A Review of the Ruger Mark-II Pistol

Today I am reviewing the Ruger MK-II pistol. This is a target pistol which uses the .22lr cartridge. The model I'm reviewing is stainless steel and has a 5.5 inch bull barrel. This model came out before the more recent MK-III design. The MK-II does not have a loaded chamber indicator and the top of the pistol is not drilled for a scope rail. However, for these reasons I like the MK-II better. The loaded chamber indicator while adding another factor of safety on the MK-III takes away from the pistol's appearance.

The only time I had a jam was when I was using CCI Velocitor rounds which appeared to have a slightly fat bullet face. I've not had a single problem with any other ammunition in this gun. I would say that the MK-II is more liable in a .22 caliber revolver. This is because the .22 long rifle round has a rim that needs to be struck sufficiently hard for the primer base to fire. In the MK-II the firing pin has adequate force to fire the round.

Some negatives about the gun are that takedown and cleaning is a hassle. One can get better at it with practice but there are other .22 pistols that are much easier to take apart and clean. So if you get a MK-II or III get ready to spend a little time with this aspect.

As far as accuracy goes, the MK-II is about as accurate as the shooter firing the pistol. I wouldn't say that it is as accurate as a revolver but it is close nonetheless. There is a little pop of recoil on the semi autos that I didn't find on the heavy barrel revolvers such as those made by Smith & Wesson. I suspect that accuracy can be improved through the use of a scope or red dot site.

I think one of the factors adding to the reliability of the pistol is its magazine design. The thin angled magazines in MK-II pistols are easy to load and easy to fire. They have a thumb knob that you press down in order to load the rounds with. One can buy 10 of these magazines and shoot off a hundred rounds before having to load a magazine again. The magazines are fairly cheap. I got mine new for about $14.95 on eBay.