Bond Arms has been in the business of manufacturing its signature double-barrel pistols for over 30 years now. But many of the more recent fans of the platform discovered them in just the last few years or so. This is because in 2019 the company launched its highly successful Rough Series models.
Bond Arms pistols featured a high-polish finish, like this one, long before the rough-finish guns were launched.
Prior to the Rough Series, the caliber-convertible, all-stainless-steel Hand Cannon models were sporting price tags starting at around $500 and going up from there. This pricing kept them in more of a niche pistol category since many consumers did not know what the Bond models had to offer. The Rough pistols, however, are currently selling for real-world prices of around $260 to $380. Sometimes you find them on sale for less.
The Rustic Ranger is a variation of the Ranger II platform.
This significant drop in pricing was accomplished by shipping the Rough models with a less costly and time consuming matte, bead-blasted finish. The company can produce four pistols with a rough finish in the same amount of time that it takes to polish up just one Hand Cannon. These pistols are also outfitted with useful, but less expensive, rubber or B6 resin grip panels. Otherwise they are identical to the Hand Cannons in regards to the metals, components, features and manufacturing processes.
This combination of quality and affordable pricing resulted in the Rough models getting picked up and regularly stocked by several sporting goods chains, including Academy Sports, Bass Pro Shops, Scheels and Sportsmans Warehouse. They are now much more accessible to shooting-sports enthusiasts around the country.
The 4.25-inch long, .45 Colt/ .410 Bore double barrel can safely chamber and fire a wide variety of ammunition types.
However, there are those of us who still appreciate the more refined, hand-polished satin finish of the Hand Cannons. Yes, they cost more. But boy do they look great! And the laminated hardwood grips add a touch of class and a warm feel that the synthetics just can't replicate. That is why, for this evaluation, I put in a request for the handsome Bond Arms Rustic Ranger pistol and leather driving holster package. A caliber-conversion accessory barrel was added to the set to expand the ammunition options for the range test.
The Rustic Ranger is a variation of the Bond Arms Ranger II. The Ranger ships with a black ash grip, silver stars grip inserts and a black leather holster. The Rustic Ranger features an extended rosewood grip, two-tone star grip inserts and a rich brown leather holster sporting one two-tone star that matches those found in the grip. These added touches lend this model more of a show piece look without interfering with its shootability and usability in the field.
The rear sight is a square notch cut into the top of the barrel’s hinge.
The Rustic Ranger is a double-barrel, break-action pistol with a single-action trigger. Although its design heritage can be traced back to the Remington 95 derringer, it is by no means the same gun. Back when Greg Bond designed this double-barrel, the marketplace was replete with cheaply produced, small-caliber Remington 95 clones with the same limitations and lack of safety features as the original.
In order to break away from the derringer's “Saturday Night Special" reputation, he chose to take the design in a fresh direction. The low cost alloys were replaced with stainless steel components, including the investment cast 400 series stainless steel frame and the MIM trigger, hammer and removable trigger guard. The Hand Cannon series frames and barrels were redesigned to make them strong enough to handle big-bore handgun calibers including .357 Mag., 10mm Auto and .45 Colt, along with 2.5- and 3-inch .410-bore shotgun shells. These guns are tough enough that two years ago they introduced the single-shot Cyclops models chambered in .44 Mag., .45-70 Gov't. and .50 AE.
The left-side external controls include the extractor, cross bolt safety and the barrel-release lever.
Bond also took care to incorporate effective modern safety features. The hammer is rebounding, which means it locks back and away from the frame-mounted firing pins after the pistol has been fired. The pins are spring loaded so that they retract into the frame between shots. A button-style cross-bolt safety can be engaged to block the hammer from falling against the pins. Last, but not least, are the modifications to the trigger and the spring-loaded, cammed barrel locking lever. The trigger's hook-shaped extension locks the barrel-release lever into the closed position as the pistol fires. This blocks the barrel-release lever from being pressed into the open position should the shooter's thumb bump up against it as the pistol recoils. This is a patented feature not found on other Remington 95-inspired pistols.
Load both barrels with the same cartridge or mix and match according to your needs.
The Rustic Ranger is outfitted at the factory with a 4.25-inch barrel chambered for .45 Colt revolver cartridges along with 2.5-inch and 3-inch .410-bore shotgun shells. The integral blade front sight is paired with a rear sight notch which is cut into the barrel hinge. The barrel's chambers are fitted with either a spring-loaded extractor, for rimmed cartridges, or it has been notched to provide access for the manual extraction of rimless semi-automatic pistol cartridge cases.
The hinge pin can be quickly and easily removed using a hex wrench. This allows the factory barrel to be swapped out for one of Bond Arms’ extensive selection of caliber conversion barrels. These barrels are available in over 25 different caliber configurations in 2.5-, 3-, 3.5-, 4.25- and 6-inch lengths. For this evaluation, I requested a second 4.25-inch satin finished barrel chambered for .357 Mag. and .38 Special. The trigger, which is housed in a removable trigger guard, exhibited a 4 pound 8 ounce trigger pull.
The removable hinge pin makes for quick and easy swapping of caliber-conversion barrels.
It should be noted here that the Rustic Ranger, along with other Bond pistols, is controllable when chambered for more potent handgun cartridges. However, they are not for the faint of heart or the recoil sensitive when firing full power loads. The sealed breech of the hinged barrels does not allow for any pressure loss or energy redirection like revolvers or semi-automatic pistols. This makes for … well … energetic levels of felt recoil. I enjoy shooting these guns, but they may not be everyone's cup of tea.
The sights for the majority of Bond pistols are tuned for a distance of seven yards. Formal bench-rested performance testing was conducted at this distance for the revolver calibers by firing a total of 10 rounds, five from each barrel. The upper and lower barrel groups were roughly three inches in size and were about four to five inches apart from each other vertically. Remember, these are pistols based on a 19th-century pocket pistol design. It's enough accuracy for up close and personal defensive situations, but don't plan on using a Bond pistol for target shooting competitions.
A Garmin Xero C1 Pro chronograph was on hand to measure average bullet velocity and muzzle energy for 10-shot strings. Hornady provided the three revolver rounds tested. The .38 Special American Gunner 125-grain XTP load was the softest shooting of the set with an average velocity of 758 fps for 160 ft.-lbs. of muzzle energy. The .45 Colt Critical Defense 185-grain FTX load was also on the slow side, with a velocity of 751 fps for 232 ft.-lbs. of energy. The hottest load of the test set was the .357 Mag. Critical Defense 125-grain FTX round. It moved right along at 1380-fps for 529 ft.-lbs. of energy.
For the .410-bore shotshell testing, single rounds were fired into Action Target's 35" x 23" paper IPSC targets with clearly visible lettered zones. An 8-inch stick-on Birchwood Casey reactive Shoot' N' C bullseye was applied over the target's A zone to make the patterns easier to read. Federal's Hi Brass 2.5-inch birdshot load is available with a 1/2-ounce load of #6 lead birdshot at a listed velocity of 1200-fps. Some birdshot patterns open up very quickly from short, rifled pistol barrels resulting in thin coverage on the target. In this case, the shot formed a fairly dense pattern in the 8-inch bullseye with most of the remaining pellets landing in the target's C zone.
Winchester's 2.5-inch PDX-1 defensive shell was developed specifically for defensive handguns. It launches a 310-grain mixed, copper-plated lead payload consisting of three flattened disks followed by 12 BB shot pellets at a listed pistol velocity of 750-fps. In this case, all of the projectiles and the wad passed through the eight-inch bullseye.
Winchester also offers a three-inch long Super X round which fires five lead 000 buckshot pellets at a listed shotgun velocity of 1,135-fps. The pellets and wad formed about a four-inch group which was neatly centered on the bullseye.
The Bond Arms double-barrel pistol series has outlasted just about every other derringer in this class to become the top seller in the handgun marketplace. It's a truly unique offering that is durable, reliable and surprisingly flexible. Thankfully this company is offering budget-friendly options along with the more refined models like the Rustic Ranger. For a more in depth look into the features and operations of these unique over-under pistols, click here. To learn more about available models, visit bondarms.com.
Specifications:
- Manufacturer: Bond Arms, Granbury Texas, USA; bondarms.com
- Model: Rustic Ranger, Satin Package with Holster (#BARR)
- Action: Break-Action, Single-Shot Derringer
- Caliber: .45 Colt/.410 Bore
- Barrel: 4.25" Satin Finish Stainless Steel
- Grip Frame: Hand Cannon, Satin Finish Stainless Steel
- Grip: Extended Rose Wood Laminate, Two-tone Star Inserts
- Sights: Integral Blade Sight Front, Fixed Notch Rear
- Overall Length: 6.75 inches
- Height: 4.37 inches
- Width: 0.97 inches (frame); 1.28 inches (grip)
- Trigger Pull: 4 pounds 8 ounces (As Tested)
- Weight: 23.3 ounces
- Capacity: 2 rounds
- Accessories: Leather Belt Holster, Foam Lined Case, Owner's Manual
- MSRP: $761
- Caliber Conversion Barrel: $225; 4.25 inches; Satin Finish; .357 Mag./.38 Spec.
