Ruger MK III

[tiko]

I have MarkIII target fluted barrel with cocobolo grips, I put red dot on top of it, very accurate, with cheap 22LR, just 1 FTF over 100 rds, got to clean every 500 rds, first time took me 1 hr just to take down and put back together ! After that, second time just 5 min to take apart !
Buy it please

[5968]

I have shot thousands of rounds through my MK III. I have only had a couple of FTF, but it was only when the gun was extremely dirty. As far as cleaning goes, if you can read the manual, you can clean the gun. I would highly recommend the MK III. Mine has been extremely accurate and reliable.

[jrsportssupply]

The Mark III Hunter is also my favorite model - Stainless Steel, fluted bbl, cocobolo grips. I have shot many rounds through it without a single malfunction. I cheat when cleaning it by just removing the grips and spraying Gun Scrubber inside, instead of dismantling the pistol, but I haven't had any problems.

I run Federal Auto Match ammo through it. Bulk priced, but designed to cycle semi-auto pistols & rifles.

[gunn]

I'm a big fan of my Ruger MKIII. After a little work, it's become one of the most reliable semi-autos I have. After looking around for a while for a used MKII/MKIII bull barrel and finding a few mediocre offers, I ended up buying a new one from Tin Star Shooting range via GunsAmerica. They must have recently gone up in price because I believe mine was $365 shipped. Even after paying for a DROS fee, this was a much better deal than anything I could find locally (new or used).

http://www.gunsamerica.com/976976981/Guns-For-Sale/Gun-Auctions/Pistols/Ruger-Semi-Auto-Pistols/MK3_5_5_quot_Bull_Barrel_SS_22lr.htm

The two biggest issues I had with it were as follows:
1) Lots of stovepipes. I did some research online and apparently this is caused by the height at which your mags (the fresh ones) seat within the frame. After reading this site, I merely took my miniature files, filed a little off of the corner of the mag, reloaded, and fired the gun. If it stovepiped, I would eject the mag, unload it, and file a little more. 15 minutes later, both of my mags work like a charm and I haven't had a single stovepipe in over a 550rd brick or two of Federal.

http://www.1bad69.com/ruger/stovepipe.htm

2) The gun is a ***** to clean. I've taken a part quite a few different weapons and this is single handedly the most tricky gun to disassemble and reassemble that I've ever personally messed with. The biggest issue? Not having the most complete info. This website is fantastic but it only covers MKII pistols. Pay special attention to the disassembly pages and the troubleshooting pages.

http://www.1bad69.com/ruger/index.htm

STUFF I WISH PEOPLE HAD TOLD ME BEFORE: The MKIII magazine disconnect is new to the MKIII. In order to properly reassemble and disassemble the MKIII, you need to have an (unloaded) magazine in the gun and pull the trigger so the hammer can move all the way forward. If you just follow the instructions for the MKII, you'll spend (like I did) an hour or two the first time wondering why you cannot get the bolt out of the receiver.

3) My favorite accessory for the MKIII (besides Herret Target Grips):

http://www.gunblast.com/Cliploader.htm

I love this thing even though I'm amazed at how much ammo one can burn with it. You may need to adjust the screw at the bottom so that the magazines sit at the right height to get the 10th rd in but once you have it dialed in, reloading mags take <10 seconds.

4) If you decide to go with Herrett grips, you will need to file a little of the wood so you can actually use the bolt stop lever again -- the target grips are too fat. The other alternative is to buy a Volquartsen extended bolt stop lever. Since my gun runs perfectly now, I decided to do a little filing vs. messing with any internals.

[basskisser2002]

Ruger MKII

I have the 2004 Olympic Edition of the MKII and a early MKII and have run hundred of rounds through them, have let children run hundreds of rounds through them, and have had zero problems. Go find a used MKII.

[X-NewYawker]

My Mark II HUnter is the best .22 semi-auto pistol I've ever shot -- laser accurate. great sights. I don't field strip 'em. dunk 'em in a vibrating tub of BReakfree!

[mike100]

I have 2 markII's. The 22/45 that I bought in 1994 has thousands of rounds through it. That pistol seems to eat even the underpowered bulkpaks without jamming. About the only was to get them to misfeed is to limpwrist the gun which absorbs some inertia out of the action.

My other one is much newer round count-wise and it was made in 1999. Also no problems there either.

[jmgray]

I have put many thousand rounds thu a MKIII Hunter, and cannot remember the last time it had a failure failure to feed, eject ect. I'm guessing there has been less then 2-3 per 1000. There may have been a couple (very few) failures to fire, but thats due to the primer situ w/ a .22 and quailty of ammo in my opinion. The field strip may be difficult for the 1st couple times, but is not that bad. We probably clean the thing every 3 bricks or so, with an ocassional bore snake pulled thru. The ammo type has usually been the cheap stuff at Big 5- copper coated, so lead buildup is not something I can comment on.

This gun is very accurate, so much that if you put optics on it it will not be fun to shoot unless the target is 25 or more yrds out (not challenging engough). Also, the sights on the hunter are non-standard, I dont care for the v-notch rear and light tube front. Not a big deal.

[jmgray]

I have put many thousand rounds thu a MKIII Hunter, and cannot remember the last time it had a failure failure to feed, eject ect. I'm guessing there has been less then 2-3 per 1000. There may have been a couple (very few) failures to fire, but thats due to the primer situ w/ a .22 and quailty of ammo in my opinion. The field strip may be difficult for the 1st couple times, but is not that bad. We probably clean the thing every 3 bricks or so, with an ocassional bore snake pulled thru. The ammo type has usually been the cheap stuff at Big 5- copper coated, so lead buildup is not something I can comment on.

This gun is very accurate, so much that if you put optics on it it will not be fun to shoot unless the target is 25 or more yrds out (not challenging engough). Also, the sights on the hunter are non-standard, I dont care for the v-notch rear and light tube front. Not a big deal.