Ruger Standard Opinions

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film495

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Keep looking at .22 semi-auto pistols for a range toy. I don't own any Ruger anything at present - so, keep coming back to look at the Ruger Standard with the tapered barrel and am looking for opinions from people with experience with them.

They've been made for a long time, and have many versions - are there versions to look out for? I seem to end up getting things from the 70s, just sort of like that era. Was born in 72.

They are out there, what are the used ones worth? Don't care too much about collector value, I want to shoot it regularly.

Are the mags and the parts interchangeable for the different versions? Is there a version that is considered better than the others?
 
the mark II version is better than others. parts are, for the most part, interchangeable. none have collector value unless unfired and low serial no. mid 200's for a used one. mine is the bull barrel model mark I.

luck,

murf
 
The mark III's have the push button magazine release vs. the heal release on earlier models.
 
I have a family heirloom Standard from the mid fifty's that still shoots great.If I bought one today it would be one of the tactical models that you can put a Red Dot or some other optical on it if you wanted. The Standard pretty much limits you to open fixed sights on the gun.
 
love my MKIII. Button mag, bolt hold open, tapered barrel. Ultra accurate, discontinued. Its mag disconnect, and LCI mean it will never hold collector status, so you don't need to feel bad about burning one up. Ruger is lousy about discontinued product support, but the aftermarket supports the standard well. MK2's go for what MK3's did new at the same time, but nothing much wrong with 3. Don't let people scare you off with cleaning horror stories. I have needed to take mine apart exactly once, to replace the extractor (the MK3/10/22 extractors are pretty low quality, Volquartzen makes a great replacement). Cleaning can be done without disassembly, and disassembly is not nearly as hard as people make it out to be. People just want to pull a pin and have it fall apart. I never hear people complain their CZ, Sig, or Beretta are hard to strip, and they are all way harder than the standard
 
I've been working on and with Ruger Mark pistols since 1970. I can't think of an issue that hasn't crossed my bench that I haven't been able to correct, easily. The new Ruger Mark IV has made basic cleaning extremely easy. While the Ruger Mark III has given some folks fits as far as disassembly and then reassembly, there are things to do, and a simple part to change, that will make all the Mark III's as easy to work with as the Mark II pistols are.
If one will just remember to tilt the muzzle slightly upward so that the hammer strut swings back over the mainspring housing assembly, concave mainspring spring plunger, closing the mainspring housing latch is easy peasy. This is my very first Ruger Standard that my Dad had to sign for 'cause I was a bit too young:

JdyE95El.jpg A54 grip frame Standard. Adjustable trigger added and custom grips. Still shoots just great!
 
My Standard was made in whatever the last year that they made them was, just before they switched to the Mark II... 1983 or so.

I got it used for around $300 OTD in the past year or so. It's an excellent shooter, way more accurate than I am.

I use cheap ammo, rarely clean it properly, and it gives me no problems at all.

It's one of my favorite handguns.

Ruger Standard 22lr

Ruger Standard 22lr

 
NIGHTLORD40K said:
Love my Standard. The Mk1 magazines are not forward compatible, but the Mk2 mags work in a Mk1 if you switch the button to the other side.
Click to expand...

Absolutely correct! I don't even use the original magazines any longer as the Mark II magazine body works very well in my A54 and A100 grip frames. The A54 grip frame will need to have the follower button on the left side of the Mark II style magazines, but the A100 grip frame can use the magazines as is. And, don't forget, we now get an addition round in the magazine, just in case 10 rogue squirrels attack all at once.
 
Tallball said:
My Standard was made in whatever the last year that they made them was, just before they switched to the Mark II... 1983 or so.

I got it used for around $300 OTD in the past year or so. It's an excellent shooter, way more accurate than I am.

I use cheap ammo, rarely clean it properly, and it gives me no problems at all.

It's one of my favorite handguns.

Ruger Standard 22lr

Ruger Standard 22lr

Click to expand...

Nice pistol. Yours has the A100 grip frame, and it should be marked as such under the left grip panel. A sure way to tell which grip frame an owner has is the position of the bottom grip panel screws. The A54 grip frame right panel has the bottom grip screw a bit higher due to the clearance hump in the grip frame for the magazine follower button. On the A100 grip frame, and all the Mark versions with the Mark II and forward, have the grip panel screw on the right panel lower, and the left panel screw higher.
Hope my explanation helps somewhat.
 
I would absolutely stay away from the Ruger MKIII pistol. It was such a bad variation that it forced the company to come out with the MKIV. My buds who bought MKIII's, bought Volquartsen parts and converted them to the MKII configuration.

This is the best of the MKI, MKII, and MKIII, a MKII:

H3zQPWb.jpg

m7LLcAh.jpg


A Bullseye bud of mine purchased a MKIV and he loves it. I have been shooting my Ruger MKII's in bullseye competition and I recently added the Volquartsen trigger. I do not recommend the Volquartsen hammer or sear if you have a crisp trigger pull, but the trigger is adjustable for over travel and take up. I was disappointed in the sear/hammer set as the trigger pull had a lot of creep. I would not been able to install the trigger, sear and hammer, without help from Utube.




If you ever get this far, let me recommend that you not assemble/disassemble over shag carpet. I laid a white sheet on the floor, put a shop bib on, and sat down in the middle of the sheet to assemble the pistol. The greatest difficulty I had was with the Volquartsen extended safety plunger and spring. The plunger was sharp edged and it was not easy to get it to go in the safety. Any little misalignment in the pistol lower sent the plunger and spring sailing. The safety, trigger bar, and hammer are all hanging off the same pin, and pushing that pin in will move the safety enough to dislodge the plunger and spring. I placed a one foot by one foot magnetic tray under the pistol as I assembled the thing, and many times, the plunger and spring fell into it. So did other parts. There are other springs which go sailing without any effort at all, and unless you tape them in, pins fall out, and what was attached, fall out. The white sheet will help you find them. If you stand, the springs will fly for miles and miles! It is better to sit on the floor. (I found a pre WW2 M70 bolt stop plunger sweeping the floor with a magnet looking for a Ruger spring!) It took hours the first time, I got better and faster once I identified the correct punches to use and I began to use a plastic handled brush to jam the extended safety in place and keep it in place, as I assembled the hammer and trigger bar. I had to go through a box of brushes to find one that would work. I think I got the assembly down to a half hour.
 
Hey "film495" if I have steered this thread away form your original question with my post #5 I apologize. While the Tactical versions are Great... Fun.. guns if you want a Standard model they are also Great... Fun.. guns.

That Ruger still has this gun on the market as new for this long means something to me.
 
My Ruger Standard is as old as my wife is (1958). Both of them are still going strong.

Great pistol, it shoots where I point it. I can toss a soda can out in front of me, and dance it all the way to the 50 yard line without missing once.
 
Have had a lot of Ruger .22s over the years but my favorite has to be the Mk.II Model 512 with a 5 1/2" bull barrel. Just the right length and weight out front that give it perfect balance and great handling.

dPY1DmD.jpg
 
nothing wrong with the original standard model.
mark 2 added a last round bolt hold open. the 22/45 variant eschewed the metal frame and heel mag release and went with a plastic frame with a 1911 grip angle, thumb button mag release, and different style bolt release. The upper and internals were the same.
mark 3 added a mag disconnect, cheezy loaded chamber indicator, and button release. the 22/45 variant experienced the same changes as the mk3.
mk4 changed the takedown method, went with a cast frame instead of a stamped frame, dumped the LCI, added ambi safeties and increased the price into pretty spendy territory. (for me, the ambi safety digs into my thumb. I have a high grip. I do not like the mk4 for that reason.)

Most folks either like the mk2 or the mk4 the best. The mk3 is viewed a the lawyer's got ahold of it gun, and the mki gets pretty much forgotten. There are deals to be had on the mk3, since people tend to either hold on to the mk2 or dump the mk3 for the mk4. Personally, if I couldn't find a good deal on a mk2, I'd skip ruger altogether and get a buckmark. And I love my mk2's.
 
Middletown said:
Hey "film495" if I have steered this thread away form your original question with my post #5 I apologize. While the Tactical versions are Great... Fun.. guns if you want a Standard model they are also Great... Fun.. guns.

That Ruger still has this gun on the market as new for this long means something to me.
Click to expand...
no worries, any info is more than I started out with. lots of good info all around. fun to see all the input - although, I admit I'll have to spend some time going back through this and taking it all in. I tend to like models that worked and the manufacturers made lots of them. They go purchased for a reason, and that keeps the cost of acquiring them reasonable.

This would be a practice pistol. I have a few others that have roles for self defense, this one would just be purely for range practice, plinking etc. Most of my equipment is a bit older from the 70s, so - kind of enjoy cleaning them up and keeping them going as good shooters.
 
There is no reason in the world not to buy any MK model Ruger.:)

There may be reasons to buy one MK over another, but as whole they are jewels.

And who doesn't need more diamonds?!:D

I love the MKII I bought my Dad, and am secretly jealous of it.
I found it in our LGS. Nice shape, Pachmayer grips, and an obviously smithed trigger, it is so near to perfect.
Even my Dad can shoot the tops off soda bottles! :eek:
(not a gun guy, and now she languishes in his safe. I wish I could tell her how sorry I am. I will someday...)

I prefer the tapered barrel, even though my MKhybrid is a SharkLite.:cool:
Tandemkross and a TRS-Twenty five make me look good in front of our racing rack of steel.



I shall muddy the waters with a mention that the Browning Buckmark has been made for some time as well.
An older model may be found to play with as well.
I am not so well versed in the Buckmark, but love mine.
A seven inch Contour, more accurate than my MK, she is my bullseye pistol. And fully twice the weight! They come in a myriad of models, just like the Ruger. I bought it on a whim and have loved it since. It has nearly two bricks of ammunition through it with zero problems.

But that is a fifteenth of what has gone through my MK...;)

I believe "Can't go wrong, unless you paid too much." applies to your situation.:thumbup:
 
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I think I just like the Ruger, and since I don't own a Ruger, well … looking at the various models, it looks to me like the IV has a little different look to it in the way the frame is put together, and I don't really like it as much. Word on the street is the 3 was bungled by lawyers a bit, so - think I'm going to sit and watch and look for a Mark II, apparently that is when the slide stop/hold open came into effect. Maybe an earlier one if I see one come up, but guess it all depends how much patience I have.

Tallball - the pic you posted is what I think I want. Does that one have the slide hold open on the last shot?

Slamfire - I've actually taken to putting a pistol inside a Walmart shopping bag and then mostly closing it off and peeking into the bag if the operation I'm doing has pins and springs that can go flying. I had recently sent a Beretta safety detent spring and pin flying, and found the spring - pin was nowhere to be found. Only a few dollars for a new one, but - even though I had just made the same mistake assembling a week earlier - I did it again and it would have been lost again if I didn't use the bag to contain things. Even with the bag I thought it was gone again for a few minutes. Hate losing parts.
 
I agree that the MKII is the most iconic of the four. Patience is a virtue. There will be one that comes along.

I, too, thought the MKIV was a bridge too far. (mostly because I just bought a MKIII to soup up.)
Then the counter attendant showed me the take down for it...
I'm saving for a MKIV fluted hunter...;)
 
found a MKII on gunbroker and grabbed it. price was a little steep at 325, but the condition looked really good - and it said it came with 4 mags, and depending on mags, they can get kind of pricey to get after the fact, so - we'll see. Hope it is a good one. Funny thing is it looked to me like MKIII grips, with the red emblem on both sides, but appeared to be stamped MKII as far as I could read.
 
pics from listing, said 5" barrel, not sure if they actually made a 5" or if it is the standard 4.75" barrel. either way, I'll have something to run .22 through, without having to get my Dad's boyhood rifle out of storage, which has been hopefully now relegated to special occasions only events …

pix352415127.jpg pix679991250.jpg pix758162563.jpg pix853227329.jpg
 
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