.22 LR Ammo Choices for Ruger Mark III?

[farscott]

I'll be interested to see how things work out. I've been considering a Ruger .22 semi-auto forever. But threads like this make me wanna just stick to my .22 revolvers. I don't have the time to dedicate to figuring out what a particular .22 pistol needs in order to run right. Am I being too pessimistic? Are they usually good-to-go ?

In my experience with Ruger Standard, Mark II, Mark III, and, now, Mark IV pistols, the pistol runs well if one chooses decent ammo. For me, that is usually CCI brand ammo. I have also had very good luck with older (early 2000s) Winchester DynaPoint ammo. I now avoid most Winchester rimfire ammo, finding it very inconsistent even to the ear (report). But each gun is different when it comes to precision for a given case of ammo. Every Ruger .22 pistol I have will run with CCI Standard, but only my Ruger Mark II Target shoots it very precisely. My integrally-suppressed Mark II loves the old Remington Subsonic load, being precise and repeatable enough for small-game hunting with that ammo.

Like mentioned above by Sean M, I usually (prior to Sandy Hook) find the ammo that provides the best accuracy for that pistol and use ammo from that lot in that pistol. During the great rimfire drought, I was unable to purchase cases of ammo, and I tried each new brick of ammo in several pistols. Now that the ammo is more available, case purchases are once-again possible.

[johnnywitt]

The Ruger MK Pistols are pretty much the AK's of the .22 Pistol Autoloader World. They pretty much run on anything & are extremely accurate with any quality Target or SV Ammo. Here's the deal though with .22 Autos. You need to use a lightweight lubricant with them as opposed to CF weapons. A great CLP for .22's is called Eezox. Eezox dries to a film and won't allow carbon to build up in your gun as fast. You can get it at Amazon in the can. The aerosol will choke the shit outa you in an enclosed area, so I stick to the can version. It is also one of the best for firearms finish preservation.
Also, .22 are notoriously finicky in the ammo they like, which is why I build up a vast supply of different ammo to try out in new guns. I have had two identical make and model guns that won't shoot the same ammo, or even function with the same ammo. I have guns that would shoot a shotgun like pattern with one ammo & shoot dime sized groups with another. Try different ammo & maybe after you've tried different ammo try another magazine. The CCI Blaser usually does pretty good. It's just a non copper washed mini mag with less QC at the factory. Winchester Dyna Points are pretty good and are SV. Federal Champion is OK as well as the newer Remington 40gr Golden Bullets. Some of the Aguila shoots pretty good too.The Gold Standard are the CCI SV, Mini Mag Solids and HP's. No telling though, you might get lucky and find some Bulk ammo that your pistol shoots well and you can save some dinero. It's a real crap shoot with .22LR. A good website for Ruger .22's is: guntalk-online.com & go to the Rimfire Handguns section where you can really pick up tips on troubleshooting & modifying your Ruger.


Oh, and I would stick to factory OEM springs- Ruger pretty much has the spring weights figured out by now on this 1949 pistol.

[Jim Watson]

My .22s aren't Rutgers, but I have been going through ammo on hand and what is getting back into stores here.
I looked at my notes and ordered a supply of CCI SV and Aquila SV and HV.

[VolGrad]

I have had Rugers that were pretty finicky in the past. My current one is pretty good but I still stick with CCI of any variety, CCI AR Tactical, or even Federal bulk boxes (some malf but not too many).

[rob_s]

I just got 4 boxes of this to try in my suppressed MKIII, hopefully for racoon control. I'm hoping to zero the laser this weekend sometime.

https://www.sportsmansguide.com/prod...unds?a=1669748