Browning Buck Mark?

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I had a browning Buckmark, which I eventually sold because it failed to eject too often. I sold it with full disclosure of it's history. The buyer was convinced he could make it work. I also own a Browning 1911 .22. It is flawless.
 
FL-NC

I don't take the Rugers apart. I lock it to the rear, blast of compressed air for sand, swab the bore, a couple drops of oil on the bolt, wipe the outside with a little oil, done. Has worked fine for years.

Sounds a lot like my formula for cleaning my Mk.II! After many rounds still runs perfectly with Wolf Match Target.
 
I have a couple - a Hunter and a Standard. Both about 6 years old.

I have shot them a little, but not all that much. Nothing wrong with them, they shoot fine. I am just more of a revolver person when it comes to my .22 handguns.



What I would tell a prospective owner is to keep an eye on those takedown hex screws. They have been known to back out a little and make the gun a little less reliable until re-tightened. Some people will go as far as blue loctite I understand. Maybe overkill and will make complete disassembly difficult, obviously.


I also would be aware that there is a plastic buffer that could theoretically wear out after many thousands of rounds. I don't hear of it being a problem very often, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to get a spare or two. If I shot mine more, I know I would.


Last thing - if you are holding out for one of the more exotic models, you might be waiting awhile. Those show up sporadically and there is no telling when you may run into exactly what you want.
 
A few years back I decided I wanted a Buck mark. No shop around my area had one. I found a shop that would order one from the mid west. I'm on the east coast. While I was waiting for him to fill out the paper work I was looking around and found a New 22/45 Ruger for $300. The Browning was $350 and I could take the Ruger home that day. I still would like a Browning but I have no problems with my Ruger. One ammunition failure in 600 rounds. Cleaning is the only draw back.
 
I own a Browning Buckmark (slab side) which is the most consistent of several current 22's I own including Smith & Wesson 22A, 22S.

A Ruger 22/45 was sold last year because I felt it was the least adaptable to my style of 22 shooting (running thru 1/2 brick at a time) with minimal cleaning.I maybe the only one who feels the 22/45 out of the box is over rated but I think most of the "magic" 22/45s I have seen were pretty heavily modified or customized before being declared "awesome".

Actually the S&W 22A and 22S both have triggers about as smooth as the Buckmark but their "feel" is somewhat inferior to the Buckmark . I probably have 5k to 7k rounds thru this Buckmark (and about the same thru the S&W's) because the 22 Ammo market has been so restricted since 2013. I had a sizeable stash before the shortage or I would have been shooting even less.

Previous Buckmark's I owned were sold when I had attacks of Dumbassitis which fortunately were short lived. I decided to get out of 22's back in the mid oughts and sold perfectly good Buckmarks because I was going to try centerfire conversion units. (Different Story)

Buckmarks have been well worth their mid level price and I KNOW they are more reliable than many of the cool looking but "iffy" recent rimfires from Sig, Walther, Ruger SR's etc.

:):)
 
CobraJunkie

Thanks for the confirmation. Have been thinking about getting another .22 but don't really care for the factory grips on the Victory model. Definitely like the design contours and colored laminates of the Volquartsen grips.
 
What I would tell a prospective owner is to keep an eye on those takedown hex screws. They have been known to back out a little and make the gun a little less reliable until re-tightened. Some people will go as far as blue loctite I understand. Maybe overkill and will make complete disassembly difficult, obviously.
Definitely overkill. I blue-Loctited mine when it was new, and it ended up in a trip to the gunsmith to get the screws drilled out the next time I had to disassemble it. Either get the special purple Loctite or just make a habit of tightening up those screws every time you take the pistol out to the range. I carry an Allen key in my range box for that purpose.

The Buck Mark is a fine pistol: very accurate and easy to shoot. Google the "Heggis flip" for a cheap way to make your trigger better. That and an overtravel adjustment screw are the only mods you will ever need.
 
As far as I know, all Browning 22LR pistols from Challenger III and up (Buckmark) have aluminum frame.

I am old fashion guy so my preference is (was) Challenger II with a steel frame, like this:

13993002_1_x.jpg


I found it perfectly balanced, accurate and never had issue with it. Main reason it's gone because I don't like striker or hidden hammer pistols.

Of course, they out of production for decades, but you could still get excellent deal for a mint ones.
 
"The buckmark is a great shooter but seems to need more cleaning to keep running."


Not mine. I just clean out the chamber and barrel without taking it apart, and it has gone 1,000-2,000 (I don't really count) rounds between field strips without malfunctioning.

My FiL is a veteran and he is appalled by this, but to my mind it is just for plinking and the shooting range, so it doesn't really matter if it is kinda dirty inside.
 
I have had quite a few semiauto .22 pistols in the last 42 years, including several Rugers, but I like my Browning Micro Buckmark better than all the others. I did add a red fiber optic front sight - otherwise it's as issued. To me, that Micro is perfection.
 
For those with the 4" barrel BuckMark, does it cycle OK with the cheep stuff?


Ive thought about buying a 4" barrel for my Camper model but it shoots everything Ive put in it. Once, I bought the 4 cheapest boxes Wallmart had and it ran fine. I don't want to loose that ability.
 
i sold my ruger mk iii with a volquartsen trigger pack for a buck mark, and i will never look back.

the browning has better sights, better grips, easier to clean, has just as nice a trigger, and is more accurate than the ruger.
 
^^ You have good taste, ACP.

I've had mine for about six years. It's really fun to shoot because of its accuracy, and I've introduced people to shooting using it.

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The only downsides are the aforementioned rear screw loosening (bring an allen wrench to the range) and some slight creep in the trigger at first. These are minor issues.

If you're looking to buy one, I would do it.
 
I have the standard size and model Browning BuckMark . You can go wrong with it.
It's more accurate and fun than my S & W 10 shot 617. It also cost alot less than the S & W 617.:)
 
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