Ruger Mark IV

First topic message reminder :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAteY5RFEoI

Finally!!!

Thanks for the post JimVon. It's crazy that the worst ammo is the only one that cycles reliably. Rugers have always had bad triggers. My first bullseye pistol was a Ruger MK I with 5 1/2" bull barrel. It was always super accurate and reliable. My second bullseye pistol was a High Standard Citation. It was everything that a good bullseye pistol should be straight out-of-the-box. Except for your reliability issues with your MK IV, everything seems to be good to go. What kind of malfunctions are you getting?

Mike,
The malfunctions that I'm getting are almost all related to failure of the action completely cycle.  The bolt does not run its full course and slams back home before the spent case has a chance to eject.  Sometimes, I will get a stove pipe.  
I'm going to give it a real good cleaning and see what happens.  I know that I should have cleaned it before shooting, but I striped it down and everything looked pretty good, so I didn't do to initially.  I'm wondering if a good cleaning and some more rounds runt through it might fix the problem.  It just seems just a tad tight.
I will follow up with what i find out.
Here is a question about triggers - I know that Volquartsen is working on a trigger for this pistol.  Are they good triggers, or is there something better out there in the Bullseye community.  For example - In Highpower, Geissele is kind of the go-to trigger.  What do you guys use?

Jim, it's possible the pistol needs to "break in". Run a brick of high-velocity ammo through it, clean it again and then try standard velocity again. Cycling the action a few hundred times will smooth out the little surface imperfection. My Ruger (Mk III) digests most standard velocity without issues; CCI Standard Vel, Remington Subsonic, SK Standard Plus, RWS, Eley, etc.  Federal standard velocity gave me and a lot of other guns some issues.


As for the trigger, Volquartsen is the only one I'm aware of for a drop-in kit. I have their trigger and sear in my pistol; I think they also make a hammer. It's not a great trigger, but it's certainly better than stock. Another option is to send your gun to a bullseye gunsmith and have him do his magic on the stock parts.

Don't waste your time with Volquartsen.  I had one of their complete high dollar lowers and the trigger/sear was worn out with less than 5000 rounds through it. Trigger pull dropped to only 1.5 pounds. Sent it to Volquartsen they said sorry.  My recommendation would be to make contact with Jon Eulette, high master member and gunsmith who is on this forum.  Or send to Clark Custom for a trigger job.  Clark has been building Ruger's since there were Ruger pistols.

Here is an easy fix to remove the mag disconnect safety.  Helps with trigger pull, too, from a poundage standpoint.  Doesn't do anything for pre-travel, over-travel, or sear engagement.  There are many custom parts available on this site, specific to the Ruger 22 pistols.

https://www.tandemkross.com/Steel-Hammer-Bushing-for-Mark-III-and-2245-Pistols_p_9.html

This bushing now allows the mags to drop free.  This was a big deal for me.

I did my own trigger work on the factory parts on my MK3 22/45.  The sear polished fine, and the hammer hook does kinda OK, but mine was very rough from the factory.  Had to drill/tap trigger for both pre/over travel.  I put in a Wolff trigger spring to reduce some poundage.

It turned out OK, and mine now trips at 2-3/4lbs as per RCBS gauge.  I maintain 0.020" sear engagement.

Gota ask. Are the internals the same for the Mk3 and Mk4? I don't know if the fixes for a 3 work on a 4. I would suspect they are a totally different animal but could be wrong.

Len

JimVon wrote:Mike,
The malfunctions that I'm getting are almost all related to failure of the action completely cycle.  The bolt does not run its full course and slams back home before the spent case has a chance to eject.  Sometimes, I will get a stove pipe.  
I'm going to give it a real good cleaning and see what happens.  I know that I should have cleaned it before shooting, but I striped it down and everything looked pretty good, so I didn't do to initially.  I'm wondering if a good cleaning and some more rounds runt through it might fix the problem.  It just seems just a tad tight.
I will follow up with what i find out.
Here is a question about triggers - I know that Volquartsen is working on a trigger for this pistol.  Are they good triggers, or is there something better out there in the Bullseye community.  For example - In Highpower, Geissele is kind of the go-to trigger.  What do you guys use?

Your chamber could be either tight or have some roughness. Also, I would use a good light oil on the bolt after cleaning. The best trigger pull I ever felt on a .22 pistol came from Clark Custom, but that was many, many years ago. Clark makes a replacement trigger which helps. They advertise complete trigger jobs on Rugers for $125. Of course the new MK IV might be too new for them to work on. It would be worth a phone call to check them out.

I would not be disappointed with the Ammo most target pistols have their preferences. 

Ruger triggers have not been great out of the box lately there are aftermarket fixes Clark and Volquartsen. 

Personally, if I were to buy a Ruger I would seriously consider an MKII.

OK, now dont bust my balls to hard here, because this is just MY OWN opinion & evaluation:
The new MK4 is a really really nice pistol, as long as we dont have to talk about the trigger. I`ve never seen, shot, owned, a ruger gun with a decent (OEM) trigger. But that surely didnt stop me from buying the MK4. Price was no object either. If your going to complain about the price, then you obviously dont need it or cant afford it. A S&W model 41 is TWICE the money over the MK4, and i cant make the S&W 41 shoot ANY BETTER than the MK4. So THAT argument is simply put to rest as far as i`m concerned.  

The new MK4 is an absolutely sweet piece of artwork. The fit and finish is just simply amazing. Blows all former MK series right out of the water. The take-down is mind blowing easy. The gun locks right back up tight, no movement whatsoever, its locked down tight. By the looks of the locking system, its built like a tank. I dont see this being an issue down the road either... the locking lug is angled to take up slack over the years of shooting...i believe it will always stay tight...unless you throw it out of your truck at 200mph...lol. 

I absolutely LOVE the spring loaded mag flying right out of the frame when you hit the now oversized mag release. Under the grip there is a spring installed in the grip of the frame that shoots the mag right out of the frame. I`m greatful of them updating the slide lock lever....BUT, the ambi`safety is terrible. It hits my knuckle on the right side of the gun when sending it into FIRE mode. Ruger DID include the special washer to install on the right safety if you want to remove it, which i DID do, once done, its a non issue any longer.

Now the GOOD stuff: (ruger triggers CAN be fixed...!!!!!!!)
Volquartson just now released their MK4 trigger kit ($105), you KNEW they would...lol. I already bought the kit. Now that the MK4 had finally hit the market, all my past MK series pistols are gone now, and it couldnt have been soon enough...we ALL had waited for ruger to do something about that horrible take-down of the previous series MK series guns...! The MKIII trigger kits are said to NOT work in the MK4 guns, BUT, there are a couple YOUTUBE videos showing that they CAN be modfied to work. No thanks, i`d rather have the CORRECT kit in mine. The trigger kits are relatively easy to install. And it WILL greatly improve the trigger system. 

Now, as for shooting and accuracy, its spot on, and it actually shoots nicer than any of my previous MK series pistols. I bought the full stainless TARGET model. You CAN get the TARGET model with the aluminum frame if so desired, i did not, as i would much rather have full stainless, even if its alot heavier than the aluminum frame model. 

The ammo problems... the only ammo i found issues with was remington t-bolt. I found VERY inconsistent powder charges in RemT-Bolt ammo. I guess some things dont ever change over the years. I never liked remington ammo anyway, but had to try it to give a fair test. What seemed to shoot the best was CCI ammo, and on all levels. Winchester was ok, not great, but ok. All my shots were sandbagged, @ 25 yds. Largest group being under one inch. I only tested with AMERICAN made ammo. Mainly because i believe in supporting OUR USA manufacturers. 


Am i sorry for buying the new MK4...??? Big fat NOPE....! Never looking back....PERIOD. I also have the S&W Victory, i like it, it shoots dead nuts on, but i just had to have the new MK4, just because i can. I believe this MK4 is gonna be a huge selling product... its bullet proof design is very hard to beat. Time has proven that over the years with the past MK series... they just now got better.

Ok, like i said, go easy on me, i just wanted ya`ll to know, that if your thinking about buying the MK4, you wont be very disappointed.

I bought the Mark IV and after a few changes that I knew I'd make before I bought it, I love it. Looked at the SW22 Victory but it just didn't do anything for me.
As for the Mark IV I added the Vorquartsen Accurizing Kit, new fiber optic sights from Williams Fire Sight and new target grips from The Altamont Company.

Hey guys, I'm considering a MKIV and have a couple questions. Is the longer barrel of the Hunter worth the weight penalty over the Target model? If the longer barrel isn't worth it would you prefer the lighter blued steel or the heavier stainless model? Finally, what is the general opinion on the contoured grip versus the standard grip?

Keyholed wrote:Hideous.

Disassembly was never that bad, you just needed special tools. Like a rubber mallet, and a vise. Meanwhile, the magazine disconnect is still there, and they apparently no longer include an optics rail with the gun. Whether or not the new disassembly actually works remains to be seen. Some Victory owners report that the S&W takedown is occasionally not so easy--right down to breaking wrenches.

They should just go back to making the Mk II and be done with it.

Having reported breaking an Allen key when disassembling my SW22 for the first time, I hope you're not using my experience to disparage the pistol.

A driver bit and a ratchet to release the screw the very first time and perfect since.

I receive one Ruger MKIV(black) in the armory i work,and is very balanced,impressed with the dissassembly time,compared with the Mark III. i think is a good pistol,but ruger in a future will consider a trigger job for this pistols. i don't change the trigger of my supermatic trophy military.

JimVon wrote:Mike,
The malfunctions that I'm getting are almost all related to failure of the action completely cycle.  The bolt does not run its full course and slams back home before the spent case has a chance to eject.  Sometimes, I will get a stove pipe.  

Hard to diagnose over the internet, but it sounds a lot like the issues I've had with a couple of MKII's in my stable.  Here's a link to the solution for me.  I modified all my mag's like it said to & now they will work in any of the 6 without the dreaded stovepipe.  Remember to only remove a little bit at a time.
Al

http://www.1bad69.com/ruger/stovepipe.htm

It's to bad they couldn't put in a decent extractor and trigger while they were at it.

Any word on the accuracy of these new MKIV pistols? I'm thinking of grabbing a SS target model and installing a Match Dot as a backup to my Nelson.

Accuracy has never been a problem with a Ruger, it is their trigger.  Plan on spending $125 to $175 for a decent trigger job.  Don't waste your money on the Volquartsen parts as they are junk.  Either send it to Clark or have one of the qualified gunsmiths on this forum do a trigger job for you.

Maybe your idea of a junk trigger is different than mine. I have a buddy that installed the volquartsen trigger in his mkiii Hunter and it seems pretty nice.

For reference I've had a 70's eta S&W 41, two les baer 1911's, a 1911 lower worked over by a smith from the colt custom shop, a 1907 Anschutz rifle, FWB 601 and FWB 2700.