22/45 question

[hunternick]

I recently bought a Ruger Mark III and have now been told that some of the "improvements" from the Mark II are rediculous and unnessisary. Should I sell my Mark III for the II before I start dumping money into a trigger?

[versifier]

Not necessarily.

The two biggest changes that I most dislike are the useless magazine safety (no need for it on this or ANY pistol except a LEO's duty gun, but lawyers whine and collect their checks) and those *%$# plastic HiWhiz sights (the plastic "light pipes" are too delicate and constantly breaking, and they give nowhere near as good a sight picture as the old Ruger factory adjustable sights on the older MKII's).

BUT, if yours is anywhere near as accurate as the two I have shot, I think I'd just spring for some decent sights and live with the mag safety. My MKII is extremely accurate and I would never sell it, but in all honesty, the two I shot are just as good. One had a red dot sight, and the other I had the pleasure of installing a 2X Leupold pistol scope on and tossing what came on it into the trash. (The owner didn't like them either - they broke when he holstered it.)

I have kept the factory sights on my MKII. If it works, don't fix it. For targets and squirrels it is a great pistol.

I don't know if the older sights would fit the MKIII barrels, but if so, I would be getting and installing some, unless you want an optical sight. I'm not sure what else in on the market right now, but the accuracy is good enough to demand something adjustable.

[hunternick]

Just got home from the range and the Mark III is shooting great! Even with the "improvements" that Ruger foolishly made, I don't think I could ever bring myself to trade up on this gun. 30 ft off hand with out touching the sights out of the box, all in the bulls. The most accurate out of box pistol I've ever shot. I guess I'll just live with my new Mark III.

[Tom W.]

They have a tendency to be that way....

[Ironnewt]

I have shot various versions of this pistol and I prefer the Mk II over the Mk III and do not care for the 22/45 in any version but that's me. If you get one that works, you are good to go but like anything else mechanical, some pistols shoot better than others. A buddy has an old Mk I that's a tackdriver and another guy I know had everything you could think of done to a 22/45 and still could not get it to shoot the way he wanted it to. Ended up with a Buckmark.