The range was buried under 3′ to 4′ drifts, but today’s temperature of 24ºF beat tomorrow’s weather forecast of -16ºF, so today was the day. The tractor mounted snow blower did a pretty good job of cutting a 4′ wide and 60 yard swath through the snow before needing an assist from the 4 wheel drive truck to make the return trip… Which pretty much explains the 50 yard shooting distance.
Both pistols were shot with a variety of rimfire ammo. There was no statistically significant velocity difference between the take-down and fixed barrel versions.
Ammunition |
Bullet Weight |
Rated 24″ FPS* |
Actual 10″ FPS |
Actual 4″ FPS |
Remington Golden Bullet | 40 | 1255 | 1163 | 1036 |
Remington Cyclone | 36 | 1280 | 1251 | 1059 |
Remington High Velocity | 40 | 1255 | 1109 | – |
Remington 22 Target | 40 | 1150 | 1049 | 1009 |
Remington Subsonic | 38 | 1050 | 839 | – |
Federal Game Shock | 40 | 1240 | 1173 | – |
Winchester Super Speed | 40 | 1300 | 1205 | – |
*Rated is based on a 24″ test barrel |
Both Chargers consumed any ammo it was fed, including very low velocity Subsonic ammo, and the pistol cycled normally with all. The 4″ barrel entries are for context. The Charger does give up something to 24″ barrel rifles, however, it performs significantly better than a 4″ barrel gun.
The fixed barrel and take-down models shot with approximately the same accuracy, 1/2″ to 3/4″ @50 yards with any of the ammo listed above, which makes the Charger not ammo sensitive. The only thing I found was that after assembling the take-down, the first shot of a three shot group typically hit 1″ right, then the next two would hit within 1/2″ of on another. All subsequent groups would fall into the 1/2″ to 3/4″ range as illustrated in the picture below.
The Charger performed well with either a handgun scope or a rifle scope. Rested shooting worked well for the handgun scope of the bi-pod or a rest, the rifle scope worked well when shooting off-hand or pulled close in when shooting from a bench. I want to say I preferred the rifle scope, but the handgun scope delivered as well. With the presence of the Picatinny rail, mounting a red dot is a simple task.
Buck Forrester, Juniper Prairie Rod & Gun Club, emailed in response Part 1 to let us know that the Ruger 22 Charger is quite useful for training young shooters. The pistol stock solves length of pull related problems and eliminates the need to cut down a rifle stock. The absence of recoil and the stability of the bi-pod eliminates numerous potential distractions. Plop on a red dot sight, put up some balloons as targets and you have a frustration free shooting day for a youngster. Thanks Buck.
Longer range shooting is on the schedule… 100 to 200 yards on varmints and targets, but that will take spring weather and a lot of snow melting. Still, even cold, snowy weather didn’t stop spontaneous shop and home competition and that in itself might be reason enough to own one.
Ruger’s 22 Charger Pistol… Take Down or Not Part 1
Ruger’s 22 Charger Pistol… Take Down or Not Part 2
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