I have shot -MANY- Ruger pistols from the Standard and through all Mark I, II and III. I have not dealt with a Mark IV.

I can say with all the confidence I can muster, backed with decades of hands-on, the design is fantastic but there is a pinnacle and that pinnacle is easily and very clearly the Mark II.

The Mark II is better than all of the others. I can only find one small blip about the Mark II that some would take issue with and that is the heel magazine release (although the 22/45 Mk II does use a button)

If you choose any pistols from the 1949 original through a Mark IV made last week, you aren't getting the best if you didn't get a Mark II.

If you are a tortured soul that can't handle the take-down and reassembly then a $60 Majestic Arms "easy take down" kit is money much, MUCH better spent than is chasing down the new Mark IV unless you want an inferior pistol.

Heh, any of the Ruger Mark pistols are better than the S&W Victory though. And if it were me or someone I cared about, a clean USED Mark II is a better buy for the same money than any Standard, Mark I, Mark III or Mark IV in any condition, including new.