QFI (Miami, FL) Western Ranger (22 LR)

[4V50 Gary]

I'm looking at a QFI Western Ranger in 22 LR that belongs to a fellow I know. It looks very much like a Ruger Single Six but the lockwork is probably more like the Colt SAA. The frame is made from zinc and the ejector and ejector rod housing appear to be the same zinc/pot metal. My guess is that they were entry level SAA replicas for the cheap or poor who wanted to play cowboy.

Anyway, the loading gate is plastic and it broke. I'll probably get a piece of aluminium with which to make a new one.

Can anyone tell me about these little beasts? I'm not interested in buying it and wouldn't want it for myself (nor for anyone I'd call a friend).

 

[dagger dog]

A friend of mine has a Sauer & Sons 22 rimfire with steel rifled barrel liner and cylinder chambers, it i's a direct copy of the 1873 Colt.

It surprised me with it's accuracy and reliability, without knowing the frame and cylinder are made of some type of zinc alloy it would be hard to tell that it wasn't a Colt !

I think his gun is marked Western Marshal
That's my 2C.

 

[4V50 Gary]

I learned this past Sunday that it was given to his owner by his daughter. He himself would not buy one of his own volition (he'll get a Ruger first ). It was good to learn that he has better taste than to spend money to buy one for himself.

It took over ten hours of work but I finally finished the loading gate from a block of aluminium. Some mill work was involved, but it was mostly done with hand files and then a clone of that dreaded high speed spinning tool (hand dremel/grinder).

 

[4V50 Gary]

Loading gate kept flopping open. There's supposed to be some tension on it and I thought the leaf spring was missing (thinking Ruger Blackhawk). Well, after the frame was disassembled, it was learned that it's a spring and plunger combination and the coil spring was missing. That has been replaced and now there's tension on the gate (so it won't flop around).

Saw an earlier version of the Ranger. It had a pot metal loading gate and was slightly better made than the one I worked on. Oh the joy of cheap guns. Don't buy them. Buy Colt if you can afford it or buy Ruger.