Ruger Mark III 22/45 Range Report

Last night I went to the range with my wife's Ruger Mark III 22/45. It has the 4.5" heavy barrel and fixed sights. I bought this for her awhile ago but hadn't shot it. She wanted to go last night but was a bit under the weather. Since the gun was already packed I decided to break it in. I'd previously cleaned out all the factory preservative gunk and lubed the piece with Ballistol.

Between Dad, my brother, and myself we put 200 rounds through it. Ammo was CCI Mini Mag solids. Not one malfunction. Accuracy was pretty good, though limited by the heavy factory trigger pull. I did notice the trigger improving after 50 rounds or so.

IMO, the Mark III may not be as nice as the Mark I or Mark II, but it isn't bad. I would prefer not having the loaded chamber indicator and the lock, but as locks go, Ruger seems to do them well. They are unobtrusive and I can't see how they'd be activated accidentally. This is one of two Rugers with internal locks that I have, the other being my 50th Anniversary Blackhawk. In the latter, you need to either remove a grip panel or drill a hole in one panel to even use the lock.

When we met my wife was completely anti-gun. She came around and this Ruger will be her house gun once she gets out and shoots it. Once she gets more comfortable we'll look at moving her up to something a bit better suited to defense, e.g., a Ruger P95 in 9mm. But for now a .22 is better than nothing. It'll be loaded with Mini Mag solids since .22 LR is a marginal defensive round and needs all the penetration it can get.