{"id":33723,"date":"2026-07-19T00:01:25","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T07:01:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/?p=33723"},"modified":"2026-07-20T07:11:36","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T14:11:36","slug":"an-old-model-single-six-comparo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/2026\/07\/19\/an-old-model-single-six-comparo\/","title":{"rendered":"An Old Model Single Six Comparo"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Joe Berk<\/h6>\n

A few weeks ago, I posted a blog about a new-to-me Old Model Ruger Single Six with a 9 1\/2-inch barrel, a firearm I recently acquired.\u00a0 It’s a beautiful handgun.\u00a0 In that blog, I mentioned that I planned to test the 9 1\/2-inch Single Six and compare it to my Dad’s first-year-of-production 5 1\/2-inch Single Six.\u00a0 I recently did so, capturing the velocities from each handgun and assessing the accuracy of each.<\/p>\n

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The five different .22 ammunition types used in this testing (shown from left to right): Aquila’s 40-grain Target Competition load, Federal’s 40-grain Champion load, Remington’s 40-grain Target load, Federal’s 40-grain Range Pack load, and Federal’s 36-grain Value Pack load.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A few years ago, a federal court overturned California’s unconstitutional requirement that we could only buy ammunition from an FFL dealer, with the FFL running a criminal background check for each purchase (for which we as consumers have to pay).\u00a0 The reprieve only lasted a week or two before the tyrants in Sacramento appealed the federal court decision, but during that week, I ordered a bunch of .22 ammo. The California appeal is still working its way through the courts.\u00a0 In the meantime, we can only buy from an FFL or an approved vendor.\u00a0 Make no mistake:\u00a0 The real criminals are the California legislators and our governor.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All my testing was done firing from the sitting position with two hands (resting my hands on the bench), shooting at targets 25 yards away. Here’s a summary of each of the .22 ammunition types fired in this test series:<\/p>\n

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A summary of the five different ammunition types used in this test program.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The manufacturers did not specify whether their velocities were for a handgun or for a rifle, so it’s not too surprising that my testing showed lower average velocities.\u00a0 I’m assuming the manufacturers’ figures are intended to show velocities from a rifle.\u00a0 \u00a0There’s more velocity information for each of the ammo types in both handguns below.<\/p>\n

A caveat or two up front:\u00a0 I only fired six rounds of each of the five different ammo types, and I only shot one 6-shot group from each of the two Single Six Rugers.\u00a0 \u00a0This was to be a “quick look” accuracy assessment; ordinarily, to assess accuracy I would fire several groups for each load, but I didn’t do that for this test.\u00a0 Also, I include the velocity standard deviation for each 6-shot string, so take those results with a very large grain of sand.\u00a0 From a statistics perspective, 25 or more data points are normally used to get a population’s standard deviation.\u00a0 Again, this test series was intended to provide a quick look.<\/p>\n

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My targets at 25 yards. The targets in the background are out at 100 yards. I did my shooting at the West End Gun Club.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After setting up my targets, I fired five 6-shot groups with the 9 1\/2-inch Single Six at the targets on the left first, and then I fired five 6-shot groups from the 5 1\/2-inch Single Six.\u00a0 The targets are shown below.<\/p>\n

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9 1\/2-inch Single Six targets (left), and 5 1\/2-inch Single Six targets (right). The targets run from left to right, and then top to bottom, with each of the five different .22 loads fired in the order listed above. Each top left target was fired with Aquila ammo, each top right target was fired with Federal Champion ammo, the second row left target was fired with Remington Target ammo, the second row right target was fired with Federal Range Pack ammo, and the bottom target was fired with Federal Value Pack ammo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I didn’t measure group sizes because (as mentioned above) this was intended to be a quick look.\u00a0 That notwithstanding, a few things are apparent:<\/p>\n