Help identifying a 22/45 model

[delinlin]

Hi guys,

I hope you can help me out here. A new pistol shooter, I'm in the market for a .22 for some indoor winter training and a bit of terrain shooting perhaps. The seller is from across the country, and so I need to identify the model without seeing it, besides from pictures he has sent me. He's not really sure himself, and from what I've been able to google I really don't feel sure myself either. So here they are:

Any help getting the correct model number is greatly appreciated, thanks.

Edit: Also, it may help let you know the pistol is in Denmark, where there are special laws for handguns. The thread cover will most certainly be welded in place, and other, to me still unknown rules, may also apply. One of the things I wonder is, about the absence of the "loaded chamber indicator", while at the same time the handle is the polymer type. I don't know if it has any significance, but it sure has helped confusing me .

Brian

 

[lipofsky]

Looking at the magazines I would say it is a MK III

 

[Throckmorton]

may I tag along ? mine is very similiar but with a short barrel.The mags look identical. Mine has the box,and neither the gun nor the box say 'Mark' on them.should they? Mine has no mag disconnect. I beleive Mark lll guns do,is that right ? Would mine be called a Mark 2 even though the word Mark xx is nowhere to be found ?
..box says 'catalog P4' and serial no. is 223-667xx

I gues what I"m asking was there a model just called 22/45?
thanks !

 

[bwraven]

That is a MK II 22/45.

No LCI, no magazine safety disconnect.

Are you in Denmark? If you are in the US, you had better check ATF rules on importation of firearms.

http://www.atf.gov/firearms/how-to/import-firearms-ammo-implements-of-war.html

 

[delinlin]

Yes, I am in Denmark, as is the pistol. So there is little doubt it has the correct registrations, knowing our gun authorities . Only I notice, just as Throckmorton, that there is missing "Mark II" on the frame, plus it has the polymer trigger housing, plus it has the magazine release button by the trigger.

On my pics it seems the serial starts with 226-????, which would make it a late model 22/45, +2005? Any guesses on the similarities to the Mk2?

 

[bwraven]

If memory serves me correctly, before the MKIII series came out, Ruger made two "Mark" pistols. The MKII and the 22/45. They didn't call the 22/45 a 22/45 MKII. They just called it a 22/45. (Click on Pistol Instruction Manuals and Product History on this page: ( http://ruger.com/service/productHistory.html# ) and notice the pre-MKIII series naming.)

With the introduction of the MKIII series, they started calling the 22/45 the 22/45 MKIII to differentiate it from the earlier 22/45's that lacked the LCI and mag disconnect.

All of the 22/45's have the polymer trigger housing and the mag release behind the trigger guard.


I know a lot of folks refer to the original 22/45 as a 22/45 MKII, but they really shouldn't (me included). The two versions are a 22/45 and a 22/45 MKIII.

 

[lipofsky]

I guess I do not know 22/45 mark II and III very well. sorry for the mis informed guess.

 

[96/44]

Definitely a "MKII" 22/45, no magazine disconnect or LCI. The MKIII 22/45 all have the thinner checkered frame. It should say P512 for the model number (P for polymer frame, 512 for 5 1/2" barrel. The barrel appears to have been threaded and the front sight moved back, and a thread protector installed?

 

[delinlin]

Hi guys, thanks for all the input.

I sent my photos to Ruger also, and received answer from the technical department. This in fact is a (late) MKII, with some modifications done to the tip not at the factory. It may have been shortened a bit, and then have had a thread protector installed(soldered on, since this is a gun in Denmark). I guess you were spot on, 96/44 .

Mystery solved!