Heritage Rough Rider 22LR Single Action Revolver - AmbGun Minuteman Review

Traded an optic for a Heritage Rough Rider with 6 ½” barrel. Includes swappable steel 22LR and 22WMR cylinders. In appearance it reminds me of the 22LR Ruger Single 6. Both being single action revolvers. While the Ruger is all steel, the Heritage switches to zinc alloy for the frame (barrel and cylinders both being steel).

The Ruger is a better quality firearm, but it is about $600 more than the Heritage Rough Rider.

The sights are pretty rudimentary, the rear being a grove, the front a simple blade.

An interesting feature of the Rough Rider is the flip up safety just to the left of the hammer. This safety is a physical barrier between the firing pin and hammer. I like this because it lets me dry fire the pistol using the Accurize Training Laser and Mantis Laser Academy.

The pistol shoots well and, as you’d expect with a Single Action Only pistol, has a pretty nice trigger. If you do any research about the pistol you find reports of the screws coming loose and in need of some threadlocker. It’s not a rumor. I had to tighten the screw retaining the cocobolo grips, the trigger pivot screw, the hammer pivot screw, and the ejector housing screw.

The trigger has four clicks. First to keep the hammer away from the firing pin, the second that unlocks the cylinder for loading and unloading, a traditional third for no reason at all, and the fourth fully cocked.

The Rough Rider points well and is a retro blast to shoot. At 33.2 ounces it’s heavy. Not something I’d want to add to my hiking or mountain biking loadout. It is rock bottom on my rounds per size and weight spreadsheet…just one click under the Ruger Single 6.

Shooting Federal Standard Velocity, I only got 744 FPS out of the 6 ½” barrel. Punch pushes its 29 grain bullet to 1156, and switching to the 22 mag cylinder I got 1400 fps with CCI Maxi-Mag.

Fun for introducing youth to pistol shooting. Maybe adequate, simple, and affordable for nightstand home defense. A fun way to do some casual rabbit or squirrel hunting without carrying a rifle. And A gateway into getting into cowboy shooting. I just might keep this pistol around.