Bull barrel - Pros and Cons?

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What is the advantage of buying a bull barreled Ruger MkII .22 over a standard barreled Ruger MkII .22?

I am considering buying a 6 7/8 inch MkII and am not sure if I should get the bull barreled version or not.....

Pros? Cons?
 
The advantage is more weight to cut down on recoil.

The disadvantage is more weight.

I have the slightly tapered 6-7/8" version.
 
Both barrel types will shoot accurately if fitted very well. Bulls add weight on the muzzle and money on the gunsmith's pockets for fitting. This is just a matter of preference.
 
the 5.5" bull barrel will hang, in your hand, like the longer barreled model...just as much weight out front in a more compact package
 
I have an older Government Target model with the 6 7/8 inch bull barrel. It is heavy. It was heavy with iron sights, even heavier with a scope! I really wish it was a 5 1/2 inch barrel or a lightened 6 7/8 inch barrel. This combo works fine as long as the gun has a rest, but holding it at arms length, especially with just one hand, requires some weight training!
 
holding it at arms length, especially with just one hand, requires some weight training!
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That's a little bit of an exaggeration. :D As long as your idea of excersise is not "12 ounce curls", it's no problem.
 
I don't experience any extra fatigue from the bullBbls. I also have a 10" MKII bull. I'm fairly big guy and do some pretty serious strength training so gun weight is not really an issue for me.

I just got a 6 7/8" slabside bull 22/45. The slabside shaves a little off the barrel weight, but I don't really notice it when compared to my full bull MKII of the same length. If you can't hold a bull up for 10 shots without wavering maybe a shorter, tapered bbl would be more desirable.

Someone more knowledgable please correct me as I am NOT an expert by any means (I just like to read) but from what I understand a bull bbl on a .22lr really only adds weight to tame what little recoil there is.
There's no barrel whip on .22 pistols so bulls aren't for a stiffer bbl/accuracy.

Really the only reason I have bulls because I like the way they look and feel!

I suppose it's really preference.
 
I have a T-514 5.5" bull barrel MK. II.

I still miss my old standard MK I.

If I had it to do over, I'd wait for the MK.III. A standard small one, with an optical sight on top.

Geoff
Who wishes he could afford more experiments.:cool:
 
That's a little bit of an exaggeration. As long as your idea of excersise is not "12 ounce curls", it's no problem.
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Uhhhhh... I refuse to answer and exercise my fifth amendment rights based on the fact that any answer I give may tend to incriminate me.:D
 
I am probably out of the mainstream (as usual; I like it there) in preferring standard weight (slim?) barrels on handguns. I understand the logic behind a heavy-barrelled gun in bullseye competition, but most people are somewhere on the plinking index, however casual or dedicated.

Handguns are supposed to be, well, "handy". To me those heavy barrels tend the make the gun more cumbersome and offer no advantages in practical accuracy for 99% of all shooters.

At one time Ruger made a 5 1/4" tapered Mark I target model (circa 1958) which was perhaps a nice compromise--but they didn't sell well. They reintroduced it again for a very short time around 1990 with the same results. I have one of the latter ones, but other than being a neat gun, I don't use it much.

What I do use is a beater 4 3/4" fixed sighted early model that I rehabilitated and did a trigger job on. It's somewhat ugly, even with a refinish, but it shoots frighteningly well--probably the most shootable .22 pistol around. I have more fun with that thing than almost anything else.

I have similar feelings about heavy barrel and full lugged revolvers. Sort of the shooting world's version of tailfins on cars...
 
When I bought my MKII, I went for the bull barrel because I was curious to see if there really was any difference.

I bought it back around '88 or so, and after putting a fair number of rounds downrange, I can't say I can see any real advantage. It's extremely accurate, but I don't think that's too unusual for a MKII regardless of the barrel type.

The most common argument I've heard for the bull barrel is that maybe, if you're firing a lot of rounds in a short period of time, you might experience less expansion of the barrel due to heat, but I think I'd end up with a serious cramp in my trigger finger long before I could prove that theory either way.
 
I have the 6 7/8" slabside model. It is much, much too muzzle-heavy for my tastes. If I could go back and do it again, I would DEFINITELY get either the 6 7/8" tapered barrel or the 5 1/2" bull barrel.
 
I have a 5 1/2" 22/45 bull bbl. I recently bought a stainless 6 7/8 tapered MkII, mostly b/c I like the tapered look better. I can't any difference in practical accuracy or shootability. The tapered 6 7/9 MkII is still a thicker bbl than the std MKII, isn't it?
 
My fave MKII is the 6 7/8" model with the standard (tapered) barrel. Extremely accurate. My father's stainless model has a REALLY nice trigger. It's a 1988 model according to Ruger's website. He put firesights on it as well and finger groove grips. Everyone else who shoots it absolutely LOVES it too. I shoot sub 2" groups from a benchrest with it at 28yards, no joke.

The bull barrelled models are considerably heavier in the front and honestly, I don't see the point.
 
The standard barrel is the one that is tapered.

The bull barrel is not tapered at all, but is flat on each side. (on new ones anyways)
 
The standard barrel is the one that is tapered.

The bull barrel is not tapered at all, but is flat on each side. (on new ones anyways)
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There are four types of barrels on MKIIs.

  • Standard, tapered.
  • Heavy target, tapered.
  • Standard bull barrel.
  • Flat-sided bull barrel.
 
There are four types of barrels on MKIIs.




Standard, tapered.

Heavy target, tapered.

Standard bull barrel.

Flat-sided bull barrel.
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Ohhhhhhh, I stand corrected. So how can you tell the difference between a standard tapered and a heavy target tapered?
 
It's hard to describe, but if you saw them next to each other, you'd know immediately. The "target" barrel is much thicker than the regular barrel. It's almost a bull barrel, but it's lightly tapered, as opposed to the standard barrel which is more steeply tapered. I'll dig through the safes when I get home and find my target model and post it next to a standard model. It's easy to tell when you see it.
 
Stolen from the Davidsons web site:

MkII with 6" standard barrel.
attachment.php
 
That's the model I have, as well. I got it for my 12th birthday, 18 years ago. It has several hundred thousand rounds through it.
 
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