Here's the 22 pistol I bought

[Sportdog7]

I was all set to go with the Ruger SR22 but when I did some additional research thanks to the post put up by 1917-1911M. And then in talking with my gun dealer and looking at the Walther & S&W offerings I went with the Ruger 22/45. The longer barrel and the fact this design has been around awhile plus the money I saved over the SR22, S&W and Walther made it the best choice for my needs. Tomorrow I'll try it out for the first time. I removed all the oil that the gun came packed in and ran a dry patch down the bore and then a patch with Slip 2000. What kind of accuracy should I expect from the pistol? Dealer told me I should do a field strip and first real cleaning after a thousand rounds or so. Oh I didn't mention it but my dealer was sold out of the SR22, said for a new pistol it has had few issues.

[Sportdog7]

I should have mentioned it is the target model and has the 5-1/2" barrel.

[JLA]

I had one, same size, accuracy was typical for a box stock auto pistol. 3-4" groups at 25 yds offhand.

[Sportdog7]

Is this gun finicky about what 22 ammo it can use?

[JLA]

mine wasnt. it ate like a fat kid at a pizza buffet.

[Hammerslagger]

A Ruger 22/45 should run with almost all commonly encountered .22 LR ammo that you can buy at Wal-Mart and similar mass sporting goods retailers.

It will shoot the tightest groups with CCI Standard velocity, unless you want to pay two to three times the money for RWS or Eley that may not cycle as reliably. It will not likely not like Lapua (Wolf and SK Jagd) because it has a very soft match target recoil. It also costs about 15 cents a shot. The Aguila SV or Match ammo from Mexico is somewhat inconsistent for quality and recoil strength, and may not be as reliable for cycling as most US made .22 RF ammo. Remington will cycle your gun, if it fires at all. Recently, there have been a lot of complaints about it. Today, I avoid it.

Of the mass merchandiser ammos, Federal HV, 36 grain HP (Item #745 most places, and #750 at WalMart) is an excellent choice. It costs about 3.6 cents a shot. Unless you are actually shooting "Expert" scores at the Bullseye discipline (about 4" groups, with one hand, at 25 yards), you will not see the difference in going to a more expensive ammo like CCI SV at over 5 cents a shot.

CCI Blazer can be very good or not good in a Ruger. It is loaded by both the Federal and CCI divisions of ATK. YOU WANT THE FEDERAL LOAD because the CCI load tends to lead the barrel of some 22's. When such happens, accuracy is diminished; and the barrel has to be brushed out with a bronze bristle bore brush.

The 500+ round bulk packs can be IDed by the lot number print on the carton. The Federal load will have about 6mm (1/4") dot matrix print. The CCI load will be about 2mm high letterpress print, and there will be a letter like "S" or "T" for the year of production in the middle of the code. The 50 count boxes are easily IDed because the Federal will have a 4 leg plastic stand that the cartridges rest in. The CCI will just have a clear plastic grate to hold the cartridges. {If you are reading this, and have a hard to cycle pistol like a SIG Mosquito, the CCI Blazer load is basically MiniMag without the plated bullet. It will cycle just about any semi-auto; but you may have to brush out your barrel frequently to manage the leading that sometimes accompanies it.}

[RJay]

I have the MKII heavy barrel target. It will digest any thing I feed it. There are certain brand s it likes best, but I don't think I have ever had a miss fire or miss feed that I can remember.

[Sportdog7]

Thanks guys I'll be heading to the range in just a few hours, I'll give you a report on how well it does.

[permafrost]

I think your gonna get a pleasant surprise with the 22/45 over the SR22. It's a target gun, while the SR22 is more of a lite-weight plinker. I have the Mk111 bull barrel and it's great. i wouldn't mind an SR 22, but for different reasons.

[Sportdog7]

Just got back and I can say without a doubt its a KEEPER!! Fired 6 full mags of CCI and 2 of Remington golden 22 and no problems. This is a very accurate pistol and was a real joy to shoot! The first few mags were as fast as I could make it function, I wanted to see if there would be a FTF or FTE and my belief is the best way to find out is under rapid fire. Would have liked to shoot more but family commitments made me stop. It's worth mentioning that the trigger was fantastic for a 250.00 gun!! I can say based on the performance I witnessed today I'm glad the dealer had no SR22 pistols avail..

[ozo]

ya dog,
I've had two Mark II's for 10yrs......
fun,accurate,sweet.
Sometimes scoped.....or not.....right now
they both have Williams Firesights.
Many different grips too.
Had an original Mark I [looks like a Luger]
for 25yrs....dependable and trouble-free.
Bull bbl and slab side, Hogue and Volquartzen grips

[ozo]

P.S.
Best results, DON'T use any cheap magazines.....
Ruger mags only.

[JLA]

Good to have you back OZO. Where you been? You back on the road?

[JLA]

BTW, we need to start a Ruger standard and mark series thread. I love these little guns. Not too fond of the Mark 3 loaded chamber indicator but its removable I suppose.

[Hammerslagger]

Hopefully Remington has, in fact, solved its rim-fire priming problems (high percentage of failure to fire, as compared to other brands) after several years of having their customer service employees tell dissatisfied customers that they were working on correcting the admitted problem. Their "golden" (brass plated) bullet HV ammo has always had one of the stiffer .22 RF recoils, and cycles just about any semi-auto action, when it fires. It is reasonably accurate, also.

I would still, avoid Remington "Thunderbolt" promotional ammo. It is notoriously inconsistent, and at least one manufacturer claims that it tends to lead their barrels.

Earlier, I failed to make any mention of Winchester (Olin) .22 RF ammo. It is good ammo (even their "Wildcat" promo ammo) but it usually costs more than than the Federal Value Pack ammo that is often on sale.

[ozo]

Originally Posted by JLA

Good to have you back OZO. Where you been? You back on the road?

Hi back at ya Josh.....
How are the kids and Becca ???
Nope, not on the road, no mas por Ozo.
I'm still driving and pumping diesel, but
on a Toro 4500D at the golf course next door.

[tbspeed1]

my 22/45 has eaten everything i've given with no problems---good luck with it.

[CCHolderinMaine]

Originally Posted by Sportdog7

I was all set to go with the Ruger SR22 but when I did some additional research thanks to the post put up by 1917-1911M. And then in talking with my gun dealer and looking at the Walther & S&W offerings I went with the Ruger 22/45. The longer barrel and the fact this design has been around awhile plus the money I saved over the SR22, S&W and Walther made it the best choice for my needs. Tomorrow I'll try it out for the first time. I removed all the oil that the gun came packed in and ran a dry patch down the bore and then a patch with Slip 2000. What kind of accuracy should I expect from the pistol? Dealer told me I should do a field strip and first real cleaning after a thousand rounds or so. Oh I didn't mention it but my dealer was sold out of the SR22, said for a new pistol it has had few issues.

I'm sure you'll like your 22/45, but that is an entirely different gun than a SR22. I hope the dealer didn't steer you towards it because he was out of SR22's. If you're shooting paper, a 22/45 is great. If you want to have a general purpose gun (plinker) that feels like a center-fire at 3 cents a round, the SR22 is the way to go. Bottom line, Ruger knows rimfire.