New Ruger Mark IV autoloader...

[Tamara]

Does the pistol require much higher levels of machine or assembly time for some reason? Is the profit margin on the pistols just way higher? I suppose in the end, it's whatever they think the market will bear, but it's difficult for poor old me to understand.

A 10/22 is a pretty simple thing to build compared to a Mark I/II/III/IV.

The 10/22 receiver is a painted aluminum investment casting, for instance. The gripframe on the I-III was welded together from two stampings with the weld dressed so nicely that most people have no idea that's how they were made. The new one is CNC machined from a forging.

For budget, wait 'til the plastic 22/45s come out. My Mark III 22/45 is the 4" stripped-down version with fixed sights, manual windows, and rubber floormats, and it was under three bills back in '10; I think the last ones I saw were $299 or $325.

[olstyn]

Thanks for taking the question seriously, Tamara. I was literally asking from a place of ignorance, and I appreciate you taking the time to make the difference in manufacturing complexity clear.

[Jim Watson]

The new one is CNC machined from a forging.

Ruger, The Master of Casting making a .22 on a forging? Wow. What next, a forged 1911?

[Greg]

You did these ones in???

Yes, those as well. Ugly and destructive are good reasons for ventilation.

The older ones get fairly clever and were more fun to ambush.

[Tamara]

Ruger, The Master of Casting making a .22 on a forging? Wow. What next, a forged 1911?

It caught me off guard, too, but I had three product managers in the room so I asked again to clarify that I'd heard "forging" correctly.

[Little Creek]

Thanks, Tamara. Until this morning I was pretty satisfied with the Mk III 22/45 in the safe.

(The disassembly or reassembly, magazine safety, loaded chamber indicator, none of that bothers me much. But an ambidextrous safety? About friggin' time...! 8) )

+1

[farscott]

Resurrecting this thread as a visit to a family friend's pawnshop that was burglarized this week resulted in me buying a stainless Mark IV Target.

Long story short, the local pawnshop that is owned by friends of the family was burglarized early Monday morning. One of the windows was broken and the thieves kept kicking on the burglar bars until the bars were pulled from the masonry wall to gain entry. Three glass display cases were smashed to get access to the handguns inside. Net result is around fifty handguns, all centerfire, stolen. This is a pretty big deal in our small community. One person has been arrested, but the investigation continues. There is a bit more to this part of the story, but seeing as it has not made it to the media, I am not going to disclose it.

In addition, gun sales are down since the election, so why no time to be burglarized is good, business cash flow is not the best at the moment. The store was closed for a few days so that the investigation could proceed, a full inventory taken, and the shop cleaned. So bills still have to be paid and there are some rather not inexpensive unscheduled expenses, such as replacing the display cases and a tougher, more impact-resistant installation of the burglar bars. After work on Friday, my wife and I stopped by to see how our friends were doing, and it was plain to see the stress on their faces. Evidence of the damage from the burglary was still plain to see as the tops and fronts of the damaged glass display cases were covered with plywood. Handguns were stuffed into the remaining undamaged display cases.

All of this is to say that while the store was open on Friday afternoon, the store was not as well-stocked as usual and business was more akin to rubbernecking after a spectacular vehicle crash. But the rimfire cases were untouched and well stocked. And unattended by any potential customers. There were two Ruger Mark IV pistols in one of the cases, a blued one with the aluminum alloy frame and a stainless Target model. I had looked at the Target model before as I have been a Ruger rimfire pistol shooter since 1973, when my father taught me the safety rules and how to shoot with his Standard model. From that time, I have been a fan of the pistols and regularly shoot more than a few, including some customized ones and an old Standard.

All of this is to say that I came home with the stainless Mark IV Target and a brick of CCI .22 Quiet ammo for my T/C carbines. Did I need the Mark IV? No. Did I want it? Sorta. Heck, it is cool to take down the pistol with a press of a button after years of struggling to remember how to hold the Standard and Mark II models during assembly. Was it the right thing to do? The best answer to that is that when leaving with it, one of store owners came up to me with tears in his eyes to shake my hand and thank me for my patronage.

Now I need to shoot it before the rain gets here.