Review: Heritage Arms .22 Convertible Revolvers

Today’s review is of the Heritage Arms .22 & .22 Magnum convertible revolver, an enexpensive and readily available series of revolvers available at most gun stores.

Heritage Arms .22 Philosophy of use from a prepping viewpoint:

I own a couple of these revolvers, and until recently I never actually considered the various models of Heritage Arms .22’s from a prepper point of view. I bought the first one strictly as a trainer.

Spice had never really shot handguns before, and since .22 was cheap, plentiful (at the time, this was pre-crunch), produced little if any noticeable recoil, and was “a round you could get anywhere, all the time” I decided on one of these little single action revolvers to train her with.

I chose to get the Heritage Arms .22 magnum conversion cylinder models with both of my Heritage revolvers so that, if needed, we could use the much more powerful round. My theory was to use it as a “step up” in the training process for her, working towards 9mm.

Single action Heritage Arms .22 .22’s and .22 Magnums can also be used as varmint control guns, and general “around the farm” shooting.

What this gun is not:

The Heritage Arms .22 is not a go-to gun for self defense for the following reasons:

1) .22’s are not a reliable round in ANY gun. The round has a much higher failure to fire than center fire rounds.

2) .22’s are not anyone’s first choice for stopping power. Yes, they are deadly with good shot placement, no question about it. I sure wouldn’t want to be shot by one. Having said that, they are inferior to .380, 9mm, .357 rounds, .38 & .38 +P, .40 and .45 caliber rounds, etc.

3) The gun is a “4 Click” single action revolver (basically Heritage’s clone of the old 1873 Colt single action, done in a compact frame). While that may have been state of the art in 1873, no single action gun can be recommended as a primary self defense weapon.

4) The Heritage Arms .22 is nearly impossible to conceal, and open carry? No, if you HAVE to open carry a cowboy single action revolver, carry one with a .357 or bigger bore. Even with these big-bore guns, there are just many, many better primary self defense choices.

Most of these Heritage revolvers you see have the iron sights of the bird-head gun, but the grip that this one has…

Design:

Four click Colt 1873 style revolver

Tale Of The Tape (for the birds head model pictured):

• Barrel Material: 1215 Steel
• Barrel Length: 4.75
• Caliber: 22 Combo
• Cylinder Capacity: 6 Rounds
• Cylinders Material: 12L14 Steel
• Finish: Blue
• Frame Material: Aluminum Alloy
• Grip: Cocobolo
• Land and Grooves: 6
• Land Width: .076 inch
• Length of Rifling Twist: 1 Turn in 14 inches RH
• Over all Length: 10.035 inches
• Sights: Open fixed type, notch at rear
• Style: Bird Head Fixed
• Trigger Pull: Approximately 6 Pounds
• Weight Unloaded: 33.4 ounces (Aprox)

I am also including Spice’s gun in this review, a standard gripped 4.75 inch barrel revolver, but hers has fiber optic adjustable target sights.

I bought mine in the bird head frame design because it just feels amazing in my hand. My wife shot one cylinder’s worth of rounds through it, handed it back to me and said “All for you, none for me” so I guess you should just feel the grip to see if you like it. I do.

Mine has the “normal” sights, a groove in the back and a welded ramp on the front. Fortunately, it shoots right on since the sights are not easily adjusted.

The wife’s, as I have mentioned, has fiber optic sights. Honestly, I’ve got to admit, they look odd on an western style revolver.

A revolver with a safety? Really?

Really.

There is one “odd” design feature that you don’t see on many revolvers, and that’s a hammer block safety.

I like this feature because it’s just the right kind of safety! It makes this firearm generally safe to carry if it is on.

Of course, there’s the old argument of “safeties are actually dangerous because they make you think a gun can’t go off when in fact they may not be engaged” and I admit there is merit to that argument.

I am not a huge “safety installed on firearm” fan., but with a revolver, where the hammer is sitting directly on a round, I like it. Additionally, it’s a good training feature.

The best part is that it is completely optional to use, if you don’t like safeties, then simply ignore it, and you won’t even notice it’s there.

The 4 click system uses the old Colt configuration where the first click is the “safety notch”. Let me point out that the manual is quite specific about “never relying on the safety notch, always leave the gun on an empty chamber when carrying”.

OK, I suppose they have to say that, but if you use the safety notch AND the hammer block, the gun sounds pretty safe to carry in my opinion (but always, of course, follow all manufacturer’s recommendations for safety. Read the manual and follow it… or so my lawyer says).

Shooting a Heritage Arms .22:

OK, PAUSE THE REVIEW, LET ME TELL YOU A QUICK STORY: Spice often has more time off than I do in the summer (due to the nature of her job), and she often goes to our local range (right on the edge of town, about ½ mile from our house) during the day.

One day a few years ago, about a year after she got the revolver, she said “I need to show you something, I’m just not getting any better with my shooting, I can’t get these groups to tighten up.” She showed me her target, and indeed the groups were about 3 inches, one group was a bit tighter at 2 inches.

We talked for a bit about how it was fairly windy that day, and how that would make a difference in her accuracy. She said that she noticed the wind, and said that she was barely hitting the (1 foot square) target paper at 100 yards.

I looked at her blankly.

Blink.

“So,” I asked, “What distance were these shot at?” pointing to the three inch groups. She shrugged “Oh, I started at 50 yards.” With a .22LR revolver. Rotgut ammo. 4.75 inch barrel. On a windy day. Sadly, I could think of nothing to help her tighten those groups up a bit.

The Heritage Arms .22 good list:

1) The guns are quite accurate
2) They are smooth
3) They “feel” good while shooting (again, the wife didn’t care for the bird head grip)
4) They are quite inexpensive
5) They are versatile
6) They are well balanced

The Heritage Arms .22 “not so good” list:

1) If your sights are off on the standard models, you have to alter your aim point or bend the blade.
2) The triggers are kinda “meh” on their pull. Not horrid, but not great.
3) The 4 click system is not intuitive, there is a short (but not that hard) learning curve
4) Spent casings occasionally get stuck and take significant effort to remove them
5) Changing cylinders can be a pain.

The Bottom Line:

Honestly, there’s not much to say, the Heritage Arms .22’s are well behaved single action 4 click .22 revolver. Some people swear by them, and some people have had bad experiences with the company (feel free to google them to get other thoughts on the gun and the company).

One thing I don’t care for is they only come with a one-year warranty. In my opinion, if a manufacturer REALLY stands behind a gun, that warranty should be lifetime. Even Phoenix Arms, a notorious Ring of Fire Saturday Night Special manufacturer, gives lifetime warranties.

Another point in favor of this gun is that it’s a firearm that people see as non-threatening, so it’s a gun that would be WAY down the list of things the gun grabbers want to ban… if you live in one of our states that is a People’s Republic, then this type of gun is a “safe buy”.

The guns are inexpensive, American made, and they go bang every single time. Good for a trainer and plinker, at least… not really so much as a primary SHTF gun… but they are fun to shoot and play with at the range.