HISTORY
William (Bill) Ruger and Alexander Sturm set out to design and build the perfect .22 rimfire pistol back in 1949 in Southport, Connecticut. Bill Ruger liked the looks of the Luger pistol, the Japanese Nambu pistol, and the Colt Woodsman. He also researched expired patent records for designs he could use to influence the look and feel of the Ruger Mark I pistol.
Sturm and Ruger realized their design would appeal to thousands of ex-servicemen home from World War II. They also knew the pistol had to be inexpensive and high quality. The pistol received high marks when reviewed by American Rifleman magazine that year, and Ruger’s firearms future was assured. The later Mark III is the subject of my review today.
MY RUGER
This pistol fits my grip well and has the unmistakably nice grip angle of the earlier designs. The Mark III’s grip resembles the Colt 1911 and feels like a delicate version of that gun. At a bit over 2 pounds, it is lighter but has a solid feel in my hand. It points naturally, and I can feel the secure texture of the 1911 checkering against my palm. The bull barrel’s weight aids in this pointability, steadying my aim.
Fire controls are copied from the 1911, too. Both the slide release and the magazine release are on the left side and easy to reach with my right thumb. They are not reversible, making this a right-hander’s gun, like the Colt 1911.
SIGHTS
Although the pistol comes with a nice micro-adjustable rear sight and blade front sight, my old eyes are not what they once were. No problem – Ruger includes an add-on optical sight rail that I use to mount my TruGlo Tru-Brite Reflex sight.
Weighing a few ounces, it projects a red or green reticle on its 1.25-inch screen. It offers a choice of four built-in reticles and five light intensities. Now, I can see!
MAGAZINE & AMMO
The factory 10-round steel magazines for this pistol are high quality and easy to load. Pull down on the loading button on the left side to make loading easy. The magazine is the heart of a semi-auto pistol. It must function, and it does. Most of my shooting is done for slow-fire accuracy, but I can rapid-fire without a jam.
Some .22-caliber semi-auto pistols can be sensitive to the ammo in their diet – not so with my gun. It will shoot standard-velocity and high-velocity .22 LR ammo reliably. CCI Quiet .22 LR ammo fired but did not cycle the bolt due to its low velocity of 750 fps , but this is to be expected.
RANGE TIME
Shooting the Mark III Target Model is a dream. Its trigger is crisp, and there is no felt recoil with standard-velocity ammo. Accuracy is quite good. Today, my targets are soda cans, 2-liter soda bottles, steel plates, and a paper target.
The water bottles are easily punctured and leak. Moving to soda cans, they explode nicely. Now my favorite: the 2-liter soda bottles. Once shot, they shower soda, and one explodes! Good for the flowers at Area 51.
Heavy steel plates do not move when hit with .22 rimfire, but you can see nice grouping. The paper target also shows good grouping.
‘CAN’ WE KEEP IT QUIET IN HERE?
Unlike modern Mark III Rugers, my pistol did not come with a threaded muzzle. My local gunsmith cut my muzzle back a bit and made a flush-fitting muzzle cap that is nearly invisible. My can is the Tactical Solutions Cascade model that adds 3 ounces to the gun when installed. It is less than an inch in diameter, 5 inches long, and invisible while sighting.
Using standard-velocity ammo, the sound of the gun is reduced to the mechanical click of the firing pin! This helps in breaking a clean shot without a flinch. Although the Cascade is discontinued, Tactical Solutions of Boise, Idaho, manufactures a better, newer model today.
Notice that the point of aim is somewhat different with the suppressor added, but this pistol is sighted to be dead-on with the can attached. The “milk bottle” shaped steel target at long range can be hit with two of four shots – impressive for a 5-inch barrel. Ruger knows how to build them!
SPECIFICATIONS
