Ruger's 22 Charger Pistol... Take Down or Not Part 2

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.