Preliminary Report: Ruger MK III 22/45 Target Model

[Scoundrel]

Today I picked up a Ruger MK III 22/45 Target Pistol:

http://teamfrogdrelotep.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/RugerMKIII_600.jpg

I bought this because I wanted a cheap, reliable .22 pistol for plinking. I've become familiar with my 9mm pistols, and can shoot them accurately enough for their purpose, which is self defense. But 9mm ammunition, while much cheaper than many other calibers, is still fairly expensive. I want to continue doing recreational shooting, and I want to do a lot of it. A .22 pistol seems to be just the thing for that.

Why this model, though? Certainly, there are more attractive .22 pistols out there, and ones with higher capacity magazines as well. Some are even small enough to conceal.

Well, I don't really need to conceal it. I won't be carrying it on me. So why buy a small pistol with very fine tolerances that might be touchy about its ammo, or be prone to feed issues and jams? Naw, A big chunk of unattractive steel will do just fine for this gun's purpose.

A friend of mine once told me that there are three categories of .22 pistols:

1. Revolvers.
2. Small, nice-looking pistols.
3. Pistols that look as if someone scavenged some parts from a Harley Davidson assembly line and hammered them together into the shape of a gun.

He further explained that revolvers are generally reliable because of the simplicity of the action, and that the big, clunky ones are generally reliable because they put more engineering into the function of the gun than its form. That is to say, rather than making it all purdy, they made it work well.

As ugly, functional guns go, this one's not too bad looking. I find it faintly amusing that it has a rail for mounting a scope. I guess it is a target pistol, after all, but it's still a pistol! Maybe I'll end up eating my words and putting a cheap scope on it.

So I got the thing home, cracked open the manual, and tried to read it cover to cover. But, the disassembly and reassembly procedures were exceedingly complicated, so I ended up skipping those for the time being, until I was ready to take it apart.

Interestingly, the manual did not say a thing about dry firing, for or against, except that it is necessary to pull the trigger to drop the hammer at least once disassembly. This being a rimfire, I decided it was important to know more, so I looked it up.

Ruger's website has this to say on the subject:
The Mark III has a firing pin stop that prevents the firing pin from contacting the rear of the barrel and damaging the edge of the chamber. If you are going to dry fire the pistol extensively, the stop pin and firing pin will eventually wear and contact could occur, and we recommend replacing both the firing pin and the firing pin stop from time to time. You should also monitor the contact of the firing pin with the rear of the barrel.

OK, that clears that up. Dry firing = OK in this gun. It's getting difficult to keep track. Anyway, the rest of the manual is pretty straightforward. This is one of those guns that could discharge if dropped. That's bad, but I don't intend to be dropping it a lot.

I decided to take it apart and clean/lube it before the first range trip, partly because that's generally a good idea, and partly because I wanted to fiddle with it.

At this point, I just have to say that I don't want to hear any more whining about how difficult it is to disassemble/reassemble a Kahr, after going through this with the Ruger MK III. I am not sure I would have purchased this gun if I had known that it requires a paper clip or similar to pry a housing latch out like a pocket knife, and a plastic mallet to beat the crap out of the receiver until it falls off, goes clunking down onto the table, and nearly falls onto the floor. I have never seen such a convoluted set of instructions. I'll summarize here:

Disassembly:

1. The hammer must be down.

2. Pull the mainspring housing latch open like a pocket knife.

3. Swing the housing out and remove it (might need a mallet and dowel to smack the pin out in new guns).

4. Put a magazine in, point the gun up and pull the trigger, remove the bolt.

5. Smack the back of the receiver with a mallet to get the receiver off of the frame. Then pick up the receiver which flew halfway across the room.

Reassembly:

1. Put the safety in the F position.

2. Twiddle the hammer into the horizontal position.

3. Put the receiver on the frame and smack it with a hammer again to snug it back on there.

4. Put a magazine in, point the gun upward, pull the trigger to return the hammer to the horizontal (cocked) position. That is, IF the hammer got moved while you were smacking it with a mallet. or you can reach in the slot at the back of the gun and twiddle it. Oh, and then remove the magazine when you're done with that.

5. Make sure the firing pin stop didn't fall out of the bolt while you were cleaning it, or you'll destroy the gun.

6. Put a magazine in, point the gun at the ground and pull the trigger. At this point gravity is supposed to make the hammer fall to its full forward position. Yeah, unless it's a brand new gun and there is too much friction. In that case you can reach in through that back slot and twiddle it. Once you've fiddled with that, stuff the mainspring housing pin back into its hole (you might need the mallet/dowel for this again), but don't rotate the thing back into the frame yet.

7. Turn the gun over so it is pointed upward, make sure you can see the hammer strut. Then hold the trigger down while pushing the mainspring housing most of the way back into the frame until it stops.

8. Release the trigger, remove the magazine, and snap the mainspring housing the rest of the way into the gun.

Note: Don't forget to rattle some chicken bones and dance naked around the fire counterclockwise before reassembly, or it'll never go back together.



Seriously, Ruger? You couldn't come up with a better way of field stripping this thing?

It's a good thing I LIKE fiddling with my guns a lot, or I'd be pissed about the effort it takes to clean this thing.

I just gotta say, this thing had better be a dirty little ammo-sucking whore at the range. That's all.

[Bawanna]

A reflex sight (is that the right term? Like EO Tech but I get the cheap knock off's) or the small red dot scopes that don't project a dot but have dot aiming point work real well on these. I have both for my MKII and they are fun.

They are a bugger to take down but get some easier after a time or two. I rarely take mine down. A little scrub in the bolt face and a bore snake and call it good.

[CJB]

Maybe they'll do that with the removable grips. Right now its just available the way you got it. GREAT guns

[jeep]

Scoundrel-
I do not know much about the MK III 22, however I did come across an ad for MajesticArms (http://www.majesticarms.com) & they indicated that they can "help solve your problem"

Hope this helps,
-=Jeep=-

[Bawanna]

GB Greg is intimate with Majestic and I believe that 22/45 as well.

I looked into some of the parts for my MkII but haven't done anything yet.

[Scoundrel]

Hmm. $50 to not have to tear it down all of the way. Make that $62 if I want to reduce trigger travel at the same time. No modification to the gun required so I could go back to stock if I wanted to. I guess that's worth trying out.

Edit: I just read about this bushing thing (an additional mod beyond the bolt stop pin thing), and it sounds like a winner. The additional steps of having to insert and remove the magazine at certain points during the takedown irked me, as did the fact that the mags are stiff to remove. I've just learned that removing the mag safety and adding this bushing fixes all of that.

In my report above, I complained about the hammer not moving around the way the manual said it should just by force of gravity, because of friction. The friction I noted is against the mag safety mechanism.

I think I'll order up the kit, take the MK III to the range as is for break-in, then tear it down for cleaning and mod installation when the kit arrives. Thanks for the tip!

[mr surveyor]

it's real easy to make the Ruger pistol barrel removal/re-install much smoother. Once disassembled take some 800 grit wet/dry paper wrapped around a popsicle stick (generic term used) and carefully polish the square barrel lug. Also, the latch pin gets easier to operate the more you work it. Just like any other machine made to toght tolerances, the parts have to "marry up".

I've handled quite a few Ruger .22 pistols over the years and they all tend to be a little bit different "out of the box" as to take down tolerances, but not in performance. I've never seen any other handgun shoot POA=POI as consistantly as the Ruger 22 cal line, regardless of model.

surv

[Bawanna]

When I bought mine I had the guy that owned the shop (a good friend) show me how to take it down. He did but he wouldn't do it with mine. He went and got a well used one.

Like Surv said it takes a while for things to work a little easier. Never thought about helping things along with some fine sandpaper. That might help a lot.

Same thing at Colt and Beretta Armorer classes. Some of the guns supplied you had to hold up right or the pins would just fall out they had been apart so many times.
You get back to your place and try to take apart a new one and you'd swear you didn't learn a thing, gotta have a hammer and punch and foul language.

[mr surveyor]

I have worked on several for friends, and showed them the secret handshake for easy re-assembly.

The trick on re-assembly is to make sure the hangy-downy things lines up with the notch in the lever doo-hickie before you try to smash it all back together...and do it with the shooting thingy upside down. Simple:D

[Bawanna]

Got it. I'm writing this down for future reference with the thingamajig that leaks ink out the end when you hold it kind of uppy and downy.

Get Jocko to write that same paragraph and we could probably neuter a horse.

[JFootin]

Boy, I sure am glad I found out before ever buying one of those nightmares. No thank you! I'll buy something else more sensibly designed, Browning Buckmark, or Hamerli or one of those 1911 lookalikes.

[Bawanna]

Boy, I sure am glad I found out before ever buying one of those nightmares. No thank you! I'll buy something else more sensibly designed, Browning Buckmark, or Hamerli or one of those 1911 lookalikes.

Don't be skeered son. They don't have to come all the way down very often. And if we did take em down everytime it probably wouldn't be hard for long since we'd remember how to do it.
Besides didn't you see the good notes Mr. Surveyor posted. I think it's a walk in Central Park on gang night. I might do mine tonight just to exercise my new found confidence. Lets see, the hangy downy thingy, before smashing it back together with the shooter thingy upside down and a notch someplace to line up with that other thing.
Simple!

[JFootin]

My engineer's mind couldn't stand to possess such a foolishly designed contraption. There is just no excuse in such complexity in the take down of that gun. My CM9 bugs me with the removable pin that you have to align marks on the gun to get out, and try to make it mate up with a spring going back in. Even the Glock is less than perfect with the little levers you have to hold down to disassemble it. I like the ones where you just rotate a lever or pull on the trigger guard to get it done.

[Ressom]

Boy, I sure am glad I found out before ever buying one of those nightmares. No thank you! I'll buy something else more sensibly designed, Browning Buckmark, or Hamerli or one of those 1911 lookalikes.

The Ruger disassembly is not bad. Compaired to the Buckmark it is a piece of cake. The reason I chose the Mark II over the Buckmark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uKc7JxyJ8g

[JFootin]

The Ruger disassembly is not bad. Compaired to the Buckmark it is a piece of cake. The reason I chose the Mark II over the Buckmark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uKc7JxyJ8g

Well, the Buckmark is out, too. :mad:

[Scoundrel]

JFootin, if you have issues with needing to line up the notch marks on the CM9, then you might not be able to look yourself in the mirror if you bought a Ruger Mk III. But if you go through life that way, you'll miss out on a lot. Just sayin'.

As I now understand it, the Mark III adds a lot of complexity with the magazine safety. Thus the requirement to insert the magazine for this step, then remove it for that step, etc. Also, the magazine safety causes one of their instructions to not work for new guns because of those tight tolerances and friction vs. gravity.

A lot of guys apparently removed the magazine safety and the hammer, and replaced them with the hammer and bushing from a MK II.
I ordered a kit, which allows me to remove the magazine safety and keep using the same hammer. There's a bushing which allows this.

I think that I'll skip the sandpaper thing for now, and see about simply removing the bolt via the quick take-down kit and cleaning everything I can see. I may still take it further down once in a while, and if that becomes bothersome I will see about the sandpaper then. I figured out how to hold the gun so that I can hammer on it, and when it pops loose it doesn't go flying because my meaty fingers are wrapped around it.


I just got back from the range, put a couple hundred through it, and I have this to say:

I am SO glad I ordered that speed loader. Ow. I alternated fingers and thumbs holding that damn magazine spring down, and now both sets of index finger and thumb are sore as hell. I know the magazine will loosen up, and that's good because I had a couple of issues with the spring not pushing 9 rounds up after the first one was fired, because things were tight down there at the end of the spring travel. It was a real effort to get that 10th round in there.

I had a few failures to feed which I think were caused by stiff magazines and wax-coated rounds. All of the cheapo stuff without wax fed just fine.

I'm a little nervous about that kit now, because it says that it also removes 65% of the trigger play, and reduces the trigger pull by several pounds.
Well, the thing is, I didn't find the trigger difficult to pull. If it gets much lighter, it might get like the "hair trigger" in the Bugs Bunny cartoons. Blow on it and it fires. But I guess we'll see.
Also, I found that I just eased up on the trigger enough to reset it, so the extra play didn't bother me. I guess if it works the same way but just moves the whole "squeeze, relax, reset, tighten, squeeze" thing closer to the front of the trigger guard or something, that's fine.


Also, damn, this thing shoots straight! I wasn't super-concentrating, as I was more interested in just breaking the thing in, but here are the first two magazines (below). I initially scoffed at putting a scope on a pistol, but now I might have to eat my words and do it just to see how far out this thing can still hit spot on like this. As it is, I was having trouble picking specific spots on the target at 25 feet due to my own eyeball limitations.

http://bruteforcetech.com/misc/Ruger_Group.jpg

[yqtszhj]

The Ruger shoots sooooo good its worth the takedown. i cant believe how accurate the Mk III hunter model I have shoots with regular AE ammo. Also you will get used to the takedown for cleaning. The most difficult part is getting the last step of re-assembly complete but with a little practice it's a piece of cake. You just have to get stuff lined up. It's still easier to detail clean than my AR in my opinion.

[yqtszhj]

Hey Scoundrel, with practice and figuring out the sight picture you can free hand shoot and make an empty 2 liter coke bottle jump at 100 yards they shoot so straight. 25 yards you can hit most anything. These things are just too cool.

[Scoundrel]

Hey Scoundrel, with practice and figuring out the sight picture you can free hand shoot and make an empty 2 liter coke bottle jump at 100 yards they shoot so straight. 25 yards you can hit most anything. These things are just too cool.

Hmm. I'm having trouble with coke cans at 100 yards with a rifle. Guess I'll have to go through a few thousand rounds to improve that!

Lemme see... 3000 rounds of Winchester white box .22lr at $0.037 each, that's about $111.35. I think I can do that.

[Scoundrel]

Forgot to mention one failure to eject. Got stuck in the action. Pulled the bolt back again and it fell out. I'm willing to forgive this in a brand new .22.

[mr surveyor]

keep in mind that most bulk .22 cal ammo is subject to 2-3% faulty rounds. You will find most of these due to the projectile being seated 5° or so out of plumb. Not many semi-auto firearms can handle that much out of spec ammo. For that matter, I even trash them for not being able to thumb feed into a .22 cal revolver. The higher end rounds, such as CCI, have much fewer problems, although it is a trade off in economy.

And, yes, the Ruger .22's are very accurate. I've spent many a fun hour popping turtles (head shots) at 20-30 yards out of ponds with my MK II 22/45


surv

edit to add: I have no experience with the quirks of the MK III, so if the take down and re-assembly are that much different I plead ignorance.

[Scoundrel]

edit to add: I have no experience with the quirks of the MK III, so if the take down and re-assembly are that much different I plead ignorance.

Well, you can read the steps. I summarized, but basically it's all there. Extra steps/fiddlyness due to magazine safety which didn't exist in the MK II. Which I will soon be getting rid of. :)

[aray]

I too just got a Ruger 22/45 only I got the model with the threaded barrel, ref: http://kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?t=8233&highlight=ruger

By the way in terms of take down I found the following video helpful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fIYIWK0boo

[nunnya]

Yes you have to point it down at the right angle and pull the trigger to get everything to line up right but they are fine pistols.
It gets easier with time, and they last forever with great accuracy and reliability.
Great pistols, lots of fun.
You can put many rounds through them between cleanings if that makes you feel better.

nunnya

[Ressom]

And, yes, the Ruger .22's are very accurate. I've spent many a fun hour popping turtles (head shots) at 20-30 yards out of ponds with my MK II 22/45

Yes, not just for plinking...
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j382/ressomat/hunt.jpg

I took these guy back in 2002. I normally don't have a camera on a hunt. These guys were about 50 yards.. no wait.. 75... no 100 yards, that's it 100 yards away! ;)

Recently I've taken the red dot scope, scope mount and Volquarten grip off since for plinking steel it was just too easy at under 50 yards. I'm back to all stock except for the Clark trigger, volq. sear and extractor.

[Popeye]

I gotta get me one of those. After watching that video. If I can take an M1 Garand down to a pile of parts that looks like a blown up washing machine. That should not be that though getting used to and back together. Especially after the parts marry up a little. Glad I open this post as I've been considering getting a 22 pistol, and being I already have a Ruger 10/22 and like how well it operates and after listening to you guys about how well you like the MKIII I'm sold. Now all I need to do is get the funds together. Thanks Popeye

[Scoundrel]

keep in mind that most bulk .22 cal ammo is subject to 2-3% faulty rounds. You will find most of these due to the projectile being seated 5° or so out of plumb. Not many semi-auto firearms can handle that much out of spec ammo. For that matter, I even trash them for not being able to thumb feed into a .22 cal revolver. The higher end rounds, such as CCI, have much fewer problems, although it is a trade off in economy.

Guess I've been lucky thus far. Out of a thousand or so I have fired, I have only had one .22lr round that was so narfed it wouldn't feed. I cannot be sure that one wasn't a magazine loading issue that narfed the bullet for me when it mis-fed. I stuffed that one into the single-shot Rossi youth rifle and fired it.

Don't remember whether it hit the target or not. :)

The Rossi is great for that. I have absolutely no fear of destroying it.

[tv_racin_fan]

The takedown is a bit tough, but to be honest it is no tougher than the take down on my Ruger GP 100 or the SP 101. Both of the revolvers require help, I can hold the frame and mash the pin but I can not then also pull the trigger assembly out without a third hand.

Glad I got the MKII I found, I know the wife wasn't so happy when I did after I told her I wasn't buying more handguns unless they had another SP101 for less than $400... amazingly she didn't complain even when I did find another SP101 just a short while later... maybe that is because the SP101 is for her to carry. Now if I can find an older SP101 in 22...

[mr surveyor]

The takedown is a bit tough, but to be honest it is no tougher than the take down on my Ruger GP 100 or the SP 101. Both of the revolvers require help, I can hold the frame and mash the pin but I can not then also pull the trigger assembly out without a third hand.

Glad I got the MKII I found, I know the wife wasn't so happy when I did after I told her I wasn't buying more handguns unless they had another SP101 for less than $400... amazingly she didn't complain even when I did find another SP101 just a short while later... maybe that is because the SP101 is for her to carry. Now if I can find an older SP101 in 22...

I would take an older model, but I'm kinda stoked about the new 8 shot model and waiting for the shelf price to drop below $550. Still too much money, but dang, it's a three generation gun:D

[tv_racin_fan]

Everyone is different... I don't like the lines of the new model. MY GP100 is the 6 inch model with the full lug, I never did like the models without the full lug.

[Bawanna]

Agreed. I like my old old model 22 better.

[gb6491]

Here are three pretty good links for Ruger semiautomatic .22 caliber pistol owners:
http://guntalk-online.com/
http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=208
http://www.1bad69.com/ruger/index.htm
Regards,
Greg

[Popeye]

Greg, Thanks for those links............ Popeye

[Alfonse]

It might get me shooting my old standard more. Between tear downs, I usually forget what made it all fit back together. Great stuff, thanks!

[Popeye]

Was out riding the Harley and decided to stop over the GS and they wanted $325 for the target model. I'm going shooting tomorrow so I'll see what they want for one. Seemed like a nice little plinker I'd like to own. I think the MKIII is going to be my next purchase.

[Scoundrel]

I finished installing the speed strip / magazine safety removal kit for it.

It is no longer necessary to have the magazine loaded in order to pull the trigger.

It is also no longer necessary to have the magazine anywhere near it in order to disassemble, which in my opinion is safer.

The magazines now eject freely, instead of ejecting 1/4 inch and needing to be pulled out, or not ejecting at all and needing to be pried out. I have now accidentally ejected the magazine onto the floor three times.

The hammer moves very freely now, and gravity is enough to position it correctly when disassembling/reassembling.

I cannot feel a difference in trigger pull, but then I didn't think it was a hard pull before. The new hammer is more rounded off, which probably affects the trigger pull.

I wish I'd taken note of where the trigger sat before. I think it took a lot of the play out, so it doesn't go as far forward. That makes sense, as the last 30% of the travel is the important part.


I'm a bit irritated with Majestic Arms though. The kit advertisement says:

"This conversion DOES NOT require any special tools or modifications to the pistol, nor does it interfere with any of its normal functions. Anyone with basic hand tool skills can perform the conversion in about 15 minutes."

Yet, the instructions that came with it say "We recommend the conversion be done by a competent gunsmith."

Also, it was necessary to pound the pin out of the old hammer so that I could transfer the hammer strut to the new hammer. That's a tiny little bit of steel and they very easily could have included it.

Along the same lines, it was necessary to pound the pin out of the mainspring housing so that I could swap the new bolt stop pin into the old mainspring housing. I guess that would have been a more expensive part to supply me, but I'd have preferred not to have to do that. I was hoping to just swap parts out without changing the parts themselves.

I was up to the task, but I'll have to keep an eye on those pins to make sure they stay in there properly now.

If those were not modifications to the pistol, then what is? I guess you could say that these modifications reversible, as opposed to drilling holes, grinding things down, etc. But, hmmph.


Anyway, I'll be off to the range soon to check it out "in the wild".