New Ruger MKIII 22/45 First Impressions

buckfynn · Post by **buckfynn** » Wed Feb 08, 2012 2:24 pm

First off I would like to say thank you to all the members of this forum for the tips and tricks on field stripping and reassembly. On my first attempt I was able to field strip the firearm and reassemble it in about 1 & 1/2 hours with a minimal amount of grief.

I purchased the Ruger MK512 Stainless Target MKIII 22/45 with the bull barrel from Sportsman's Warehouse on a closeout special for a reasonable price. The salesman at Sportsman's Warehouse was congenial and knowledgeable. He also assisted me with the purchase of a cheap Uncle Mike's holster.

The pistol came with two magazines. With the first magazine, the firearm performed flawlessly with no problems. It handled 200 rounds each of various Federal, CCI, Winchester, and even Remington Thunderbolts with no duds, stovepipes, or jams. After firing 1600 rounds the firearm still appeared to be relatively clean. The second magazine self destructed the first time I engaged it in the firearm.

I contacted Ruger's service department by phone concerning a replacement magazine. After being on hold for 45 minutes, the customer service lady said to send the defective magazine back to Ruger with a description of why it failed and Ruger would send me a new one. Fair enough. So far I haven't received anything from Ruger after two weeks. I will give an update when I receive the magazine.

The overall fit of the pistol is OK. It is a bit different trying to get use to the thin grip. So a grip mod may be the first thing I do to make it more friendly. The trigger is also very stiff. If the trigger doesn't loosen up a bit after several thousand more rounds or so, I will probably put an after market trigger in it.

For now I will rate the Ruger MKIII 22/45 2.5 stars out of 5.

buckfynn · Post by **buckfynn** » Wed Feb 08, 2012 2:25 pm

On another note, I purchased two magazines from Andean-inc.off the internet for 20 a piece. The price was a little high but I received them in two days by priority mail which was great.

Being impressed with the first purchase from Andean, I put in an additinal order for five more magazines with their stock showing 70. Below is the response I received from them.

Thanks for your order with Andean. I'm sorry, but we do not have the item you ordered in stock. We made an inventory error that made it look like we had this item available. Ruger won't be able to supply us with more in a reasonable time frame. We do not backorder, but when this item is available, I will contact you to see if you are still interested. If so, we will give you free shipping at that time. Your credit card charge will disappear shortly.

With apologies,
Justin Saunders
andean-inc.com

I am not so impressed with Andean now.

So does anyone know where I can find magazines for a Ruger MKIII 22/45 which are in stock and ready to ship?

Georgezilla · Post by **Georgezilla** » Fri Feb 10, 2012 12:14 pm

buck, welcome to GTO!

Glad to hear you are enjoying your new Ruger. Is this your first pistol?

All of the usual online retailers I frequent are out of those mags as well.

In regard to sending your mag to Ruger, I am sure they will make it right. The lion's share of things I can say about Ruger's CS are extremely positive.

In regard to Andean, I think I have you beat. A couple months ago I recently discovered an invoice in my records for an Opticsplanet.com that had placed 2 years ago, the item had been back ordered for that whole duration. I only discovered this because I had just ordered something else from opticsplanet.com, which I received an email stating it was on back order. Needless to say, I no longer conduct business with opticsplanet.com and I do not plan to baring evidence that they change the way they operate.

buckfynn · Post by **buckfynn** » Sat Feb 11, 2012 12:12 am

Thanks for the warm welcome to this forum, George.

Nope this was not my first pistol. At present, I own a series 3 Colt Woodsman Match Target w/ 6" barrel, a Colt "Target" SS w/ 6" bull barrel, a S&W M41 w/ 5.5" barrel, and a 1911 clone .22 caliber. Plus a S&W M&P 40 Pro and an older Colt 1911 70 series .45 ACP.

I painted the front sight of the 22/45 with some bright red nail polish so I could see it easier. Hopefully I will have a chance to get out in the country and give it another try in a few days and see how the new mags function.

And once again I can't thank Bullseye and gang enough for the detailed field stripping instructions which made my life much easier on my first break down and reassemble of the firearm.

Post by **Bullseye** » Sat Feb 11, 2012 9:26 am

Welcome to GunTalk-Online!

Hopefully your new pistol will live up to your expectations. This time of year is often difficult for manufacturers and retailers with inventory assessments and post holiday stock levels. Typically they don't overproduce and then also must carefully count inventory levels for tax time. Once all this is behind them you'll see retail sales stock levels being replenished.

R,
Bullseye

buckfynn · Post by **buckfynn** » Wed Feb 15, 2012 11:44 pm

Thank you Bullseye for the welcome!

While I had an initial first impression of the Ruger pistol, I don't have any predefined exceptions per Se.

Also thank you, Bullseye, for your explanation of why there is a shortage of magazines at present.

Yesterday I received the replacement magazine from Ruger, which I feel was sent to me in a reasonably timely fashion.

Now all I need is the weather to cooperate so I can try it out again.

Post by **Bullseye** » Fri Feb 17, 2012 6:29 am

I'm a little curious as to what happened to that original magazine. Did the plastic base break and everything exit the body via the bottom?

R,
Bullseye

buckfynn · Post by **buckfynn** » Fri Feb 17, 2012 12:14 pm

Yes the plastic base broke and the internal parts of the magazine flew out of the bottom of the firearm.

Post by **Bullseye** » Fri Feb 17, 2012 11:23 pm

Someone along the line may have dropped it and cracked the base. As long as you have all the parts (spring and plunger) you can replace the plastic bottom and your magazine should be like brand new.

R,
Bullseye