| The Good |
| This is too much fun to be legal. Great for first time shooters! |
| The Bad |
| Upsets the neighbors when I shoot hundreds of Super Colibri’s in my garage. Upsets rats also. |
| The Ugly |
| I have spontaneous and uncontrollable urges to sing Roy Rogers songs like Whoopie Ti-Yi-Yo |
| Our Rating |
 Four Nuns! |
Ruger New Model Single Six Revolver Convertible
Ruger New Model Single-Six Convertible Single Action Revolver
MSRP: $619.00
Yippee ki yay! Get ready for some cowboy fun! While not an authentic cowboy six shooter in the truest sense (Clint Eastwood didn’t use one in ‘The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly’), the Ruger Single-Six brings back memories of dime store hats, cap guns, and backyard bad guys. Of all the guns in our modest sized collection, the Ruger Single-Six takes the top prize for most fun. And that’s saying something as it edges out the M1 Carbine, Winchester 9410 .410 lever action shotgun, and Series 1 Colt Woodsman in the “more fun than shooting 12oz cans of Tab” contest.
A single action revolver, with interchangeable cylinders for .22 long rifle and .22 Magnum, the Single-Six is a versatile handgun. The two included cylinders are easy to tell apart as the .22LR one is fluted while the .22 Magnum cylinder is not. While probably not necessary structurally, think “light” for long rifle and “big and heavy” for magnums. Swapping them out is a snap – just press the base pin latch and remove the base pin. The cylinder drops our for replacement or cleaning. One of the things we immediately noticed was that .22 LRs and .22 Magnum’s shot to the same point of aim at reasonable distances, ie 50 yards and less. Or, you might say, the gun shoots in the same “minute of My Gun Culture” cone regardless of which cylinder you’re using.
The Ruger Single Six makes us want to belt out some Roy Rogers tunes
The Single Six stainless model is beautiful to look at – fantastic finish, hardwood grips, and plenty of attention to detail. In our home, the purchase was justified as “man jewelry.” And it’s just as solid mechanically. The action is smooth, the hammer clicks are as good as the soundtrack on any high-quality spaghetti western, and the trigger is crisp and light. This is one solid gun. We’re going to be scouring the gun shows to find one of the older Single Sixes in .32 H&R as a result.
Cowboys like the simple life right? If that’s the case, then this cowboy gun follows the simple philosophy to a T.
- Simple to operate: This is our go-to gun for teaching someone how to shoot. It’s familiar, even if they’ve only seen this style of gun on T.V., it’s non-threatening, doesn’t make a lot of noise, and is safe to operate. For a first time shooter, it’s great to have them shoot, stop, cock the hammer, and shoot again. This built in delay is not only safe, it provides a great opportunity for positive reinforcement and teaching moments between shots.
- Simple to maintain: The stainless steel finish means you can actually spend more time shooting than cleaning. The cylinder drops out with the push of push of a button, making inspection and cleaning easy.
- Simple to hit: Our review model had a 6.5″ barrel. That combined with fantastic balance, some actual weight (for a .22 anyway) and a black ramped front sight with an adjustable rear sight (windage and elevation – that’s up, down, and sideways in non-gun speak) made it an easy-to-aim, and easy-to-hit gun. Many golf balls bravely sacrificed their lives for the purpose of this review.
What’s not to love? In addition to keeping the local Wal-Mart sold out of Winchester 555 bulk packages, it makes us feel like singing Roy Rogers songs. Where is Dale Evans when you need her anyway?
Learn more about the Ruger Single-Six at GunUp.com
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| As it gleefully digests virtually any sort of .22 ammunition, I can shoot Aguila Super Colibri low velocity (and low noise) loads in my garage. She loves this. Really she does. | I totally agree with everything he says. This is a really fun gun to shoot, but… let me explain something here… I keep my Diet Cokes in the refrigerator in the garage. I have to have one first thing in the morning. I go in there barefoot since I’ve normally just gotten out of bed. Stepping on bullet casings barefoot is not fun. If he leaves spent brass casings in the garage one more time, I’m going to sell his gun!Also I had no idea it had interchangeable cylinders. He never tells me anything! |
Accessories available at Brownells
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I agree 100% the Single Six is a very fun gun to have in your collection. With the price of ammo these days who could afford to shoot 45 Long Colts, 45 ACP, or 44 Magnums or Specials.
Even the all time popular 38 Special isn’t cheap to shoot anymore. A 22 rimfire is the perfect soulution ! You could grab 50 rounds for under $5 and 100 packs of CCI for $9 in some places.
Like another wise shooter quoted, Winchester 555 is another good buy for $19 bucks ! You could shoot all weekend with a box of those and still have some left to spare. I am a western gun buff also and always loved the feel and look of a nice single action. The single six is one of the best examples of this breed. Get a holster, a timer, a target, and see how fast you can draw, shoot, and hit your target. Before you know it, you’ll be starring in The Quick and The Dead PT. 2 .
And if you need just a hint of big bore bang and sensation, you can swap in the .22WMR cylinder. I’ve been dying for an excuse to try some of these on an assortment of fruit 🙂 http://www.hornady.com/store/22-WMR-45gr-Critical-Defense/
[…] flex tips to aid expansion we were hopeful for consistent expansion results. We elected to use a Ruger Single Six with a 7.5″ barrel – a portable Spam solution that would keep velocity reasonable at closer […]
[…] flex tips to aid expansion we were hopeful for consistent expansion results. We elected to use a Ruger Single Six with a 7.5″ barrel – a portable Spam solution that would keep velocity reasonable at closer […]
I have a Ruger single six convertible , I am unable to use Winchester ammo in the .22 mag as it seems that the rim of these cartridges are thicker than others as I can shoot anything else but not Winchester. Therefor the cartridges protrude out away from the cylinder and rub the frame so much as I cannot even cock the hammer. Anybody else have this problem with the magnum cylinder only.
Now you’ve got me curious. I’ve got some different .22 mag ammo I haven’t tried. I’ll check some and report back.
New yesterday and had same problem with .22 cyl and remington ammo, no problem with Fiocci .22WMR cyl. Rim hgt of ng ammo was .005 , .001 above good clearance ammo at .004.
Well maybe just maybe every manufacture might be having quality control issue. I have some older ammo in 22LR made in the late 1980’s and no issue with that ammo. As for the 22mag I only had a issue with the Winchester brand.
I just bought a single six fixed sights beautiful gun but what a inaccurate piece of crap. I tried cic pistol match , sub Sonics cic short low velocity 710 fps,., shoots way high from all distances Went home to clean it while doing that the f##!! Front sight fell off just fell off This is the second rugerI bought both garbage .,