Ruger MKII, blued or stainless?

ojh

ojh

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Joined
Jun 22, 2003
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Location
Finland
I am about to acquire a second-hand Ruger MKII Target 10", mainly for metallic silhouette shooting within IHMSA rules. I have a few candidates on radar, both blued and stainless. Next week I'll go check them and make the decision which one to get. The asking prices for all are pretty much the same. Of course the general condition will be the paramount criterion, but is there any particular reason to pick a stainless version over a blued one, or vice versa? I have no prejudices against looks and I know how to keep blued guns corrosion free. As far as I understand the stainless version was a bit more expensive when these were new, right? Was there any other reason for the price difference than the ease of maintenance?
 
Yeah, In the mid '80's the stainless ones were $250. $30 more than the blued ones.

I hurt the value of mine when I drilled and tapped it to mount a 2x leupold on it but I can shoot 3-3.5" groups with it at 100 yards, with ammunition it likes (5.5" barrel).

41566DB3-9555-443E-B4D4-92851F085D33.jpeg
 
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Last year I bought one of these for Wife for Christmas. She had wanted one for a good while and could never make up her mind which one. IIRC the stainless was about a C note more. I just finally bought one for her and paid the little extra for Stainless. They are VERY fun pistols. Either way you go you really can't go wrong.
 

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IMO, the best thing about the blued guns is you can get cosmetically challenged examples cheap, dunk 'em in cold blue and next thing you know, this happens-
20240916_231112.jpg
😁

I would still like to find a stainless gun, but they are usually a lot prettier, so sellers charge a beauty premium.....

Functionally, no difference. Buy the tightest example you can find, shoot, and enjoy. Great guns. 👍
 
Bluing is a coating process that can reduce glare on guns.

Note that the stainless gun has black/blue sights.

Stainless can rust.
 
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I live in South Louisiana ... home of heat , humidity , hurricanes and Rust ...
I have my first MKI Target ... blued and my second MKII standard Stainless Steel .
I'll take the Stainless Steel pistol over the blued one any day for shooting and woods carry ...
maintenance is just so much easier ... in Louisiana at least .
They both shoot just fine .
I had Clark Custom Guns do a trigger job and mount a optic on the MKII ... Tack Driver !
Gary
 
Nothing wrong with stainless guns but I prefer blued. I bought a new Mark ll in stainless to carry with me while creek trapping.

205LPtpl.jpg
 
Functionally there is not a lick of difference between a Ruger MKII stainless

bxDt6im.jpeg


or a blued
H3zQPWb.jpeg



I am averaging over 800, with highs in the 820's, with a high of 830 something, in 2700 Bullseye competition with my MKII's. I can't tell an accuracy difference in my hands between blue and stainless. Ruger barrels are good. Finish does not mean anything if you clean the pistol after shooting. Get the residue out of the tube, the bolt, the loading port, and off the outside, and you will not experience any rust with a blued pistol. I do use compressed air to blow out powder particles left in the trigger mechanism.

Just pick the one with the best trigger.
 
Stainless for me. I've had a lot of Ruger Standard/MK series pistols over the years, I bought my first in 1998, went through a bit of a collecting phase with them for a while, when through a big accumulating phase of them for a while, but winnowed down during the MkIII era - the only handful I have left are all stainless Mk II's, III's, and IV's. My son has his eye on a cerakoted MkIV, so he might convince me to buy the one he wants, eventually. But I prefer mine stainless.
 
I only have blued Ruger .22 autos, but I like stainless guns strictly for the ease of the finish maintenance. If they were in similar condition and of similar price, the stainless Mk II would be my pick.

Mk II Govt. Target, Mk IV w/5.5 upper, a gray cerakoted Standard.

IMG_4718.jpeg


Now in a Mk IV, there is a difference in the frame materials; my blued Mk IV came as a 10” gun and has a lighter alloy frame, while the stainless Mk IV guns are all steel. The weight difference is only a few ounces, for all practical purposes they feel very similar.

IMG_4253.jpeg

Stay safe.
 
Thank you all for the info and opinions. I'm starting to lean towards the stainless version but as said, condition will decide. I know that these pistols should last like forever, but is there any single technical detail I'd need to check? Nightlord40, you mentioned that I should select the tightest example - could you specify, tightness between what parts do you mean? Bolt - frame, upper - lower? Does the gun have to be disassembled for an adequate checkup? i consider myself somewhat proficient with firearms in general but it's been over 20 years since I have even fired an MK II and that was club gun which I had no opportunity to study in detail. The only technical info I've gathered this far is from the 'net and user's manual.
 
A good takedown and cleaning is my first to-do with a used gun. Some guys are not as fastidious as I am about selling guns that are clean. New springs are an easy find at Wolff, so the recoil and extractor springs would be the first swap if it doesn’t shoot well out of the gate.

Magazines are also available, a few extras never hurt.

I know some guys can put these back together blindfolded, but to me the takedown-reassembling of the Standard, II and III is a PITA. You Tube is your friend, believe me. (Bless the Mk IV system!)

They are awesome shooters! The 10” becomes a lot like a portable rifle, as velocity is well up there for .22 handguns and the sight radius is immense. I did put thumbrest grips on my longer bull barrel Rugers, I found these grips help me balance the extra nose-weight nicely.

Stay safe.
 
IMO, the biggest thing to look for when buying a used MK pistol is a dinged chamber mouth. This ding comes from a lost or bent firing pin stop pin.
 
I used to have a matching set of heavy barrel MkIIs.
They both shoot equally well.
Wanted to give one to my nephew, and his cleaning regimen is questionable.
So I gave him the stainless one.
 
ojh said:
I am about to acquire a second-hand Ruger MKII Target 10", mainly for metallic silhouette shooting within IHMSA rules. I have a few candidates on radar, both blued and stainless. Next week I'll go check them and make the decision which one to get. The asking prices for all are pretty much the same. Of course the general condition will be the paramount criterion, but is there any particular reason to pick a stainless version over a blued one, or vice versa? I have no prejudices against looks and I know how to keep blued guns corrosion free. As far as I understand the stainless version was a bit more expensive when these were new, right? Was there any other reason for the price difference than the ease of maintenance?
Click to expand...
I was looking for a stainless target model, but this minty blued was offered to me for $225.00 with two magazines, OTD. I traded a friend my two M1 Carbine magazines for his two new MKII magazines. He didn't have a Ruger anymore, and my spray-and-pray-special carbine was long gone.
6Ep14Fa.jpg
 
Riomouse911 said:
I know some guys can put these back together blindfolded, but to me the takedown-reassembling of the Standard, II and III is a PITA. You Tube is your friend, believe me. (Bless the Mk IV system!)
Click to expand...

That's a great point! Takedown isn't too difficult but putting it back together is another story. I had to get a buddy to help me several times before I figured it out. They don't need to be cleaned very often, to the point that you forget the minutia of reassembly between cleanings.
 
MK_II_right.jpg
It was a tough choice, the dealer had no less than two blued and three stainless 10-inchers, all in great shape. Haven't fired a shot yet, before that it's time to learn the dreaded disassemble - reassemble routine. I've found the videos, got the manual both in English and Finnish, and the dealer kindly showed me how... still, wish me luck 😟
 
ojh said:
View attachment 1236038
It was a tough choice, the dealer had no less than two blued and three stainless 10-inchers, all in great shape. Haven't fired a shot yet, before that it's time to learn the dreaded disassemble - reassemble routine. I've found the videos, got the manual both in English and Finnish, and the dealer kindly showed me how... still, wish me luck 😟
Click to expand...
Beautiful pistol
 
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