Ruger Mark II vs Mark III

[TonyDedo]

I sold my Ruger Mark III last year, and I've regretted it ever since. I've been thinking about replacing it lately, and torn between getting another new Mark III, or doing away with all the silly lawyer features and getting a pure Mark II. Either way, I'm want a blue bull barrel model. Does anyone have any thoughts on the Mark III vs. the Mark III?

Also, is the market price for Mark IIs really $300+??? I figured since the Mark III isn't much more than $300 NEW (blue bull barrel is $315 at Four Seasons), I'd expect to find Mark IIs closer to $200. Is there that much demand for the Mark II, or am I just looking in the wrong place?

 

[Cuz]

I sold my Ruger Mark III last year, and I've regretted it ever since. I've been thinking about replacing it lately, and torn between getting another new Mark III, or doing away with all the silly lawyer features and getting a pure Mark II. Either way, I'm want a blue bull barrel model. Does anyone have any thoughts on the Mark III vs. the Mark III?

Also, is the market price for Mark IIs really $300+??? I figured since the Mark III isn't much more than $300 NEW (blue bull barrel is $315 at Four Seasons), I'd expect to find Mark IIs closer to $200. Is there that much demand for the Mark II, or am I just looking in the wrong place?

I think the MK-III is a much better pistol than the MK-II. Just the fact that the mag release is in the right spot behind the trigger guard rather than at the bottom should be reason enough. I don't know why anyone would consider a MKII over a MKIII today. I've put thousands of rounds thru mine with no issues at all. And, as a bonus, the ammo it likes best is the cheapest Federal Bulk pack ammo at Walmart. It's not too often that the cheapest ammo around tends to work best in your gun.
-Cuz.

 

[RG617]

I bought my competition Mark III about a month ago and I couldn't be happier. The only things I can really complain about are the thumbrest grip (dislike it due to a simple personal preference) and the sharp edge on the feed ramp. If it's leaning a little forward in the mag sometimes the first round will hang up on the ramp, which is a pain in the ass to clear since the slide won't lock open. Nothing like trying to clear a jam on a rimfire pistol with the mag unable to release and the slide looking to ram the round forward. It can be avoided by making sure that the first round in every mag isn't leaning forward at all, but if it continues to hang up I'm going to bevel the bottom edge of the ramp or have it polished. I recommend staying away from the Remington Thunderbolt rounds. Had eight duds out of a little over 300 rounds, all with good strikes. Never tried the Federal but have heard good things about it.

 

[Marcus in the Darkus]

+1 on the Mark III. I'm very happy with mine, especially the "1911" grip angle. My first Ruger and it's a keeper. I can even field strip, clean and reassemble it now in less than an hour!

 

[45collector]

I bought a brand new MK III stainless bull barrel for a little under $400 (Cape Cod prices!) and I love it. In the first 500 rounds or so it had a handful of FTE's due to the spent cartridge hanging up on the recoil spring guide rod.
That is quite a pain in the ass to clear, even with the ability to lock the bolt back. After that I drenched the bolt area and ejection port in oil, smoothed out the feed ramp just a tad, shot the hell out of it and now it runs beautifully.

 

[Tiktock]

I bought my competition Mark III about a month ago and I couldn't be happier. The only things I can really complain about are the thumbrest grip (dislike it due to a simple personal preference) and the sharp edge on the feed ramp. If it's leaning a little forward in the mag sometimes the first round will hang up on the ramp, which is a pain in the ass to clear since the slide won't lock open. Nothing like trying to clear a jam on a rimfire pistol with the mag unable to release and the slide looking to ram the round forward. It can be avoided by making sure that the first round in every mag isn't leaning forward at all, but if it continues to hang up I'm going to bevel the bottom edge of the ramp or have it polished. I recommend staying away from the Remington Thunderbolt rounds. Had eight duds out of a little over 300 rounds, all with good strikes. Never tried the Federal but have heard good things about it.

I had some rounds jam into the feed ramp when I first got it. The ones that did jam jammed so bad that not even rounding that sharp edge would have helped. Lubing the mags seemed to help, as that angle being wrong seemed to be caused by the back of the brass dragging a bit on the inside of the mag causing the rounds to feed oddly. I sprayed some dry lube in my mags and I havent had that problem since. I do, however, instinctually make sure that first round has its bullet "up" when I load the mags.

Mine eats federal bulk pack so well I havent really shot anything else. When the cheapest ammo feeds and shoots the best, I am a happy camper.

 

[dwarven1]

Keep looking for that Mark II, Tony!!

Given the stupidity of the Mark III's magazine design, I found that the different placement of the mag release made NO difference in speed since the heel of the magazine, which goes partway up the rear of the grip, hangs up unless you open your hand completely. Stupid design.

And I won't even get into the takedown procedure. Yes, it's a great shooter... but all those lawyer features just soured me completely on it. I'll never own a Mark III again. I love my "new" Mark II!

 

[doobie]

Keep looking for that Mark II, Tony!!

Given the stupidity of the Mark III's magazine design, I found that the different placement of the mag release made NO difference in speed since the heel of the magazine, which goes partway up the rear of the grip, hangs up unless you open your hand completely. Stupid design.

And I won't even get into the takedown procedure. Yes, it's a great shooter... but all those lawyer features just soured me completely on it. I'll never own a Mark III again. I love my "new" Mark II!

I bought the Ruger Mk II Ross was looking to buy from his comments to buy a Ruger MkII instead of MkI or MkIII... I don't know if I shot a Ruger MkIII, but a Ruger MkI, uG!

 

[Timbob1]

I am on my second MK111, with well over five thousand rounds through both, and without a hiccup from the gun. The only problem I have ever encountered is misfired dud rounds using the thunderbolt ammo, as someone else had mentioned as well. I would estimate at least two out of a box of fifty.

Other than that, it makes even me look good, which is hard........

 

[cobblepot]

I have a MKIII standard and I like it. It took a brick of ammo and some cleaning and lubing to break it in but, it has been fantastic. I was not a fan of the "safety" features at first. After using it to teach a couple of people, I love them. I actually found it comforting to have the loaded chamber indicator and the mag disconnect. They may make the gun a little tougher to clean but, not a big deal once you get it down. I thought I wanted a MKII, knowing what I know now, I would buy a MKIII again.

 

[dwarven1]

I actually found it comforting to have the loaded chamber indicator and the mag disconnect.

I already HAVE a loaded chamber indicator - my brain. I consider EVERY gun I handle to be fully loaded unless I see a bolt locked back and the magazine out... and I've looked IN the chamber personally.

It's worked so far. I don't need a mickey mouse tab on the side of the gun, and I don't need to put the magazine in, take the magazine out and wave it all about to take down my .22.

 

[cobblepot]

I already HAVE a loaded chamber indicator - my brain. I consider EVERY gun I handle to be fully loaded unless I see a bolt locked back and the magazine out... and I've looked IN the chamber personally.

It's worked so far. I don't need a mickey mouse tab on the side of the gun, and I don't need to put the magazine in, take the magazine out and wave it all about to take down my .22.

I guess what I meant was it was comforting to look over the shoulder of someone else and tell if they had a loaded chamber even if their brain didn't know it.

I don't need a loaded chamber indicator or a mag disconnect for _ME_. I do like them when teaching newbies though. To be honest with you I never looked at that LCI until someone else was holding it.

Also if I was the only one of my family/friends to use this gun, that mag disconnect would be gone.

 

[EddieCoyle]

Given the stupidity of the Mark III's magazine design, I found that the different placement of the mag release made NO difference in speed since the heel of the magazine, which goes partway up the rear of the grip, hangs up unless you open your hand completely. Stupid design.

This is the 22/45 version, correct? Does this happen with the "regular" Mark III?

 

[dwarven1]

This is the 22/45 version, correct? Does this happen with the "regular" Mark III?

I didn't have the 22/45 Mark III, so yes, it happens with the regular one.

 

[Another_David]

Also if I was the only one of my family/friends to use this gun, that mag disconnect would be gone.

+1 I took mine out, it's not that hard. I put it in a baggie, labeled it, and put it in the original box so if I ever sell it I'll put it back. Makes cleaning so much easier--AND SAFER--since you don't have to load a mag to take down and reassemble.

 

[TonyDedo]

+1 I took mine out, it's not that hard. I put it in a baggie, labeled it, and put it in the original box so if I ever sell it I'll put it back. Makes cleaning so much easier--AND SAFER--since you don't have to load a mag to take down and reassemble.

How does one do this?

 

[Tiktock]

The mag not dropping free never really bothered me. I don't do many tactical reloads with my .22. I'm fairly sure you can mod your gun to make them drop free but I can't remember the link to the instructions.

 

[Another_David]

How does one do this?

Take a look at this site: http://guntalk-online.com/detailstrip.htm

I removed the trigger controls and then put it all back minus the "trigger safety".

Do it as your own risk of course. I did it a while ago and vaguely recall reading about others that did the same. I don't like that the pistol has mag safety printed on even though it's removed--that's a problem. Yet, I'm the only one that shoots so I'm fine with it.

 

[dwarven1]

I don't do many tactical reloads with my .22.

I don't, either, but I do occasionally go to a pin shoot where they have candlepins to shoot at... and at that point, I do need to do a fast mag change if I don't clear all the pins on the first mag change.

Just irritates me that such poor design got put into production. I can't see any reason for having a "heel" like that on the mag, and one real good one for NOT having it.

 

[TonyDedo]

Take a look at this site: http://guntalk-online.com/detailstrip.htm

I removed the trigger controls and then put it all back minus the "trigger safety".

Do it as your own risk of course. I did it a while ago and vaguely recall reading about others that did the same. I don't like that the pistol has mag safety printed on even though it's removed--that's a problem. Yet, I'm the only one that shoots so I'm fine with it.

Sweet, that looks easy enough. I'm not concerned with the "mag safety" written on the side - it will only be fired by myself and others under my supervision. And if you're following rule #1 ("The gun is always loaded"), it shouldn't matter anyway.

Has anyone else gone this route and removed the mag disconnect? I'm just wondering if there is a downside (besides the one mentioned above).

 

[Timbob1]

For some bizarre reason, my MK111 mag used to drop free, now it doesn't. I didn't care enough about it to investigate why though.

 

[kengog]

A great resource for MKI, MKII, and MKIII info

http://www.mkiii.org

 

[highlander]

I have no interest in buying the MK III,the mag release repositioning is moot as this is not a SD gun. I have 2 MK IIs Competition and a 22/45 and am quite happy with them. Should I run across a 10" version of the MK II if it's in SS I'll figure a way to get it always liked the longer barrel.

 

[Another_David]

the mag release repositioning is moot as this is not a SD gun

For me it wasn't a self defense issue. It's just an added layer of complexity to an already difficult breakdown and reassembly process.

 

[WayneWong]

I recently bought a Mark III and have not live fired it yet, but I am getting used to the function sequence. It's very stiff and takes a little getting used to, It is a solid pistol though. Maybe it's "ergonomically challenged." More likely, I'm ergonomically challenged.

 

[Rugerfan]

I have a MKIII 22/45 and can honestly say that this is an excellent gun. It's more accurate than I am, eats any kind of ammo I feed it and just keeps on ticking. I have put over 8000 rounds through this gun and it only gets better with use.

The issue of take down/cleaning is a non-issue in my view. The first couple of times I referred to the manual, after that it just is plain easy. Keep in mind that I shoot at least twice a week and have been for about one year. The gun gets cleaned every time.

All of the legal lock stuff can be ignored. Mine goes into a safe for storage which makes it moot. I can't think of a single time when I thought to myself that the internal lock, mag release or any other feature of the gun was annoying.

This is my opinion, your results may vary!!

 

[offcamber]

I have a MKIII 22/45 and can honestly say that this is an excellent gun. It's more accurate than I am, eats any kind of ammo I feed it and just keeps on ticking. I have put over 8000 rounds through this gun and it only gets better with use.

The issue of take down/cleaning is a non-issue in my view. The first couple of times I referred to the manual, after that it just is plain easy. Keep in mind that I shoot at least twice a week and have been for about one year. The gun gets cleaned every time.

All of the legal lock stuff can be ignored. Mine goes into a safe for storage which makes it moot. I can't think of a single time when I thought to myself that the internal lock, mag release or any other feature of the gun was annoying.

This is my opinion, your results may vary!!

I agree...I have a Mark III Hunter and its my favorite to shoot. I like the ergonomics and don't find it difficult to take down. The safety lock is a moot point as you can either ignore or use it...your choice. The Magazine interlock again doesn't bother me as I don't shoot a single round at a time anyway.
Mine is very accurate and just plain fun to shoot.

I can't speak to how it may or may not be better than a MarkII since I don't own one....however it seems that owners of an older version of anything always like to think the older one is better. Bottom line is shoot what you like either one is a fine weapon.

 

[WayneWong]

I just live fired my Mark III, disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled it.

Using: Complex at first, but you get the hang of it. I like the sights. The controls are hard to reach for someone with small hands.

Disassembling: Not difficult, except I needed to use a rubber mallet to get the barrel off the lower.

Cleaning: Easy

Assembling. Everything is a tight fit. The barrel needed the rubber mallet to position it back onto the lower. The bolt went back in easy. The mainspring housing was a tight fit requiring finesse and a smack with the rubber mallet. Hopefully, the parts will break in.

Quality: It didn't explode while firing, nor did it break into pieces during field stripping and reassembly. It is not smooth right out of the box, but it has a solid feel to it. I would say that it is "Robust."

I may look for a new .22 at some point, but I am going to give this a couple thousand rounds to get used to and break in.