Single Six Accuracy

[Marcruger2]

I hear folks moan about new Rugers and their quality. I notably hear folks saying Single Sixes are inaccurate. I beg to differ.

I have been working with a friend and his new Ruger Single Six Hunter from 2024. We've tried 9 different different brands/types of cartridges in the revolver. It clearly likes CCI Standard Velocity best, but then that is not unusual in my experience. My buddy claims I have better eyes and steadiness than he does (20 years younger), so I have been doing the shooting. These are all from a cobbled-together rest using an old rifle front rest. 20 yards. Scoped with 30mm 3x handgun scope. I did not feel totally steady, and am not an experienced bench rest pistol shooter. I've never shot a handgun with a scope before. This one takes full arm extension to see the full field-of-view in the scope.

Note, his gun has an oddly long XR-3RED sized grip frame that doesn't fit older XR-3RED grips. I asked about this earlier. He's going to have to make some grips for this one. These are 30 year old Lett antique ivory paper Micarta.

This first group below was 10 shots.... It is labeled "CCI Std. Vel." Measures .72" at its widest. Ten shots, at 20 yards rested.

The group below measures .75" for five shots. Shot on a very windy and cold morning. Could barely feel my fingers, so blame it on me, not his revolver. 20 yards as above. We then removed the scope and then reattached it to test the repeatability of the scope mounts.....see next photo below this one.

This below is the composite of two groups of five shots, with the scope removed and reattached in between groups. Again, cold day and very windy. Poor quality rest, and not an experienced benchrest handgun shooter. I am guessing a lot better group can be had from this revolver. I would call the scope mounts very repeatable. These are 30mm by #5 height (high) rings to clear the back iron sight. The rear sight does have to be lowered down to use scope. I did shoot the same revolver rested with iron sights, and got a best group of around 1". So the scope really makes a huge difference.

So, larger bore for .22 Magnum or not, these Ruger Single Sixes shoot .22lr very well in my opinion. I am wondering if I personally could do any better with a Freedom Arms scoped 252 or an FA 97? Perhaps not with my level of steadiness.

Yes, I make up these targets from poster paper, stick on orange target spots and a fat Sharpie. It gives me good contrast for my aging eyes. Yep, cheating. LOL. Hit a grey squirrel in a tree these days with open sights? Nope!

I would appreciate hearing your experiences with Single Six accuracy.

God Bless, Marc

 

[contender]

That gun is quite accurate at 20 yards.

Accuracy is often a very subjective measurement. Often,, a gun can be quite accurate at closer distances,, but when serious distances are attempted, things can be quite different.

People who've shot in competitions,, such as Steel Silhouette where it takes serious abilities to win, AND shooting a gun that is accurate with matching ammo is a proving ground for serious accuracy.

I often use 25 yds as a minimum starting distance for any handgun,, and check stuff out to 100 yds to see what it'll really do.

Please do not be offended by my posting. But a good way to look at it,, would be to consider Bullseye shooters who use a Wadcutter type of bullet. At shorter distances,, the guns & bullets can be scary accurate. But get out past, say 50 yds,, and wadcutters lose a LOT of their accuracy ability.

My point,, try shooting it,, at 50 yds to get a really good idea of real accuracy. Duplicate what you've done so far,, just increase the distance!

 

[dobegrant.45]

Good shooting, I have several and find them pretty accurate, I have a single ten and it very accurate

 

[Sacramento Johnson]

Hi @Marcruger2,
"These are 30 year old Lett antique ivory paper Micarta."
If he's looking to sell them, please let me know!

 

[bergmen]

Bought my Ruger Super Single Six convertible in 1976 (for $87.00 on sale). tens of thousands of rounds through it and still looks and shoots like new. Always been very accurate with virtually any brand or type of ammo. I used to only rarely shoot .22 WMR just for kicks but recently I have been shooting the magnum more. I find the .22WMR just a tad more accurate and consistent but there really is very little difference. Since the second photo was taken I installed fiber optic sights from Ruger which is an excellent upgrade.