Hello.

I stopped by the local hock shop and picked up a .22 that my younger son has had his eye on for a while... a more-or-less copy of a Colt SAA in .22 caliber, NIB. It's a Heritage Rough Rider, a fixed-sight cowboy gun (although you can get these with adjustables, this particular one didn't have them). Finish is a black coating on the alloy frame, and bluing on the barrel and other parts.

I gather from the online reviews of these that they are a good value for the price (just over two bills in this case), an effective plinking and trail gun of the same order of quality as, say, a Charter Arms.

My progeny will wear the finish off this thing in short order, as long as I can keep him in ammo.

Any of y'all have any experience with these?

-AaronB

My LGS sells a ton of them. Very rarely has any issues if at all. Lot of guys carry them on their trap lines and they do quite well for that purpose.

We can't keep them in stock at the shop. The owner of the place has sold dozens and dozens, probably over a hundred easily. Not one complaint.

There are a myriad of versions available, both long and short barreled, dual or single cylinder, fixed or adjustable sights, etc. The biggest difference is that some models sport an alloy frame, whilst others are steel. BIG weight gain in steel.

The line is a little rough around the edges, but not bad at all considering the price. I would imagine simply cycling it a few hundred times would serve to smooth things out, but judicious stoning would speed the process.

For a trap line gun or as a "first" for a youngster you did just fine.....

Otony

all were capable of overlapping holes at 10-15 yards if I did my part. All of them shot a little low which is easily corrected. Most were pretty good for windage with one maybe 2" off. Triggers weren't bad. I don't care for the latch safety, but it wouldn't keep me from buying one.

I'm divided over the latch safety. Yes, it craps up an otherwise clean design, and I don't like a plastic piece on an otherwise steel-and-wood gun. On the other hand, absent that safety one would be obligated to keep an empty chamber under the hammer, as the gun would run just like an old-school SAA.

If it were totally for me I would prefer it to not have the safety. Considering my son will be handling and shooting it a fair amount, however, I think I prefer having it. Of course the safety is no substitute for responsible gun handling, but I don't object to a belt-and-suspenders approach where safety is concerned.

-AaronB

had a safety just like the one on Heritage. I know this because when I was 15, a friend had one. He thought it too 'un-Colt' and removed it. He also scoffed at me for carrying my OM Single Six with the hammer down on an empty chamber.

He finally managed to shoot himself down the thigh one day, right in my living room. The bullet stopped halfway down the muscle and they elected to leave it in. I still remember watching him squirm when the Doc ran that long, Betadine-soaked Q-Tip down the hole in his leg.

So yes, extra layers of safety are a good thing. Particularly when you're dealing with kids/novices.

The long Q-tip with the Betadine all over it would have just been one of the highlights of what I imagine was several days of good vivid pain.

That said, he was nevertheless lucky he got to learn that lesson without getting permanently disabled, or even killed. Pull that same stunt with a .44 Mag and they might not be able to save the leg.

-AaronB

I hate to be the lone negative but you ask for our experience, so here goes. I have handled a lot of used rough riders in the past and a significant number of them had barrels I could wiggle side to side and up and down. I advise people to stay far away from them. Their money is better spent on Colt clones or Rugers.

jgt, thanks for the feedback. It's what I asked for.

Did you happen to notice if the problem you saw was only on the alloy-frame guns, or was it on the steel-frame ones too?

-AaronB