The very first handgun that I ever fired was a Ruger Single-Six chambered in .22 Long Rifle (“.22LR”). I was then in junior high school. Our church had a group for boys my age. The men who led that group took us on an outing one time in a nearby state forest area. One of the men took along his Single-Six. When we came to a sandbank that could be used as a backstop, he placed a soda can on a stick stuck into the ground. Then he let us take turns shooting at the can. My major takeaway from that experience was that it is much harder to fire a handgun accurately in real life than it is in the movies.
About a year ago, I became nostalgic about the memory of firing that Single-Six. I went to the Ruger website, and learned that they make a Single-Ten stainless in .22LR with fiber optic sights. It looked like a nice step up from the Single-Six, so I contacted Ruger and asked to borrow one. They were kind enough to agree, and placed one on order for me. Eight months later, I received notification that the Single-Ten had been shipped to my FFL.
Overview
I found the Single-Ten to be a lot of fun to shoot. The fiber optic sights were easy to acquire, and the trigger was excellent. Because it is a fairly heavy handgun firing an extremely light round, recoil was almost non-existent. Accuracy was also above average for a .22LR.
I like the appearance of stainless steel in general, and felt that its use in the Single-Ten produced an exceptionally attractive firearm. It was good to know that the use of stainless made the Single-Ten weather resistant as well.
For someone like me who has become accustomed to semi-automatic handguns, a single-action revolver seemed a little cumbersome to load, fire, and reload. The action was also quite stiff at first, as if some of the tolerances were a bit too tight. It gradually loosened up with use.
All in all, I would rate the Single-Ten as an excellent garden gun or range toy. It is accurate enough for pest control, and just plain fun to shoot.
First Impressions
The Single-Ten arrived in a sturdy 14.5 x 10.5 x 3.75 inch plastic case with two padlock holes on the latches. In addition to the Single-Ten, the case contained the manual, a Ruger sticker, an NRA application, a 20% off coupon for ShopRuger.com, a free upgrade card for old Blackhawk, Single-Six, and Bearcat revolvers, and a cable lock. The case is made by Flambeau, Inc. in the U.S.A.
I removed the base pin of the Single-Ten so that I could take out the cylinder and remove the safe chamber flag. I reinserted the cylinder after verifying that it was empty.
The revolver was heavier than I remembered, and fit my hand well. There is just something ergonomically pleasing about the Colt-New-Army-like shape of the Single-Ten. The adjustable fiber optic sights were easy to acquire.
Reading the Manual
The 40-page manual began with the legally mandated state-by-state warnings. I would recommend moving this legalese to the end of the manual, so that it does not cause the readers’ eyes to glaze over before they get to the more important information.
The manual informed me that the Single-Ten uses the same basic mechanism as the Single-Six, Blackhawk, Super Blackhawk, Bisley, Ruger Vaquero, Bisley Ruger Vaquero, Hunter Models, and Ruger Wrangler. The design of the basic mechanism is so good that Ruger can utilize it in a wide variety of different applications.
The manual included an excellent set of diagrams identifying the various parts of the revolver. The graphic artists that work with the technical writers at Ruger are to be commended on a job well done.
It is interesting that the cylinders are numbered to correspond with the last 3 digits of the serial number of the revolver to which they belong. This is to prevent improper alignment and timing due to a mismatched cylinder.
There were a number of other items of interest in the manual:
∙ Opening the loading gate immobilizes the trigger, hammer, and transfer bar.
∙ Unlike many revolvers, there are only two hammer positions, “cocked” and “all the way forward.”
∙ The Single-Ten can use .22LR, .22 Long, or .22 Short cartridges in regular, high velocity or hyper-velocity loadings.
∙ Because of the transfer bar, the Single-Ten can be safely carried with all ten chambers loaded. The hammer can safely rest on a loaded chamber.
∙ The Single-Ten can be dry fired without damage to the firing pin or other components.
∙ Ruger recommends never “fanning” any revolver since it is unsafe and “abusive to the revolver mechanism.”
∙ The instructions for decocking emphasize that “thumb slip” can result in an accidental discharge.
∙ Routine cleaning does not involve any disassembly beyond removing the cylinder.
∙ Ruger recommends coating the external surfaces of a stainless steel firearm with paste wax to provide an extra measure of corrosion protection.
∙ Each click of the adjustable sights moves the point of impact approximately 3/4 inch at 25 yards.
The Range Session
It was a beautiful day in mid-February. The sky was blue, the sun was shining, and it was 39 degrees Fahrenheit. I took the Single-Ten and a selection of ammo to the improvised range behind my pole barn for some testing.
I set up some targets in front of the backstop, set up a table 15 yards away, and put a pistol rest on the table.
I loaded a single round of Browning 40-grain LRN into the Single-Ten. That first round hit close to dead center of the target at which I was aiming. I then loaded a full ten rounds, and tried again. Those rounds grouped about 5.5 inches high.
The Browning ammo seemed to be a little tight in the chambers, so I switched to American Eagle High Velocity 38-grain copper plated HP. It seemed to fit the chambers better. It also grouped about 5.5 inches high.
I fired a couple of more groups of ten as I adjusted the sights, and then switched to MaxxTech 40 grain LRN. I was still shooting a little high.
I was really pleased to find that recoil was almost non-existent, and the fiber optic sights were a joy to acquire.
I continued to adjust the sights, and then switched to Federal AutoMatch 40 grain LRN. This ammo gave me the best groups of the various ammos that I tried. I made one final small adjustment to the sights, and then had a group in which all ten shots were within 1.5 inches of the center of the target, and seven were within less than an inch. That is not the very best that I have ever shot from rest at 15 yards, but it was better than average for most of the .22LR handguns that I have fired.
I next tried a group offhand. I could tell by the way that the fiber optic sights were dancing over the center of the target that the group would not be anything to brag about. It was obvious that I had not been spending enough time at the range. Even after 50 years, it is still harder to fire a handgun accurately in real life than it is in the movies.
Cleaning
I removed the base pin, removed the cylinder, and cleaned the Single-Ten according to the directions in the manual. I noted toolmarks on the inside of the frame behind the cylinder. After cleaning, tiny bits of stainless steel sparkled on the cleaning mat like glitter. They had apparently been shaved off of the excessively tight tolerances of the revolver by the process of firing.
Tommy Atkins
My experiences with the Single-Ten reminded me of still another experience with a revolver. That experience was courtesy of my friend “Tommy Atkins”.
I met Tommy on a street outside a bar in a land where neither of us had been born. I was there doing street evangelism. Tommy was there trying to get drunk enough to forget. We fell into conversation, and a friendship was born.
Our church would do street evangelism by going into a small city in our area on Friday evenings with a large pot of coffee. As people would walk by, we would offer them a cup of coffee. Many would say, “Why are you doing this?” We would reply, “We are just passing out coffee, and talking to people about God.”
Tommy was the quintessential British soldier. That is why I call him Tommy Atkins here in a nod to Rudyard Kipling’s poem, “Tommy”:
I went into a public-‘ouse to get a pint o’ beer,
The publican ‘e up an’ sez, “We serve no red-coats here.”
The girls be’ind the bar they laughed an’ giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an’ to myself sez I:
O it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, go away”;
But it’s “Thank you, Mister Atkins”, when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it’s “Thank you, Mister Atkins”, when the band begins to play.
I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but ‘adn’t none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-‘alls,
But when it comes to fightin’, Lord! they’ll shove me in the stalls!
For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, wait outside”;
But it’s “Special train for Atkins” when the trooper’s on the tide,
The troopship’s on the tide, my boys, the troopship’s on the tide,
O it’s “Special train for Atkins” when the trooper’s on the tide.
Yes, makin’ mock o’ uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an’ they’re starvation cheap;
An’ hustlin’ drunken soldiers when they’re goin’ large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin’ in full kit.
Then it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, ‘ow’s yer soul?”
But it’s “Thin red line of ‘eroes” when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it’s “Thin red line of ‘eroes” when the drums begin to roll.
We aren’t no thin red ‘eroes, nor we aren’t no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An’ if sometimes our conduck isn’t all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don’t grow into plaster saints;
While it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, fall be’ind”,
But it’s “Please to walk in front, sir”, when there’s trouble in the wind,
There’s trouble in the wind, my boys, there’s trouble in the wind,
O it’s “Please to walk in front, sir”, when there’s trouble in the wind.
You talk o’ better food for us, an’ schools, an’ fires, an’ all:
We’ll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don’t mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow’s Uniform is not the soldier-man’s disgrace.
For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Chuck him out, the brute!”
But it’s “Saviour of ‘is country” when the guns begin to shoot;
An’ it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ anything you please;
An’ Tommy ain’t a bloomin’ fool — you bet that Tommy sees!
Tommy had completed his service in the British Army, and then had sought greener pastures as a soldier of fortune. In the course of his wanderings, he had met a woman from my host country. They had married, and his bride had prevailed upon Tommy to return to her homeland to set up domestic life there.
Tommy did not domesticate well. He was haunted by the blood he had shed and the friends he had lost fighting other men’s wars. He sought to hold the spirits from his past at bay with the spirits from a bottle.
Tommy’s wife grew gradually more and more disenchanted as the dashing young soldier she married decayed into a middle-aged alcoholic. Her disenchantment grew gradually into full-scale contempt. During better days, Tommy and his wife had produced a son together. As the days grew worse, the son learned contempt for his father at his mother’s knee. By the time that son became a teen, his contempt had blossomed into a cold and cruel art form.
Haunted by his dreams by night, and drowning in cold waves of familial contempt by day, Tommy’s life became a burden to him.
Tommy and I came to have a series of long talks. He visited our church a few times, and gradually a pattern emerged. About once a week, about an hour or two after the bars closed for the night, my phone would ring. I would stumble to the phone half asleep, and would hear Tommy’s inebriated voice telling me that he was thinking about killing himself. We would talk for an hour or so, and then I would pray with Tommy. Tommy would then go to bed and sleep peacefully until late the following day. My wife and I, on the other hand, would lay awake for much of the rest of the night worrying about Tommy and praying for him.
Eventually, the calls stopped coming, and Tommy stopped answering my calls. I began to fear the worst. And then one Friday evening while I was out on street evangelism, I saw a familiar figure slip out of a nearby bar and hustle down an alley. I set off in pursuit.
“Tommy”, I said as I caught up with him, “how are you doing?”
“Not well”, he replied, and the story of his most recent sufferings poured out of him.
After we had talked for a while, Tommy handed me a plastic grocery bag with something heavy in it. He said, “I would like you to hold on to this for me.”
I looked in the bag. It contained a revolver. I think it was something like a Smith and Wesson Model 28. Under other circumstances, I might view it as a beautiful piece of workmanship. In that dim alley late at night it looked pretty ugly.
Tommy said, “I was planning to kill myself, so I borrowed that revolver from a friend. But now I would like you to hold on to it for me so that I don’t do anything stupid.”
I replied, “Okay, Tommy, I will do that for you.” We continued our conversation a while longer, and then prayed together. Then Tommy went home and went to sleep.
I stuffed the bag with the revolver into the bottom of the duffle I had with me. I put it under a layer of tracts and Bibles. My host country had some pretty strict laws about firearms possession. I was not authorized to carry under the terms of those strict laws. If I was found in possession of a firearm, the major question would be whether I would be deported before or after a jail term. I was very careful not to exceed the speed limit on my drive home.
The next afternoon, Tommy called to ask for the revolver back. He promised not to harm himself with it, and indicated that he needed to return it to the friend from whom he had borrowed it. Once again, I was very careful not to exceed the speed limit as I drove over to meet Tommy to return the revolver to him.
Tommy and I stayed in touch for quite a while after the revolver incident. I wish I could tell you that the story has a happy ending, but not all stories do. Eventually, Tommy stopped calling again, and stopped taking my calls as well. I kept an eye out for him on Friday nights, but we never crossed paths again. I hoped this might be because his life circumstances improved to the point that he did not need to talk to me anymore. But I know that happy outcome is unlikely. It is more likely that his life spiraled downward to the point that he was too ashamed to contact me.
As Richard Grenier paraphrased George Orwell, “People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” Tommy reminds me that the price that rough men pay for doing violence on our behalf is often high. May God protect and comfort all of the rough men who guard the innocent.
Conclusions
The Ruger Single-Ten was fun to shoot with excellent fiber optic sights, a great trigger, and almost no recoil. Accuracy was above average, and its appearance was quite attractive. Fit and finish could have been better, with fewer tool marks, and more appropriate tolerances. All in all, I would recommend it for pest control or just for the fun of it.
Disclaimer
Ruger was kind enough to loan me a Single-Ten Stainless in .22LR for testing and evaluation. I tried not to let their kindness influence my objectivity, and believe that I have succeeded. I did not receive any other financial or other inducements to mention any vendor, product, or service in this article.