22/45 Vs. 22/45 LITE?

B

BerdanSS

New member
I think I'm regretting getting the Lite over that solid barrel model:( this is a little "ranty" but here goes the full story.....

I wanted a good all round, target, small varmint ect. pistol. And something to be a partner host for my FV-SR can. So I looked at a couple pistols early this year. Mostly Rugers, as I've had several different models in the past. Which due to various financial hardships over the years, the little .22s always seem to go first. After visiting several shops frequently handling both, I settled in on the 22/45 lite over the standard 22/45 threaded model. I had planned on getting two of them by the end of the year. One for me, one for the wife. That way we'd both have a nice, fun and cost effective range gun to plink with on the weekends.

While I'm thrilled with the quality of the pistol (as always with ruger) and it functions flawlessly even with subsonic ammo. The accuracy is.....well...unimpressive to say the least compared to the other rugers I've had. I took about 9 different types of .22 to the range. The only one the pistol seem to shoot even close to my expectations of a rimfire ruger, were the CCI stingers. The one type of .22 that I don't have boat loads of. My wife and I both love the feel of the pistol..weight, balance, controls ect. The poor accuracy has made this the least shot pistol in the safe so far this year. And to top it off, the price of these things have plummeted since I bought mine:mad:

The salesmen I purchased it from at the LGS had both pistols there at the time. THey don't get paid commission, and I've dealt with this particular guy on the last three guns I've bought from there. He said "spend the little extra cash on the Lite" you will NOT be disappointed.

I later went back and asked him about this, because I WAS disappointed. He told me that he knew first hand that they seemed to be less accurate than his 5" ruger MKIII as well. Said he meant I should spend the extra and wouldn't be disappointed because of the weight savings and "balance" over the solid barreled model...since "your little lady will be shooting it'' :mad: I then informed him that my "little lady" regularly shoots a Beretta 92fs, my Gov. size 1911s and a friggin 6" .44 magnum and a little extra weight wasn't even a factor.:mad:

One thing I somehow overlook was the barrel is some kind of a floating steel "liner barrel" guess I had a dip$*** moment there. I should of known that just by looking at it.

Anyone else out there notice a marketable improvement in accuracy with the standard model over the LITE? This ones hardly been shot and looks brand new, but with the huge drop in price (in less than a year) I guess I can't get anywhere close to my money back :(
 
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FYI The ammo the pistol was first tested with, and subsequently used....are as follows:

CCI stingers
CCI standard Velocity LRN
Eley subsonic LRN
CCI subsonic
CCI "Quiet"
Remington "golden bullet" plated HP (old stock, not the new crap)
Remington "golden bullet" bulk pack "bucket" (yes the "new" crap:D)
Remington "thunderbolts" LRN
Winchester Wildcat High Velocity plated HP
CCI MinMag HP
Geko Match LRN
Some kinda old UMC semi wad cutter look'n things Grandpops may have got at handy hardware

Only thing I didn't take were the greentags because I have precious few of them.
 
Are you shooting from the bench or unsupported? I've owned several "lite" versions of pistols and unsupported I just can't hold the things as steady as their beefy counter parts.
 
There is nothing about the Lite that necessarily makes it less accurate. Tensioned barrels are typically just as accurate as traditional. It is quite a bit harder to hold steady. I have shot a lot of Steel Challenge and Ruger Rimfire matches. Light guns are faster, but to me the Lite is too light. I have to slow down a touch on wide transitions to make hits.
 
I have a 22/45 LITE Cobalt, and I have a Burris FastFire III mounted on top. I find that while the LITE is a lot lighter than the standard MkIII, with the Burris red dot on top, follow up shots are much faster and accurate than when I was using the sights. I also have a TAC SOL compensator installed on mine. Due to minimal recoil, and shooting with a red dot (having both eyes open), I have not had poor accuracy issues that some have brought up in regards to the 22/45 LITE.
 
okie
Both bench and unsupported. Both ways i shoot considerably less accurate than with my other rugers i had. Including my old mark II 4" tapered barrel.

phudd
Good points sir. I had thought about adding a comp at one time. To add some weight untill my suppressor arrives. I did get a set of houge rubber finger groove grips. They seem,to make for a more stable hold. We were called off work today due to the weather. Im getting ready to head to a new local indoor range. Ill post some results when i get back

Idaho
hmmm. I bet that would help. That was my original goal was to have an all out "fun gun" suppressor, red dot.....maybe a lazer :D i was actually looking at a fast fire yesterday, And abushnell trophy.
 
tallball
Maybe you just got a lemon?
Click to expand...

Could be a possibility. The trip to the range was disappointing. And making it worse, I don't know if I should be disappointed in myself or the pistol. I just find it really hard to believe, as much as I shoot I'm causing this with trigger control and the pistols weight.

While in my opinion, Ruger has a history of making over-engineered hand barge chunk'o'gun pistols....I've yet to ever have or shoot a Ruger anything that wasn't robust, reliable and consistent. This thing, graceful as it is...is all over the dang place. Every other Ruger .22 I've had, with the exception of a "2nd" generation single six; I've been able to (with enough shooting) end up with a raged single hole the size of a quarter at the least (from around 10-15 yards.)

Not so with this little "gem". I can get a 2 round start at a clover leaf dead POA, then with the 3rd round and subsequent 3 magazines, go from that into barely making "minuet of pie plate". With the same ammo. My dads base model browning buck mark shot circles around this thing, again with the same ammo. The sights have been double and triple checked, rock solid tight. That being said (probable start an argument with this) I detest the sight ruger uses on the MK III and 22/45s

I'm going to try a dot sight just to humor myself. I planned on one anyway, before I even bought the pistol. I'f it doesn't pan out, I'll just take it off, sell the danged thing and put the sight on the new pistol.
 
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Mine aren't range guns, and I don't shoot at paper targets much (prefer my steel spinners) but in the field I have had good luck with my LITEs.

Both of mine have had a few "upgrades", the most beneficial (to me) in terms of accuracy were the Volquartsen target sears.

The Tandemkross hammer bushings deleted the silly magazine safety and allows the mags to drop free.

The Tandemkross LCI fillers plugge the gash on the side after removing the silly loaded chamber indicator (which improved feeding in mine).

I can score hits with the red-dot equipped pistol much quicker than with the open sighted gun.

RugerLITEs_zpsa63b216c.jpg
 
I own a Ruger Mk 3. Love it - very accurate. Also own a Ruger 22/45 Lite. Hate it. Shoots like a shotgun. I can hit a pie plate but it is all over the place. I checked sight - front. and back were loose. Was happy to find that out. Shot again - all over the place. Shot of bag side by side with 2 other 22LRs. The other 2 were accurate, 22/45 all over the place. I think you are on to something. I just don't know what can cause such poor accuracy with a fixed barrel pistol.
 
I have three Ruger MK II's one of which is a MK II era 22/45. They are ALL tack drivers. If I was getting the type of accuracy being described with the Lite above, I'd send the gun back to Ruger.
 
I have a Mark II Target, and three 22/45s, One is a LITE. It shoots as accurately as the others. There is something wrong with your Lite. Contact Ruger, explain your problem, make them pay shipping, send it back.
 
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