Ruger 22LR

[BP Hunter]

Hello folks!

I am only looking for a reliable semi auto and am eyeing the Ruger MArk III. I bought a Ruger 22/45 Lite a while back and was not happy with it since it was quite finicky with ammo. Because of the shortage in 22LR ammo, I only had the Remington bulk ammo and CCI minimag. The Remington ammo always had FTF 2-3 for every full 10 rd magazine. The CCI Minimag seem to be too short and the ammo would "fly" out of the magazine on full load. Is the Mark III series any better? Thanks for your input.

 

[Fishbed77]

The Mark III (both traditional and 22/45 versions) tends to one of the least finicky of all rimfire pistols. There's not really any difference in how the two function. I'm wondering it there was just something wrong with your particular example.

Also, the Remington bulk pack Thunderbolt stuff is pretty much bottom-of the barrel .22LR ammo. Was all of yours from the same lot? Maybe the primer was not spun out well in the rim.

 

[Theohazard]

I am only looking for a reliable semi auto and am eyeing the Ruger MArk III. I bought a Ruger 22/45 Lite a while back and was not happy with it since it was quite finicky with ammo.

The 22/45 is a Mk III, but just with a grip angle more closely resembling a 1911. Like Fishbed77 said, if you bought a new Mk III it would be functionally identical to your 22/44 Lite. And I'm surprised your pistol was finicky, especially with CCI Mini-Mags; the Mk III series is one of the most reliable semi-auto .22 pistol designs ever.

 

[BP Hunter]

Thanks for your answers. I must have had a bad Ruger which is a rare case. A LGS is selling a 22/45 used for $225. It looks functionally normal. Is that a good buy?

 

[Fishbed77]

Without knowing the specific model or condition, it's impossible to know.

Have you considered calling Ruger and sending your 22/45 Lite back to them? They have some of the best CS in the firearms business, and if there is something wrong with your pistol, they'll likely fix it for free.

 

[BP Hunter]

Fishbed,

The 22/45 Lite is gone. I have decided to purchase the SR22 instead. I have read only positive reviews on it and my LGS has a good deal on it.

 

[Drail]

Remington is probably the worst American producer of ammo around. Try Federal. Feed problems in a semi auto pistol are almost always caused by the magazine or the cartridge. A broken extractor or clogged extractor recess can do it also. Failure to keep the gun clean is probably the number one cause of rimfire semi auto problems. My advice would be to find a good deal on a used Mk II pistol. They were better guns and they made millions of them. I have three and in over 30 years of use they've never choked or failed to fire.

 

[Deltaboy1984]

Get a MK II.

 

[Pilot]

The SR22 is a good plinker. The MK II/III is a more accurate, target oriented pistol AND a good plinker. Nothing wrong with the SR22 though.

 

[bannockburn]

I would have to agree with Pilot; if you want something more than just a plinker you should be looking at one of the target versions of the Mark III, or possibly a nice used Mark II model.

 

[dog gone it]

These people usually have a pretty competitive price.
http://www.kygunco.com/ruger-sr22-rimfire-pistol-22lr-black-35in-10rd-57389

 

[Blackhawk30]

My 22/45 LITE ran flawlessly on CCI Blazer bulk.With 5 different people shooting it,we put 2k thru it one weekend.Yer ammo is yer problem.Never buy Remington ammo.Thousands of complaints.

 

[btg3]

Two friends came to a recent steel challenge intending to share a brick of Remington 22LR. One with a Ruger MkIII and the other with a Sig. They couldn't get thru a string without a failure. Other shooters took pity on them and gave them CCI to shoot and the rest of the match went smoothly.

I've also plinked thru a brick of Remington with a Buckmark and was frustrated with excessive click-no-bang. No problems with Federal, CCI, Winchester, Eley.

 

[BP Hunter]

Thanks for all your responses. I decided on the SR22. I went out and used the Remington bulk ammo and CCI Minmag today. It all ran flawlessly where I had the 22/45 and GSG 1911 which had multiple FTF. I am happy with my purchase!

 

[Cee Zee]

Glad your happy with your new gun but I wouldn't judge any gun by Remington ammo. Just FYI.

 

[sappyg]

I like both the SR22. & the 22/45. They both run great with good ammo. Recent Remington ammo has worked well for me (GB, thunderbolt, and Target) in any gun I've tried it in. GB's, in spite of what you will likely read on the interwebz, would be my top ammo choice ATM.
Winchester has been the bottom feeder ammo of late. It just doesn't run worth a hoot in a semi. Too many FTE/ FTF to mention. Now, it does fine in a single six, so it's not completely useless.

 

[Cee Zee]

GB's, in spite of what you will likely read on the interwebz, would be my top ammo choice ATM.

I don't go by what I read on GB's. I go by my own experience. That was the worst ammo I've ever seen in my life. But some people claim it works well for them. Go figure. What I bought was ridiculously inconsistent on powder charge. One cartridge would barely clear the end of the barrel (I checked a few times to make sure because some other bullets made it about 20 feet and died) while others were shooting like they were .22 magnums. And the stuff was incredibly dirty. It gummed up a single shot, bolt action rifle I had so bad that the bolt wouldn't slide without extreme force applied to it. I thought I was going to lose the gun because I couldn't get the bolt open. And it did that 3 times shooting about 300 rounds through that rifle. I've never had that rifle give me any problems at all and it's been in my family since 1965. I knew the previous owner well and I shot it before he died and left it to dad. Dad gave it to me in about 1980. It's a great shooting gun but not with those GB's. It shot horrible because you couldn't tell whether to aim a foot over top of a target at 20 yards or whether you should aim underneath the target (because sights work that way on close targets). You wouldn't believe how hard it was to clean the Marlin 60 I first tried to shoot that stuff in. I didn't clean that gun for the first 11 years I owned it (bought it new) but I had to clean it every 25 rounds or so with those GB's through it. I switched to other rifles pretty quickly with the same results. That Marlin has shot everything I ever put in it except for that Remington stuff. I've had it since 1989.

I hear this all the time though - some people do well with Remington rimfire ammo. Not me. I've never seen any of it work well. Again it's the worst stuff I ever laid eyes on. BTW before the shortages I bought a lot of Winchester because Federal had gone to junk. I was buying Winchester and CCI Blazer for plinking ammo. If I wanted something a little better I bought CCI SV or MiniMags. Of course if I wanted to shoot tiny groups I bought Wolf or Eley EPS or Federal Gold Medal UltraMatch. But I wouldn't touch Remington with any rimfire firearm. But they make the best ammo going for my 30.06 Savage 110. Go figure.