping cylinders was a pain, as was the tendency of the cylinder to “stick” or freeze up. But like I already said, in 30 years as a gun owner, this is the first single-action revolver I’ve ever owned. Chalk it up to “hogleg” growing pains, i.e. this old dog trying to teach himself new tricks. (Gosh, I’ve been so spoiled by [1.] DA revolvers w/swing-out cylinders and [2.] autopistols).
Closing Thoughts
Overall, does the Heritage Rough Rider give me my money’s worth (“bang for the buck”)? I’d have to say yes, especially for the dirt-cheap price I paid for it.
NOTE: This article was originally published on the author’s Patreon page “The D’Orr-senal of Democracy” on 12 February 2025: https://www.patreon.com/posts/122157996
Read the full article here
