Browning Buckmark or Ruger MkIII .22 target pistol?

[Curator]

My 25 year-old daughter has recently become a NRA certified pistol instructor. I want to buy her a nice .22 autoloader for teaching the mostly women students who are attending her classes. Which would be the best all around?

 

[Wishoot]

That is one tough call. I'm partial to the Buckmark just because it fits my hands like a glove.

They are both built very well and will provide thousands of rounds of reliable fun.

 

[smoketheresfire]

What he said. Love my buckmark. It keeps a lot of my much more expensive guns sitting at home, while it goes to the range every time. Had a MKII that I loved too, but it was a bit more finicky with ammo. Whichever one fits your hands better and points most naturally I'd say.

 

[zt77]

I have little experience with the buckmark but in the ones I have felt, the triggers have been better than the mkIII.
The mkIII can be disassembled and reassemble with no worry about re sighting, however, with the fixed sights and all.

 

[1-UP]

Both are excellent choices - you won't regret either one. The Ruger is extremely well built, but I'm inclined to think you need to drop in a Volquartsen trigger, sear, and extractor to really get top performance out of it (The whole mess will run you something like $60, but you can do the work yourself if you're at all mechanically inclined). Once you put in those part, hooooo boy do you have a honey of a shooter. It's possible to get a specimen that's finicky with ammo, but usually the extractor will fix it. If not, there's a magazine mod that can be done to help the ammo feed. I haven't heard of one having problems with anything between those two fixes, and that's shooting the nastiest, dirtiest, cheapest ammo available. Ruger customer service is better than superb if you ever have a problem (or desire, really). They take care of virtually anything, typically on their dime. It's really, really good.

The Buck Mark is probably better out of the box, but short of flipping the spring, I'm not aware of anything you can do to "upgrade" it. The base model is prone to cracking the rear sight (It's plastic and you can overtighen the screw). You'll pay a bit more for the Buck too, but if you're dropping the money for the Ruger upgrades I'm sure its comprable.

I chose the Ruger, twice now. The Buck felt extremely nice in the hand, but I didn't like the base model and didn't want to spend the extra $200 for the URX upgrade. The Mark III I bought new, threw the Volquartsen stuff into, and am absolutely in love with. It's so good its disgusting. I bought a Mark II because I was so impressed with it and needed a spare for when I brought guests shooting, and it's made me nothing but happy too.

Either is fine though.

 

[Voland]

Ruger

I love the Ruger. I picked up a 22/45, used for around $200. Got the VQ trigger, sear, extractor. I also removed the magazine safety. Did it all my self in about an hour. Most of that time was spent trying to figure out how to put the thing together the first time. I LOVE IT! Eats every brand of ammo I've tried (7 kinds so far including a lot of bulk stuff) and not a hiccup at all!

I highly recommend the Rugers.

Thanks!
V.

 

[Avenger29]

Either/Or in this case. Although I'd think the Ruger might do better for classroom duty. Learn to break it down and reassemble it.

For a Mark III, remove the loaded chamber indicator and magazine disconnect, or it will drive her and the students batty.

 

[Brian040]

Another vote for the Ruger. I have a Mark III bull barrel with adjustable sights and I love it. I did have to disable the loaded chamber indicator (very easy fix by the way) to get it to feed reliably, but it has been 100% reliable since. It's a tack driver too!

 

[contactcole]

Had 10k+ though my former BM. Nice shooter. Fed pretty much anything. Controls like the 1911. Fit my hand better. It gets my vote.

 

[tlen]

+ 3 or 4 for the Ruger MKIII. After installing a VQ trigger & sear you'll have a fine piece for the total price. The blued model is less expensive and fine. I also recommend removing the LCI and mag disconnect as well. Get a deluxe model with adjustable sights that is also drilled and tapped for a scope base [provided]. Sooner or later you might want to add a red dot scope.
http://www.guntalk-online.com/service.html

 

[Average Joe]

I had the same choice to make, and I went with a Ruger Mark III, I made the right choice, I couldn't be happier.

 

[Walkalong]

That is a tough choice. All great guns. Any way for her to handle them? One is surely going to "flic her bic" over the others.

 

[LancerMW]

i perfer the buckmark

 

[sheephearder]

The best bet is let her pick the gun, I made the mistake of buying a gun for the wife, did not work. She ended up picking her own gun and we are both happier.

 

[viking499]

I also looked at both. Ended up with the Buckmark. Fit my hand better. Would buy another if I needed to. Has been totally reliable through thr first 1000 rounds.

 

[IdahoLT1]

id take the buckmark. I had a MKIII SS and it would only reliably feed round nose match ammo. Anything else, it would hit the feed ramp 3 or 4 times a magazine. Disassembly and reassembly is a PITA also. Sold it last year and will never buy another one again

 

[wrench]

I have both guns, like them both, but the Buckmark goes to the range 10x more than the Ruger.

 

[Craig M. Arnold]

I've had both in the past. Sold the Rugers and kept the Buckmarks. Both are great pistols.

Best regards.

 

[blkbrd666]

Buy her both and tell her she has to give one back to you in 30 days...then you both win.

 

[PFribley]

If your on a budget I have seen the Smith 22a priced as low as $199. Not a bad plinker for the price.

 

[Pilot]

Get a NOS Ruger MK II or used Ruger MK II. The MK III has a bunch of lawyer stuff that makes it less reliable. The Ruger can be tuned to be a match pistol while the Buckmark can not be tuned as easily.

 

[Curator]

Thanks for the excellent advise! I think I may take blkbrd666's advise and buy both and have her test them for a month. She can give me the one she doesn't want as a Christmas present. Which red dot sight would you-all recommend? I have a 15 year old Tasco "ProPoint" 30mm that I like on a S&W K22, but have had issues with it holding its point of impact.

 

[Romey]

Have had both, most accurate pistol I ever shot was a Buckmark. Ruger is very slick once one drops aftermarket stuff in it, Buckmark is very slick once you drop ammo in it.

 

[murph50]

I have both also. Buckmark is my favorite by a long shot (no pun intended).
Feels a lot better in my hands and is really accurate.
My Mark III gets shot every once in a while while I shoot the Buckmark all the time

 

[c919]

Buckmark all the way. I've owned a Mark II and shot a good few Mark I/II/III's. I don't feel think any of them hold a candle to my Buckmark. The Buckmark trigger is in a whole different league from the Rugers.