Ruger wrangler

[The Old Jaybird]

As a Ruger stockholder I hope they sell about 5 billion of them, pass them out at the border to all the "new Americans" coming into the country.

My beef is that its a 6 shooter, would like it better as a 8-9-10 shot gun.

 

[Rabbit2047]

Do they have a Birdshead model?

 

[The Old Jaybird]

Not yet, but I would hope that might be on the drawing board.

 

[jaf1]

As a Ruger stockholder I hope they sell about 5 billion of them, pass them out at the border to all the "new Americans" coming into the country.

My beef is that its a 6 shooter, would like it better as a 8-9-10 shot gun.

Wonder why only six shots?

 

[outlaw1961]

Wonder why only six shots?

Ruger marketing. They will sale a lot of these six shooters. Then in six months they will probably have a nine **** one with adjustable sights. If they keep it around 275.00 or below they will still be 200 bucks cheaper than a single six

 

[spencer60]

Yup, given how fast these seem to be selling, I'd expect a whole line up of different models.

 

[Gunanddoglover]

I want one, but I'll wait a year and see what happens.

 

[spencer60]

So I finally found one and picked it up a few days ago. The two available were the black/black and silver/black, although they (AO) had a bronze one as well, but it was sold earlier that day.

First impressions are really positive. This is definitely the next generation of Single-Six. It feels the same, weighs the same and shoots the same. These days the Single-Six is not an entry-level gun anymore, and you can definitely tell the Wrangler doesn't have the same fit and finish as the S6, but at the price that S6s are going for, that shouldn't be a surprise... the Wrangler sells for half what the cheapest S6 costs.

That being said, I had no complaints about the gun's quality. Everything lines up, I didn't have any screws back out, and everything worked flawlessly right out of the box... something I can't say for the Uberti centerfires I've bought over the years.

The cerakote job is very well done, with a nice even finish and no blemishes I could find. Because it's Cerakote it has kind of a matte finish though. It looks good, but you would never confuse it with blueing. I did wipe the gun down with a cloth that has light gun oil in it (what I use to wipe down pretty much every gun) and it did add a little sheen to the finish, but I doubt that will last very long.

The gun is fairly heavy (as is the S6), so it feels like a 'real' gun versus a 22 plinker. The balance point is right in front of the trigger guard, so it points pretty naturally and is very comfortable to hold while shooting.

Ruger was smart and used the same grips on these as they use on the Single 6. The grips that come with it work just fine, but they are just hard, black plastic. There are a million great grip options out there for the S6, and that's really the one thing you can do to this gun to spruce it up some.

Out of the box the action is pretty stiff. Unlike most guns this one ships dry as a bone from the factory. I added some light oil to a few places and it definitely helps, but this will never be a fine-tuned Colt action or anything. The trigger pull is smooth, but there's no discernable 'break' to it. You just pull it back and somewhere along the line the hammer will fall. It seemed to me that the S6 had more of a 'glass rod' break when it released the hammer, but that's going from memory.

The cocking action takes some force, although it noticeably smoothed out after 10-20 shots. I'm guessing the action will lighten up some after the parts break in some more. It does seem to have a heavy hammer spring though... I can't see any 22 ammo not firing with this gun unless it's a complete dud.

If you are used to centerfire Colt clones the action may confuse you at first. There's no halfcock and you don't get all the clicks you do with a Colt or a clone (like the Single Six). The hammer is either down or all the way back.

This means you load and unload differently. With the Colt action you have to have the hammer back in the halfcock position to open the loading gate. With the Wrangler the gate will only open when the hammer is down. With the hammer down you can also rotate the cylinder, which you can't do with a Single 6/Colt.

It's not a big deal, but if you have muscle-membery on how to load a cowboy gun, it will definitely mess you up. The thing to remember here is that the Single 6 is an 'updated' version of the Colt action. The Wrangler is it's own thing and while it may look like a Colt/Single 6, it definitely doesn't have any relation to them beyond that.

Accuracy is pretty much what you would expect from a $200 gun. It's not bad, but this isn't going to compare to a high-end target pistol. That being said, the Single 6 wasn't exactly known for it's accuracy, and honestly I think the Wrangler might be a little better than it in this department. Still, it's easily accurate enough for its job as a plinker, just don't think you'll be headshotting squirrels at 100 yards or taking it to the Olympics.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the Wrangler. It's a nice little pistol at a very good price. It's good competition for the Heritage guns, and I'm sure in typical Ruger fashion they will expand the lineup to include more models and styles. I could even seem them doing blued models down the road.

Here's a couple of pics to close out my thoughts...

 

[spencer60]

The same gun as above but with a set of Altamont grips I had on an older Single Six...

 

[marnedrake]

I've probably put 100 - 200 rounds through mine and have thoroughly enjoyed it. Shot many more and rats getting in the chicken feed with it. No complaints and great gun to teach the little ones with.