MkIV (as we know it) Change Coming ?

Seems another 22 pistol maker has made Ruger an offer they couldn't refuse for (some of) the patent rights. Oh well, That's business!
If the marketing limprichards can't match the projected revenue made during the "panic years" I guess they'll sell bits of the company soul to meet financial/bonus goals?
Maybe, maybe not - if you like the MkIV it be wise to buy one now. My guess is...

They probably just licensed someone to use parts of the design and didn't sell it outright. The Mark has been the heart and soul of Ruger since 1949 it's sale would be the demise of the company in the eyes of Ruger fans.

RSIno1 said:

They probably just licensed someone to use parts of the design and didn't sell it outright. The Mark has been the heart and soul of Ruger since 1949 it's sale would be the demise of the company in the eyes of Ruger fans.

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But, for discussions sake. How many old mossy back Ruger fans are actually buying new Ruger autos? I don't own, and will never own a MkIII, and my MkII's, MkI's and Standard Autos still do everything I want them to do. I never saw the need for the MkIV.

WAYNO.

WAYNO said:

RSIno1 said:

They probably just licensed someone to use parts of the design and didn't sell it outright. The Mark has been the heart and soul of Ruger since 1949 it's sale would be the demise of the company in the eyes of Ruger fans.

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But, for discussions sake. How many old mossy back Ruger fans are actually buying new Ruger autos? I don't own, and will never own a MkIII, and my MkII's, MkI's and Standard Autos still do everything I want them to do. I never saw the need for the MkIV.

WAYNO.

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. I have purchased every mark IV to date other than the red one so far. I have even double up on the WBR prefix to the number prefix. Just received the tactical model and the purple colored lite.

RPM Enterprises said:

WAYNO said:

RSIno1 said:

They probably just licensed someone to use parts of the design and didn't sell it outright. The Mark has been the heart and soul of Ruger since 1949 it's sale would be the demise of the company in the eyes of Ruger fans.

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But, for discussions sake. How many old mossy back Ruger fans are actually buying new Ruger autos? I don't own, and will never own a MkIII, and my MkII's, MkI's and Standard Autos still do everything I want them to do. I never saw the need for the MkIV.

WAYNO.

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. I have purchased every mark IV to date other than the red one so far. I have even double up on the WBR prefix to the number prefix. Just received the tactical model and the purple colored lite.

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I would expect nothing less for your wonderful and never ending collection. :mrgreen: There are others that will also buy every model available. I really wasn't speaking of the collectors. But for the non collectors, it's kind of like a Remington 870. Why buy a new one when the old one still works so perfectly? The MkIV was a shot in the arm for Ruger's .22 auto market, as it was seen as the answer to the disassembly dilemma so many folks imagined. But when that market is filled, then it would take another radical improvement to cause the average Joe to go buy another one.

WAYNO.

I have a pair of Mk-IIs, doesn't that equal a Mk-IV? :roll:

Once I spent a few minutes learning how to strip/re-assemble the Mk-IIs,
I've not had any problem with them since. I also do not like the fiber optic
front sight. Thus I'll most likely not replace/augment my Ruger Mk collection.

Isn't that something like "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"? 8)

I think the MK IV design was a big step forward in the evolution of the little semi-auto that started the company. The MKI version, some folks wanted 10 rounds, a locking bolt, and to not have the safety off when disassembling things.
Along came the MKII design,,, which many of us felt was "perfect" by addressing those issues. But,, many casual folks still didn't like the disassembly & re-assembly "issues" because they were not mechanically inclined & wanted a simpler & easier way to take their gun apart for cleaning.
Along came the MK III thanks to lawyers, (Loaded chamber indicator & mag safety) but it also changed the mag release design for all models,,, but sadly,, the disassembly & re-assembly got a little trickier for the average guy.
And by this time we also have the frame re-design to have the 22/45 OR the original Luger angle to accommodate different folks tastes.
So, now,,, along comes the fix to the biggest complaint many average folks have had,,, the disassembly & re-assembly issues,,, for the MANY non-gun aficionados who cursed the gun or bought other guns instead of the Ruger.
The MK IV is just another model of the evolution of one of the best little semi-auto 22 pistols you could ask for.

I own Standards, MK I's, MK II's, MK III's, & have plans to add a few MK IV's as well. The only reason I don't already have any is I've been chasing "others" & haven't gotten around to getting any yet. As an instructor,,, I use my Rugers in class. I need to get some to be able to show the current model that the students will find in gun shops.
So,, is this a step in the wrong direction by Ruger,,, IF,,, IF,,, they sell the rights to part of the design? I doubt it. Ruger folks are smart enough to not sell one of the major items that sells a lot of units,, and helps keep them in business. And I know more & more average folks will buy the MK IV as it's the latest design & is quite nice!

Years back a company made some pistols that were pretty much Ruger MKI's. Ruger sued and the manufacturer went under. It might be nice if Ruger did license some of the parts to others. We might end up with some pretty interesting variations.

WAYNO said:

The MkIV was a shot in the arm for Ruger's .22 auto market, as it was seen as the answer to the disassembly dilemma so many folks imagined.

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That disassembly/reassembly dilemma was far more than imagination for many owners. Ask any gun shop counter guy how many Mk II and particularly MkIII pistols came in as a box of parts because the owner couldn't get it back together. I personally have reassembled several of them at my gun club for baffled owners.

Sure, if you knew what you were doing and how the gun's worked, putting them back together was relatively straight forward but not every one did or could. I don't think we should sneer at those poor souls. The MkIV solved a real problem for many shooters and I applaud Ruger for it even if it did take 70 years to get done.

If such a deal exists, I wouldn't read too much into it. We already have myriad other companies making myriad Ruger designed parts. Including complete guns.

IMHO, the takedown issue is much ado about nothing. Probably mainly stemming from the perception of many ex-military types, along with newer Glock/AR era shooters thinking that guns should be completely disassembled for cleaning after every range session. Many guns were never designed for such routine disassembly, the Ruger .22 autos being one. I've put untold tens of thousands of rounds through dozens of .22 semi-autos since my first at the age of 8yrs and the times I've done a full disassembly for the sake of cleaning could probably be counted on my fingers with change leftover.

That said, I do see a nice evolution of the Ruger Standard Auto with positive changes to accommodate the needs of customers. Changes such as the 22/45, ultimately culminating in my favorite, the RP models. The mag release is a very good improvement. I don't really care about the unnecessary mag disconnect and LCI because those are easily fixed.

I have owned a standard model for almost fifty years. When I bought it I easily learned how to dis and re assemble it, but they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks so it may be somewhat more difficult to learn now.

Jeepnik said:

Years back a company made some pistols that were pretty much Ruger MKI's. Ruger sued and the manufacturer went under. .

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AMT, who made the "Lightning" was going under, without the Ruger suit. Joe

Yep. Dad ended up with a good Automag II but lots of folks weren't so lucky with AMT products.

There is still talk about the Automag coming back....
http://www.automag.com/

Hmmm, kinda reminds me of the Merwin Hulbert remake.

Volquartsen is now cataloging a 22 Mag pistol now if you got the money.

https://www.volquartsen.com/products/1240-scorpion-22-wmr-pistol

I always wanted a Ruger MK II 22/45, but the MK III was released before I had a chance to buy one.

When the MK III was released, I said I would never buy one because of the lawyer features, and that I would wait for the MK IV to be released and remove those features.

A few on this board belittled me, and presented me with a chicken little marketing analysis that if I, and others, didn't buy a MK III with the features that I didn't want, the entire product line would collapse and disappear. Still others told that the lawyer features were the way of the future, and that I should just accept them.

I feel vindicated. I will buy a Ruger MK IV 22/45 with a better stock trigger than the MK III line of pistols. One where I do not need to switch out various Volquartsen parts designed for the MKII to mirror the smoother trigger of a factory MKII.


Charlie

REP1954 said:

Volquartsen is now cataloging a 22 Mag pistol now if you got the money.

https://www.volquartsen.com/products/1240-scorpion-22-wmr-pistol

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They told us about this pistol coming out at the NRA show but didn't have one on display. They need to fire their photographer because the guns look much better in person than on the website but my first impression is still not very good.

Leucoandro said:

One where I do not need to switch out various Volquartsen parts designed for the MKII to mirror the smoother trigger of a factory MKII.

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The VQ trigger kit results in an infinitely better trigger than any factory MKII.

Wouldn't surprise me one iota that Ruger granted a licensing agreement to Volquartsen, or even Clark Custom. Both outfits have been making and modifying Ruger Mark pistols for quite some time.
I've had six of the Mark IV's cross my bench, so far, and there's been some "ink" put down about uppers being interchangeable among grip frames. I've tried a few combinations that did indeed work OK, but then again, I also found a couple of combinations that wouldn't work. The rear lug would bind up and not go completely down. So, some may get lucky and get the "switcharoo" done, but don't be surprised if it doesn't.

I'm quite impressed with the new Ruger Mark IV, at least all those I've had in my grip-grabbers, so far. With the weather getting much more comfortable of late, I'm almost ready to get some comparisons done on my range out back to see how the Mark IV compares to the Mark II pistols, at least accuracy wise.

Clark Custom modifies factory guns exclusively and you don't need an agreement for that. Volquartsen is building new guns from scratch. It'd be more likely a licensing agreement was reached with VQ and not Clark.