Looking for 22 pistol advice,

hi everybody.

i'm looking to shoot my first 2700 match within the next month or so and i need a solution for 22. i have a stock ruger mark 3 22/45 with adjustable sights that i've been using to practice but i'm looking for a more accurate solution. Ideally i'd get a nelson conversion but the lead time on those is pretty long, might barely make it to me in time for perry. 

Should i wait on the nelson conversion and keep using my ruger mark 3?
Should i buy a new ruger mark 3 competition model?
Are there some other, better options? 


I'm looking to stay within $600 for right now so buying a SW 41 or pardini or hammerli is out. 

thanks

Loaded question. You're going to get a lot of different answers. Your stock MKIII should be plenty accurate. Have you considered putting a dot on it?

I mhave a Rugar MK III 22/45 target model with a red dot and it is more accurate than I can shoot.

mspingeld wrote:Loaded question. You're going to get a lot of different answers. Your stock MKIII should be plenty accurate. Have you considered putting a dot on it?

i'm planning on shooting iron sights only so i'm not really planning on putting dots on my pistols. i'm sure i'll get a lot of varied answers but i'm very new to bullseye and i'm trying to get a decent baseline for where i need to go. appreciate the reply though.

get a trigger job done on your gun.

The MK III will serve you well as you learn the fundamentals and progress.  See if your fellow shooters will let you shoot their Hammerli, Pardini or Model 41 so that you can make a choice about your next gun.  The Ruger can always serve as a backup later.

Have you had any issues with the Ruger, either with accuracy or reliability? What's making you consider a new gun?

mspingeld wrote:Have you had any issues with the Ruger, either with accuracy or reliability? What's making you consider a new gun?

I haven't had any issues, I love this pistol. My concern is how well it can perform as a training tool for my .45 and how competitive it can be at 50 yards. I'm thinking that the most accurate pistol I can get will help me get in the black quicker than not knowing if its the gun or my shooting.

Have you tried bench resting it at 50 yards to see how tight it shoots? My guess is it's probably fine. The grip angle is good for 45 training but only a 45 will help you with the heavier trigger and recoil.

Do you have a 45? What kind?

I agree with AllAces: Focus on fundamentals and smaller and smaller groups. (and keep reading this forum! Lot's of good advice and people willing to help)

I have a Mark III and a 22/45 Lite both with VQ trigger assys.  The 22/45 is a fun gun but just to light for me.  I also have a S&W Victory with a VQ SS fluted barrel with forward blow comp.. Off a rest it is great but the trigger is not great for BE.  BTW I don't think the VQ barrel improved the accuracy but don't know the original barrel was never used.  I am going with the Nelson on a decated frame both with KC trigger assys and think both guns being the same is going to help.  You are right that was a long 9 week wait.  Don

mspingeld wrote:Have you tried bench resting it at 50 yards to see how tight it shoots? My guess is it's probably fine.

^^^ This.  If your Ruger can shoot reasonably well (say 3"-4" groups from a machine rest, or 4"-5" groups from a sandbag at 50 yards), switching to a more accurate gun won't help you in any meaningful way until you are regularly shooting Expert-level slow fire scores (90%), and even then we're only talking about ~1.5 points per target or less.  Unless your gun is horribly inaccurate or has a ridiculously bad trigger, a marksman or sharpshooter will always find that the path to better scores lies in improving your fundamentals, rather than improving your equipment.

When testing, try a few different types of ammo... rimfire guns are notoriously picky about which ammo they shoot best, the differences can be significant, and your Ruger might have different ammo preferences than someone else's Ruger.

The Ruger will last you until you reach expert class or so. Then you'll start noticing the finer differences. Get a trigger job done as suggested and use it to learn on. It's plenty accurate for now. Also - go ahead and order the Nelson. You'll love it in the long run and you can get plenty of good use out of the Ruger while you wait for the Nelson. And once you get the Nelson keep the Ruger as a loaner or a backup. That was what I did. My Ruger is retired to my back up. And it saved my butt on one occasion.

I went from the MKII 22/45 to a Nelson, made the trigger too light on the Ruger and then made it terrible trying to correct it.  The Nelson arrived and the Ruger is relegated as a backup/loaner with a 3.5lb trigger.

consider this. Of all the pistols and all the high masters shooting them since 1964 the team .22 record is still held by two guys shooting Rugers along with two guys shooting Model 41's, all using iron sights.

worry not what pistol you are shooting but where you are pointing that pistol. I have a Ruger standard it shoot's eights just as well as my Hammerli if that is where i'm pointing it.

Skill compensates for equipment lacking, not so much the other way.  I say if you can do well at 25 yard decide if you want to buy a new gun

I shot HM with a Ruger MKII before moving on to a different pistol. Get a trigger job and use Clark steel trigger and use a MKII hammer bushing to get rid of the magazine safety block.
Jon

Jon Eulette wrote:I shot HM with a Ruger MKII before moving on to a different pistol. Get a trigger job and use Clark steel trigger and use a MKII hammer bushing to get rid of the magazine safety block.
Jon

^ solid advise   but I'm pretty sure he didn't stay with a MKII on his way to HM or did he ?

Chris Miceli wrote:

Jon Eulette wrote:I shot HM with a Ruger MKII before moving on to a different pistol. Get a trigger job and use Clark steel trigger and use a MKII hammer bushing to get rid of the magazine safety block.
Jon

^ solid advise   but I'm pretty sure he didn't stay with a MKII on his way to HM or did he ?

I was shooting 880's with the Ruger regularly with high of 889. 
Jon

nelson conversion,a high standard or in the situation of a ruger,a mark 4,the dissassembly is better than a mk 3.

I win a lot of (easy) matches with my Mk III 22/45. Don't think for one minute that it is not accurate enough; it is. I'll agree that the trigger is far from perfect, but with the right technique it is doable.

I shot this group with mine last week at 20 yards, one handed slow fire, using the iron sights. I was using bulk high-velocity Winchester 333, nothing fancy.

Get a trigger job and shoot what you have for now.  With a good trigger the gun you have is fine.  After you've shot for a while, then decide what you want.

I'll only say that to advance to the top, you need a pistol that is capable of shooting into the 10 ring consistently at all distances. If you think the trigger pull is a problem or ammo are a problem, you need to fix the problems. Having confidence in your equipment is essential to good scores. Bullseye shooting is 90% mental...the rest is all in your head!

hey guys

thanks for all the good advice. i'm really excited to get into this shooting discipline and i'm taking all your input into account. i'm going to get a trigger job on my ruger mark 3 and shoot it until i really need another gun, its probably best to spend money on ammo and range time instead of a fancy new gun that i can't afford to shoot. i'll be back to post progress!

Shoot the Ruger.  They can do real good.  Example this Ruger.....


....shot this target.  Including the flyers. 


Darn Ruger....

The Ruger telegraphed those flyers as it shot them too.

Darn Ruger.