Adding weight to Ruger 22/45

It has a dot on it and shot my first league 22 match last night.  It felt nose heavy to me.  I know you can buy aftermarket frames but thats not in the budget anytime soon.  Any other way to add weight to make it not so nose heavy?

On a side note, I am now hooked on Bullseye.  Good God was that a fun night.  

Thanks Gents

Joe

What is your barrel length? Bull or tapered?
Jon

Which model of 22/45 do you have? Do you have a Mk III, a Mk IV, a Tactical, a Lite?

MK III 5.5" bull barrel Target/Bull barrel.

I think you need to just get used to it. That's optimum barrel length and diameter for that pistol.
Jon

He may be used to shooting polymer guns ?

Never seen or heard of anyone needing extra weight towards the rear of a 22/45, but this hair-brained idea just popped into my cranium. Since you only need to load 5 rounds in the magazine for bullseye, is there a way to add a lead block or bar below the follower of the mag? Those stick on weights used to balance car wheels maybe? That would put weight rearward and low. Just a crazy idea, but might be worth looking into? I added these stick on weights inside the hollow stock of a Saiga rifle that seemed front heavy to me. Seemed to help.

I’ll shoot it more. Could be I need to get used to it

I'd shoot a lot more before starting to fiddle with weight balance.

If indeed you must fiddle, look for lead foil tape, usually sold for adding weight to the grip of a golf club or sometimes a tennis racket.

I have the same pistol, I very much like the "weight forward" balance.   However, my petite significant other who I bought and subsequently "borrowed" the pistol from to give it to my Son for his Bullseye endeavors, had to get used to it.

If it becomes untenable, after dry fire (daily) you could remove material from the bull barrel. I wouldn't take much, as I think you may find later you want it added back in   I was considering this until my wife adjusted.  She's very happy now.

Since you mention it is nose heavy, I might assume that the overall weight is not the issue?

What type dotsight do you have, and where is it mounted?  A 7 OZ Ultradot mounted forward on the barrel will have a significantly different affect than, say, a 2 OZ Burris FF3 mounted at the very rear (in place of the rear sight).  Depending on what you have now, this could be an easy and inexpensive way to play with the balance.

Its a relic vortex spark.  All I had on hand.  Works great but never thought about it creating the nose heavy.  It's not too uncomfortable but then again it don't feel like my 1911.  I'm going to shoot it LOTS more and see what happens.  Next weeks match should show me in a. different score I hope.  I can't start playing around too much with stuff until I have more trigger time.

Now, to get a dot on my RO...

This worked for me...    I got two 1.5 pound wrist weights from Walmart, and wore them for most of my dry firing sessions.  Quite heavy, and my hands and especially my arms complained, but when I took them off, for the rest of the session, the gun felt like it was made from plastic!

Doing this daily over a few weeks also builds up your muscles, so as time goes by, the weight of the gun seems to go down, even when picked up without the weights.


Also, for me, with my Model 41, I think it was Jon who mentioned some people move the optical sight way towards the rear of the gun, with both clamps next to each other. That made a tremendous difference in how the gun felt.

You might consider the alternative of reducing barrel weight by having a gunsmith make a slabside barrel out of your bull barrel.

BE Mike wrote:You might consider the alternative of reducing barrel weight by having a gunsmith make a slabside barrel out of your bull barrel.

I thought that Ruger barrels were not considered removable? I know Volquartsen Can do it, but thought it took special equipment?

gregbenner wrote:

BE Mike wrote:You might consider the alternative of reducing barrel weight by having a gunsmith make a slabside barrel out of your bull barrel.

I thought that Ruger barrels were not considered removable? I know Volquartsen Can do it, but thought it took special equipment?

Clark Custom has replaced barrels for many years, but that is off he subject. The sides of a bull barrel can be flattened without removing the barrel from the receiver. I would think that a gunsmith with a mill could do this, or one with a steady hand, a ton of patience, a good eye and plenty of spare time, could do it with files.

Mike38 wrote:Never seen or heard of anyone needing extra weight towards the rear of a 22/45, but this hair-brained idea just popped into my cranium. Since you only need to load 5 rounds in the magazine for bullseye, is there a way to add a lead block or bar below the follower of the mag? Those stick on weights used to balance car wheels maybe? That would put weight rearward and low. Just a crazy idea, but might be worth looking into? I added these stick on weights inside the hollow stock of a Saiga rifle that seemed front heavy to me. Seemed to help.

There are tungsten weight options to be found in a "Pinewood Derby" search on Amazon. Tungsten is more dense, heavy than lead.

How heavy is the heaviest barrel weight you have heard of?

The concern is weight vs porting vs compensator.
Options are: .45, 9mm/.38, .22.

On a 22/45?

JayhawkNavy02 wrote:On a 22/45?

Covering all bases.

Not an easy answer. Most pistols did not have weights available. HS 22 was one of the only one's I'm aware of with option of using underlug barrel weight. The Hammerli 208 had different weights ranging from 80-300 grams. S&W 52 had a weight the mounted under dust cover (1911 also). 22 pistols had different barrel lengths which added additional weight. The addition of full length Bomar sight rib added weight. Longslides added more weight. The list goes on. So I'm sure some hillbilly (just kidding) could've added a connecting rod from his blown up Hemi to make it just right for him
So it's not cut and dry.........
Jon

You could go and purchase a red dot like a MatchDot. They come up used here all the time, and mount it rearward on a a decent picatinny rail, ones from say Tandemkross or Majestic Arms come to mind but that depends on how much you want to spend.That will add 5-7 oz. over the grip frame.
As suggested get familiar with the 22/45 as is..Try a simple holding drill for strengthening you grip and forearm. Do a blank wall holding drill..Grip an unloaded 22/45 bring up to you normal sight alignment, with the usual outstretched arm and hold that position using all you forearm strength and grip. Grip and hold as tight as possible using your entire upper body muscles, hold this for one minute and then rest for two minutes and do this for 8-10 reps. If done correctly you will be tired after 8-10 reps but your grip and forearm strength will slowly improve over time. Do  this exercise for 6-7 days straight..Thank  Sgt Keith Sanderson when he was on the US AMU team for that exercise..its on You tube google him up ..

Add weight? No problem..Ok, not a 22/45 but solves that pesky light feeling. 

LenV wrote:Add weight? No problem..Ok, not a 22/45 but solves that pesky light feeling. 

Len wins this thread.  Hands down!

Oh?  Let’s try the other end of the pistol!

How about this 22/45 LITE I designed and 3d printed an adjustable ergo grip and nose weight for?

That 1/2x3” hex bolt buried in the nose half kept the nose down for sure!