Ruger Mark IV...WOW!

[Brian in Oregon]

I've read on another forum that there were several people reporting the receiver screws were backing out. Also the screws where they are tapped for a scope on the barrel coming loose. They called Ruger and were told to put red Loctite on them. This was only on the Target model so far. Let us know how yours are after shooting them. I guess this should make Victory owners feel better after spending a lot less money.

I would never use red Loctite on anything I ever wanted to remove again. It's designed to be permanent. Blue or purple Loctite should be used on firearms.

 

[3rdRRU_PhuBai]

When I was a kid, more than a half-century ago, I bought a new Bull Barrel Mark I, $37.50. It worked well, accurate, don't remember ever stripping it. I didn't like the look of the trigger. The trigger looked like a pot-metal toy out of a Cracker-Jacks box. The gun is long-gone, don't remember why, when or where it went.

 

[clang444]

Nice improvement, but not really necessary. A mark II can go years without cleaning and still be accurate and function 100%. So no reason to take it apart.

: )

 

[S&WIowegan]

What he said! I've got a Ruger Standard bought used in the mid-60s but made in the 50s. I don't believe it's ever been cleaned but it always runs when I take it shooting.

 

[gen3guy]

I see on the Ruger Web site that all of the MK III models have disappeared. I'd like to see the "Standard" model come out in the MK IV design. I'd be very disappointed if those models get dropped altogether. The Target and Hunter MK IVs are very nice looking.

I have 2 MK IIs (a Standard and a 22/45) that I love.

 

[SevenMilePete]

I have a Ruger Mark I that has been in the family for 50 yrs and have fond memories of shooting it as a kid. Great pistol but we all know the ugly mess of disassembly and cleaning of the Mark series of pistols! For this reason I never considered another and instead have shot Buckmarks and Smith 22's. I currently have a nice Talo 22a that is accurate and reliable but I find the grip a bit too fat and the slide clumsy to operate around the rear sight. It takes down OK with the recoil spring being a bit finicky but not bad. Like it but don't love it. Kept eyeing the Rugers over the years but held back...until now!

The new Mk IV is a marvel of engineering. They kept all the good, improved the operating levers and mag removal, eliminated the unnecessary witness hole and absolutely nailed the disassembly process! You can literally field strip this gun in under 5 seconds and reassemble just as easy. I bought the stainless target model and am thrilled. The lower is one piece of stainless vs. two formed pieces as it was before. Performed flawlessly at the range. The ONLY thing I find is that the trigger is a bit heavy at 5lbs but breaks clean and will probably loose a pound with use. I also ordered a high vis front sight for my old eyes don't like black on black!

Is it really worth twice as much as a Victory? Or more, considering the fiber optic sights are standard on the Victory.

 

[Brian in Oregon]

Is it really worth twice as much as a Victory? Or more, considering the fiber optic sights are standard on the Victory.

To me, yes. I think the Victory is ugly and the grip does not fit my hand. Tapers towards the bottom. I prefer grips more like a 1911A1, or the Buckmark.

 

[lhump1961]

Is it really worth twice as much as a Victory? Or more, considering the fiber optic sights are standard on the Victory.

To me, yes. I've learned to get what I really like if I can afford it because I will usually regret it later...and then end up buying what I should have in the first place and lose money in the end! I don't like the look and feel of the Victory as much as the Mk series.

Don't misunderstand...I have 95% S&W stuff and am a fanboy all the way. Nothing wrong with the Victory, just not for me. I do restrict my non-S&W purchases to American made with a couple of exceptions like Browning. Gotta love a Citori!

 

[patrickd]

MK IV MSRP is a bit too high in my opinion.

 

[Wee Hooker]

I doubt the MK IV will be replacing any of my seven MK II/III's but it could grow the collection by one or two
I have to admit this is a much better thought out "upgrade" than the MK II to III jump was. S&W take notice!

 

[PALADIN85020]

I've got all of the earlier Ruger .22 pistols, but no Mark IV (yet). In my opinion, the perfect ones were the Mark IIs. No more difficult to disassemble/reassemble than the earlier Standards and Mark Is, yet the fact that the bolt locked back after the last shot in the magazine made it perfect - everything you needed and nothing that you didn't.

The Mark IIIs were a witch with a capital "B." There was no earthly need for a magazine disconnect, because it unduly complicated the disassembly and reassembly procedure. Even grade school children are taught that proper unloading of a semiauto means removing the magazine first, and then emptying the chamber. If you do not understand that, you have no business handling a semiauto pistol, mag safety or not. The loaded chamber indicator just added another complication and manufacturing expense. I see Ruger dispensed with it on the Mark IV. If you really want to know if the chamber is loaded, just pull the bolt back a bit and LOOK. The addition of a side-mounted mag release on the Mark III was not required on a sporting or target firearm - no need for quick magazine changes unless you were being attacked by a herd of angry jackrabbits.

The Mark IIIs were designed by a committee composed largely or exclusively of nervous-Nelly company lawyers. I think Ruger finally realized that mistake and sought to correct it.

The Mark IVs are probably a mechanical improvement over the IIIs, but the gun looks like a cross between an antique break-action Smith and a modern pistol. The svelt lines of the original pistol were regretfully really disturbed. My sense of esthetics is also offended.

Just the opinions of a grumpy old man, I suppose.

John

 

[BB57]

I think most fans of the Ruger pistols feel the design peaked with the Mk II, and I certainly feel that way.

I'm not seeing anything in the Mk IV that makes me change my opinion on that. On the one hand it's nice to see better ergonomics and magazine removal, but they really did screw up the lines of what was a classic and even iconic pistol. IMHO it's not worth an increase in ease of re-assembly. It was after all never hard if you read the instructions and understood what needed to clear what.

 

[Faulkner]

So, which magazines do the MK IV's use? MK II, 22/45, MK III, or yet another revision?

 

[Florida Guy]

You can find MKIV on GB for good prices:
SS Target $469. SS Hunter $569, each $200 below msrp.
I was thinking of buying one of them, but find it difficult, as I like my MKII so much...

 

[lhump1961]

So, which magazines do the MK IV's use? MK II, 22/45, MK III, or yet another revision?

Ruger says the MK III mags work in the MKIV.

By the way...I have relatives around your area. Siloam Springs, Gravette, Maysville, Gentry and some in Ft. Smith. Dad born in Jay, OK. Grandma used to live in Colcord OK. before the nursing home. Haven't spent much time there since my younger years but remember it well. Beautiful country. Still digging red dirt from between my toes!

Good friend from USMC born in Salisaw, OK and now lives in Alma, AR.

 

[ruger 22]

I still use a Mark I and love it. Being retired I have the time to assemble/dis-assemble it if I want to but rather I have my son pour some carb or brake cleaner through it and it is good to go for another 10,000 rounds. Just be sure to remove the grips and then do not put any oil on it as all the oil does is to gunk up the action. After my Model 17-1 this is my go to .22. I am sure that the Mark IV is good, but I do not care for the looks of it compared to the Mark I or II.

 

[Texas Star]

That's exactly $200 less than at last weeks' Orlando gunshow. After one of my MKII's quit I might need to buy one. Joe

That'll be awhile, Joe.


A Ruger exec told me that some Euro gun clubs have MK I's that have fired over a million rounds. I also learned about some very high count Rugers in South Africa. One correspondent told me that they're cleaned when someone feels inclined to do that. (Club-owned guns)


A South African told me that he shot dassies, rock rabbits, with his MK I with 5.25-inch bbl. NOT the more common 5.5-inch bbl. He said the gun was good, but that the animals are tough and more gun was really better. But he'd also killed some puff adders with his Ruger .22. The puff adder (Bitis arietans) is one of Africa's most dangerous snakes, killing more people every year than do all four species of mambas.


That's because they like to hide on paths and are very inclined to bite.


When I wrote an article on the Ruger .22 autos for, American Handgunner (Nov-Dec, 1980 issue), South Africa was under a UN embargo on arms shipments. I figured that that placed a heavier workload on guns already there. That turned out to be true, but MANY guns slipped though and new ones were often available, but at increased cost. A Ruger exec asked that I make it clear that Ruger did not ship there. The guns came in via secondary sources in Europe. That embargo ended with white government in 1995, and guns are now imported legally.

 

[Texas Star]

When I was a kid, more than a half-century ago, I bought a new Bull Barrel Mark I, $37.50. It worked well, accurate, don't remember ever stripping it. I didn't like the look of the trigger. The trigger looked like a pot-metal toy out of a Cracker-Jacks box. The gun is long-gone, don't remember why, when or where it went.

Unless you got it on sale, you probably paid $57.50. $37.50 was the cost of the STANDARD model, not the Mk I Target.

 

[Wee Hooker]

So, which magazines do the MK IV's use? MK II, 22/45, MK III, or yet another revision?

Amen, brother. Amen.

 

[1911 45]

I bought the MK IV hunter today.