We don’t know how many Wrangler revolvers Ruger’s made and sold since they announced it back in 2019, but it’s probably enough to fill the holsters of everyone who’s ever acted in a cowboy movie. Ruger’s take on a .22LR version of their venerable Single Six priced at less than two bills, depending on barrel length, is exactly what a large percentage of the gun-buying public wants in a range gun. Or a kit gun. Or a varmint gun. Or . . .
You get the idea. As we said when we reviewed the Wrangler many moons ago, perhaps its most attractive feature is that it can be pretty much whatever you want it to be. With either Bisley or bird’s head grips in four different barrel lengths, there’s a Wrangler for just about anyone.
With the new Super Wrangler, Ruger has taken that versatility and dialed it up to eleven.
Ruger chose a 5.5″ barrel length for the Super Wrangler which is right there in the sweet spot between the lengths offered in the Wrangler (3.75, 4.62, 6.5 and 7.5 inches). And in addition to an adjustable rear sight, Ruger ships the Super Wrangler with a pair of steel 6-round cylinders, one chambered for .22LR (or .22 or .22 short) and a second cylinder for .22 WMR.
Ruger engraves the .22 WMR cylinder with ’22 WIN MAG’ just to keep things straight. The .22LR cylinder isn’t engraved, but you’re not likely to cram a .22 WMR round in one of the .22LR chambers.
Just like the Wrangler, the Super Wrangler is a classic single action design, the lineage of which goes all the way back to the Colt Single Action Army. Also like the Wrangler, the Super Wrangler is easier to load. You don’t have to half-cock it (in fact you can’t). Cock the hammer and open the loading gate (which disables the hammer).
The cylinder now spins freely in either direction. Load ‘er up, close the gate and you can carefully drop the hammer. Also unlike the Colt, you can safely carry the Super Wrangler with rounds in all six chambers thanks to Ruger’s transfer bar system.
Where the Wrangler has a basic rear notch sight, the Super Wrangler is equipped with an adjustable rear sight. The front sight is the same classic black ramped blade. The improved sights combined with a long sight radius mean the Super Wrangler is capable of impressive accuracy. Whether you’re aiming at a bullseye, a beer can, or a bunny, you can be deadly with it at distances out to 25 yards and well beyond as long as you do your part.
The Super Wrangler has the same sprung ejection rod as the Wrangler and the Single Six. If you haven’t shot this kind of single action revolver before, that’s the way you extract spent cases.
What’s the attraction of a single action rimfire six gun now that we’re well into the 21st century? If you’re asking that question, you obviously haven’t shot one yet.
The Super Wrangler scratches that cowboy itch that so many of us have left shamefully unscratched for most of our lives. Yes, there are unquestionably quicker, more efficient ways to send rimfire ammunition down range at paper, steel, beverage containers, or small four-legged critters. But I’m not sure anyone has invented a more satisfying way to do it.
I shot a lot of rounds with the Super Wrangler, both .22LR and .22 WMR. The standard .22s emit a gentle poof that’s barely felt. That’s the benefit of almost 2¼ pounds of weight. Swap out the cylinders and load ‘er up with .22 WMR and you feel like you’re actually shooting something with some punch.
Pulling the trigger with .22 WMR in the Super Wrangler produces noticeable, though still quite tame recoil that’s somehow more satisfying. At least to me. Tamer (and less expensive) .22LR will no doubt be the first choice of most, especially when plinking or training a new shooter. But the magnum loads were just more fun to shoot.
Like the Wrangler before it, the Super Wrangler ships with nicely checkered polymer grips that are perfectly serviceable. Then again, there are plenty of aftermarket grip options available for those who want something a little more attractive in materials ranging from laminate to rosewood to faux ivory to bone.
The Super Wrangler may be the best choice in an affordable single action revolver that just about anyone can afford, carry, and shoot. Its steel and polymer grips still keep it in a very friendly price range. Ruger offers it in three Cerakote finishes; black, silver and bronze.
If you’re hankering for blued steel and more rounds in your cylinder, Ruger has you well covered with their New Model Single Six revolvers. But you’ll drop another four or five Benjamins for those upgraded materials and finishes. Hence the seismic popularity of the Wrangler and — it seems a very safe bet — the Super Wrangler going forward.
The Ruger Super Wrangler gives you everything most people want in a fun, reliable, and historically evocative single action revolver, one that leaves you plenty of money to buy lots of ammunition to keep it well fed. It’s hard to think of a more satisfying handgun purchase at anything close to this price.
Specifications: Ruger Super Wrangler Single Action .22 Revolver
Caliber: .22LR (.22 and .22 short) and .22 WMR
Capacity: 6 rounds
Barrel Length: 5.5″
Overall Length: 11″
Weight: 37.7 oz.
MSRP: $329 (about $260 retail)
Ratings (out of five stars):
Aesthetics * * * *
Out of the box, it looks very good. The design is a timeless American classic and the Cerakote finish is nicely done. You can swap out the polymer grips (not to mention the ejector rod and sights, too) and make this a downright impressive looking revolver if you so choose.
Ergonomics * * * * *
There’s a reason the Colt SAA design is still revered today. Ruger has carried all of that forward in the Single Six and now in the Wrangler and Super Wrangler revolvers. These pistols are examples of a superior, classic design that just fits naturally in your hand and lets you shoot comfortably (particularly given the rimfire chambering) all day long.
Reliability * * * * *
It just works. Strike marks on the casings were robust and consistent. If you get a failure to fire, it won’t be the Super Wrangler’s fault.
Overall * * * * *
It’s hard to get across just how satisfying it is to shoot the Super Wrangler. The combination of the adjustable rear sight and a 5½” barrel means you won’t have any difficulty hitting what you’re aiming at. And with the option of shooting .22 WMR loads, the Ruger Super Wrangler is even more versatile and useful that its predecessor. Go out and buy one. You will never regret the purchase.
If you step off the pavement a .22 LR handgun is just about the most efficient tool you can have. I l especially like a Ruger. They are durable, reliable and accurate. The Wrangler I have no experience with. A couple of buddies won’t touch them. Got to admit. I like steel too.
Frame is pot metal. I’m going to pass on pot metal.
Cylinder frame is aluminum, which is strong enough for .22 rimfire. Grip frame is zinc alloy, probably Zamak 3, which is not “pot metal”. (I restore old radios, so I’ve had a few encounters with pot metal.)
“Cylinder frame is aluminum, which is strong enough for .22 rimfire.”
Preach it.
For the kinds of pressures and stresses .22 rimfire imparts on the frame, there’s not a damn thing wrong with using it.
It must be nice to have a near-unlimited supply of fun/gun money… 🙁
No, the frame is steel, not aluminum.
The standard Wrangler has an aluminum frame, but the Super Wrangler has a steel frame. That’s why the Super Wrangler is so much heavier than the standard Wrangler, because of the steel frame.
Ye, Ruger calls the Super Wrangler’s frame “alloy steel,” but FYI, all steel is alloy steel. If it weren’t an alloy, it would be iron, not steel, so all steel is alloy steel. Look up “steel” on Wikipedia, and you’ll see that it’s an alloy.
Obviously it’s not stainless steel, or Ruger would have said so, which means it’s carbon steel. It’s a steel frame, unlike the regular Wrangler that has an aluminum frame.
Stuck in NJ is correct about the steel cylinder frame. I read the spec page for the original Wrangler by mistake.
You guys enjoy your aluminum / zinc revolvers. 😉
Which are definitely NOT pot metal and are made of top quality materials. 😆
Aluminum frame for the Wrangler…Steel frame for the Super Wrangler (maybe to handle the .22 WMR round).
Must be nice to be rich enough to buy top-of-the-line firearms. Some of us are working folks who buy what we can afford.
So the Super Wrangler doesn’t load like a post 73 single six………
Single six = open loading gate then load. No hammer cocking …. at all. The loading gate will not open when the hammer is cocked.
Wrangler = cock hammer then open gate and load – then lower hammer ????? I don’t think so….
And Dan ….. why is every post I make moderated? Am I on some sort of secret list?
Yep , your on the list. We’re all on the list, once .giverment hacks all the shit off your computer or phone the moderation slows down a bit.
Ha. Mebbe so……
The system doesn’t accept any messages sent on my home DSL connection, so I use my mobile access. Three other networks I use have no problems.
I have a wrangler. You don’t need to cock the hammer to open the loading gate.
And I’m guessing that once you open the loading gate, you can’t cock the gun.
I just double checked because I wasn’t sure. You are correct. Once the loading gate is open you cannot get the hammer to lock back. With the loading gate open you can pull the hammer back about about 40% of the way, but it does not stay locked back. I have no idea if I had a loaded round and the loading gate open and pulled the hammer back and let go if it would send it…..but I don’t think it would. I am also not going to try and find out. LOL.
I would just echo the review. It is a very nice little gun and the price is good. It is more expensive then the heritage (which I have as well) but the finish is much nicer and the whole transfer bar system that Ruger implemented is very nice.
as .38special mentioned above, if the loading gate is open you cannot cock the hammer. and viceyversey.
i would prefer having half cock but they are determined to idiot almost proof it.
and it’s annoying that the cylinder rotation clicks do not line the holes up with the loading channel… you have to stop just before the click. or mine’s (single six) goofy.
the bearcat is cooler anyhow.
100% truth that the bearcat is a much cooler gun!
Personally I like the transfer bar system, but I have a pair of New Vaquero’s that were my first single actions that I bought. I think if I had bought a more traditional single action first, I would not like the system as well.
I sent one of my Vaqueros to Jim Downing in Springfield Mo. for a full engraving. He does amazing work! I would encourage anyone who wants to customize a single action revolver to check him out. http://www.thegunengraver.com
If I knew how to load some pictures I would..but he has plenty of pics on his website.
No, Zimmerman is mistaken or misspeaking there. I own a Wrangler, it works just like a Ruger Blackhawk — no need to cock the hammer to open the gate.
Every single action revolver I have ever dealt with requires one to lower the hammer. Now if you load the old fashioned way, load one, skip one and finish loading the rest with the hammer at half cock, you will drop the hammer on an empty cylinder. That’s why in all the old cowboy movies you saw the good guy check the cylinder. He was looking for the empty cylinder to load it with the sixth round. I have dropped the hammer on a loaded cylinder thousands of times over the 70 years I have been shooting and haven’t had a Alec Baldwin incident in all those times. Plus I would never ever point a pistol at someone I didn’t really mean to shoot.
I advised my elderly best friend to get the Ruger Wrangler instead of the Taurus owned cowboy 22. Got it to shoot with his grandkids. It’s worked perfectly for him.
Give me a Ruger over a rough rider any day. This would be a good trail gun. Trap line gun. Fishing gun. And at that price you wouldn’t sweat a few scratches.
Looks like a nice bit of kit. As others have mentioned, this would be a handy trail gun, especially with the 22 WMR cylinder. .22 Mag V-Max out of a 5.5″ barrel is going to pack a nasty little bite for varmints – be they four-legged or two…
It didn’t take long for that Ruger to carve a ring into the cylinder. And, Ruger, you only had to make the mold once; would it have killed you to make the trigger guard line up with the frame like every Pietta and Uberti? I can get a parts fit like this on a Heritage.
There should be no ring. But most manufacturers don’t tune the cylinder lock to prevent it, not even Colt, so you have to do it yourself. Bugs me when that ring appears!
According to a reputed single action shooter there is a technique to keep from getting the ring on the cylinder. I thought I saved it to my notes section but I don’t find it. If I run across it, I will post it to this list. It’s simple enough if one remembers to do it each time.
My girlfiend got a Heritage instead of a Wrangler and the next .22 SA I get will more then likely be a Heritage, that is unless I can find a Single Six on the cheap.
The new Heritages are much better then the old ones. The only thing I dont like is the funky safety. My girlfiend still loads one skips one.
I think this gun is a game-changer for woods-loafers.
The adjustable sights are the biggest deal…….makes it much useful for variety of tasks and ranges.
Cheap enough for neglected tacklebox or barn gun status.
“The adjustable sights are the biggest deal……. makes it much useful for variety of tasks and ranges.”
Preach it wide and loud.
It’s now a serious contender for an impulse buy… 🙂
It isn’t exactly true to the Colt heritage. No screws to take it apart (I assume those are drift pins). An internal lock out on the loading gate. A transfer bar. And I don’t see a pin for the cylinder lock bar either. I bet it looks nothing like a Colt inside.
I’m sure it has coil springs instead of a flat spring for starters.
Nice upgrade with the better sights and magnum cylinder. With .22 WMR this would be suitable defense against black bears and wildcats. The alloy frame might be even better than steel vs. rust, so good for a tackle box.
“Better sights” are a matter of opinion.
Ruger’s adjustable revolver sights are the absolute worst sights for my aging eyes, looking like a black blur.
My eyes work much, much better with the simple grooved sights of the Vaquero, Bearcat and other flattop revolvers. I sure hope Ruger quickly adds a more traditional-looking flattop version of this with a simple grooved sight, so I’ll be able to hit the 75-foot target at my gun club.
Even my former Smith & Wesson Governor, which you’d think would be inaccurate due to its stubby barrel, capability to fire three different types of ammo (45 Colt/45 ACP/410 shotgun, and extremely long freebore before the 45 bullet hits the rifling, was accurate for me at 75 feet (yes, 75 feet — not a typo!) with its grooved sights, could hit the 75-foot paper target every time. But any Ruger revolver that has adjustable sights, I can’t hit the target until I replace the adjustable sights with an RMR optic.
Ruger adjustable sights have a groove around the rear sight notch that you can fill with white paint. Put white paint on the front sight, then over that a coat of transparent orange lacquer. It’s what I did with my Mark III. Problem solved. Problem staying solved.
Also, if you want the traditional SAA style rear sight that’s just a groove in the top of the frame, that’s the regular Wrangler.
Me, I love black-on-black sights, when I’m on an outdoor range on a bright sunny day. At the indoor ranges that are the only ones within driving distance from where I live, the lighting isn’t so great, and black-on-black sights vanish against black targets, maybe because my eyes aren’t so great any more. I need something with a bit of contrast to help me out. White dots, white outlines, brightly colored front sight inserts, paint, something. Even if there’s not a practical way to do a white outline rear, I still want orange paint, or a white dot, or a brass bead, or SOMETHING on that front sight so that I can see it when the lighting isn’t perfect. I even put orange paint on shotgun beads.
If you’re thinking about defending yourself from a black bear with a 22 WMR pistol, I’m betting on the bear. While it’s true that even the largest polar and grizzly bears have been killed with 22LR, you have to hit them in the eye to get past the brain pan. A 22 WMR will most likely just make the bear mad unless you get in a really lucky shot.
The safest way to defend yourself against your fellow Homo Sapiens is with a gun, because your adversary might be capable of killing you at a distance. But the safest way to defend yourself against any ursine opponent is with bear spray. Statistics don’t lie. It’s not for the sake of the bear. I have no pity for any animal that tries to eat me for lunch.
Let the flame wars start in 3,2,1…
The AR-15 platform was the next big breakthrough in the area of mass-produced and reliable weapons after the AK-47. The AR had its ups and downs and design refinements over the decades. But what we have now is one of the most modular and customizable rifle designs to be ever made.
uuummm, k.
Side by side next to the Heritage, the Wrangler feels a little more substantial, maybe a little better made.
Been toying with one or the other so I could introduce the older Grandkids to handguns.
Still not sure which way I’ll end up going, but the Heritage with both cylinders still costs less than the original Wrangler.
For what’s going to be pretty much just a Range Toy, I’m leaning more towards the Heritage.
Much better choice than the Heritage models. If for no other reason, not having that God awful, hideous and totally unnecessary abomination of a safety on the Heritage guns. Better quality in the Ruger gun and the fit and finish is better by far. Every Heritage .22LR/WMR I’ve ever seen looked like the old Daisy “Spittin’ Image” series guns designed to mimic a Colt SAA. Plenty of people shoot them so I assume they work well enough but once you call that a draw between the Heritage and the Ruger, the Ruger wins in all other categories.
An acquaintance of mine got a Heritage, after I warned him to get a Ruger instead. It keyholes about 25% of the time with several different kinds of ammo. Also its rear sight doesn’t even have the little recess cut out of it to reduce glare. It’s a rounded surface with bright shiny paint on it that reflects ambient light perfectly into your eyes when you try to shoot.
I looked at Heritage a couple times but I did not like that safety and they looked really cheap so I passed them up. I was happy when Ruger came out with their budget revolver. I knew it would be a sturdy little gun. I like the looks of it and it’s easy use and easy cleaning.
I have two of the original Wranglers. I got the second one so I could keep shooting when the first one got too dirty to load. I’ve ordered the Super Wrangler and expect I will enjoy it as much, maybe more when I get my hands on 22mags.
We decided to buy guns before buying this gun, we would like to consult Discount Sporting Goods about guns and we bought some tools from them and our experience was great.
Ruger needs to introduce a wrangler version of the barkeep, a wrangler buntline 10 or 12 inch and a 9 shot wrangler.
I couldn’t agree more that Gobeli Arms offers some of the best revolver options on the market. Their products are made from high-quality materials and are built to withstand the toughest conditions, making them a reliable choice for any shooter. If you’re in the market for a new revolver, Gobeli Arms is definitely worth checking out.
God it’s been so long since I’ve posted here.
I own 14 guns but my favorite is my single six. I may (am) be severely influenced by the fact my grandfather told me he would it to me when he died. Well luckily he’s still alive! But he gave me the gun when he moved to Florida. And it’s so much fun to shoot, cheap to shoot, and is extremely versatile.
This version of their .22 honestly is probably, objectively as I can be, better than tne single six based off of features and value. But buy either with confidence. Just know if you get a single six you’ll make your great grandkids very happy one day
This gun is my favorite, I still have one.
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