Help selecting a 22

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michaelp

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I looked at two guns today and need to decide, hopefully they will both be available.

Ruger MK11 51/2 in (I think) bull barrel, appears to be in excellent shape. The man at the gun shop said that it doesn't appear to have been shot more than 500 rounds. It has a set of wooden grips with a thumb rest on it, I don't know what kind. They want 249.00 with two mags and the box.

Another shop has a Buckmark Camper 4 in barrel, with a green hi vis front sight. It is new-- on clearance for 209.00. Has some marks from being put in and out of the case and handled.

The man at the first shop said that the trigger on the Ruger feltlike it was smoothed out. ( I don't know anything about it but it did feel smooth, with little or no take up). He offered to fire it on the test range that he had in the basement, for repairs. I could not go, (liability) but I heard it. aAnd he said that the gun was accurate. I am believing the target that he brought back-- very impressive.

The Ruger felt heavy but good if not a little large. I guess that I could change the grips if necessary. The Browning felt good-- mabey not as solid??

This is for shooting paper and cans. Both had adjustable rear sights.

Any feedback is very welcome.

Thanks
 
Another vote for the Ruger. 500 rounds is nothing - I've run thousands & thousands of rounds through mine with no appreciable wear. At least you know it's been shot & cleaned - and you know it's going to work right off the bat. And the wood grips were probably a $30 to $50 accessory. The Browning is basically a Colt Woodsman / High Standard based design that seems to come & go in availability at any given time. Good, but I just prefer the Ruger for all around ruggedness, feel, available parts & accessories, there have been millions made & will be millions more made in the future - and just cuz I like em better.
 
Well I'm a fan of the Ruger, I have two, but buying a used .22 for pretty close to retail price doesn't seem like a great deal. The 5 1/2" bull goes for about $260 new here, less than $200 used. The wood grips are nice, but if you just want to plink I would think hard about the Browning.
 
I have a ruger 22/45 that i clean every.....wait a minute...i dont clean it at all!!!

I cleaned it once...just on principle...i had figured that i had put 5000 rounds through it...it wasnt even malfunctioning....like i said, i cleaned it on principle.

The most i ever do for it, is run a dry toothbrush over the extractor to knock the crud off.....those guns run like a top....indesructable.
 
I have a .22/45 with ~ 35,000 rounds through it.
It's hard to tell that it's been shot that much by looking at it.
I also have another .22/45 with ~ 5,000 rounds through it. It looks and feels like it just came out of the box.
My Mark II Slabside has probably 5,000 rounds through it and there's still a bit of "new" in the trigger.

What I'm getting at here is that "only 500 rounds" sounds a little fishy.
What I'm also getting at is that even if the round count was 10 times that much, it's a non-issue.

The .22/45 with the high round count, is for all intents just broken in to the right feel. If the Ruger has a "good" trigger, then it got that way either by:
a.) Being fired quite a bit
b.) Having a third party work on it or installing third party parts.

Either way, you come out ahead. I'd say, based on my experience with these 3 Rugers, that 10 to 12 thousand rounds of live fire is necessary to get a stock Ruger trigger into what I'd call a decent state. (YMMV) Figure $10 a brick for ammo and that comes out to $200. A third party (notice how I cleverly avoid having to spell Volquartsen ;)) action job can run anywhere between $20 and up (~ $100 for a pretty full boat job from Ontarget).

The Buckmark - I have 3 of them, a Micro, a Plus and a Camper. Nice guns. Not as rough and tumble as the Ruger. They do have (especially the Micro) a decided advantage in accuracy over a stock Ruger. Tighter chamber/better extractor and better trigger. On a rimfire, accuracy begins and pretty much ends on the ability of the firearm to hold the round in place during the firing sequence. Unlike a centerfire, the rimfire will be "cocked" in the chamber during the initial strike of the firing pin. The most accurate rimfires will have a pseudo- three point contact, or a real 3 point contact. (For example - look at the way a Marlin/Glenfield Model 60 chambers and holds a round - they are noted for extreme accuracy well beyond their cheap price). Re: "Feel less solid" - probably because it's thinner;the frame is Aluminum instead of steel.

As you can probably guess, I couldn't choose between the Ruger or the Buckmark and ended up with several of each. If, and it's (thankfully a huge if) I was limited to one or the other, I'd go with the Ruger - even though I like the Buckmark better and the Buckmark is the more accurate.

Another consideration would be mounting optics on it. With the Ruger, a lot of them come pre-drilled and pre-tapped. (check and see if this one is). Rugers seem to lend themselves to optics better than the standard Buckmarks (certain models excepted -ie: 5.5 etc).

Even if you aren't considering it now, don't discount the fun you can have with a scope or a red dot. Optics open up a whole 'nuther dimension of fun. I scoped my "Slabside" w/a Simmons (cheap) scope. Shooting horsefly's @ 25 yards became so mundane it was boring. A whole lot more fun, was to put rounds as close as possible to them without actually hitting them, and watch them hunker down with a *** was that?!?! kinda thing going through their little fly brain. ;) (The targets last longer that way)
 
MichaelP,
I don't think that I've shot the Buckmark much at all but I can comment on the Ruger Mk II.

I bought the Ruger Mk II about 5-6 years ago. I bought the Govt Target model with the 6;7/8" bull barrel and I like it very much. I also bought a $3 thumb saver that helps loading rounds into the magazines much easier. My Mk II was used and I spent about $250 on it. It came with one magazine and the box.

THe grips are definitely worth $30-50. The extra magazine is worth about $15-22.

I would definitely recommend the used Ruger. They shoot great and there is always tons of extras you can buy later. I clean it when it needs cleaning which is probably after 500 rounds or more.

I bought an inexpensive nylon holster that holds the Ruger and the extra magazine. I think its from Uncle Mikes. I can also fit the thumb saver in with the spare magazine.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy the ruger. I can typically shoot 1" to 1-1/2" groups at 50ft with the iron sights.

Good luck.

-Jim
 
The wooden grips with the thumbrest could be indicative of a target model Mark II. Is the receiver drilled and tapped for a scope ? Is the barrel a "slabside"? meaning the sides of the barrel are flat. If it is a Gov. target model Mk II then 249.00 used is a darn good deal. The rugers are known for their longevity and are nearly indestructable.
 
Both are good pistols and neither price sounds bad. The story about the store owner I would take with a grain of salt as 1) you can't tell if just 500 rounds have been fired, 2) since you weren't allowed in the range he could have shot anything, and 3) who knows when that target was shot. Since you actually saw nothing just pay that no mind. Find a friend or someone you trust who knows pistols to look at it with you for their opinion on the Ruger. This may very well be a honest dealer, but he should know he's proving nothing to you by not allowing you to see the test yourself.
 
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