FALL 2019
eredsyntheticgripswerealsocomfortable
andhelpedthegunstayputinmyhands.
Allofthisgoestoshowthatjust
becausesomethingismadetobebudget
fr iendlyor economicaldoesn’tmeanit will
failtoimpress.TheWranglerlivesupto
Ruger’staglineforit:“Theperfectrevolver.
Whetheritisyourfirstornext.”
If you are going to practice with the
Wrangler, you’ll definitely need some leath-
er holsters to go with it. I chose
two holsters for
two different
purposes in mind. These
holsters are not inexpensive,
but I see them as an investment. They
also worked perfectly with the Ruger, and
once I am done training,
they’ll working perfectly
withanybig-boreSingle
ActionArmyreplicawith
a 4¾-inch barrel.
Thefirstrigcame
fromDeSantis.The
ButchCassidyholster
andbeltareexcep-
tionalworksofcowboy
leather.Botharebased
onDeSantis’Centennial
models,butwithout
theserialnumbersoftheoriginals.The
holsterwillfitbeltsupto2¾incheswide
andismadeusingtwolayersofpremium
st eerhide.Tanis theonlycoloroptionfor
theholster,butitwasa
perfectfit
fortheWrangler.Thebeltis2¾inches
wideandmadefromcream-colored
cowhide, though suede is an option.It’s
saddle stitched with 36 cartridge loops.
Of course, .22 LR rounds won’t fitinthe
loops, but I managed to add some .45
Colt cartridges to the belt for show.
The Butch Cassidy rig made it a breeze
to practice quick draws and reholstering. I
wore it around the house for a couple days,
which garnered me some strange looks
from my wife and our dogs. Nonetheless,
the whole setup is comfortable and quick.
Next up was the Galco rig. The SAO
Strongside/Crossdraw Belt Holster was a
great choice carrying the Wrangler in the
field. The SAO holster usually accommo-
dates Single-Six revolvers with 6½-inch bar-
rels, but Galco’s custom shop made my copy
fit the Wrangler’s shorter barrel. Of course,
as the name implies, the SAO allows you to
wear the Wrangler on either your strong or
weak sides, and it features a retention strap
as well as an adjustable tension screw for a
more customized fit. Constructed from pre-
mium leather, the holster will fit belts up to
1¾ inches wide and is available in tan and
in both right- and left-hand configurations.
The Wrangler happily digested whatever
.22 LR load I fed it. And every group it
produced was under 2½ inches across the
board, which is fantastic for an SAA-style
replica with a $249 price tag. My test sample
seemed to prefer Federal’s 36-grain hollow
points and CCI’s 40-grain Quiet-22 seg-
mented hollow points, as it produced groups
tighter than 2 inches with both loads.
I used the Federal ammo to practice
my quick draws—though I still need some
work—and just for hoots, I tried fan fir-
ing the gun with the
same load. I was able to
successfully fan fire the
Wrangler most of the
time. One of my attempts
failed due to a light prim-
er strike, but that was only
once. I definitely had a lot
of fun practicing, too.
Of course, there’s
more to this gun than
it’s training capabili-
ties for Cowboy Action
RIMFIRE WRANGLER
Ruger Wrangler
Caliber:.22LR
SPECIFICATIONS
48 GUNS OF THE OLD WEST
Ruger designed the Wrangler so that
the hammer cannot be cocked when
the loading gate is open.
The ejector
rod and cylinder
pin are both carried over
from the Ruger Single-Six.
