Heritage Rough Rider 22lr and 22 Mag Review
By Daniel English
One day soon subsequently purchasing my first gun, I was at a local sporting goods storing purchasing .22LR ammo when a Heritage Rough Passenger caught my heart. I was interested in getting a handgun, and the price tag fit my higher student budget a little easier than just about everything else on the shelf, so I decided to requite it a endeavour. I expected to have fun with it, but I certainly didn't expect that several years and many other firearm purchases later, it'd even so be i of my favorite handguns to take to the range.
The Heritage Rough Rider is a unmarried-activity .22 revolver that will only set yous back nearly $150. There are several models of the gun that provide different grip colors and styles, sight options, and even unlike chambering (some models include interchangeable cylinders for .22LR and .22 Magnum). The version here is a basic model with a half-dozen.5" barrel, stock-still sights, and a .22LR cylinder.
Kickoff Impressions
The Heritage Rough Rider looks like it belongs in an sometime Western, with a design reminiscent of the classic Colt Unmarried Action Army revolver. The wooden paw grip, aluminum frame and steel butt give the gun a substantial, sturdy feel.
Overall I'm impressed with the build quality, peculiarly at this cost point. After thousands of rounds and countless cleaning sessions, the finish is starting to habiliment off on the front of the cylinder on mine, but across that I have not had whatsoever issues with the gun's long term durability.
It's relatively minor size, combined with the classic shape and style of the mitt grip, make the Rough Rider decidedly less ergonomic than about of my more mod guns. Information technology'south not especially hard to hold the gun correctly, but information technology doesn't fall into my hand as naturally equally I'd normally like for a handgun. I'm typically non a revolver shooter, and then maybe that's a learned taste.
Loading and Firing
Unlike modern revolver, the cylinder on the Crude Rider is fixed in place and doesn't swing out for loading. Instead, to load the gun yous first pull the hammer dorsum to a half-cocked position that allows the cylinder to exist rotated past mitt. And so, yous swing open a hinged loading gate on the right side of the frame and insert rounds one at a time, rotating the cylinder and repeating the process until all six chambers are full.
Information technology sounds like a tedious process, and it could be for some, only I actually savor the mechanical actions necessary to load the Rough Rider. It'south a nice alter of stride from the simple, utilitarian style of a semiautomatic handgun mag. The main downside is that it's fourth dimension consuming and prevents the apply of a speedloader for rapid reloads.
This is also a good fourth dimension to mention that ejecting spent shells from the Rough Rider is a similarly mechanically intensive process. To unload the Rough Rider, yous once again bring the hammer back to the one-half-artsy position, open up the loading gate, and pull a modest spring-loaded plunger located under the barrel to eject each spent vanquish. To eject all six, y'all have to pull the plunger, release it, turn the cylinder, wash, rinse and repeat until the gun'south empty.
Suffice information technology to say that loading and unloading a Rough Rider isn't an functioning that you would want to perform when seconds count.
Once the Rough Rider'south loaded, information technology's fairly easy to shoot. The gun has a transmission condom lever to the left of the hammer; in one case it'southward been flipped down to the firing position, you but use 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 pattern unremarkably results in a decent trigger, and the Crude Rider is no exception. The pull weight is boilerplate (Heritage specs information technology at vi pounds) but I was happy with the lack of have-up before the interruption. The trigger barely seems to move rearward before the gun fires, making information technology easy to shoot accurately.
The sights on my Crude Rider are built into the frame and consist of a pocket-sized notch in the rear of the frame just frontwards of the hammer and a slim metallic bract at the business organisation end. Both the front sight and rear notch are the same color as the frame — basic black — 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 be mounted without some gunsmithing.
With its long sight radius, the Rough Rider'southward plenty accurate. Even in the same shooting conditions at my local range and shooting majority .22LR ammo at a fairly rapid charge per unit, I was able to achieve a surprising level of accuracy at ten yards. The Rough Rider is easily accurate plenty to make for a fun shooting experience.
Existence chambered in .22LR and weighing almost ii pounds, the Crude Rider has finer cypher recoil. Of course, being a single activeness merely thing, y'all'll need to to re-cock before launching each circular, which will require you to realign the sights and by and large limits the charge per unit of fire.
But like the loading procedure, I institute that I enjoyed the feeling of cocking the gun before each shot, probably because information technology made me experience like John Wayne. Even though I'm from Texas, I never felt the urge to wear a cowboy hat…until I started shooting the Rough Rider at the range, that is. It'due south a fun gun to operate and shoot, and I call back I just like the experience of manually operating the gun equally a dissimilarity to my semiautomatic handguns that only require me to squeeze a trigger.
Reliability and Cleaning
As .22 ammo is typically a chip more choosy than centerfire calibers, and I've experienced a number of failures to burn down when shooting the Crude Passenger. 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 mistake declining of the gun.
One reward to a revolver over a semiautomatic .22 handgun or rifle is that in that location are no concerns about the gun reliably cycling with different brands of ammo. I've fed a wide range of .22 into the Rough Passenger, from bulk boxes of Remington Thunderbolts to higher grade CCI Mini-Mags, and have accomplished generally reliable operation with all of it.
Cleaning the Crude Rider is uncomplicated, as the cylinder can exist removed by taking out a unmarried pivot pin. Wiping downward the exposed surfaces of the cylinder and frame and running a few swabs through each chamber and the barrel is sufficient to go on the gun operating smoothly. It'due south besides worth noting that Heritage provides a large range of replacement parts on their website, along with the .22 Magnum cylinder and replacement grips.
Utilise Case
The Rough Rider has a number of plusses and minuses. It'due south well-built and pays homage to a classic blueprint, and yous'll probably have fun shooting it if for no other reason than that its manual operation is a alter from near mod semiautomatic handguns. It's accurate enough that you tin hit what you're aiming at, and it volition work well with any brand of .22LR or .22 Magnum ammo you can find. I love it as a fun, casual gun to take to the range.
On the flip side, the sights aren't wonderful, and the gun's manual nature means you won't be firing or reloading very quickly if that's a consideration. The Rough Rider would be a poor self defense weapon.
My primary use case for the Rough Passenger is as a way to introduce new shooters to handgun shooting, a roll in which it really excels. Its appearance is fairly non-threatening too noobs compared to most semiautomatic handguns, and everyone 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, information technology will ever have a place in my drove, and information technology manages to discover its way into my bag on simply about every range trip.
Specifications: Heritage Crude Rider
Caliber: .22LR or .22 Magnum
Capacity: 6 rounds
Barrel Length: half dozen.5"
Butt Fabric: 1215 Steel
Frame Material: Aluminum blend
Grip: Laminate woods
Sights: Fixed, non-adaptable open style
Trigger Pull Weight: half-dozen lbs.
Weight: 33.4 oz. empty
MSRP: from $200 to 300 depending on model; equally low as $150 in stores
Ratings (out of v stars):
Build Quality * * * *
Surprisingly high build quality for the price. The finish may wear off of the front of the cylinder after many cleanings, but the gun is rock-solid.
Loading and Firing Ergonomics * * * *
4 stars because it'south fun to load and shoot. The fixed cylinder makes ejecting spent shells and loading tedious, merely somehow still enjoyable. It has a decent trigger, as well.
Accuracy * * * *
Despite the rudimentary sights the Rough Rider was plenty authentic in my testing.
Defensive Capability *
While you probably won't want to use the Crude Rider for self-defense, it beats throwing a shoe at an assaulter. Still, in that location are far better choices in defensive firearms.
Overall * * * * *
The Heritage Rough Rider is a great value for the toll. Information technology's an amazingly fun range gun and a especially good choice for introducing new shooters to the hobby. Highly recommended.
Source: https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/gun-review-heritage-rough-rider-22-revolver/
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