Monday, January 28, 2019

Accidental pistol acquisition not too shabby

So I started messing around with the Heritage Arms Rough Rider .22 revolver that I bought at a local pawn shop last week...the one that I was going to turn in at the city's gun buy for $500 only to have them run out of money and turn me away along with and 80% of the other citizens looking to turn in their guns. And since I was sort of stuck with it, I started to research it and discovered that it has no shortage of positive reviews. It's also American made. I noticed that mine had a .22 Magnum cylinder in it and because I read before shooting, I discovered that you cannot put .22lr rounds through a .22mag without swapping the cylinder. Bad things happen if you try. So I bought a used .22lr cylinder off fleabay for cheap and while I was at it I found a plug that replaces the ugly and prominent safety lever on the left side of the gun for $20 and I installed that today.

Looks fetching now, eh?


I took it to the range today with both cylinders and a box of ammo for each and tried it out.

It balances and aims well and the trigger breaks pretty light--almost too light--but I'll get used to it. The hammer is a proper "four click" like any real single action revolver should have, and it grouped ok, just a fair bit low and right with both cartridges. Looking at it closely, I discovered someone had bent the front sight to the left slightly. I took it come and straightened it, then gave it a bit more bend to the right because it was over a fair deal. Hopefully that gets the windage closer. I also gently filed down the front blade a tad to bring it's point of impact up a bit. Next range trip I'll see where it's hitting now. But as it stands now, I like the little critter. It could easily become a companion on future hiking and camping trips.

And I owe it all to Mayor Cantrell's bungled gun buy program. Thanks Mayor! You armed another citizen who would likely have never bought one of these otherwise. And this "evil" gun now lives in New Orleans thanks to you.

14 comments:

  1. If it works, it ain' wrong... :-)

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  2. Nice. I wasn't aware of the plug for the hammer block safety - will have to look into that. I don't have the magnum cylinder, mine just came with .22 LR.

    I rarely fail to take mine when I go to the range. Hardly ever shoot paper with it, but enjoy the challenge of dropping falling plates.

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  3. Hey Murphy;

    Any day at the range is a good thing.

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  4. You done good on that one.

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  5. Looks good! I’ve been thinking about one of these myself only in abirds head. (I would prefer a Ruger shopkeeper but the going rate for those is 3 to 5 times higher!).
    Do beware that without that hammer block it had best be handled as a real colt with the hammer left on an empty chamber.

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    1. Exactly. I've converted it back to a Colt-style pistol and it'll be handled with all of the care due a proper Colt-style. I want all of my single-actions to work the same way so I can train to one manual of arms when I use them. That, to me, is safer than having safeties on a few but not the rest. Plus they're ugly.

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  6. I bought one several years ago for my kids to plink with. I thought it would be a cheap little gun for them to have fun with. Mine came with the two cylinders for around $130. I was pleasantly surprised. It is very well built, reliable and accurate. It goes to show that cheap does not always mean junk.

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    1. I agree that inexpensive is not always cheap, and expensive is not always quality.

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  7. I love reading heartwarming stories like this.
    Finding love where you least expect it :)

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  8. Sounds like a good fun gun. I am sure I paid a lot more for my Ruger New Model Single Six convertible it is a 22LR & 22WMR and a lot of fun. Next time I am in the market for a 22 revolver, I may get a Heritage Arms at a good deal. Good luck with it, have fun & shoot safely.

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  9. I bought one a couple of years back just to see how an online sale transfer worked. I haven't bought the .22WMR cylinder. Came with a coupon. It's a great little gun that can be had for less than $100 sometimes.

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  10. Awwww....now if that's not the happiest ending to a sad story of A Gun's Life, I dunno what is. :)

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  11. I bought one for my wife, she always seems to find something at the gun store that catches her eye. It's a real nice shooter, just the fun runs out too quick.

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  12. Doggoneit, now you have all got me wanting one. Cheapest I have found it around here retail is $125, and that's the one without the .22WMR cylinder. I'm going to keep looking and see if an even better deal comes along.

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