Customized Ruger Wranglers
Making the Wrangler even better!
Whenever we talk about custom guns, I’m aware of the fact many people would love to own a true bespoke handgun, rifle or shotgun. I’d also like to win the Indianapolis 500, but we have to be realistic — you don’t get things simply by wanting. Money is often necessary, along with plenty of hard work and the right opportunity.
I’ll never drink from the Indy winner’s bottle of milk — aside from the fact I’m lactose-intolerant — but if you really want a custom handgun, you’re in luck. There is a handgun which is the perfect raw material for your project and it’s within financial reach of nearly anyone who isn’t deceased. It punches far above its weight in terms of quality and you might even call it a “best buy.” I call it both “fun” and “a diamond in the semi-rough.” What we’re talking about one of my favorite handguns at any price, the Ruger Wrangler .22 LR.
Ruger Wrangler Gear List
Holsters: Thad Rybka Field Holster,
Rob Leahy Simply Rugged Holsters Shootist
Ammo: Federal Hunter Match 40-grain, CCI Std Velocity 40-grain
Ear Pro: Safariland Liberator, Axil GS Extreme
Playing Favorites
If you haven’t shot a Wrangler, you’re sorely missing the boat. Built to resemble the Single Action Army model 1873, the Wrangler was birthed by Ruger in 2019 to fill the budget end of the handgunning market with an inexpensive yet safe and reliable single-action revolver.
If you ever want to turn someone into a dedicated handgun shooter, slap a Wrangler into their hand. After 10 seconds of instruction on how to operate the thing, they’ll soon find themselves transmogrified onto a dusty street at high noon, dropping Dirty Dan the Scoundrel with a hail of well-placed 40-grain bullets. The resulting grins are infectious — and let’s hope they never develop a vaccine!
I’ve used nearly every euphemism I possess for the concept of “cheap” but here is the deal: the Wrangler has an MSRP of $279 and can easily be found around $200 at dealers. Yes, that’s correct: You can own brand-new, safe and reliable, rootin’ tootin’ shootin’ Old West lookalike pistola for two “Benjamins.” This is why I say everyone should have a couple sitting in the gun safe for plinking parties, teaching purposes and simply for remembering how much fun a handgun can be.
The Wrangler is certainly a hoot to shoot but there is another side to this splendid pistol you might not have considered: It’s the perfect canvas for customization.
Think about it — for two bills you get a brand-new aluminum alloy frame, zinc alloy grip frame and hammer-forged steel barrel and cylinder. The guts of the Wrangler are MIM steel alloy but are otherwise identical to the much more expensive Ruger Single Six. Aside from being a great gun for customization, the Wrangler is likewise a great way to practice your gouging and filing maneuvers before doing anything irreversible on your spendy Single Six.
This brings us to our cover guns — a couple of good examples of what you can do to transform the humble Wrangler.
Pinky Tuscadero
The most visually interesting gun is the one I call “Pinky Tuscadero,” a homage to the role played by red-haired actress Roz Kelly in the Happy Days 1970s television series. Pinky was Fonzi’s motorcycle daredevil girlfriend and certainly before her time in terms of what a female co-star could be.
The project started out with a stock birds head Wrangler, one of the several models available. The master of ceremonies and chief gunsmith was our own Roy Huntington, tackling the project simply for the challenge and as an excuse to spend more time cuddling his milling machines.
For starters, Roy disassembled the gun and gently polished everything. As you might imagine the Wrangler doesn’t get a lot of handwork at the factory and the action tends to feel a bit like 400-grit sandpaper. That’s not really a criticism — if you consider the amazing price, it’s simply a fact of life.
The frame was cleaned and gently sanded overall to remove casting marks and small imperfections. Roy then used JB Weld as “body filler” to fix some pits while the inner surfaces were also cleaned up a bit.
The action parts were all polished and buffed to eliminate mold marks and ensure smoothness. The sear was gently polished but otherwise unaltered as it could affect safe operation. MIM parts tend to be a bit uneven due to their manufacturing technique so Roy cleaned up the flat sides of the hammer and trigger using fine sandpaper on a flat aluminum sanding block. Other important areas got polished including the ejector rod and body, the cylinder base pin, the cylinder pivot points and breech face. He also polished the trigger face with sandpaper and followed up with a buffing wheel. The forcing cone was then carefully chamfered and lapped.
The hammer spring was given a bit of thinning to lighten it. Roy points out spring coils should never be cut on a revolver as it changes the mechanical parameters and frequently causes misfires. Instead, Roy slipped the springs onto a metal rod and touched it against a belt sander to reduce the outside diameter a tiny amount. It works as none of the guns have so-far had a single misfire!
The loading gate on the Wrangler tends to be a little cantankerous so Roy stoned everything and ever-so-gently bent the spring to lighten it. He notes if the gate ever gets sloppy, you can bend the spring back a bit. On this gun, Roy left the cylinder round and kept the integral front sight.
The revolver was then sent out B-H Customs Inc. in Joplin, Missouri for the custom pink and purple Cerakote. Roy did this because he doesn’t trust himself around guns with rattle-cans. Upon its return, he added a spectacular set of Premium Gun Grips and My Dearest Sweetheart now had her very own pew-pew! I assure you she’s smitten!
The action parts of the Wrangler are Metal Injection Molded (MIM)
to keep down costs. All these parts were polished far more than the
factory could afford, making for buttery-smooth operation.
The customized gun were plenty accurate but the traditional
shallow groove rear sight can be a challenge to tight groups.
There’s not much material to work with so adjustable sights
aren’t an option.
Black Bart
My gun is named “Black Bart” simply because … well, that’s what I named it. The moniker sounds western and slightly malevolent, like the bad guy in a B-movie. This gun got essentially the same makeover as Pinky, plus Roy added a few more touches. A dovetail front sight was milled into the barrel, the barrel was fluted and flats were added to the forward portion of the cylinder. The flats lend a nice decorative touch but are exceptionally handy when manipulating the cylinder during loading and unloading. The finishing touch is the wild red, white and blue Premium grips which really stand out on the black Cerakote finish. On this gun, Roy cut the 11-degree chamfer on the muzzle after the coating process as he feels the plain steel is easier to keep clean of burnt powder.
Yes, you can! — we never recommend using a
.22 LR for self-defense. But, in a pinch …
Range Time
After all this work it was time for the proof-of-concept day at the range. For comparison purposes I used a stock Ruger Super Wrangler, the convertible 22LR/22 Mag big brother to the Wrangler. Actually, this isn’t a fair contest because the upgraded Super Wrangler is heavier, has a 5.5″ barrel versus the 4.62″ and 3.75″ of our custom guns and has a real rear sight instead of the frame notch of the standard Wrangler.
On the other hand, I had a secret weapon — Pinky’s trigger felt like 15-year-old Bourbon tastes. After testing with my Lyman Digital Trigger Gauge, I was slightly nonplussed to find the trigger broke on average at 1 lb., 15 oz.! This is compared to the stock standard 4 lb., 4oz. The black gun trigger hovered at 4 lb., 1 oz. but the difference in feel versus the stock trigger was stark.
Eventually, after a long afternoon hanging over our new Ransom Rest, burning countless rounds from various brands of .22 LR at the 15-yard line, there was a clear winner — the hand-wroug ht Wranglers. No surprise there.
The leader of the pack was the diminutive Miss Pinky. Despite her shorter barrel, the light trigger allowed us one group of 0.76″ for six shots. If you go with the “best three,” the size went down to 0.61″. Compare this to the stock Super Wrangler at a still-respectable 1.71″. Our Wranglers are certainly custom guns and now have the accuracy to match!
Premium Grips grip panels were installed, “Black Bart” getting
a chaotic patriotic red, white and blue while “Pinky Tuscadero”
sports a more refined wood and faux mother of pearl.
But Why?
Not everyone can avail themselves of the gratis services of Roy Huntington. If we had used any of the other half-dozen gunsmiths who would tackle this job, I’m sure we could have spent $1,000. This leads to the obvious question: Is this really a worthwhile project when you’re talking about a $200 base gun?
I’d say so, in spades. There are certainly countless other options, but if you want a true custom gun you can afford without selling a kidney or foregoing little Timmy’s braces, give the Ruger Wrangler a look. Likewise, if you are venturing into the world of gunsmithing yourself, the Wrangler provides a forgiving platform to make those painful beginner mistakes — or maybe turn out a masterpiece.
Moreover, if you want to try something really wild, maybe a Purple-and-Lime Green revolver with a custom-etched scene of Hillary Clinton giving a sponge bath to Dennis Rodman, I’d say the Ruger Wrangler would be your best, most logical choice as a blank canvas.
Well, maybe not the etching. But, ultimately, anything goes, so go wild. At worst, you’re out the cost of a nice dinner and a show, but more likely, you’ll wind up with a cherished custom shooter you can actually enjoy getting dirty!
