Ruger 22 auto pistols, highly overrated

[JUNKKING]

Originally Posted by mrt

Well I never said soak it in gas, but I will say with a little brush, a bore brush and a large plastic coffee container you can not go wrong. For those doubters try it, you might quietly agree. By the way gas is a lot cheaper than bore cleaner!

And like Alpo said bore cleaner is way cheaper than a stay in a burn unit. Gasoline is so volatile especially in summer months when vapors cling ot the ground. You may not even realize your pants have become full of vapors and even awhile later go to light a cigarette if you smoke or a grill even start a lawn mower and have a spark ignite you. I will stick to bore cleaners but thanks for the tip.

[Alpo]

Originally Posted by Slabsides

I have a 1961 Standard. I don't see what the problem is to take one down, clean and reassemble. It only takes seconds. It drives tacks and runs like a Singer sewing machine on whatever kind of .22LR I put in it.

One has to admit that it is a brilliant design. Basically a Luger/Nambu mix. They are very different which leads people to either love them or hate them. I love mine and would not trade it for any other .22 pistol.

You sure about the date of your gun? My understanding is that Sturm Ruger used a red heraldry-style hawk for their company's emblem, and put it on their gun, when came out in 1949. Then, when Alex Sturm died, in 1951, the hawk went into mourning, and it changed from red to black. If your gun is from 61, the hawk on the grip should be black, not red.

[William Harper]

I never had any trouble with my early Ruger MK I Target model with its target grips and muzzle-brake maybe because my very old grandad who had fought in the 2nd SC with the Army of Northern Virginia had taught me how to patiently clean a Colt Navy first with hot water, then virtually disassembling it and cleaning again meticulously with water every part, whereupon the reassembled .36 Navy minus its stocks was immersed "in a can of coal oil" until next use, when you had disassemble, dry firing parts, then reassemble with stocks on. God knows how he remembered this to pass it on, for he was past the century mark and had been wounded at Gettysburg, Petersburg, and just west of Appomatox had taken a pistol ball in the leg at the last. But he would tell me things clear as a bell in a low raspy voice on the front porch of his home in Plantersville, SC- the land that time forgot.
"Did you ever kill anyone in that war, Grandaddy?"
Only once that he knew of for sure, an armed Union straggler when he was on picket duty after Chancellorsville. "But at Cold Harbor you loaded and fired and loaded and fired into the oncoming waves of blue and you knew you couldn't miss. It was just murder and more murder, and that is no way for men to live." I wept for a day when he died.
Over a decade later I really had no trouble keeping the Ruger Mk I target operating smoothly, never had a misfire nor a stoppage. It saw me to good handgun skills and was the first handgun I dropped a squirrel with in my youth. Recently, I have been tempted to buy another for I recall bouncing an empty .22 LR box around the 50 yard butts with it double-handed without a miss. Are the barrels that good now?

[pinecone70]

Originally Posted by William Harper

I never had any trouble with my early Ruger MK I Target model with its target grips and muzzle-brake maybe because my very old grandad who had fought in the 2nd SC with the Army of Northern Virginia had taught me how to patiently clean a Colt Navy first with hot water, then virtually disassembling it and cleaning again meticulously with water every part, whereupon the reassembled .36 Navy minus its stocks was immersed "in a can of coal oil" until next use, when you had disassemble, dry firing parts, then reassemble with stocks on. God knows how he remembered this to pass it on, for he was past the century mark and had been wounded at Gettysburg, Petersburg, and just west of Appomatox had taken a pistol ball in the leg at the last. But he would tell me things clear as a bell in a low raspy voice on the front porch of his home in Plantersville, SC- the land that time forgot.
"Did you ever kill anyone in that war, Grandaddy?"
Only once that he knew of for sure, an armed Union straggler when he was on picket duty after Chancellorsville. "But at Cold Harbor you loaded and fired and loaded and fired into the oncoming waves of blue and you knew you couldn't miss. It was just murder and more murder, and that is no way for men to live." I wept for a day when he died.
Over a decade later I really had no trouble keeping the Ruger Mk I target operating smoothly, never had a misfire nor a stoppage. It saw me to good handgun skills and was the first handgun I dropped a squirrel with in my youth. Recently, I have been tempted to buy another for I recall bouncing an empty .22 LR box around the 50 yard butts with it double-handed without a miss. Are the barrels that good now?

That's a good story, William. Thanks for posting it.

[fyimo]

My Ruger Mark II Target is drop dead reliable, accurate and a joy to shoot. It's as good a shooter as my S&W Model 41 which many consider a grail gun.

Mark II Target


S&W Model 41

[Teejay9]

Originally Posted by Slabsides

I have a 1961 Standard. I don't see what the problem is to take one down, clean and reassemble. It only takes seconds. It drives tacks and runs like a Singer sewing machine on whatever kind of .22LR I put in it.

One has to admit that it is a brilliant design. Basically a Luger/Nambu mix. They are very different which leads people to either love them or hate them. I love mine and would not trade it for any other .22 pistol.

I read somewhere that Ruger made a "Baby" Nambu. It had a picture of it and it was quite good. I had always thought he took a Luger barrel and grip and crossed it with a Nambu action. Although I think Nambu's had a striker rather than a hammer. Those grips in your Nambu picture aren't issue, are they? They look like they melted .
Maybe Ruger your date is wrong. Perhaps 1951? TJ

[wingspar]

Originally Posted by Alpo

You sure about the date of your gun? My understanding is that Sturm Ruger used a red heraldry-style hawk for their company's emblem, and put it on their gun, when came out in 1949. Then, when Alex Sturm died, in 1951, the hawk went into mourning, and it changed from red to black. If your gun is from 61, the hawk on the grip should be black, not red.

I would agree 100%. That was my thoughts as soon as I saw that post.

[Slabsides]

Originally Posted by Alpo

You sure about the date of your gun? My understanding is that Sturm Ruger used a red heraldry-style hawk for their company's emblem, and put it on their gun, when came out in 1949. Then, when Alex Sturm died, in 1951, the hawk went into mourning, and it changed from red to black. If your gun is from 61, the hawk on the grip should be black, not red.

You are very observant, however, that is not a picture of my Standard. It's one I pulled from another site as I do not have one uploaded of mine. I merely wanted to show a picture of a Standard as requested.

[wingspar]

Originally Posted by Alpo

You sure about the date of your gun? My understanding is that Sturm Ruger used a red heraldry-style hawk for their company's emblem, and put it on their gun, when came out in 1949. Then, when Alex Sturm died, in 1951, the hawk went into mourning, and it changed from red to black. If your gun is from 61, the hawk on the grip should be black, not red.

Originally Posted by wingspar

I would agree 100%. That was my thoughts as soon as I saw that post.

Actually, maybe only 98% in agreement. I thought they were eagles, not hawks.

[pawn]

Originally Posted by William Harper

I never had any trouble with my early Ruger MK I Target model with its target grips and muzzle-brake maybe because my very old grandad who had fought in the 2nd SC with the Army of Northern Virginia had taught me how to patiently clean a Colt Navy first with hot water, then virtually disassembling it and cleaning again meticulously with water every part, whereupon the reassembled .36 Navy minus its stocks was immersed "in a can of coal oil" until next use, when you had disassemble, dry firing parts, then reassemble with stocks on. God knows how he remembered this to pass it on, for he was past the century mark and had been wounded at Gettysburg, Petersburg, and just west of Appomatox had taken a pistol ball in the leg at the last. But he would tell me things clear as a bell in a low raspy voice on the front porch of his home in Plantersville, SC- the land that time forgot.
"Did you ever kill anyone in that war, Grandaddy?"
Only once that he knew of for sure, an armed Union straggler when he was on picket duty after Chancellorsville. "But at Cold Harbor you loaded and fired and loaded and fired into the oncoming waves of blue and you knew you couldn't miss. It was just murder and more murder, and that is no way for men to live." I wept for a day when he died.
Over a decade later I really had no trouble keeping the Ruger Mk I target operating smoothly, never had a misfire nor a stoppage. It saw me to good handgun skills and was the first handgun I dropped a squirrel with in my youth. Recently, I have been tempted to buy another for I recall bouncing an empty .22 LR box around the 50 yard butts with it double-handed without a miss. Are the barrels that good now?

Yes William, the barrels are still that good.

[Alpo]

Originally Posted by wingspar

Actually, maybe only 98% in agreement. I thought they were eagles, not hawks.

I believe they are hawks, simply because Ruger has two gun models. Blackhawk and Redhawk. Seems too much of a coincidence, if their symbol was NOT a hawk.

[fleetwood1976]

I bought a 5.5 inch bull mark 2 that was too cheap to pass up. It was my first and only semi-auto .22. I am a revolver man. But, I will say when you set up 10 cans then walk back 50 paces and hit every one with a 10 round clip it is quite incouraging. I could get used to hitting what I aim at every time.

[fleetwood1976]

Originally Posted by Alpo

I believe they are hawks, simply because Ruger has two gun models. Blackhawk and Redhawk. Seems too much of a coincidence, if their symbol was NOT a hawk.

they look like the mythical pheonix to me.

[fleetwood1976]

the research I have done on the net so far all refers to them being eagles.


Man I need a Life!

[wingspar]

Here is a little info on the Automatic Pistol 1949 - 1951 that I was able to put together a few months ago. Alex Sturm and Bill Ruger started selling pistols in 1949 using a red eagle logo that Sturm designed. The Red Eagle models had the Ruger logo in red on a silver background. Since then, the Ruger logo on the grip panels has been either black on silver or silver on black, with the exception of a special 50th Anniversary model that had a silver eagle on a red background. When Sturm died in 1951, Ruger changed the logo to black to mourn his friend. Approximately 25,600 pistols were sold with the red eagle logo.

This link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_McCormick_Sturm talks about it also. Sturm himself designed the Red Eagle Logo.

I had a heck of a time researching this stuff a few months ago, and I tried retrieving my email with Ruger on the medallions, but I recently figured I didn’t need them anymore, and deleted them. Grrrrr

Ruger had Eagles and Blackhawks. Similar to Hondas having Civics and Accords.

[Teejay9]

It looks more like some old European Dragon or Griffin than a hawk or eagle that was used in heraldry of the knights shields. TJ

[fas111]

My MK1 Bull was purchased in 1970 and of all the guns I own it is the most used. I love it and it is dead nuts reliable. It is no problem for me to take it apart and put it together again but then again I have been doing it for 39 years!!

[Double D]

I sell the target models for 259.00. Good gun at a good price.

[williamd]

Have a M41 S&W, a Woodsman target, couple of HS MB's and couple of Ruger MK's. I rate them in that order with a big gap after the HS's. One of the HS's shoot as well as the M41 ... just not as pretty!

[fleetwood1976]

Originally Posted by Double D

I sell the target models for 259.00. Good gun at a good price.

Are you talking mark II or III. I paid $250 for a like new in box 5.5 bull mark II. that is insane for new.

[Double D]

Originally Posted by fleetwood1976

Are you talking mark II or III. I paid $250 for a like new in box 5.5 bull mark II. that is insane for new.

Brand new mark 3 target model. The tapered barrel is about 18 dollars more.

[Suwannee Tim]

Originally Posted by johnlives4christ

it took me about 10 minutes the first time i reassembled one. i read the directions twice, no problems. but then again i do have a fairly hi IQ....

me smart me smart LOL

~john

if ur so smart y cant u punctualize and capitalate and spell.....

[Suwannee Tim]

This thread has jogged my memory a bit. I bought and lost the Ruger 22 in 1976. At the time I was under the impression that every good shooter stripped and cleaned every firearm after shooting it. Of course, no one does that with a Ruger 22. I also remember that the directions were very cursory and the tricks were not disclosed. I had to figure them out by myself. And it took way to danged much time and it really hacked me off. That left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Shortly the gun was stolen and gone but the bad taste lingered. My next handgun was a Super Blackhawk which after about 100 rounds, the nut soldered on the barrel to hold the ejector rod housing parted with the barrel and the assembly fell off. I returned it and a month and a half later it came back with the nut brazed back on, the bluing burned and braze metal in the threads so the screw would not tighten the housing completely. My next Ruger handgun was a Security Six which had no firing pin return spring which caused the action to hang after every shot. I returned it and six weeks later it came back with with a firing pin return spring in a plastic bag. My dealer took the gun back and I bought a S&W. Somewhere along the line I bought a M77 300 Magnum which would not feed from the magazine. I called Ruger and the guy knew exactly what was wrong, wrong magazine box. Sent me another. Evidently it happens all the time. I bought, returned then got rid of a 77-22 that grouped six inches at 50. I have a love hate relationship with Ruger. But I digress. Back to the 22. I figured out that you don't have to strip and clean every time you shoot, especially with a 22. I think if I had shot the gun more and gotten that "trick" down I might have learned to love the gun. As it was, all I had was a bad taste in my mouth. Personally, speaking as some one who has designed machines, I think I would have either removed the quirk that makes the gun hard to assemble and disassemble or for certain I would have been a bit more forthcoming in the manual. I recall the manual being terse.

Originally Posted by mjpchief

My 9 yr old Grandson can completely disassemble my MKII clean each part and reassemble it in about 45 min. I guess you just gotta know what you're doin'.

I wonder, Chief, did your grandson figure this out on his own or did you help him the first time?

[Jim K]

The resemblance to the Nambu and the Luger is only external, though Bill Ruger deliberately made his gun resemble the Luger. But the Ruger is a blowback action, where both the Nambu and the Luger are locked breech, recoil operated pistols.

FWIW, when the Ruger first came out, the takedown was not too odd, as it is very similar to that of the Colt Woodsman. New guns are tight, and first-time disassembly is tough. But with time, and maybe a bit of stoning in the right places, they dis- and re-assemble quickly and easily.

Today, High Standard is back in business, but for many years the only competition to the Ruger was the Browning Buck Mark and its variations. The Browning is a good gun but has the problem that the takedown screws wear and can get lost easily.

Jim

[Rugermanws]

I have a Ruger Standard with a 4 digit serial number, probably made very near to Ruger's inception. I own a Liberty Ruger (1976), a 5 1/2 Mark II Bull barrel, and most recently bought the 50th aniversary model. Yes at first when they are new take down is alittle tricky but I've never worn one out and I doubt anyone one would. Maybe a firing pin after the first 10,000 rounds but with the way they are made what else could break?