Heritage 22 Revolver

[Bmi48219]

I’m alway intrigued about them. The prices I’ve been seeing ($125.00) are certainly attractive, almost too good to be true. For that price, it would be useful if a guy wanted to learn to twirl a six-gun cowboy style. I’ve heard a lot of bad reviews, and some good ones too.
There was a gentleman at the range yesterday shooting one so I asked what he thought about it. Turns out he has two, one currently back in for warranty repairs and the one he was shooting. He said he was going to have to send it back too. Said the empty cases were sticking in the cylinders and he had to pry them out with a thin screwdriver. He showed me and then tried lubing them with oil as he loaded. I told him that probably wouldn’t help, and it didn’t.
Something looked odd so I tried pushing the ejector rod through an empty cylinder. The problem was that when rotated to the ejection / loading gate, the cylinder was not quite lining up for the ejection rod to let it enter the chamber. I had to turn it a little past the stop position to get the chamber aligned with the rod.
I couldn’t see any indication that the chambers weren’t lining up with the barrel, no shaved lead on the cylinder front or barrel cone. And no indication of wayward bullet strikes on the target. I guess you can’t expect a lot for $125, obviously no one at the factory had checked the ejector rod function.
I don’t recall what he said the problem was with his other revolver, but it was something else.

[Recycled bullet]

The Ruger Wrangler is going to bury the Heritage revolver.

[Texas by God]

The Ruger Wrangler is going to bury the Heritage revolver.

It did at my house on the first try.


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[cwtebay]

The Heritage has its place. It is an inexpensive option for those that wish to have a rimfire revolver. It's not a precision firearm, it's not fancy, it's cumbersome with the goofy safety. BUT it shoots, it's chambered in readily available ammunition - and with a second cylinder it's chambered for a bit more. It's not terribly inaccurate and it is user friendly.
I hope it sticks around for the next several decades to get those that want to - but may not have the means at the moment to own a revolver!

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[poppy42]

The biggest thing it had going for it for me was the 22 mag cylinder. Way cheaper than a Ruger, before they came out with the Wrangler! I got mine for $99.00 at a Black Friday sale at dicks, before there anti gun attitude. Come to think of it that was the last time I was in one! Came with a coupon $20 for the 22 mag cylinder. It was just what I wanted to teach my granddaughter to shoot a handgun, pest control. That and I gave some thought about getting back into trapping with my son. I figured if I drop it in a creek or something, who cares! Certainly no tack driver but it’s never given me any problems. I think it was about a year or so later when Ruger came out with the Wrangler. Now they even make a Wrangler with 2 cylinders.

[GhostHawk]

Love my Heritage, got the one with adjustable sights. Paid a little more but it was worth it.

Only shoot .22mag in it. Plenty accurate with no issues thus far.

[Hannibal]

I had one for a while but just didn't care for the fit and finish after a while and sold it. As the OP noted on the one he handled at the range case removal takes a bit of patience but is functional. I only used the 22mag cylinder a couple of times and didn't care for that either. Just too noisy. I think I'd find that to be the case with any 22mag revolver. Made my ears ring without hearing protection and hearing protection isn't always practical when carrying a pistol.

Anyway, I decided to sell mine and don't plan to buy another. Just not my preference.

[G W Wade]

Surprising, at least to me. There was nothing on UTube about any mods for slicking one up, only how to change grips. Friend had one and I got curious GW

[Bmi48219]

…Certainly no tack driver but it’s never given me any problems….

The one example I examined also had an adjustable sight. The owner offered to let me to try it out, now I wish I had. He had a target out 21 feet with 27 rounds on it in about a 1 inch x 1.5 inch oval group. Not stellar performance but I can’t say how much of the dispersion was operator induced.
The finish on the pistol was even and I didn’t note any surface irregularities / machining marks. It looked better than I’d expect for a $125.00 firearm.

[kerplode]

Heritage Rough Riders are junk. The shop where I part-time stopped selling them because a huge percentage came back busted in fairly short order and we got tired of shipping them back and forth to the Taurus mother-ship for repair. If you manage to get a "good" one, consider yourself lucky. They're like $100 for a reason...And IMO they're still overpriced.

Buy a Super Wrangler and save yourself the hassle.

[35remington]

My Heritage works fine. Many have opined there is little difference between it and the Wranglers, but that is not true.

Problematic in the Heritage occurs when you chronograph them. I did a test comparing a couple of 6.5” Heritages against Wranglers in 3.75”, 4 5/8”, a Super Wrangler in 5.5” and a Single Six in 5.5”

Despite having the barrel length advantage the Heritage shot noticeably slower, sometime a lot slower, than the 3.75” Wrangler and of course also slower than the longer but still shorter than the Heritage other Wranglers.

To save costs the forcing cone on the Heritage resembles a funnel you pour motor oil into rather than a smaller more velocity saving type as found on the Ruger. The Heritage also has some end shake and with cylinder so located the B/C gap is rather wide.

Here’s a sample of the difference

Winchester Power Point 40 gr HP
Ruger Birds Head 3.75” 1086 fps average 45 degree day
Heritage 6.5” 994 fps average shot same day

Chrono average for 12 shots each

It’s even worse with 22 magnum as the 5.5” SW outran the Hertage from 165 to 185 fps depending upon whether 30 or 40 grain bullets are used.

I know it’s “just a 22” but that is leaving a lot of velocity and power on the table when using the Heritage. It’s fine for plinking and sticking the muzzle three feet from the head of a trapped animal.

But for any other use the Ruger is far superior. The Heritage has the brakes on all the time in terms of performance and I do not care for that.

[FergusonTO35]

The Heritage has its place, and many of my customers say they really like them. If you just want to make a tin can dance or a tackle box gun they are just fine for those uses. That said, if you can afford better you owe it to yourself to move up. I would rather not spend my limited shooting time on the Rough Rider.

[MrWolf]

The biggest thing it had going for it for me was the 22 mag cylinder. Way cheaper than a Ruger, before they came out with the Wrangler! I got mine for $99.00 at a Black Friday sale at dicks, before there anti gun attitude. Come to think of it that was the last time I was in one! Came with a coupon $20 for the 22 mag cylinder. It was just what I wanted to teach my granddaughter to shoot a handgun, pest control. That and I gave some thought about getting back into trapping with my son. I figured if I drop it in a creek or something, who cares! Certainly no tack driver but it’s never given me any problems. I think it was about a year or so later when Ruger came out with the Wrangler. Now they even make a Wrangler with 2 cylinders.

Same here. Got it with the 22 mag cylinder combo. Shots just fine (so far). Can't complain.

[Hick]

I have the base model Heritage 22. Yes, they look a little cheap-- but mine shoots sooooo..... fine. I normally don't bother to shoot under 50 yards with it because it just gets boring. 6" targets offhand at 50 yards are no problem at all. I don't have a pistol rest, so I don't know how much better it would be if I wasn't just standing to shoot.

[racepres]

Wow!! From "absolute junk" to "I like Mine, shoots good"
Kinda like the Rugers and/or Dan Wessons when I was Young
No...I know better than compare at this Juncture...but...The "concept" seems same, same...
I still like my "junk" H&R's!!! so There is that!!!!

[FergusonTO35]

I don't like HRRs myself, but many of my customers do. If they are happy with them, who am I to argue with that?

[Hick]

I suspect the real issue might be quality control. That is, they are capable of great things but the manufacturing may be inconsistent. That would account for the wide range of different experiences.

[1eyedjack]

Black Friday sale and 30 buck rebate net price $75 decent trigger accurate enough and it has the flag grips no complaints. Had the original ruger single six years ago that was a FINÈ firearm and was more money way back then but well worthwhile money spent. Wish that one hadn't got away!

[35remington]

It’s not all bad with the Heritage. Mine is easy to manipulate and easier to unload and reload than the Ruger and I can do it easier in the dark. A 4 5/8 or shorter makes a better trap line gun than a 6.5” like mine but hey it was 99 bucks. It is fun to shoot a bunch of ammo in it.

The safety is stupid of course. Another reason the Ruger costs more.

CCI Minimag 40 RN averaged 1007 fps, the 36 HP about 25 fps more than that. That will do for most of what needs doing. Oddly the Win 40 PPHP went 994 in the Heritage but 1086 from the 3.75 Wrangler Birdshead.

I think it well worth 99 bucks cept I wish I had the 4 5/8s. None of the critters my brother shot with it on his trap line last year survived it. I do hear of spotty QC issues but I have not experienced any amongst at least several more than dozen I have knowledge of.

[Abert Rim]

I had the birdshead Heritage 30 years ago, not long after they came out. It was coarsely made but shot OK and worked as designed -- was fine for plinking. In my hands, I could not shoot a Ruger Bearcat much more accurately. I do intend to add a Super Wrangler to the stable here soon, and expect it to be considerably more accurate.