Ruger Mark 1 Bull barrel

[Texas Star]

Look Online for my article on Ruger .22 pistols in the Nov-Dec., 1980 issue of, American Handgunner. I think it will give you an excellent grasp of these guns.

If you don't want to bother, I'll throw out an item from the article:
Ruger's then-Export Director told me that some European gun clubs have MK I's that fired over a MILLION rounds with few or no problems.

 

[Ole Joe Clark]

Look Online for my article on Ruger .22 pistols in the Nov-Dec., 1980 issue of, American Handgunner. I think it will give you an excellent grasp of these guns.

If you don't want to bother, I'll throw out an item from the article:
Ruger's then-Export Director told me that some European gun clubs have MK I's that fired over a MILLION rounds with few or no problems.

Looked up the article and read it, including the note about the air force. It's not a good article for someone (like me) who has the itch for one.

Thanks,

Have a blessed day,

Leon

 

[Old_Cop]

I always look at Ruger semi auto .22s in the gun shop. Around here That Mark I would be $350 and up, probably based on "collectability." We used them in the National Guard for training and familiarization.

 

[eveled]

Not enough pictures in this thread. MKII's were the pinnacle of the series IMHO. MKIII's have things you don't need. The MKIV's are very nice but not enough variants.

 

[BB57]

Ruger seems to have recently changed their customer service site. In the past you could pull up serial number ranges by model, now you can just submit a single serial number.

Rugers frame tooling wore out for the "standard" and "Mk I" pistols in 1970 and in 1971 they switched to new tooling with a change in the frame. The old frames had the slot for the magazine button on the right side, and with the new frames they moved it to the left side.

The good news is that the button on the magazines can be reversed so old pistols can use new 10 round magazine by swapping the button to the other side.

The original Mk I magazines were 9 round with a chrome plated base plate. Mk II magazine work fine in the "new" Mk I's and as noted above work fine in the old ones with the magazine swap.

The Ruger Mk II came along in 1982 and added an automatic bolt hold open and slide release lever, which was a nice touch. There were also some minor detail changes, such as tapering the receiver by the tabs for the bolt to give more area to pull the blt back.

The Mk I bolt can also be locked open, but it's not automatic, and requires pulling the bolt back and then applying the safety. Deactivating the safety lets the bolt go forward.

Accuracy wise, the Mk I Targets are quite accurate. Triggers varya bit and in 1982 the Mk II trigger was arguably a bit better, but a Mk I with some use smoothed up nice anyway. Volquartsen has made triggers for decades and its unusual to find one with an original trigger and sear if it was used for actual bullseye competition.

Both the Mk I and the MK II target will shoot better than I do:

50' timed fire:

Done with a Ruger MK I 678 Target:

I prefer the 6 7/8" tapered heavy barrel on a Mk I or Mk II to the 5 1/2" bull barrel on the Mk I or Mk II 512 Targets. The balance is a bit better and the longer sight radius is a plus.

Mk I 678
S&W Model 17
Mk II 512

 

[BigBill]

I remember seeing these used going for $150.