Childhood Sweethearts

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One Lung Wonder

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When I was in high school one of my buddies bought one of those sweet little Ruger .22 semiautos. I would have loved one myself but most of my money got spent pouring gasoline down the gullet of my gas gobbling hot rod at the time. I eventually bought a .22 pistol but opted for the Ruger Single Six. I didn't regret it and as a matter of fact...I still have it and still love it. I am estimating that over 30 decades I have put around 20~30 thousand rounds through it...and it might be time to start thinking of a .22 to take me through my golden years. I was watching the retired old hands shooting the other day and they are all running the Ruger semiautos that I loved as a kid...and decided to buy one.




The new Mk. III's aren't like the old school guns at all. They have a loaded chamber indicator that I absolutely loathe...but they have an honest mag dump now too. Plus they come with scope mounts - right in the box! It is my scholarly opinion that the battle for the most handsome pistol in the world will be a tie between the Luger and the Colt Peacemaker...and the lines of the little Ruger evoke those of the Luger to my eye. This is a nice looking little gun! The target sights don't get much better than this either.

The only serious gripe I have about this little sweetheart is the trigger - it's about as smooth as 8 miles of oil lease road! In a way that could be a good thing for the beginner because it forces you to think your way through the shot and really concentrate on your follow through...but it slows me down and I prefer to get a shot off in the standard 8 seconds or less. Can any of you fellas recommend a good smith for these guns in Alberta? I thought Volquartson was making trigger groups for them too at one time - do any of you have one so equipped?

All I need now to properly enjoy this little gun is three cases of practice ammo and an early retirement to enjoy it!:)
 
I have a Mk III Hunter in stainless with a 4 1/2" barrel and really like it. I've had it for quite a long time and its a keeper for sure. You can go through a lot of ammo in a very short time with one of these. I have a filler piece to replace the loaded chamber indicator but haven't installed it yet. My trigger seems ok but it does have a lot of cycles through it. Give yours a workout and see what that does to it.
 
Have a stainless 22/45. The grip is a little slim for my hand. First teardown was no problem, follow directions. This one sports a Deltapoint sight, have a Buckmark for open sights.
 
The trigger shouldn't be rough out of the box; a little heavy, a little slop, yes. It might wear in a little smoother with use? If you detail strip it and check for burrs and grit in the areas of the sear, hammer, return plunger on top of the trigger, that might be the problem.

One Lung Wonder said:
I thought Volquartson was making trigger groups for them too at one time - do any of you have one so equipped?
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You can get all the Volquartsen parts at Brownell's. Paying a 'smith to hone the sear and what-not will cost as much as drop-in parts you can install yourself.

I have a Mark II with basically all VQ internals, and it's a dream to shoot (and an instant improvement in scores, if you already have the fundamentals). For crispness and lightness, the big change will come from the sear ($28) but you can get that in a kit with an adjustable trigger, lightened hammer, and other bits ($110) and save a touch over the individual pricing. Then you can go further on all the rest of the springs, firing pin, extractor, if you want.

With a Mk III you really should include a hammer bushing ($10) in your order, to remove the magazine disconnect ‘safety’ feature. You can also get a plug to remove the loaded chamber indicator and fill in the gap, but not at Brownell's.

The bolt, frame, and barrel/receiver (registered part in Canada) have precision machined replacement options as well, but those will require export permits from the U.S.A. State Department. Heck, add in the grips and sights, and EVERY part of the pistol can be upgraded if you want, with nothing of the original!

Installation is just a matter of pushing pins out and keeping track of parts and their orientation; really not hard at all. If you go for the mainspring, that one is a little tough though. I can give you advice on that.

Don't believe people who say that basic take-down and re-assembly is impossible or requires weird little tools. Yes you need to de-#### and let gravity move things back and forth in a couple of steps, but if you understand how the pistol is put together and thus *why* you're doing that, you shouldn't encounter frustration after the first time.

Great gun.
 
Bought a new one in 77 when I was living (stationed) in Arizona. First handgun I purchased. Great little .22 shooter. In the mid 80s I managed to disassemble it as it had peeked my curiosity. Somewhere in my shop it remains in a small enclosed plastic bucket disassembled. Plan on searching for it one of these days. :d
 
Well I might have to go hassle my gunsmith with this one then. I will be happier than a pig in the mud if I get the trigger working. I am spoiled; all my guns these days have triggers that break like a glass rod and a fella gets spoiled. That magazine disconnect doesn't bother me too much as I am just a gun club duffer, and my objection to the loaded chamber indicator is purely cosmetic.

I don't think the bolts held open on the last shot with the older guns did they? At least that is a solid improvement over the original.
 
bamashooter said:
Bought a new one in 77 when I was living (stationed) in Arizona. First handgun I purchased. Great little .22 shooter. In the mid 80s I managed to disassemble it as it had peeked my curiosity. Somewhere in my shop it remains in a small enclosed plastic bucket disassembled. Plan on searching for it one of these days. :d
Click to expand...

This is hilarious.
 
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