Stantheman1986
Single-Sixer
I haven't spent any time with this in about 5 years. I shot it in several Practical Handgun matches in 2017-18 and kinda forgot about it . Freedom Munitions has .45 ACP for $14 a box so I decided to revisit it
I had put a Millett front sight on and a white dot rear blade of unknown origin for easier "Combat" type shooting. The matches at my club are pretty much 0-10 yards, shooting at IPSC cardboard silhouettes so pinpoint accuracy is not required
25 yards, single action.......not so good. The .45 LC chambers with .45 ACP are not conducive to accuracy. Maybe other owners of these have better luck. For reference, I can turn that red circle into ragged paper at 25 with any of my .45 Vaqueros. This gun may drive tacks with Long Colt, I have yet to try . A few 1000 of ACP have gone through this gun, 0 LCs.
At 15 in Single Action, things come together. Popping that red circle is easy. Some DA shooting at 15 resulted in some buckshot pattern groups though. Ruger appeared to use a heavier spring in these, for reliability with moonclipped .45 ACP. The DA pull is horrendous. It has 3 stages then a big "wall" that feels like 30lb before the hammer drops. SA is ok. Accuracy with ACP is "combat " accurate at best. Shooting across the room or at realistic ranges of 7-15 is perfectly fine. Try to stretch it out , not so good
Shoot it like a 1950s cop and you'll be fine. 15 yards, one handed, Single Action. I pushed a few on the head but it does ok. I'd probably have done better if I'd taken my time, but I was also trying to see if I could shoot in SA with any meaningful speed.
It fits in a Bianchi N-Frame holster and a plain Jane K Frame speedloader pouch holds 2 loaded clips per pouch.
The TK clips are awesome, you can load and unload them by hand. My Ranch Products clips require a loading and unloading tool. I just used the TKs. The Ranch clips are cheap in bulk and handy for loading up at home and bringing them with you. Unless you want to mess with tools at the range.
Ruger says these were marketed as "survival" guns or for woods walking, hunting sidearms, utility guns etc designed for use primarily with .45 LC with the ability to use ACP for plinking or emergency use. If you need an accurate .45 ACP Double Action, probably should go with an old S&W 1917 or a newer JM 625 model. Ruger still catalogs these but I haven't seen one for sale in several years. They'd probably have done better making these as snubs .