Ruger Mark?

[Bigtanker]

Is there any difference between the MKII vs MKIII as far as reassembly? Does the mag safety make it more difficult?

Just wondering. I've never messed with a MKIII.

 

[Drail]

Yes. You must insert and replace the magazine needlessly to get around the mag safety. Mag safeties are a dumb idea IMO.

 

[PRasko]

Is there any difference between the MKII vs MKIII as far as reassembly? Does the mag safety make it more difficult?

Just wondering. I've never messed with a MKIII.

The video I posted before shows exactly how to disassemble and reassemble a mkIII.


FYI, that's not my video sorry lol.

 

[SnoopLoggyDog]

I have a MKII 6inch taper barrel. Have put thousands of rounds through it while teaching 4-H Shooting Sports. Still very reliable and accurate.

 

[BE Mike]

Pistolsmiths prefer the MK II to the MK III. I think it has to do with the ability to get a quality trigger job.

 

[PRasko]

Same as it goes for series 80's 1911's.

Most smiths will not remove a safety feature for liability reasons, even if that safety was put in place because of government stupidity.

 

[Drail]

There is no difference between the MK I and II and III as far as cleaning up the trigger. It is the same design. As far as a smith removing the mag safety junk, nope, I won't do it on a work order but i can show you how to DIY in a few minutes. There's millions of MK IIs out there, I would find one instead of messing with the newer model.

 

[plinker1]

I did find me a decent MKII at the 1500. I haven't had a chance to shoot it yet, but I did tear it down a few times. It wasn't as bad as I thought. Thanks again for all of the input Guys!

 

[Longhair]

I did find me a decent MKII at the 1500. I haven't had a chance to shoot it yet, but I did tear it down a few times. It wasn't as bad as I thought. Thanks again for all of the input Guys!

Sweet, your gonna love it........what model did you get? and you know we need a pic!

 

[plinker1]

Not quite sure of the model. Here is a pic.

 

[PRasko]

Looks like a MK4, made between '86 '87.

 

[billybob44]

Not sure of the year of Mfg., but it IS a Mark II.

With the 4" tapered barrel, it is an easy one to "Woods Carry".

Not the accuracy as the "Bull" barrels, but a GREAT model you got there...Bill.

 

[Drail]

I have never found the bull barrels to be "more accurate" than the standard barrels (I have owned 3 bull barrels), but they do balance the gun in your hand so that more weight is out front and have less muzzle lift. The actual rifling for both barrels is probably cut on the same machinery. One thing I have found on the Ruger MK pistols is that they are generally pretty picky about the bullet you choose. We took a bunch of them to the range with a large box of different brands of rimfire ammo, including some expensive match stuff. The most accurate for all the guns was - regular Federal ammo from Walmart. I was surprised. Try different brands - it can definitely make a difference in precision shooting. For casual plinking most any brand is plenty good.

 

[billybob44]

I sure do Thank You...

I have never found the bull barrels to be "more accurate" than the standard barrels (and I have 3), but they do balance the gun in your hand so that more weight is out front and have less muzzle lift. The actual rifling for both barrels is probably cut on the same machinery. One thing I have found on the Ruger MK pistols is that they are generally pretty picky about the bullet you choose. We took a bunch of them to the range with a large box of different rimfire ammo, including some expensive match stuff. The most accurate for all the guns was - regular Federal ammo from Walmart. I was surprised. Try different brands - it can definitely make a difference in precision shooting.

One of the GREAT things about INGO is that there is ALWAYS someone on line that can correct a statement that they do not agree with..

My very first handgun was a 4" MK I tapered barrel. I'm pretty sure that I traded for it sometime around '70, or '71.
I have up to present, owned probably no LESS than 12 of the different Ruger MK's. I'm kind of running light on that model now with four total.

Thank you Drail for getting me straightened out on my info on the Ruger MK Series...Bill.

 

[BE Mike]

I have never found the bull barrels to be "more accurate" than the standard barrels (I have owned 3 bull barrels), but they do balance the gun in your hand so that more weight is out front and have less muzzle lift. The actual rifling for both barrels is probably cut on the same machinery. One thing I have found on the Ruger MK pistols is that they are generally pretty picky about the bullet you choose. We took a bunch of them to the range with a large box of different brands of rimfire ammo, including some expensive match stuff. The most accurate for all the guns was - regular Federal ammo from Walmart. I was surprised. Try different brands - it can definitely make a difference in precision shooting. For casual plinking most any brand is plenty good.

Interesting. At what distances did you conduct your accuracy tests and how was it done, i.e. machine rest, hand held? How many shots did you fire before you measured the group size?

 

[Drail]

We had five individuals (3 of whom were very good pistol shots) and a Ransom Rest. We shot at paper bulls from 15 yards out to 30 yards. At 50 yards all of the guns could hit empty 12 ga. shotshells handheld. Several of the guns had many thousands of rounds through them previously. One was brand new. A group was an entire 10 round magazine.

 

[BE Mike]

We had five individuals (3 of whom were very good pistol shots) and a Ransom Rest. We shot at paper bulls from 15 yards out to 30 yards. At 50 yards all of the guns could hit empty 12 ga. shotshells handheld. Several of the guns had many thousands of rounds through them previously. One was brand new. A group was an entire 10 round magazine.

So what sized groups from the machine rest did you get? How did the groups from the standard pistols compare to the bull barreled pistols?

 

[hopper68]

So for what Drail was using them for he found either one to be up to the job. Makes sense to me.

 

[Drail]

I honestly do not remember the measurements but we were chewing the centers out of NRA 25 yard targets. This would have been around 1985 or so. At the time we were all OBSESSED with shooting steel plates against the clock with rimfires and .45 1911s. All of the guns were quite capable of hitting the small plates we were using and there was almost no difference between the standard and the bull barrels. At 50 yards if they would hit a 2.5 in. plate consistently we were satisfied. We were much more into speed stuff than bullseye. A few years later we moved to a range with 200 yard steel setups. That was interesting. I learned that the skill of the person holding the gun was at least as important as the barrel of the gun, if not more. Anyone here remember Chief A.J. and his custom Rugers from the 80s? He shot at our range in Mahomet Illinois. He seemed quite interested in what we were doing with Ruger MK IIs. He got me into doing trigger work on MK IIs using parts from Clark Custom. A 1.5 lb. trigger (or less) is possible on a MK II (although the safety usually needed to be welded up a tiny bit if you took ALL of the creep out.) The Ruger MK is a great pistol for the price.

 

[BE Mike]

I've done some machine rest testing over the years. Good guns with good ammo can routinely produce groups under 2 inches at 50 yards. My first .22 pistol was a Ruger MK I with a bull barrel. I never checked it for accuracy. Having said that, Ruger Mark pistols were known for their accuracy out of the box. The sights and trigger weren't the best. According to Gil Hebard's "The Pistol Shooter's Treasury" in his article "Selecting a .22 Target Gun" , all of the pistols he tested (at 50 yards) shot groups under 2". Some of the guns shot under 1.5" and even a few shot a little under an inch. Among the guns shot were Ruger Mark I's and Clark Custom Rugers. I would be very surprised if a Ruger Standard 4" barrel Mark pistol could routinely produce groups of under 2" at 50 yards. As someone said, for most purposes, any .22 pistol is accurate enough, but for those needing top accuracy, the selection of a .22 pistol and quality ammo is important.