Balanced nicely, the revolver fit well in my hand and made supported and unsupported firing enjoyable. When it came to handling, the 6.5-inch model was a dream.
Aside from a modern hammer block safety, the 6-inch single action is all Old West with its right-side loading gate, a blade front sight and a grooved top strap. If you desire a truly realistic experience, it’s also available with fixed sights. While the front red sight is fixed, the rear sight is adjustable for elevation and windage. The 16-inch version deviates from the old world with a set of fiber-optic sights that form three dots (one red, two green). The 6-inch model comes with Old West-style sights with a blade up front and a groove cut along the top strap. The finely machined barrels are micro-threaded for optimal barrel/cylinder gap. It’s a sensory pleasure a semiautomatic can never achieve. There’s something soothing in cocking back the hammer for each shot and feeling the clicks of the cylinder rotating to a fresh round. Like their older kin, both are single action only. While scaled-down versions of their Old West brethren, they still have that legendary feel, with all-metal construction and smooth cocobolo wooden grips. These revolvers are part of Heritage’s Rough Rider series and sell for less than $200. The 16-inch barrel makes offhand shooting a bit challenging, so put a little support under the revolver and its accuracy potential becomes apparent. While history is foggy on whether or not there ever was a gun made with a barrel this long (rumor has it both Wyatt Earp and Buffalo Bill may have had one), I nonetheless would do my best to relive shooting history. Back in the day, some single actions did come with a buttstock that attached to the grip to enhance accuracy.
When I first opened the box of the 16-incher, I wondered where the stock went, for it could really pass as a carbine. Yep, that’s not a misprint - a 16-inch barrel. It resembles a Colt Buntline with a 16-inch barrel. Replicas of Single Action Armies, one of the revolvers could be classified as a “standard” Old West cowboy gun with a 6.5-inch barrel. That’s why I had to smile when I was handed this assignment to test a couple of Heritage Manufacturing’s. No matter how many polymer pistols I handle or ARs I shoulder, I’m still a cowboy at heart. Being raised on old western movies, I resemble that remark, as do many Americans. Each time I watch “The Hunt for Red October,” I have to laugh at the scene where the Soviet submarine commander refers to the American skipper as a “cowboy” for wearing a sidearm.
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