Heritage Rough Rider 22 Lr/22 Wmr Dual Cylinder Revolver Reviews

By Daniel English

I day presently after purchasing my first gun, I was at a local sporting goods storing purchasing .22LR ammo when a Heritage Crude Rider caught my eye. I was interested in getting a handgun, and the toll tag fit my college student budget a piddling easier than only most everything else on the shelf, then I decided to give it a try. I expected to have fun with information technology, but I certainly didn't wait that several years and many other firearm purchases later, it'd still be ane of my favorite handguns to have to the range.

The Heritage Rough Rider is a single-action .22 revolver that volition only set you lot back about $150. There are several models of the gun that provide different grip colors and styles, sight options, and even different chambering (some models include interchangeable cylinders for .22LR and .22 Magnum). The version here is a basic model with a half dozen.5" barrel, fixed sights, and a .22LR cylinder.

Commencement Impressions

The Heritage Rough Rider looks like it belongs in an old Western, with a design reminiscent of the archetype Filly Single Activity Army revolver. The wooden paw grip, aluminum frame and steel barrel give the gun a substantial, sturdy feel.

Overall I'm impressed with the build quality, especially at this price point. After thousands of rounds and countless cleaning sessions, the finish is starting to article of clothing off on the front end of the cylinder on mine, merely beyond that I accept not had any issues with the gun's long term durability.

It's relatively small size, combined with the classic shape and style of the hand grip, make the Rough Rider decidedly less ergonomic than most of my more modern guns. Information technology'due south non especially hard to hold the gun correctly, but it doesn't fall into my hand equally naturally every bit I'd unremarkably like for a handgun. I'thou typically non a revolver shooter, then maybe that's a learned taste.

Loading and Firing

Unlike modernistic revolver, the cylinder on the Rough Rider is stock-still in place and doesn't swing out for loading. Instead, to load the gun you first pull the hammer back to a half-cocked position that allows the cylinder to be rotated by hand. Then, you swing open a hinged loading gate on the correct side of the frame and insert rounds one at a fourth dimension, rotating the cylinder and repeating the procedure until all six chambers are full.

It sounds like a deadening process, and it could exist for some, but I actually enjoy the mechanical actions necessary to load the Rough Rider. It's a nice modify of pace from the simple, utilitarian fashion of a semiautomatic handgun magazine. The main downside is that information technology's time consuming and prevents the use of a speedloader for rapid reloads.

This is also a good time to mention that ejecting spent shells from the Crude Rider is a similarly mechanically intensive process. To unload the Rough Rider, you once more bring the hammer back to the one-half-cocked position, open the loading gate, and pull a small spring-loaded plunger located under the barrel to eject each spent vanquish. To eject all six, yous have to pull the plunger, release it, turn the cylinder, wash, rinse and repeat until the gun'due south empty.

Suffice information technology to say that loading and unloading a Rough Rider isn't an operation that you would desire to perform when seconds count.

Once the Rough Rider's loaded, it's fairly like shooting fish in a barrel to shoot. The gun has a transmission safe lever to the left of the hammer; once information technology's been flipped down to the firing position, you simply utilise your thumb to bring the hammer back to the fully cocked position and pull the trigger to let her fly.

The simplicity of a single-action design usually results in a decent trigger, and the Rough Rider is no exception. The pull weight is average (Heritage specs it at 6 pounds) but I was happy with the lack of take-up before the pause. The trigger barely seems to move rearward earlier the gun fires, making it like shooting fish in a barrel to shoot accurately.

The sights on my Rough Rider are congenital into the frame and consist of a small notch in the rear of the frame just forward of the hammer and a slim metal blade at the business end. Both the front sight and rear notch are the same color as the frame — basic blackness — and can be difficult to pick up in the dimly lit environment of an indoor range, especially when aiming at a dark target. The sights are non-adjustable and aftermarket sights can't exist mounted without some gunsmithing.

With its long sight radius, the Rough Passenger's plenty accurate. Fifty-fifty in the aforementioned shooting conditions at my local range and shooting bulk .22LR ammo at a fairly rapid rate, I was able to achieve a surprising level of accuracy at x yards. The Rough Passenger is hands accurate enough to make for a fun shooting experience.

Being chambered in .22LR and weighing nigh two pounds, the Rough Rider has effectively zero recoil. Of grade, being a single activeness only thing, you'll need to to re-cock before launching each round, which will require you to realign the sights and generally limits the rate of fire.

But like the loading process, I found that I enjoyed the feeling of cocking the gun before each shot, probably because information technology fabricated me feel like John Wayne. Even though I'g from Texas, I never felt the urge to clothing a cowboy chapeau…until I started shooting the Rough Rider at the range, that is. Information technology'southward a fun gun to operate and shoot, and I retrieve I just like the feel of manually operating the gun as a contrast to my semiautomatic handguns that only crave me to squeeze a trigger.

Reliability and Cleaning

As .22 ammo is typically a bit more choosy than centerfire calibers, and I've experienced a number of failures to burn when shooting the Rough Rider. The frequency, though, is in line with every other .22 rifle or handgun I've fired, which suggests that the failures are due to inconsistencies in the ammo rather than the fault declining of the gun.

One advantage to a revolver over a semiautomatic .22 handgun or rifle is that there are no concerns about the gun reliably cycling with different brands of ammo. I've fed a wide range of .22 into the Crude Rider, from majority boxes of Remington Thunderbolts to higher class CCI Mini-Mags, and take achieved generally reliable performance with all of it.

Cleaning the Rough Rider is simple, equally the cylinder can be removed by taking out a single pivot pin. Wiping down the exposed surfaces of the cylinder and frame and running a few swabs through each chamber and the barrel is sufficient to keep the gun operating smoothly. It's also worth noting that Heritage provides a large range of replacement parts on their website, along with the .22 Magnum cylinder and replacement grips.

Use Case

The Rough Rider has a number of plusses and minuses. It's well-built and pays homage to a classic design, and you'll probably accept fun shooting information technology if for no other reason than that its transmission functioning is a change from nearly mod semiautomatic handguns. It's authentic enough that you can hit what yous're aiming at, and information technology will piece of work well with any brand of .22LR or .22 Magnum ammo you tin find. I love it every bit a fun, casual gun to have to the range.

On the flip side, the sights aren't wonderful, and the gun's manual nature ways you won't be firing or reloading very rapidly if that'due south a consideration. The Rough Rider would be a poor self defence weapon.

My primary utilise instance for the Rough Rider is equally a mode to introduce new shooters to handgun shooting, a gyre in which it actually excels. Its appearance is fairly not-threatening as well noobs compared to most semiautomatic handguns, and anybody I've taken to the range has enjoyed learning how to operate and shoot the gun.

The lack of recoil makes it more fun than scary to shoot for a novice, which is highly conducive to learning proper shooting fundamentals. For those reasons, it will always have a place in my drove, and it manages to find its way into my bag on simply about every range trip.

Specifications: Heritage Rough Passenger

Caliber: .22LR or .22 Magnum
Chapters: 6 rounds
Barrel Length: six.five"
Barrel Material: 1215 Steel
Frame Material: Aluminum blend
Grip: Laminate wood
Sights: Stock-still, non-adjustable open style
Trigger Pull Weight: 6 lbs.
Weight: 33.four oz. empty
MSRP: from $200 to 300 depending on model; equally depression every bit $150 in stores

Ratings (out of five stars):

Build Quality * * * *
Surprisingly loftier build quality for the toll. The finish may article of clothing off of the forepart of the cylinder after many cleanings, but the gun is rock-solid.

Loading and Firing Ergonomics * * * *
4 stars because information technology's fun to load and shoot. The fixed cylinder makes ejecting spent shells and loading tedious, merely somehow all the same enjoyable. It has a decent trigger, likewise.

Accuracy * * * *
Despite the rudimentary sights the Rough Passenger was enough authentic in my testing.

Defensive Capability *
While you probably won't desire to apply the Crude Rider for self-defence force, it beats throwing a shoe at an attacker. Still, there are far better choices in defensive firearms.

Overall * * * * *
The Heritage Crude Rider is a great value for the toll. It'south an amazingly fun range gun and a particularly skillful pick for introducing new shooters to the hobby. Highly recommended.

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Source: https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/gun-review-heritage-rough-rider-22-revolver/

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