[pinetree64]

I picked one up yesterday. Why is it called the Government? It is a neat pistol. It was the same price as the othr bull barreled Rugers. I figured go for the long barrel since it is for punching paper and maybe some varmit hunting.

[OMCHamlin]

Because it is like the ones that Ruger sold to the military a few years back.

[dfrog]

It's a nice shooting pistol!

[rugerfreak]

Usually those are more money than the regular bulls----sounds like you got a good deal too.

[stans]

I bought one many years ago and I would not part with mine! Ruger originally made them for the U.S. military as training guns. As far as I know, Ruger uses the button process on their rimfire barrels, but the Government models are broach cut. I think this was a requirement by the U.S. for their pistols.

[10-Ring]

The Ruger line of 22 pistols is a fine performer & good choice ;) Sounds like you got a good deal on it too! Enjoy & congrats :D

[Graystar]

When the US ordered Mark IIs from Ruger, they had Ruger implement two features for them. This gun became the Government model.

What are the two features? First, the rifling is 1 in 15. Standard Mark IIs have a 1 in 16 rifling and Target Mark IIs have a 1 in 14 rifling.

Second, the gun is sighted in at the factory and comes with a target shot with that gun, attesting to accuracy. This fact usually makes the gun cost almost as much as a Competition model, which gives you a lot more for the money.

[Jeff OTMG]

The test target should prove it, but the Govt model, longer bull barrel as you noted, comes with a test target and will shoot under 1" at 25 yards.

[denfoote]

Dang!! Looks like I'm gunna have to get one of those!! I have three Ruger rimfires. All are gems. My favorite is the P512, a bull barrel, which is in the 22/45 configuration. It's just as accurate!!

[cplane]

I remember this same question being asked on TFL about 3 years ago. There were several responses that I can't recall, But I responded with what my dealer had told me when I bought mine. He said a "Government Model" was test fired and certified accurate by the factory,as evidenced by the factory target that is shipped with each pistol. It could be put into service without being field evaluated. I beleive the ruger 22 was only used in training, But in WWII, I beleive many 45's were shipped straight into the front lines of the battle ground, Without being tested by the armoury or quartermasters.I'm sure there are people on this forum that can give a more indepth answer on this.

[yzguy]

a link you may be interested in as a new MKII owner:
http://www.1bad69.com/ruger/field_strip.htm

Yes the Govt (I have one too) model just incorporates a few minor differences (I believe there was something different in the crown also) but I don't believe that either the Govt or the Comp model is more accurate than the other. I was looking for one or the other, and got a better deal on the Govt one new so I jumped on it.

[Graystar]

The Government model has the standard crown as the other bull barreled models. The Competition has extra machining done to the crown.

Both the Government and Competition models have the 1 in 15 rifling.

[bountyhunter]

The Competition Target model also comes pre-drilled for a scope and has the rings included. Mine really shoots nice.