The Ruger Super Redhawk, now in .22 Hornet: Full Review

The Ruger Super Redhawk is a big, burly revolver. Since its introduction in Guns & Ammo’s November 1979 issue, it’s been chambered in powerful handgun cartridges. The .44 Remington Magnum has been its mainstay, but it was also the launching platform for the .480 Ruger in 2003, the first cartridge to bear the Ruger name. It’s also among few production revolvers to be chambered to the .454 Casull. More recently, it’s been chambered to 10mm Auto.

In 5-, 7 1/2-, and 9 1/2-­inch barrels, the standard Super Redhawk, in stainless steel only since 1992, comes supplied with Ruger detachable scope rings, bases dovetailed into the substantial frame, much like generations of Ruger centerfire rifles. In powerful cartridges and optic-­ready, it’s a favorite among serious handgun hunters.

Its more recent (and snubbier) sibling, the Super Redhawk Alaskan, is identical. Except, with a 21/2-­inch barrel, it’s not long enough for scope mounting. Currently offered in .44 Rem. Mag., .454 Casull, and .480 Ruger, the Alaskan lives up to its name: A big, powerful carry revolver, designed for (and popular with) wilderness wanderers in Alaska and the northern Rockies. Intended for short ­range, in extremis use in big bear (or bad guy) country.

At 45 years of production, the newest member of the family, the Super Redhawk in .22 Hornet is a departure from the norm. The .22 Hornet is neither large nor powerful. In fact, the .22 Hornet is the mildest of our .22 centerfires. This is not meant unkindly. I love the .22 Hornet, in part, because Dad loved his .22 Hornet. It was his favorite varmint cartridge. I also love the Hornet on its own merit. With its diminutive and archaically tapered, rimmed case, the little .22 Hornet is faster and more accurate than it has any right to be.

When a new firearm or cartridge comes out, I have a bad habit of asking myself, “What’s it for?” I feel it’s bad because no one should care what I think. Also, with a chronic imagination deficit, I often guess wrong. When the .17 HMR first came out, I questioned it because I couldn’t imagine what it was for. Hundreds of millions of rounds later we know, don’t we? I wasn’t the only curmudgeon in the closet. Steve Hornady himself resisted taking on the .17 HMR project because, like me after the fact, he didn’t envision its utility.

I received the Ruger Super Redhawk .22 Hornet in midsummer 2024 at the Kansas farm while I was on the tractor trying to beat food plots into submission in 100-­degree heat. It wasn’t the ideal time to get the creative juices flowing. It is a gorgeous revolver, magnificently machined, and I love the clever eight-­shot cylinder. But, in .22 Hornet? What’s the point of a big revolver using this round? My Kansas neighbors, all gun folks, joined me in asking the same question: “What’s it for?”

It's Only Accurate

Wasn’t it Col. Townsend Whelen who wrote, “Only accurate rifles are interesting?” It’s a good sentiment, unless you’re defending yourself against grizzlies. The first thing that strikes you about any Super Redhawk is, “This is a big revolver!” In the 1840s, the massive Walker Colt was judged too large and heavy for general use. Heavily loaded, it was probably the most powerful handgun until the introduction of the .44 Rem. Mag. in 1956. At 66 ounces (sans scope), the Super Redhawk in .22 Hornet is almost heavier than the Colt Walker. Also, it’s heavier than other Super Redhawks chambered to big cartridges. Obviously, the cylinder and barrel are mostly steel and not much hole.

Long Eye Relief (LER) handgun scopes aren’t as common as they once were. I’ll apologize right now that the scope I used on the revolver doesn’t match the Burris 3-12x32mm handgun scope in this article’s studio photos. Photographer Mike Anschuetz had to borrow that Burris, which is still a great name in LER handgun scopes. The scope I mounted to the Super Redhawk Hornet, was an older Leupold VX-3 2.5-­8x32mm handgun scope. The scope and steel Ruger mounts brought the weight to nearly 5½ pounds, a lot of handgun. Forget shooting it offhand.

Although none of us could immediately figure an ideal mission for this big revolver, my Kansas neighbors were curious and insisted on coming along to shoot it. That’s a good sign. Curiosity killed the cat — and makes sales happen.

Well, with that weight, it didn’t kick. Shooting off both pistol rests and sandbags, I tried desperately to get a proper photograph of the gun in recoil. The .22 Hornet doesn’t have much recoil to begin with. When properly rested, there was almost no movement as it fired.

In order to mount the scope, I needed to drop the rear sight almost all the way down to clear the ocular bell. Any .22 Hornet firearm deserves an optical sight. It’s not like you can boresight a revolver, so we started on big paper up close. We were a long way out of zero, but the scope responded well. It didn’t take many shots to get it zeroed at 50 yards. Then we had some fun. 

Not trying to shoot groups, just getting the feel of a different concept: A tiny cartridge in a huge revolver. It seemed like it wanted to shoot. It had no problem hitting small steel spinners at 25 and 50 yards, then at 100. My last five shots with Hornady 35-­grain V-­Max seemed to group close to an inch at 50 yards. Later, this would prove consistent. My friend, Steve Trainer, Vietnam veteran and retired Wichita police officer stole the show by ringing a steel coyote at 200 yards — six out of six! Accurate firearms — both rifles and handguns — are interesting. This one showed promise.

In .22 Hornet, the Super Redhawk, like any other handgun, could serve for home or personal protection, but not proof against big bruins. Other than fun — which is a valid reason for a firearm’s existence — the Super Redhawk .22 Hornet’s most obvious reason for existence is for small game and varmints. To be viable in that arena, “minute of squirrel” or “minute of prairie dog” accuracy is essential.

At the Range

I have experience with big revolvers and specialty pistols in various chamberings. With good extended eye-relief optics, short, stiff barrels are amazingly accurate. However, this was my first experience with a big revolver in a high-­velocity varmint cartridge. Unusually, I had no idea what to expect. Zeroing done, the next step was to start again on a cooler morning, chronograph ammo, and see what happened.

The .22 Hornet has been around since 1930. It was not the first smokeless .22 centerfire. That honor goes to 1912’s .22 Savage High-­Power. With 70-­grain bullet, the Savage cartridge was envisioned for big-­game. The Hornet was thus our first dedicated smokeless varmint cartridge. In a time when big game was scarce but small game and pests were plentiful, it became popular. Long eclipsed by much faster .22 centerfires, the Hornet retains a loyal following. In rifles, it is accurate, with mild report and no recoil, effective to at least 200 yards. This is more than twice the reasonable range of the .22 LR, and far beyond the reach of .22 WMR. Of course, all of that is in closed-­breech rifles.

The original .22 Hornet load used a 45-­grain bullet at 2,700 feet per second (fps). In recent years, lighter 35-­grain bullets at about 3,000 fps have become more popular. However, it’s not like the .223 Remington in popularity. For this article, I obtained American Eagle 35-­grain Tipped Varmint, Hornady Varmint Express 35-­grain V-­Max, Remington Premier 35-­grain AccuTip-­V, and Remington 45-­grain soft point. The Federal and both Remington loads were packed 50 per box, while Hornady’s load came in a square 25-­round pack.

Long before I started shooting groups, two observations were noted. Trainer called my attention to the forward surface of the cylinder. The blast marks around each chamber exit were small, round, concentric and uniform. This suggested excellent manufacturing with tight tolerances and a small cylinder gap. Second, it is a revolver, and there is a cylinder gap.

No matter how much we harp on eye and ear protection, lapses do occur. Do not shoot this revolver without eye and ear protection! It’s certainly no worse than a big magnum revolver, but you may feel hot debris on hands and face with each shot. In part, this is because the .22 Hornet, although old, is a rifle cartridge loaded to higher pressure than most handgun cartridges. The SAAMI spec for .22 Hornet is 44,000 psi. By comparison, the .44 Rem. Mag. spec is 36,000 psi. In the world of revolver cartridges, only the .454 Casull, .480 Ruger, and .460 and .500 S&W Magnums are specified at higher pressures than the .22 Hornet. (Those require eye and ear protection, as well.)

I shot all four mentioned loads for accuracy, and over the chronograph. That’s 20 five-­shot groups, 100 shots as good as I could hold them. Folks, if you don’t have much experience with long-eye-relief scopes, that’s hard work. By their nature, long eye relief scopes have a small field of view. The more magnification, the smaller. To keep the groups as tight as possible, I shot with the scope all the way up to 8X. Even with almost no recoil and a steady rest, I had to relocate the target for each shot. It’s more difficult and took longer than shooting groups with a scoped rifle or a handgun with iron sights or a red dot.

Still, the Super Redhawk Hornet was a joy to shoot. There was no recoil, little blast, and the crisp, clean 31/2-­pound single-­action trigger helped immensely. The best accuracy with G&A’s test gun was with Hornady Varmint Express, 35-­grain V-­Max, averaging 1.67 inches for five groups. The American Eagle 35-­grain Tipped Varmint load followed at 1.74 inches. Then, it was the Remington Premier 35-­grain AccuTip-­V load averaging 1.99 inches. I regret that I had just one 45-­grain load to try because it appeared this revolver preferred the lighter bullets. The Remington 45-­grain PSP load had the “worst” accuracy, averaging 2.49 inches. I put “worst” in quotes because I’ll take sub-­21/2-­inch 50-­yard groups from a revolver all day long. That’s minute of prairie dog.

Although a long-eye-relief scope is more difficult to shoot, and a handgun more difficult to stabilize, there’s no limit on range. Combining my abilities with the fact that the subject gun is a revolver, and not a bolt-­action or single-­shot pistol, I chose to shoot groups “for score” at 50 yards. I shot a few 100-­yard groups, just to see progression. With the Hornady load averaging just more than 11/2 inches at 50 yards, 100-­yard groups ran just more than 3 inches, exactly what one might expect.

Although testing was done in high midsummer temperatures, I was surprised at how slowly the Super Redhawk heated up. Lots of steel surrounds the chambers and barrel channel. Despite the Hornet’s high velocity (compared to most handgun cartridges), no cooling-­off periods were needed. Like all revolvers, gunk and residue accumulates. I needed to clean it frequently. My standard protocol when testing for accuracy is to clean it thoroughly between each load, as in every 25 shots. This proved adequate. So far I’ve put in excess of 200 rounds through the revolver, all functioning trouble-­free.

Over the chronograph, Hornady’s Varmint Express load was amazing. Extreme spread (ES) of just 35 fps, standard deviation (SD) at a low and admirable 18. The other three loads had ES in the triple digits and high SDs. No wonder the Hornady load was the most accurate! In fairness, all loads were rifle ammo, not specifically developed for short-­barrel use. Propellants intended for 22-­inch barrels are unlikely to burn efficiently in less than half the barrel length. Also, since the .22 Hornet is the oldest .22 centerfire still loaded — and not the most popular — I suspect little recent load development. The disparity between the Hornady load’s average group size, and especially its lower ES and SD, and the other loads, suggests that, at some point recently, Hornady’s ballisticians might have taken a fresh look at the .22 Hornet.

The Long & Short

Although new to me, a .22 Hornet handgun is not new. Magnum Research and Taurus have made .22 Hornet revolvers, and it’s been chambered to various single-­shot and bolt-­action specialty pistols.

With less muzzle jump and less barrel heat than faster .22 centerfires, the great old Hornet has always been a favorite prairie dog cartridge. No, it doesn’t have the range of its faster cousins, but in an accurate rifle it’s deadly well beyond 200 yards. In my estimation, the coyote is one of the toughest pound-­for-­pound animals. Unless very close and with perfect shot placement, the .17 HMR isn’t enough gun, and the .22 WMR is questionable. The .22 Hornet is plenty for coyotes. It’s awesome for bobcats, too, producing much less pelt damage than faster centerfires.

Other than javelinas, North America doesn’t have much “small big game.” G&A’s founder Robert E. “Pete” Petersen always took a .22 Hornet on safaris in Africa, using it for small predators, tiny antelopes, and up to impala and reedbuck. I borrowed that page from Pete. On smaller animals, the Hornet is marvelous. It’s deadly and efficient. Purists hate this, but several states allow rifles and handguns for wild turkey. Turkeys are tough, but not when stung by a Hornet. Just pick your shot, avoid the breast, and little meat will be lost.

Anything that can be done with a .22 Hornet rifle can also be done with a .22 Hornet handgun. So, that’s what it’s for. Just keep ranges within the accuracy the platform offers. The Ruger Super Redhawk Hornet isn’t a 200-­yard prairie dog gun, but out to 100 yards it’s perfect. Let me add one more caution: Since all existing .22 Hornet factory loads were developed for rifle-­length barrels, in the Super Redhawk’s 91/2-­inch barrel, velocity loss was severe. The accompanying chart shows velocity figures over my chronograph. I have no idea what any of these loads clock in a 22- or 24-­inch rifle barrel. I do know the Super Redhawk Hornet velocities showed a loss, across the board, of between 633 and 818 fps from factory velocity specs, or about 25 percent.

So, in a handgun barrel, the .22 Hornet is not as powerful a cartridge as it is in a rifle. This is not the train smash it sounds. The .22 Hornet’s closest competitor in versatility and utility is probably the .22 WMR. The .22 Magnum’s bullet weights and velocities vary widely. Worst-­case comparisons suggest that a .22 Hornet in a 91/2-­inch revolver is still several hundred fps faster than a .22 WMR shot from a rifle. The .22 Hornet shoots flatter and carries more energy than the .22 WMR. So, keep your ranges short and go have fun. That’s what the Ruger Super Redhawk in .22 Hornet is really all about.

Ruger Super Redhawk

• Type: Revolver, double action/single action
• Cartridge: .22 Hornet
• Capacity: 8 rds.
• Barrel: 9.5 in., 1:9-in. twist
• Length: 15.25 in.
• Weight: 4 lbs., 2 oz.
• Grip: Hogue Tamer Monogrip
• Frame: Super Redhawk, stainless steel
• Trigger: 3 lbs., 8 oz. (SA), 10 lbs., 8 oz. (DA)
• Sights: HiViz fiber optic (front), U-Notch, adj. (rear)
• MSRP: $1,499
• Manufacturer: Sturm, Ruger & Company, 336-949-5200, ruger.com

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