Ruger Mark III

D

Doubletapp

New member
Today I picked up a Ruger Mark IIII 22/45 target. I'm already not a fan of the stock sights as well as how the magazine doesn't drop freely. Has anyone changed the sights for more visible sights on theirs or installed that bushing to delete the magazine safety? How do you like it? What other upgrades did you make that you also like?
 
I love this gun and haven't had a problem with the magazine.
It's a very accurate gun and shoots any ammo I've fed it. I
Have only changed the grips on it with houge finger groove
Rubber grips and wow, it made a huge difference in how com-
Fortatable it is to shoot. Only complaint I could possibly say
I have with it would be that breaking it down for cleaning is a bear!
You'll love it. Enjoy!
 
My MKIII 22/45 is by far the most fun of all my guns to shoot. I can shoot it at long distances accurately and as far as .22's go, its extremely reliable. All that said, while I'm not 100% sure, I believe there might be a modification that allows the mags to drop free. As for sights, I replaced my front blade with a green fiber optic hiviz sight that works very well. I can't remember who makes it but I found it on Amazon...

 
Tandomkross has a utube vid of changing out the bushing. Very easy to do. Took me about 10 min.

Best mod you can do to the gun. I stuck a reddot on mine to fix the sights
 
Thanks guys. I'm going to order that bushing as well as sights from Amazon. The ones I've been looking at are the williams fire sights. I have yet to take it apart but I hear it's a PITA!
 
Doubletapp,

Here is the sight I have...

http://www.amazon.com/HIVIZ-Ruger-B...1425532226&sr=8-2&keywords=ruger+mkiii+sights

It also comes with a tube of replacement fiber rods, both red and green.

As for disassembly, I've had mine for a few years now and disassembled it 4 times. On the fourth time, I managed to break the firing pin and locked up the entire gun. Ruger fixed it for free and paid for shipping. Apparently, its something that happens quite often. According to the owner of my LGS, the tech at Ruger says it happens so much that they give everyone a free, one time pass. I just run a patch down the barrel every once and a while and oil as needed. Unless I start getting malfunctions, I don't plan on taking it down again.
 
Taking a new gun apart, looking at it, cleaning it, maybe taking care of some rough edges and tool marks, is something of a ritual most hardcore gun enthusiasts do religiously but honestly it isn't necessary and it can really be a pain to put back together again.

I shot my Mark II a lot for years before I finally succumbed to the urge to take it apart and really, it wasn't necessary.

If you do want to do it there are videos on the Ruger web site under 'tech tips' that can help.

http://www.ruger.com/resources/videos.html
 
Take the grips off and use a spray solvent like Gun Scrubber instead of taking them apart.

Getting them back together really isn't hard, but most people simply forget to proper way to tilt the gun when reassembling
 
Removing the mag safety and LCI, made cleaning and disassembly much easier. It was worth it in my opinion.

As far as cleaning.

Once when my Ruger was starting to have function issues. I sprayed clp liberally into the ejection port and onto the bolt, then worked the bolt several times to spread it around.

Let it set a day, then wiped out what I could reach.

That did the trick, and it worked well again.


I did that as a test, as I normally break it down and clean... So it seems that one could do something similar and go a long time without breaking down the pistol.


The biggest thing I can say about taking a Ruger apart, and then putting it back together...

Keep an eye on the hammer spur. It can fall too far forward and get stuck behind a pin in the frame... Or it can move too far back and get stuck over the mainspring housing and prevent the housing from closing... Getting the spur stuck can cause assembly issues and can be a pain to undo. It can lock things up.

Also know that the barrel assembly can twist on the frame a little and not be lined up just right, which makes inserting the takedown pin impossible, it will look like it wants to go in place, but the hole is just a little off and it won't.
 
Last edited:
Williams Fire Sights,,,

My range buddy put a set of these on his Mk-III 22/45,,,
The difference shooting with them is amazing.

2011rugermkii.jpg


Here is their website,,,
It's the 70957 item.

At $62.95 they are a bit pricey,,,
But I like having the "fire" on front and rear.

My problem is that I have a pair of Mk-III 22/45's,,,
So it's going to cost me double to upgrade. :eek:

Oh well,,,
Easy come - easy go. :p

Aarond

.
 
I swapped the sights for two-tone fibre-optic Williams sights. Front was green the rear was orange. Very nice!! The mag safety prevents the mag dropping free and, following advice on here, I found a Youtube video that showed how to remove that feature so that mags dropped out beautifully.

I am as close to being a gunsmith as Mother Teresa was to being a MMA fighter, so if I can do it, anyone can.

(I am also as close to being an MMA fighter as I am to being another Mother Teresa, but that is another story)
 
If you're going to replace the bushing, you might as well go "complete pig" and install a Volquartsen trigger and sear.

Changing those parts out makes a big difference in the trigger pull.
 
I put the Tandemkross bushing in my 22/45 to eliminate the magazine disconnect. The magazines now drop free, the trigger pull is improved, and tear down and reassembly is now just like the MKII. Well worth the effort of installing it.

I prefer the stock target sights because that's what I'm used to on my other handguns. Replacing the front sight should be easy breezy though. There are a lot of options to suit your preferences.
 
Snyper,

I don't think the grips can be removed on this particular model.
Click to expand...

You may be right.

I was thinking about the other MKIII's and MKII's

The newest formula of Gunscrubber is safe for composite parts.
Make sure it says "composite safe" on the can

There's one newer variation of the 22/45 with removable panels also:
http://www.realguns.com/articles/235.htm
 
Last edited:
Remove the pointless mag disconnect and install a Sam Lam (or other) hammer bushing and the mag will drop much more freely.
 
I have the Target model with the bushing installed. Works good. Gun still needs trigger work. My tired, old eyes are not too fond of iron sights anymore, including white dots, fiber options, etc., which are actually worse for me So, I've used a red dot and now using a telescope on the Mark iii. Red dots appear like red blobs for me (except for those $500 plus red dots); but still better than most iron sights. However, I do OK with the sights on most 1911s, full size H&Ks and full size SIGs.
 
I did a ton of stuff to mine, which was a gift from a friend. The nicest thing about the MkIII is the mag release position to me, so I got rid of the mag safety and I just don't recall what else but a lot. It's by far the best .22 pistol I've ever owned after doing those things.
I think it had a trigger lock setscrew thing too that I yanked out, anything that looks like a lawyer thought it needed gets yanked out on principle.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top