Ruger 22 charger!

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The .22 is our oldest cartridge, dating back to 1857 when the first cartridge firing revolver, the Smith & Wesson seven-shot, tip-up, Model #1 chambered in .22 Short was introduced. Over the past century and a half the .22 has also become our most popular cartridge. Why is this? It's certainly not adequate for big game hunting, and while it is better than nothing, it can by no stretch of the imagination be considered a self-defense cartridge. We might modify that last statement due to the fact some folks simply can't handle anything with more recoil than a .22. It also has its place as a deep cover, last ditch effort chambered in a nearly weightless and extremely small mini-gun.

The true popularity of the .22 can be summed up in two words: FUN and INEXPENSIVE. No other cartridge offers so much for so little; so much pleasure, that is, for so few dollars spent. A lot of shooting sports have arisen in the last half century, but plinking, especially with friends and family, still remains number one. Fifty-years ago I was working for minimum wage, 90-cents an hour, in my first job, when two boxes of .22s could be had for one hour's work. My wife just called from WalMart to tell me they had .22s on sale with a bulk pack of 550 rounds priced at $11.54. That figures out to $1.05 a box of 50 or just over twice what they cost in 1957. American Handgunner pays me more than minimum wage, and try to buy a house or new car for twice what it cost 50 years ago!

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TEST-FIRE:
Ruger 22 Charger .22LR x 10

                                              10 SHOTS/
LOAD                             MV       25 YARDS (inches)

CCI stingers                    1,428            7/8
CCI Mini-Mug HP                 1,262            5/8
CCI SGB                         1,296            5/8
Federal HP                      1,182            5/8
Remington HV                    1,098            7/8
Winchester SX HV HP             1,149            5/8
Winchester Super Silhouette     1,102             1
Winchester T-22                 1,063             1

GUN AT HAND

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Ruger started making .22s nearly 60 years ago beginning with the Standard Model semiauto which sold for $37.50 in 1949. It was soon joined by the Mark I Target Model and then in 1953 by the .22 Single-Six which resurrected the single action sixgun. The .22 I was using 50 years ago was the Ruger Single-Six along with a companion Marlin Mountie. I wish I could bottle all the pleasure given me by those two .22s during my teenage years, then the added pleasure shooting them with my kids and then with their kids. Selling it would make me a multi-millionaire and also cure most of society's ills.

Ruger still offers their original .22s, however the Mark I has evolved into the Mark II and Mark III while the .22 Single-Six is now in New Model form. Ruger's 10/22 rifle arrived in 1964 and five million have now been sold. This year to commemorate this milestone not only is a very ornate #5 million to be auctioned off, we also have the arrival of a mini-version of the 10/22.

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Using the basic 10/22 action, Ruger has come up with a radical change to their .22 handgun line up by adding the 22 Charger to the Mark III and New Model .22s being offered. The 22 Charger is basically a Mini-Varminter version of the 10/22 Rifle. The action and 10" barrel are set in a laminated stock with a rear pistol grip. There are no sights on the Charger, however the scope base is already mounted, and it also comes with a Rock Mount Bipod which attaches easily and quickly to the front sling swivel stud in the laminated stock. This bipod adjusts from 6" to 9" and folds forward when not in use.

For my use I mounted a Leupold VX-III 2.5X8 variable LER pistol scope on the new Ruger. This is certainly more scope than is needed for a .22 pistol, but the clarity and quality of such a scope adds to the pleasure of shooting a fine handgun. I mostly keep it set at 2.5 power, however the extra power serves as a spotting scope when needed. Put all of this together and we have a combination which has given me some of the most pleasurable shooting I've had in a long time.

Cool

The defining era for "Cool" was the 1950s. I am a product of those Happy Days, having graduated from high school in 1956. I'm not sure that I truly understood exactly what Cool was in those days or if I have even learned much more since, however I do know enough to say without fear of contradiction this new Ruger is Cool, Way Cool. The only reason for Ruger to offer such a handgun is the Coolness of the Fun Factor. It won't fit in a holster, it doesn't conceal very easily, it's not as easy to shoot as its counterpart rifle, however for pure shooting enjoyment it has no peer. The bipod provides a very steady rest off the hood of a 4X4, or in my case, the locking metal cover on the bed of the Chevy PU.

Here in Idaho the major shooting activity for many folks in the spring is shooting varmints, and our #1 target is the relatively small ground squirrels we call picket-pins or squeakies. They take over the desert, sagebrush, and foothills by the millions every spring and no matter how hard they are hunted they seem to be able to procreate much faster than we can eradicate them.