Heritage Rough Rider .32 H&R Magnum Review

I’ve been interested in the .32 H&R Magnum for years. It’s one of those cartridges that always seemed like it should be right up my alley. It’s relatively mild shooting and has a reputation for good accuracy. It also offers more punch than the older .32 revolver cartridges without getting into bigger magnum territory. Despite that, I just never came across the right gun at the right time to make me jump into the caliber.

That changed earlier this year when I had a chance to shoot the new Heritage Rough Rider in .32 H&R Magnum. I’ve handled and shot a few Heritage .22s over the years, but the centerfire Rough Rider caught my attention. More importantly, I was impressed with how well the inexpensive sixgun shot.

With an MSRP of only $257.99, it wasn’t exactly a major financial commitment either. I arranged to get one for a full review. It finally gave me an excuse to spend some time

Black Hills Ammunition and Steinel Ammunition provided ammo for testing. I didn’t limit myself to .32 H&R Magnum either. One attraction of a .32 Magnum revolver is its ability to digest the older .32 cartridges. I rounded up .32 S&W Long and .32 S&W loads too and headed to the range.

A Bit About the .32 H&R Magnum

The .32 H&R Magnum dates to 1984. It was developed through a collaboration between Harrington & Richardson and Federal Cartridge Company. The basic idea was to get more performance from a .32 caliber revolver without moving to a larger cartridge.

The new round used a lengthened .32 S&W Long case. It provided considerably more velocity and energy than the older cartridge. It was promoted as offering performance in the neighborhood of standard .38 Special loads.

The .32 H&R Magnum had another advantage in small frame revolvers. Guns that held five .38 Special cartridges could often hold six rounds of .32 H&R Magnum.

The .32 H&R Magnum never exactly set the handgun world on fire, but it didn’t disappear either. Ruger, Smith & Wesson, Charter Arms, Dan Wesson and Freedom Arms all chambered guns for it at various points. Ruger even offered the Single Six in .32 H&R Magnum.

The much hotter .327 Federal Magnum arrived in 2007 and gave .32 caliber revolvers another boost. Still, the older .32 H&R Magnum has continued to hang around.

One of its big attractions is versatility. A .32 H&R Magnum revolver can also fire .32 S&W Long and .32 S&W ammunition. It’s much like shooting .38 Special from a .357 Magnum revolver. That gives you three cartridges covering a pretty broad range of performance from the same sixgun. Since I had all three on hand, I figured it only made sense to try them.

The Heritage Rough Rider .32 H&R Magnum

Heritage is best known for its inexpensive .22 caliber Rough Rider revolvers. They’ve been around since the early 1990s and come in just about every configuration imaginable. Barrel lengths, grips and finishes vary widely, and there are even carbine versions.

The .32 H&R Magnum follows the same general formula but steps things up for centerfire use. The current gun is a six shot, single action revolver with a 6.5 inch barrel. Unlike the familiar rimfire Rough Riders, the .32 uses an alloy steel frame along with an alloy steel barrel and cylinder.

Overall length is 11.78 inches, and unloaded weight is 35.6 ounces. That’s right around 2.25 pounds. Heritage lists MSRP at $257.99.

Black Satin Finish

Heritage describes the finish as Black Satin. To my eye, it looks more like a powder coating than a traditional firearm finish. It has a slightly rough appearance in spots. It actually reminds me of the painted finishes used on some British military firearms.

The British used a baked black finish called Suncorite 259 on military arms beginning during World War II. It saw extensive use on postwar firearms as well. I’m not saying Heritage uses the same process. The look of the Rough Rider just reminded me of those old military finishes.

Being that I’m not big on highly polished finishes anyway, especially on a working gun, I thought it looked just fine. The finish seems appropriate for what the Rough Rider is and what it costs.

If you’re expecting a finely polished blue finish like you’d find on a Colt Single Action Army, that’s not what you’re getting. Keep the Rough Rider’s intended role and price point in mind, and I don’t think there’s much to complain about.

Haven’t We Seen This Before?

Interestingly, Heritage’s introductory material called the .32 H&R Magnum the first centerfire Rough Rider. That’s not quite the case.

Heritage offered a steel frame Rough Rider in .32 H&R Magnum about 20 years ago. Gun writer William “Bill” Bell covered the original gun when it was introduced in 2005. Bell had actually suggested the idea to the folks at Heritage.

In his original 2005 review of the .32 Magnum Rough Rider, Bell covered versions with 6.5, 4.75 and 3.5 inch barrels. The short gun even had a birdshead grip. He also used the .32 Rough Riders for Cowboy Action Shooting.

I’m not sure when Heritage stopped making the original .32s, but they’ve been gone for quite a while. Whatever you want to call the new model, I’m glad to see it back.

Range Work

I ran around 200 rounds through my test Rough Rider. That was a mix of Black Hills and Steinel .32 H&R Magnum loads. I also used Steinel .32 S&W Long and .32 S&W.

The Magnum loads had noticeably sharper recoil and muzzle blast than the lower powered cartridges. They were still pleasant to shoot and easy to handle, though. This isn’t a gun that’s going to beat you up during an afternoon at the range.

Dropping down to .32 S&W Long and .32 S&W made things considerably more sedate. Shooting those loads was closer to shooting a .22 caliber Rough Rider than not. That was especially true with the mild .32 S&W load.

Ejection was positive using the ejector rod, and I didn’t have problems with sticky cases. In fact, the lower pressure loads would often drop free without even using the rod. That was common with both .32 S&W and .32 S&W Long.

The .32 Magnum Rough Rider has decent balance with its 6.5 inch barrel. I liked the textured grips too. Rather than traditional checkering, Heritage molds a subtle star pattern into the grip panels. They look good and provide a comfortable, secure hold.

The trigger on my test gun was crisp and broke at 3 pounds, 6 ounces. I measured that with my Lyman trigger pull gauge. That’s a pretty darn good trigger on a revolver in this price range.

Sights are traditional single action fare. You get a round front post and a notch in the top strap. They aren’t target sights, but they aren’t intended to be. They’re simple and appropriate to the design, and they worked fine for the shooting I was doing.

About That Safety

I’ll be honest and say I’m not a fan of the manual safety. It’s easy enough to use and works fine, but I really don’t see the point. Single action revolvers have been around for nearly 200 years, dating back to the Colt Paterson. They’ve gotten by just fine without manual safeties.

At least Heritage positioned the safety where it’s easy to operate. It’s located on the left side of the frame, right next to the hammer. You can flip it down to the fire position without changing your shooting grip. The motion is also in the same general direction you’re already moving your thumb to cock the hammer.

So while I don’t particularly want a safety on a single action revolver, Heritage made it about as unobtrusive as possible. It’s easy to disengage as you prepare to cock the gun and doesn’t interfere much with actually shooting it.

Heritage obviously feels the safety is necessary, and it’s part of the package if you want a Rough Rider. I can deal with it considering the very modest price Heritage asks for these revolvers.

A Hitch Along the Way

I did run into an issue during testing where the action locked up with the hammer stuck at half cock. I couldn’t fully cock the hammer or rotate the cylinder. Removing and reinstalling the cylinder would free everything up, but the problem eventually returned.

At first, I thought the issue might be dirt or a rough spot in the action. Lubricating the gun and working the action seemed to cure it temporarily. Then it eventually locked up again while I was dry cycling the empty revolver.

I contacted Heritage and described what was happening. The first thing they suggested was checking the position of the cylinder base pin. That turned out to be the culprit.

Looking back, the sequence of events makes sense too. The problem didn’t appear until after I removed the cylinder to take some photos. I didn’t make the connection when I reinstalled it.

There’s a distinct detent where the base pin clicks into its proper position. If you keep holding the base pin latch button, though, you can push the pin beyond that point. Seat the base pin too deeply and the action can lock up.

Once Heritage pointed me in the right direction, I was able to recreate the problem reliably. It also explained why removing and reinstalling the cylinder seemed to fix things. When I happened to seat the base pin correctly, the gun worked normally. When I pushed it too far, the action locked up again.

With the base pin seated correctly in its detent, I can’t make the problem happen.

So what initially looked like a mechanical reliability problem turned out to be user error. I had simply pushed the base pin too far when reinstalling the cylinder. It’s easy enough to do, but the cause isn’t particularly obvious once the action locks up.

I’m glad it wasn’t an actual problem with the gun. I think it’s worth pointing out so other Rough Rider owners can avoid the same pitfall. When reinstalling the cylinder, push the base pin in until you feel it click into its detent and stop there.

If your Rough Rider suddenly locks up at half cock, check the base pin position before assuming something inside the gun has broken.

Accuracy and Velocity

For accuracy testing, I fired five shot groups offhand at 15 yards. It was 79 degrees and sunny on test day. Considering the Rough Rider’s traditional fixed sights and modest price, I was pleased with the results.

The Steinel 72 grain .32 S&W FMJ turned in the tightest group at 1.5 inches. The Steinel 72 grain .32 S&W Long FMJ wasn’t far behind at 1.75 inches. It averaged 701 feet per second.

Moving up to Magnum loads, the Steinel 100 grain JHP grouped into 2 inches. It averaged 923 feet per second. The Black Hills 85 grain JHP produced a 1 7/8 inch group. It was the fastest load tested at 1,067 feet per second.

All four loads stayed at 2 inches or less at 15 yards. That’s with me shooting offhand rather than trying to wring out mechanical accuracy from a rest. I can’t complain about that from a revolver that sells for around $200.

Interestingly, the mild little .32 S&W load produced the best group of the day. Between its accuracy and almost nonexistent recoil, it was probably the most fun load to shoot too.

An Affordable Cowboy Gun?

There’s another potential use for the .32 Rough Rider that caught my attention. It could be a very inexpensive way to get into Cowboy Action Shooting.

Cowboy Action shooters generally need a pair of single action revolvers. That can make the initial investment pretty steep. That’s before you even start looking at rifles, shotguns, leather and the rest of your gear.

Heritage’s $257.99 MSRP is already cheap for a centerfire single action. Actual street prices are even lower. At the time of this writing, I’m seeing the .32 Rough Riders averaging around $200 to $220. I’ve seen some online deals dip below $200.

That means you could potentially pick up a pair for $400 to $450. That’s less than the cost of many individual single action revolvers suitable for Cowboy Action Shooting. There’s even historical precedent for it. Bill Bell used the original Heritage .32 H&R Magnum revolvers in Cowboy Action matches. He has done the same thing with the new version.

There’s a catch, though. The revolvers are cheap. The ammunition isn’t.

The Black Hills and Steinel ammunition I tested was excellent. Depending on the load, though, you’re generally looking at around $50 to $60 per box of 50. Both companies offer lead bullet loads better suited to Cowboy Action Shooting, but you’re still paying premium ammunition prices.

There are less expensive options. PPU .32 S&W Long lead round nose ammunition can sometimes be found around $20 to $25 per box. I didn’t have any on hand for this test, so I can’t say how it performs in the Rough Rider.

If I were serious about using a pair of .32s for regular match shooting, I’d look hard at reloading. Put some of the money you saved on the revolvers into a basic reloading setup. Rolling your own makes a lot of sense when you’re burning through ammunition at matches.

I’d save the good stuff from Black Hills and Steinel for other purposes. Their Magnum loads make more sense for serious range work or carrying the Rough Rider in the field.

Final Thoughts

The Heritage .32 Magnum Rough Rider turned out to be a great way to scratch my longtime itch to try the .32 H&R Magnum. It’s an extremely affordable handgun at its $257.99 MSRP. Street prices make it even more attractive.

I ran around 200 rounds of four different loads through the Rough Rider. That included three different .32 cartridges and both FMJ and hollowpoint ammunition. Once I figured out my self inflicted base pin issue, I had no mechanical reliability problems with the gun.

As a camp or trail gun, I think the .32 Rough Rider makes a lot of sense. The .32 H&R Magnum offers useful power for small game, pests and similar tasks. It’s also pleasant enough to shoot that spending an afternoon with it isn’t a chore.

At 2.25 pounds, the Rough Rider isn’t exactly a lightweight revolver. It’s still a reasonable size and weight to pack around the backcountry, though. You also have the option of dropping down to extremely mild .32 S&W Long or .32 S&W loads.

The low street price also makes the Rough Rider an intriguing Cowboy Action option. You could put together a pair of centerfire single actions for less than many individual Cowboy guns. Just keep in mind that feeding them with factory ammunition can get expensive.

Overall, I’m a fan of the .32 Magnum Rough Rider. It proved reliable, showed good accuracy and was just plain fun to shoot. That’s especially true with the non Magnum loads.

I’m impressed enough that I plan on buying my review gun rather than sending it back. I can already see adding another one too, if Heritage brings out the shorter barrel versions they’ve indicated may be coming.

Apparently, all it took to finally get me into the .32 H&R Magnum was a $250 revolver.