Ruger MK II

My FiL has an absurdly accurate Mark II with a bull barrel that's... I think it's eight point something inches long. He got a very large aftermarket black rubber grip that makes it look like something from a sci-fi movie. It's a very cool piece.

I like my Buck Mark. It's got a barrel about six inches long and is a dandy shooter. I wanted something a little smaller and got a 4" Ruger Standard for around $300 OTD. It has a great trigger and shoots to POA well. IIRC, it was made in 1984, or whatever the last year of production was for the Standard. I don't find it that difficult to field strip, but I am lazy and usually just swab out the barrel and chamber of my 22's. My service-caliber handguns get a thorough cleaning every time, but a 22 is just a 22, so if it gets dirty and finally jams once, it's NBD.

GunnyUSMC said:

I love my 10” MkII.

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Very nice pair.

Gotta love the bull barrels. The 4" Target models seem to be as scarce as the 10".

Man, I don't think it is very hard at all to take apart and put together a MKII. It's simple once you've done it a few times. What's wrong with you MEN! Most of the time I leave the frame and barrel assembly together (you don't have to take them apart all the time) and pull out the take down/main spring assembly. Then just remove the bolt (tilt up and pull trigger first). Now I can clean bolt assembly and inside the chamber and barrel from the rear. Put bolt back in install main spring assembly pointing gun up to ensure hammer link is in position and your done.

The MKIII and MKIV add complications to a perfect design.

vba said:

The MKIII and MKIV add complications to a perfect design.

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The complications of the Mark III takedown procedure, necessitated by the magazine disconnect, are what led to the simplified Mark IV procedure. What we had was a vicious cycle of over-engineering combined with over-lawyering. I agree that the takedown of the Mark I / II isn't that bad.

The first thing one should do with a Mark lll is to eliminate the dreaded magazine disconnect and biff that damned LCI.

My old MKII bull barrel and Blazer rds....still smoking from @lionking rimfire challenge.
If I ever come across a Gov't model for sale, I'll probably have to own it.

I recently came across a Govt. Didn't need it, but wanted it.

vba said:

Man, I don't think it is very hard at all to take apart and put together a MKII. It's simple once you've done it a few times. What's wrong with you MEN!

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It can be exceptionally difficult for some individual pistols. I have had dozens of Mark Series pistols come to my shop from customers to be taken down. When they are fit properly, it’s simple. But many have dimensional tolerance issues such they might require a press to push out the Bolt Stop Pin, and might require a mallet either to disassemble the upper from the grip frame, or to reassemble them together tightly enough to allow the pin to be reinserted freely.

There are a handful of little nuance issues with disassembly and reassembly which can be annoying even for the experienced owner, and easily overlooked by those less experienced. Whether it’s neglecting to dry fire the pistol to relax the mainspring latch tension and stabbing your finger, catching the hammer strut on the sear spring stop pin during mainspring installation and locking the bolt, or forgetting the mag-in/mag-out dance of the Mark III because of the magazine disconnect, there are a handful of places to trip which would never happen with a more modern design. But again, even with these nuances, some of the receiver sets are simply too tightly fit together. I have had multiple that even could not be disassembled the first time with my custom built press fixture without worrying about damaging the receivers, and went back to Ruger - all of which were replaced, not repaired. So I made a habit of testing disassembly and fitting the frames and bolt stop pins before handing them over to customers, avoiding all of that potential headache and heartache before it ever happened.

vba said:

Man, I don't think it is very hard at all to take apart and put together a MKII. It's simple once you've done it a few times. What's wrong with you MEN!

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So now one's manhood is in question because some of us find the reassembly of the Ruger pistol more difficult than other semi-auto pistols are! Puleeze..., some of us "men" aren't threatened with masculinity issues just because we find the procedure challenging. I've done it many times over the years but so infrequently that I always have to consult the manual each time. If I did it every week, it'd probably be second nature-but I don't. And I'm still a MAN!

ColtPythonElite said:

I recently came across a Govt. Didn't need it, but wanted it.

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Class for miles.

I don't know about the rest of the world but here in Houston used Mk II are always more expensive than the newer Mk III & Mk IV models, when you can find them!

I really like the pictures. Sorry I don't have one of my stainless MkII to share. I've posted several here before. I really like mine and shoot it regularly.

wally said:

I don't know about the rest of the world but here in Houston used Mk II are always more expensive than the newer Mk III & Mk IV models, when you can find them!

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That pretty much reinforces what we all know.....Mark ll's rock!

I have 2 MKIII's. a 6 7/8" hunter with the bull fluted barrel, and a 6 7/8" slab side target model. after shooting and disassembling to make sure there wasn't any issues that would send them back to ruger, the magazine safety was replaced and a volquartzen bushing and trigger was installed. the loaded chamber indicator was replaced with a filler plate. Now I have 2 very nice ruger .22 pistols. Now I need to find a place to go plinking. I haven't been in years, only to ranges. Need to find a friend that has suitable land nearby. Anybody near Mesquite?

I broke my original 1982 trigger today, now I get to upgrade it. I’m so happy that I may even get volquatzen parts for it too.

Labguy47 said:

I broke my original 1982 trigger today, now I get to upgrade it.

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I recommend the Clark steel trigger with the overtravel stop screw. It might require a tiny bit of fitting, but that's because it's supposed to have a tight fit on the pivot pin.

AlexanderA said:

I recommend the Clark steel trigger with the overtravel stop screw. It might require a tiny bit of fitting, but that's because it's supposed to have a tight fit on the pivot pin.

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Is it a two stage, or a no take up? And that's another big bonus for the MK II series. Soooo many extra parts and upgrades available.

Labguy47 said:

Is it a two stage, or a no take up?

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Not no-take-up (which I consider unsafe with a light trigger pull). The configuration is the same as the original trigger, except that it's made to tighter tolerances, is steel, and has an overtravel stop screw.

The Clark trigger can be used with any of the Marks. But, since the front corners of the trigger are square, there's a problem in fitting it to Mark IV frames made of machined aluminum. Those frames, unlike the earlier stamped and welded steel frames, have rounded corners in the trigger opening. Those corners must be squared off with a needle file. It's a five minute job.

357smallbore said:

Own a wonderful 1999 Govt model. I believe this is the best semi auto 22 Ruger has ever put out. I've shot a bazillion rounds (ok, several thousand) without an issue. Little hard to take apart and clean, but once you get the hang of it. It's easy. Any shooters feel the way I do on the MKII?

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MKII that I have just doesn't shoot as good as my MKI but that just could be my gun. Also the slide release is no biggy to me as I grew up with my dad's MKI without one that is now mine.

GunnyUSMC said:

I love my 10” MkII.
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.22 handgun challenge going on in the general section, just saying.

I have a MK II 5.5" bull barrel and I agree, the disassembly/reassembly process sucks

wally said:

I don't know about the rest of the world but here in Houston used Mk II are always more expensive than the newer Mk III & Mk IV models, when you can find them!

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All models of guns seem too expensive for my taste in Houston, too many people with too much money.

I love my old standard model, it's the one that I cut my teeth on and I still go back to it to brush up my skills. Clark Custom did the trigger back in the 80's it shoots best with CCI Standard velocity or Green tag which I gave up using due to the price.

I, too love the Mk II Govt Target Model...



I painted my front sight white, then orange, to make it easier for me to see it.

Stay safe!

RUT said:

The first thing one should do with a Mark lll is to eliminate the dreaded magazine disconnect and biff that damned LCI.

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Absolutely. But then you have to substitute something else. Mark II hammers are very good for retrofitting Mark III (and IV) pistols. As for the LCI, you have to use an aftermarket filler piece (or leave an unsightly gap).