Ruger 22/45

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Assuming I keep it cleaned/lubed and feed it with CCI standard velocity and Mini-mags, can I expect it to function flawlessly?
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Pretty much. I've shot the heck out of my 22/45 over the past 7 years and the few malfunctions I've had were all ammo-caused.
 
I am a RSO & pistol instructor. I have a MKIII Hunter and a 22/45 that I hand to students and girlfriends whose boyfriend thought it was a good idea to let her first handgun experience be with a .40 cal. short barreled SD gun.

Tens of thousands of rounds through both guns mostly with crud bulk ammo. No problems.

A smart person would look into replacing the stock innards with Volquartsen parts, but that is just me.
 
The lci is easy to remove but I had to send my MK III to a smith for removal of the mag safety. Removal of the mag safety will allow the magazines to drop freely.
 
Mine ran like crap out of the box, Ruger was happy to take it back and fix it. But, I read that the Valquartson extractor would cure the stove pipes so I decided to spend the 12 bucks. The extractor did the trick. Ammo is the limiting factor with good stuff it runs nonstop. The cheap ammo has plenty of duds. The ammo that runs poorly in my 22/45 wont run at all in my buddies pistols.

So, I can highly recommend it you are willing to change the extractor. Now many 22/45 owners will report the same results with the factory extractor. I also installed the valquaetson sear, trigger, and mag disconnect bushing. What a major difference!!! Not even the same gun... I have only one bitch about this pistol and it can not be fixed. The magazines seat like crap so sometimes after a few shots the mag drops enough to stop feeding. Now if I am cautious when sticking the mag in its not a problem, but it seems that when my buddies shoot it, it happens often.

To throw some mud into the water, the buckmark has a much better trigger out of the box compared to the Ruger , but I have not seen my friends shoot enough to speak about reliability. With good ammo it ran great. Now that said the Ruger with the mods has a much better trigger. Most guys who try it say its the best trigger they have ever shot.

Lastly, the Rugers are one of the few 22s that can be dry fired without damage.

Sorry for the long winded answer!!
 
Mine has been extremely reliable. I fired 10,000+ rounds without disassembly for cleaning. I'd hose the bolt with Rem-oil and wipe it down once in a while. I removed the LCI guts but left the plastic piece (you may choose to do differently) and run a Volquartsen sear and trigger, and Clark hammer bushing (removing the mag safety guts in the process). I also removed the slide stop spring and detent (slingshot mod) and had custom 1911 grip panels installed (mine was made before the removable panel version came out).

Rebound spring broke around 10K rounds (didn't notice until I stripped the pistol) and started to get more misfires. Replaced and back to awesomeness, other than bulk .22 ammo sucks much more than it used to and I get many more duds.

Fantastic pistol. Get the "ultimate cliploader" right now if you haven't. Best $15 ever spent. EVER.

pics of the gun after 10K rounds no detail cleaning:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=750767

LCI removal if you choose to:

https://youtu.be/oBAe8sgc8EA
 
My MKII has been very reliable. I had one critical failure - the bolt broke at the charging handle after about (only!) 20,000 rounds. They sold me the complete bolt to fix it for $40.

Later, I found out that they would have probably fixed it for free if I had talked to tech support instead of the parts department.

It has went almost double that since then. That is one gun I will never sell.
 
Thanks for all the input! I put one of these on layaway today!

http://www.midwayusa.com/find?newcategorydimensionid=14435

^ There seems to be plenty of holsters for the MKIII, but only one for the 22/45? Do the holsters for the MKIII also fit the 22/45? I'd love a nice OWB holster but the only one specifically designated for the 22/45 on that site is about $90! I really don't wanna pay almost 1/3 the price of the gun on a holster…
 
Tell ya one thing, for $125 Clark Custom will do a trigger job that will make you cry. I've got a stock Mark II, a Mark III with VQ parts in it, and a Clark Mark II.

If you get to the point where you want to spend the money on a VQ drop in kit, kick in an extra ten bucks and send it to Clark.
 
My 22/45 ran good out of the box. Put in a VQ sear and trigger, Sam Lam bushing, and did the gravity slingshot mod. Threw a TRS-25 red dot on it and it is an awesome gun and eats everything I feed it. I've got the bull barrel with wood grips too.
 
I started out with a special order Ruger Mark III Talo Hunter with the 5.5" barrel. It was a nice looking gun but I hated the grip angle. I ended up selling it and getting a 22/45 MK2 after reading about all the problems with the LCI and mag disconnect safety. Plus they had to mill extra relief in the bolt for the LCI on the MK3 gus which means there is another place for stuff to build up. I like simple and found it with my MK2. You can't swap grips on it though so that may be a limiting factor for you.
 
I have a Mk.III 22/45. Bushnell trs-25, a Volquartsen trigger and sear and a Lam bushing to get rid of the disconnector turned it into a sweet shooter.
 
I should have the 22/45 by the end of the week. I really appreciate all your comments, it will be helpful to reference this thread when I decide to swap some parts and such.

I would have gotten it today but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to pick up some bricks (500 packs) of Federal Auto-Match .22 ammo. It was marked at $34.99 but since I only had $100 on me the guy let me have 3 bricks for my benjamin. At least now I'll have plenty of ammo to shoot!
 
Holy balls, loading magazines on this thing is a bitch! Also it takes a little extra thump to get them to seat correctly so that the action picks up the next round. Is this normal?

Otherwise, it's a beautiful firearm and I can't wait to shoot some steel plates!
 
Shot this for the first time today. Put about 150-175 rounds of Federal Auto Match through it. I'm very happy with my purchase.

I did have one malfunction. Technically two, actually. One round stovepiped, I pulled the bolt back and it came out no problem. The very next round had a Failure-to-Fire. I checked the round and there was a primer strike on the rim, but obviously it didn't fire. So I cycled the bolt again to eject the round and finished the last 5 or 6 shots in the magazine before heading home.

I'll chalk it up to ammo related malfunctions. Next time I'll put CCI standard-velocity through her and see how it goes.

Thanks again to all who shared on the thread, it solidified my decision to get the 22/45 and I'm glad I did!
 
Just wait til you get some VQ parts in there... Their trigger parts turn a nice gun into a stellar firearm.

I tried a stock one a lil while back. On my first pull of the trigger I backed off half way through. I thought the safety was engaged! It was not. Just a stock trigger.
 
I actually liked the trigger (although I'm sure I'd like the VQ even more)… Since I'm 22 and paying for college as I go I'm pretty stingy and don't replace parts unless I really think it's necessary.

That being said, I'm gonna get rid of the magazine disconnect, and possibly the LCI. While I don't think the LCI is necessary at all, I really don't mind it. Does it affect reliability or performance at all? If not, I think I'll just leave it be.

Gosh darn I love this gun.
 
Shameless gun pic!... Added a set of hogue finger groove zombie grips to my 22/45 I picked up from the bargain cave in Cabela's for cheap.

Glad you like your 22/45 hammer. You did good.
 

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The LCI generally does not interfere with the function of the gun with the exception of if you let it get really gunked up. To remove the LCI assembly for cleaning (watch out for small springs) use a strong magnet on the keeper pin that holds it in place. Place the magnet on the pin and pull it out. This works on 90% of the guns I have worked on. You can then disassemble the LCI assembly and clean it with a carbon remover. No need to lube it, reassemble, and reinstall. Make sure the pin is fully seated. Replacing the magazine disconnect safety requires a little more mechanical aptitude. You have to remove the frame pin that contains it, install the bushing, and reinstall the pin.

Here is an instructional video on how to install the new hammer bushing. *Side note* if you send your gun back to Ruger with non-standard parts, they will replace them with standard parts and send it back (without your non-standard parts).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53d8ucGbcqM
 
Great gun. Mine has an entire VQ lower. As everyone states, it shoots about anything and is extremely accurate. The LCI is easily removed on the all steel versions. (youtube videos)

I have heard the 22/45 lite can be a bit of an issue on some guns.

b0743504-d893-4bc9-9d89-29cf6e17203d_zps239fdf41.gif
 
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