Buckmark 5.5 Field/Target

[38Mike]

I'm in the market for a nice .22 auto. I had a standard Buckmark a few years ago ( traded it for a 1 and 3 wood ) Am looking to get another; got to handle a 5.5 Target the other day; man, was it sweet. Only thing I didn't care for were the hoods covering sights. I'm gonna celebrate my first tax refund in 5 years with a new Buckmark, probably the 5.5 Field.

Anyone own one of these pistolas; have any input that you'd care to share?

thanks in advance

Mike

 

[hksw]

The hoods are easy to remove. The case deflector is a very handy thing to have in a crowded firing line.

I don't have a Target but do have a Standard, Bullseye, and and Unlimited (discontinued). Great guns, had some break-in jams at the start from them but didn't last more than half a brick. Remington Thunderbolts don't feed well in my samples. The only problem I've had was the sight rib, which connects the barrel to the rear of the receiver and hold the bolt/slide in place, came loose on the Standard a couple of times. This caused the bolt/slide to become misaligned when forward and I was getting misfires from having not enough of the the striker hitting the rim of the cartridge. I've since Loctited the screws in along with bending every other tooth of the conical spur washers for the screws inward a little. The rib hasn't come loose since. Since the Field and Target have the rib extended all the way to the muzzle, it's less likely the bolt'slide will misalign since there are more points along the rib screwed down but the screws could still come loose a little. Might want to watch for that.

 

[10-Ring]

I've had alot fun shooting the Buckmark. It's not mine, but from the number of rounds I've put through it & the number of times I've had to clean it, I think of myself as a close friend

 

[Labinnac]

Some people think alike I guess.

I'm thinking about getting a Buckmark as well. I have the catalog sitting next to me on my desk at the moment actually...

I like the TRUGLO front sights but I don't think they come standard on the 5.5 target model. It looks like I could switch the blade out for the TRUGLO though. How hard is it to remove the little hoods? Are they pinned or do they just snap onto the rail?

 

[hksw]

They are just formed sheet metal. Essentially snap on, but you don't want to snap them on as they'll scratch up the finish. Pull one side away from the rail and lift it off towards the other side. They have indents that fit into the cross channels of the Weaver-type rail to prevent them from moving front-back under 'recoil' (if you want to call it that from a .22 lr) if you decide to put them back on.

 

[Zebulon Batty]

I had a Buckmark about 10 years ago. It had the gold frame and scope rail with the 5.5" barrel. It had the best factory trigger of any .22 that I have ever shot. Accuracy was excellent. I liked it better than my Ruger MkII. The only problem was that it would only shoot copper coated bullets such as CCI Mini-Mags after about 100 rounds. If I tried to shoot the cheaper rounds like Thunderbolt, the gun would jam so I sold it.

A friend of mine bought a Buckmark recently and he says that his works fine with all types of ammo. I guess I just got a lemon. I am also considering getting another Buckmark but I would like to check out the new Beretta Neos. Good Luck.

ZB

 

[38Mike]

Thanks for the feedback folks....

 

[ahadams]

having shot tuned High Standards on a university pistol team, the bull barrelled Buckmark was the first pistol I ever found that came close to approaching that sort of performance out of the box.

 

[Ikari]

I really like the looks of the Buckmark Field, but I just can't afford the price tag. So I'm gonna pick up the Standard this summer, and get a Weigand Combat weaver rail to mount on it ($38 at Brownell's), and have essentially the same (though not as nice-looking) thing.