Ruger MkII range report.

[LotI]

I posted this on rimfire central but I'm sure there are some .22 fans here too

I picked up a NIB Mk. II KMK678GC at my dealer for a fair price which was a nice savings over the new MKIII in the case. I’m not a fan of selling out to the anti’s with the stuff on the MKIII and don't mind the magazine release.

Targets at 25yds, chrono set up, 45 degrees and a light breeze made this a nice February day in Wisconsin.

I started with Eley Biathlon Sport since it’s designed for cold, right? It’s also clean burning and I love the smell of Eley in the morning! I followed up with Subsonic Hollow Xtra Plus; CCI Subsonic HP, Remington Subsonic HP, Federal Automatch and Gameshok RN; CCI Select and Wolf MT. I also brought some Fiocci MAXAC and Federal hyper-velocity Spitfire.

Fiocci MAXAC has never been accurate in any of my rimfires and shows vertical stringing. I now have chronograph data that shows why with a very high ES and SD.

The Ruger has a 6 7/8” bbl and I brought the other end of my collection, a CZ452 Trainer with a 24.8” bbl., for comparison. The chronograph is a Competition Electronics ProChrono digital.

The information below has abbreviations that mean: Ave: Average velocity for at least 10 shots, sometimes more. High: highest velocity recorded. Low: Lowest recorded veloctity. ES: Extreme Spread, the highest minus the lowest. SD: Standard Deviation, a calculation that measures consistency, lower is better.

MKII:
Ammunition: Ave/High/Low/ES/SD
Remington Subsonic HP: 916/982/855/127/40
Eley Subsonic Hollow Xtra Plus: 935/963/907/56/18
Wolf Match Target: 949/989/918/71/14
Eley Biathlon Sport: 968/1006/914/92/22
CCI Subsonic HP: 970/992/947/45/14
Federal Game Shok 40gr. LRN: 1061/1115/1016/99/25
Federal AutoMatch: 1063/1101/1021/80/25
Fiocchi Training MAXAC: 1076/1135/987/148/41
CCI Select: 1079/1105/1050/55/17
Federal Spitfire: 1248/1303/1227/76/22

The CCI Select was just as accurate as the Wolf MT, both shooting into 1” off a rest. This can be seen in their low standard deviation too. The Eley was fair and the Remington and Fiocchi were poor.

For comparison I shot a couple through the CZ452. The Wolf made a 10-shot ragged hole at 50 yards and the Fiocchi was, again, inaccurate with vertical stringing. This is an older batch of Wolf that I have about 150 rounds left. I have 4 bricks of a new batch that I am anxious to test and see if it’s the same quality.

CZ452ZKM
Wolf Match Target: 1040/1059/1018/41/11—Super stuff!
Fiocchi MAXAC: 1220/1261/1160/101/32—blech!
Federal Spitfire: 1406/1443/1381/62/23

The Spitfire 2” higher than the other stuff and would be the choice for longer than 50 yard ranges. The Spitfire was nowhere near it’s advertised 1500fps even out of this long barrel. I don’t know what barrel length they were using to get that speed. Sounds like the marketing department just got to round up! It’s probably the same thing at 31gr. Gameshok with a claimed 1430fps but is made for Gander Mountain.

I think the Ruger is a keeper although after 150-ish rounds it was getting some misfeeds because it was dirty. I think it was the Wolf and that’s the reason I tested it last. It’s also a new gun and is quite stiff yet. The trigger breaks at a slightly creepy 3 pounds and I expect it to improve with some shooting.

Once it's broken in, I'll put a scope on it and bring out the TenEx to see if it likes that. I haven't measured the groups but can update that soon.

Happy Shooting!

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Interesting report. Some while back I lucked into a Colt Woodsman made in 1938 with an after-market Micro sight. This gun didn't like Winchester Wal-Mart bulk pack at all -- the wide mouth of the hollow point was the problem. But with Remington bulk pack, it shoots into 1 3/4 inches at 25 yards, from a modified weaver grip.

The Micro sight overhangs the back of the slide, and the long barrel (6 1/2") I think contributes to its accuracy, giving a sight radius of 9 1/2".

 

[51Cards]

Just for fun, try it with Federal Premium Gold Medal (my Mk III's favorite "cheap" diet); Lapua Midas (absolute best results, waaaaaay too expensive); Eley Pistol Standard (not much different from "Match," in mine); Eley Club Extra.

At 50 - 75 feet there seems to be a fine dividing line, with around 950 fps being spot on. I think. I have a chrony, haven't broken it out yet, so I'm going by balistics lists. But my results at 50 feet are repeatable. Lapuas, hit the thumbtack first shot, same area 8-9 out of 10. Federal Premiums, best for the buck.

Eleys smell the best.

 

[wally]

The Spitfire may get suddenly inaccurate at longer ranges since it starts out super sonic and as the velocity drops accuracy will almost certainly be poor after it flies thru the super to sub sonic transition.

--wally.

 

[LotI]

Just for fun, try it with Federal Premium Gold Medal (my Mk III's favorite "cheap" diet); Lapua Midas (absolute best results, waaaaaay too expensive); Eley Pistol Standard (not much different from "Match," in mine); Eley Club Extra.

At 50 - 75 feet there seems to be a fine dividing line, with around 950 fps being spot on. I think. I have a chrony, haven't broken it out yet, so I'm going by balistics lists. But my results at 50 feet are repeatable. Lapuas, hit the thumbtack first shot, same area 8-9 out of 10. Federal Premiums, best for the buck.

Eleys smell the best.

I just happen to have some Club Xtra and Federal Gold Medal in the collection (26 different types) so I'll give it a go. I spent 2+ hours at the range, not all day!

 

[51Cards]

Just tried the VQ compensator. Either I'm nuts, had too much coffee, or the thing opened my groups up. Probably not a great addition. (Looks good, though )

 

[mscott]

The Volquartzen extractor may help your feeding problem. Also keep it well lubed. I make sure mine are wet before I start shooting. The new extractor fixed feeding and ejection issues in both of my Rugers and for $10 it's a cheap fix. I wish I would have tried it sooner. I generally use the bulk packed Federals from Walmart and my one Rugers finally started screwing up after 2,000 rounds. I don't clean them until it's necessary.

 

[rustymaggot]

a little known cause for failures with the ruger markI and II is the wax coating on the cartridges binds in the magazines. load a few rounds into a mag and add a drop to the front area of the magazine where the bullet tips rub. work the rounds up and down the magazine with the thumb button and load it up and fire. if you oil the front area inside the magazines every 150-250 shots, you will have far less failures.

+1 on volquartzen exact edge extractors. they rock!