[Esquire]

Considering this as my first handgun. Thoughts?

[sammy]

I can't think of a better first handgun. I would get the 5.5" barrel and an extra magazine and learn good shooting habits.

[Esquire]

As the above poster did, please comment on 4" vs 5.5" barrel preference, too.

[glockman19]

Look at the MkIII Hunter with the fluted 6 7/8" barrel. It is light accurtate and great for learning trigger control. It's not to heavy because of the fluted barrel and the hi-viz sights are nice.

[CSACANNONEER]

While I like my MKIIs over the MKIIs and I prefer to start new shooters with SA revolvers like my Single Sixes, a MKIII 22/45 is a great choice for a first handgun or a 50th handgun. You can't really go wrong with it.

[snobord99]

Mk III 22/45 was MY first handgun and if I had to do it all over again, I'd do it in a second.

[MAD SVT]

DONT DO IT!!! THEY ARE JUNK!!

lol, j/k... cant think of a better 1st.

i'd also recommend the hunter or at least the 5.5 bull barrel!!
and the 22/45 is alot cheaper than the standard mark III... like 7,000 rds of bulk 22 cheaper..
DO IT, LOVE IT, SHARE IT!

[missiondude]

I have one as well, and although not my first, it is still a great gun. I like the grip angle much better than the standard Ruger 22. I have introduced several new shooters at NRA events using this gun, and most have really liked it as well. Go for it...

[Scoutout]

I have the 5.5 bull barrel and love it. It's a little heavy to carry in addition to a rifle but great at the range. Very accurate, reliable and sturdy. You can't go wrong with a 22/45.

[badreligion]

I love mine, my 5 year old son likes it, my wife thinks its ugly but prefers shooting it to her Sig P229 which she likes the looks of.

[nagorb]

Everything I've read about them is great. I'm looking to pick one up myself.

[ArnFromVA]

They're great like everyone says; I personally have the 5.5" bull barrel in SS with a Volquartsen trigger and sear installed. However, they are fairly difficult to field strip in comparison to most other handguns, but that's pretty much the only drawback that I can think of. After doing it a few times you should get the hang of it.

[faveson]

like all rugers, theyre 50/50 chance. you may get a shooter or a stinker right out of the box. my 22/45 was a stinker but after ive performed every known mod, it's a better shooter than the MKII that i bought 15yrs ago. very lightweight to boot as well!

[MAD SVT]

Originally Posted by ArnFromVA

They're great like everyone says; I personally have the 5.5" bull barrel in SS with a Volquartsen trigger and sear installed. However, they are fairly difficult to field strip in comparison to most other handguns, but that's pretty much the only drawback that I can think of. After doing it a few times you should get the hang of it.

nahh its not hard... just make sure to point the muzzle at 47* vertical,
make sure your facing north,
Remove ALL striking tooks such as hammers, rocks, etc. you may be tempted thinking "well its right there.... maybe it just needs to be tapped into place"
try and have a girlfriend in the other room, who makes comments like "are you still trying to figure that out" and "maybe you shouldnt have taken it apart huh" (you know.... a motivational speaker).
Oh and its a 3 beer MINIMUM process.

Lets just say, its a good thing that these guns function perfectly well dirty.

[3GunFunShooter]

Great 1st pistol. Get it.

[snobord99]

I still can't believe people find it hard to field strip. I agree, it took me an hour and a half to take it apart and put it back together the first time around; however, once you figure out how the gun works (which I figured out the first time) it's super easy. I was able to strip and assemble in under 5 minutes on my second try. Now I can do it in 30 seconds. Is it as easy as a Beretta 92 or a Glock? Hell no. Is it "hard?" Only if you're as mechanically inclined as a monkey.

[wilit]

I've got a 22/45 Mk III 5.5" and I love it. Best pistol I own. I would also suggest checking out the Browning Buckmark. Both are laser accurate, however, I think the Buckmark is just slightly better.

[retired]

Here is a suggestion no matter what you buy. Buy a "Ultimate Cliploader" afterward. They make loading the the mags a 100 times easier.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65jHazxWXCA

[JaMail]

you have to strip them to clean them? damn, i wish i had known that before running 4000 rounds through it with only a wipedown and a bore snake inbetween shootings. these things are rock solid and for a 22 you cant go wrong on the price or the reliability.

[MAD SVT]

Ya once you get the hang of it, theyre easy to strip.

[CaliforniaLiberal]

The Mark III 22/45 stainless steel bull barrel was my first gun purchase a couple of years ago. They're great.

If you pay attention to what you're doing they're easy to field strip, but you have to follow the instructions exactly. You have to put the magazine in and take it out before you can complete some of the steps. Just follow the instructions.

Here's the best tear down instructions I've found: http://guntalk-online.com/fsprocedures.htm

Get a Volquartsen extractor for a couple of bucks and install it the first time you take it apart for cleaning.

Good Shooting!

CL

[mds2004]

Great gun, especially after some mods like taking out the mag disconnect. I just drilled and tapped the trigger for a pre-travel screw last night. It makes a huge difference adjusted with the overtravel screw!

[wilit]

Originally Posted by mds2004

OOooooo... Did you do the 1911 grip panel install yourself? Very cool.

[mds2004]

Originally Posted by wilit

OOooooo... Did you do the 1911 grip panel install yourself? Very cool.

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s...d.php?t=172224

Check posts #22 and 23 different ways to do it. I did it the way from #22.

[Gary13]

My 22/45 was my first. Yes, it can be difficult to assemble, but using the attachment posted earlier and help from rimfirecentral.com got me through it. So far I have changed out the extractor for one from VQ(eats everything now, great change), and the grips that are sold by a guy on rimfirecentral. I like the new feel. I have the shorter barrel since that is all that was available back during the gun shortage earlier in the year and was hot to buy. I would have gone with the longer barrel if given the choice. I love the gun and it is a great choice. Good luck.

[jdg30]

I have 2 markIII 22/45's and they are my favorite guns to shoot. They are very accurate, cheap to shoot and a good way to learn better shooting skills. If you end up doing some modifications like a target trigger, mag disconnect removal, they are way better than stock.

[lou95340]

Agreed, they make a great first gun. My first gun was a glock 17 and a 22/45 5.5 bbl stainless was my second. I should've got the 22/45 to learn and practice the fundamentals. The 22/45 and my 10/22 are by far the most fun to shoot at the range.

Field stripping is no problem once you do it a handful of times.

[stomper4x4]

Originally Posted by faveson

like all rugers, theyre 50/50 chance. you may get a shooter or a stinker right out of the box. my 22/45 was a stinker but after ive performed every known mod, it's a better shooter than the MKII that i bought 15yrs ago. very lightweight to boot as well!

Your assessment that 50% of Rugers are "stinkers" is just plain bad information. Anyone that actually owns several rugers knows this. I would say never rush out to buy a new model ruger, rather wait til the bugs are worked out. All of my Rugers function flawlessly out of the box including my mkIII.

As for field stripping, the first time is a PITA, but after having done it once, it's fairly simple. But these things do run fine dirty

[sammy]

Wow, you guys are getting quite a few rounds down range before cleaning. I can get about a brick downrange before the action gets too gummed up to work right. If I manage to gum it up to the point it starts to fail a drop of CLP on the bolt will make it good for another 200 or so rounds. These pistols are supurb .22's if not the best made .22 on the market. This is one gun I will never sell.

[ajaffe]

A brick of what? If it is lead tipped then sure, but if you stick to the metal jacketed bullets then you will naturally be able to shoot much longer between cleaning.

[AJD]

+1 on changing the extractor to a volquartsen on the Mark series of pistols. It has been my experience that the stock extractors get rounded and lose their edge very quick. I have not had a single malfunction since I replaced mine with a volquartsen. The other modification that really makes these guns even nicer to shoot is the custom sear also made by volquartsen.

Overall the Ruger Mark series .22s in my experience are excellent guns with good aftermarket support if that's something you're interested in. Once you learn the takedown and reassembly procedure it's not that bad IMO.

[RollingCode3]

The gun is very accurate and reliable. Buttaking it apart and put it back together is pain in the *****. It took me almost two hours to put the gun back together. I almost had to take to the gunsmith..... Enough is enough. I am not brave enough to take it apart again

[snobord99]

Originally Posted by RollingCode3

The gun is very accurate and reliable. Buttaking it apart and put it back together is pain in the *****. It took me almost two hours to put the gun back together. I almost had to take to the gunsmith..... Enough is enough. I am not brave enough to take it apart again

It's really not hard if you take some time to figure out how the parts work. It'll be good to know the one time you want to clean it 50,000 rounds later .

[Gary13]

Originally Posted by RollingCode3

The gun is very accurate and reliable. Buttaking it apart and put it back together is pain in the *****. It took me almost two hours to put the gun back together. I almost had to take to the gunsmith..... Enough is enough. I am not brave enough to take it apart again

The first time I put it back together I screwed up and did end up taking it to a gun smith. The second time I screwed up again, but got advice on how to fix it from rimfirecentral. Now I can take it apart and put it back together pretty quickly.

[BLD]

Do it! I love my MK III 22/45. So far the only thing I have done to it was install the Volquartsen (hope I spelled that right) extractor. I just shot two bricks of cheap lead ammo through mine today and it functioned flawlessly.

I don't find taking it apart or putting it back together very difficult, especially when I got the routine down. Now I spend much more time actually cleaning it then disassembly/reassembly, considering I'll shoot over a 1000 rounds before cleaning it. For the record mine doesn't need to be cleaned because of function or accuracy issues, I just don't like my guns to sit dirty for too long a period of time.

You will not regret getting the 22/45.

[ajaffe]

Rugers are a breeze to install once you figure out the secret in that the lever placement is much easier with the gun pointing up.

[jarhead995]

Don't take it apart and your fine

[ajaffe]

I would rather learn how my firearm works and is assembled. But like I said, the first time took me around 45 minutes, each time since has taken me around 5-10 while watching tv. It is in paying attention to how the little lever fits in.

[crunchy53]

get it! i love mine, search youtube for some cleaning vids that helped me alot. i also suggest the teach tech grips they make it feel so much better.