Ruger mk2 vs mk4?

[Riomouse911]

I have a 4 5:8” Standard, a 6.5” Mk II Government Target and a 10” Mk IV.

Yes, the Mk IV trigger out of the box was, poor. The Volquartsen trigger guts were not too tough to install (I agree, the sear is the worst part @doubleh !). The others have good triggers, but not as good as the Volquartsen unit.

My trigger pull is now an ounce or two under 2lb +\- and crisp, with zero over travel. The best part of a Mk IV is AR-like upper interchangeability. I added two 5.5” uppers that Volquartsen sold for $35 ea., one has a red dot and the other has open sights. With the 10”, its like having three guns for just about the price of one.

Stay safe..

 

[Otto]

As soon as William Ruger died, his son bastardized the Mark II to pacify the Libs with the Mark III, He meddled with the gun adding a magazine disco, a safety key and a loaded chamber indicator. Incidentally, the LCI was so poorly designed that if it was bumped the firearm could discharge. A recall was immediately announced and the LCI was redesigned. And for no real good reason he decided to move the magazine release. Unsurprisingly, few people were happy with the changes and sales fell flat. Is it a terrible gun? No, but I wouldn’t trade a Mk III or even a IV for my MK II’s…no way

 

[bigpower491]

I reckon I'll know in a couple days what my opinion of the Mark II is......

 

[Twisted Chemist]

My first firearm purchase was a Ruger MKII 4.5" tapered barrel. Loved that little beauty and ran a butt ton of ammo through it. Now this was a LONG time ago, early middle 80's I believe. Had my first and only negligent discharge with it. If memory serves, the trigger was good but slapped the pad of your trigger finger on the last round being fired. Then there was the take-down/reassemble difficulty, but I mastered that with lots of practice. It was a sad day when I had to report her stolen. I'd like to have another but that isn't going to happen.
So, what I'm seeing here is that your can't buy a new Ruger MK-whatever without having to make modifications to bring it up to speed. (No mag disconnect and improving the trigger.)

 

[AlexanderA]

Here is my Mark II. I made only three modifications: (a) a Clark trigger with backlash adjustment screw, (b) a Volquartsen sear, and (c) a "Sport Site" to replace the original "holster-ripper" undercut front sight. (The replaced parts are seen to the left.)

Note that the original Mark II trigger does not have the "hump" on the back, which in the Mark III and IV engages a slot on the front of the magazine, and contributes to the heavier trigger pull.

The Clark trigger, although discontinued, can probably still be found on ebay. Not so the "Sport Site," which is long gone. But a ramp sight from the Ruger Single Six revolver can work just as well, provided the bottom curvature is fixed by lightly grinding with a Dremel stone matching the diameter of the barrel.

 

[AlexanderA]

For comparison, here is my Mark IV, showing the parts (on the left) that were removed or replaced.

 

[earlthegoat2]

I had always lusted after a SS MK II slab side. I could never find one in over 10 years of looking for a price I wanted to pay.

When I seriously, went looking for a MK series pistol, the MK IV had recently been released. I’m not a brand new gun kind of guy so I figured that one was out of the picture for me.

I went to a gun show but didn’t find anything promising. I visited my favorite LGS after the show and a fella had just traded in an OK specimen of a MK II Target with the heavy tapered barrel. I asked the owner, who I was on very good terms with, what the cash OTD price would be for a short turnaround sale. I couldn’t pass up $265. That was several years ago but it was a screaming deal even back then.

I bought the factory Ruger target stocks from the same LGS about a year later. It originally came with the black plastic ones.