Ruger Mark IV’s, do I want one? Which one?

I love mine but had problems with the firing pin not doing it's job ~5% of the time. I replaced it with this and that problem completely stopped. Well worth the $20+ bucks. Installs in a few minutes.

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Tandemkross makes some nice upgrades , I put their trigger and hammer in my S&W Victory
 
I can still remember during Mass. Home Firearm Safety
getting discombobulated with the controls on an instructor's 1911,
and dropping the mag onto the floor, instead of dropping the slide.

It must be a stone cold panic when a new Mk IV owner hits the wrong button and the
receiver pivots up from the frame like some kind of cigarette lighter.

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Mark 3 and Mark 4 are night and day different. Both are fun to shoot but cleaning the mark 4 is like eating ice cream while cleaning the mark 3 is like wrestling an angry honey badger.

You will absolutely love your new mark 4. One tip. The Hunter model with the long fluted barrel is super bad ass looking... but get the regular model. It’s much lighter and the Hunter becomes heavy after a few mags whereas the other (lighter) models do not. YMMV.

ETA: yes, I own the hunter model and I'm considering trading for a different model Mark 4.
"cleaning the mark 3 is like wrestling an angry honey badger." [rofl][rofl][rofl]

That is EXACTLY why I sold my Mark III. It was a tack-driver, but cleaning it? And this from a guy who's owned a Mark I since 1982!!

Do me a favor and PM me when you decide to sell the Hunter; I've had one on backorder with my distributor since JULY and haven't gotten one in.

Reflex/red dot sights seem to be the hard part to nail down. These will be range guns for teaching and punching paper. I’m not interested in buying garbage, but I don’t think I need a Trijicon that costs more than the pistol. Lol.

What do I want to look for in a reflex sight? Where does the money go between $175 and $600?

I appreciate any insight you guys can add.

Well, now. How well do you shoot? How are your eyes? This is my first bullseye gun. Ruger Mark I Target with the tapered heavy barrel. I installed the Wiegand rail in the rear sight dovetail and stuck a $25 Amazon red dot on it. That was good enough to average over 260 in bullseye. (and higher than the team captain with the Hammerli.)

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Eventually, I got a Mark II - drilled and tapped the receiver, put a PIcatinny rail on it and splurged on a Burris Fast Fire III 3 MOA red dot. It's what I still use. Average around 270 when I'm in practice. Volquartsen comp, grips and trigger group. (I also have a BuckMark with a Fast Fire III on it, too.) Last time I looked, the Burris was around $220 or so. I don't see the need for a better one; I'm pretty much at the limit of my eyesight right now. (And before anyone starts in on my about my ammo... I have been using CCI Std, not the bulk Federal in this pic; that was just playing around. For practice and matches, it's CCI.)

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I nominate this for thread of the week. Not because of the information or .22 gun porn content. But because the OP was up at 5:00 am posting about .22 semi's. I mean he probably didn't sleep all night thinking about this existential decision weighing on him. Everyone here has been there, if you haven't you just don't get it. Bravo OP.
 
I nominate this for thread of the week. Not because of the information or .22 gun porn content. But because the OP was up at 5:00 am posting about .22 semi's. I mean he probably didn't sleep all night thinking about this existential decision weighing on him. Everyone here has been there, if you haven't you just don't get it. Bravo OP.
Lol, Thanks Wilson.
Truth be told, I don’t think I actually slept at all that night. These guns will be left as gifts for my family, and it’s been fun deciding how it’s all going to work out. It’s coming together better than I ever could have imagined thanks to some truly wonderful friends. I have been blessed beyond words this week.
 
I'd love a MK IV but I probably already have it in MK III. Next gun will be something dissimilar to anything I currently own.

Once I figured out the MK III takedown and put-together, it wasn't bad. I agree it can be maddening if you're not "mechanical", in which case, just remove the magazine, lock the slide back, and wash the gun in the dishwasher. [laugh]
 
Whatever you do I'd budget in a Voltquartsen trigger kit since the stock is trash. I went with the 22/45 Lite since I liked the grip angle and preinstalled rail. Not sure if the weight savings really mattered but I'm happy with the gun. You might want to clarify what "breaks the bank" means and what your goal is with the gun otherwise these recommendations are going to go off the rails quickly.
+1 for the VQ trigger kit. What an improvement and not overly expensive.
 
Went through this a few years ago! Father gave me one as a gift, went with the target over the hunter.... love it! So fun to plink with, hasn’t gotten much use recently but I want to change that...

 
Mark iv is an awesome gun-all the fun and reliability of the ruger .22 auto, without the 7 hrs reassembly time. I've had mine for 3 years, 1,000 rds, and I can't remember more than 1-2 malfunctions. I normally use CCI minimags.
 
Once you've done it a few times reassembling the MK II and III after cleaning is not that bad. You want to have some fun put one back together after you strip it down to install the Volquartsen Accurizing KIt.

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