My New 22/45RP's Evolution

[Sal1950]

Picked up a new 22/45RP last week to add to the family.
Brought her home and cleaned-lubed before shooting the first time. Trigger pull measured 5 3/4 lbs and had a lot of sponginess and creep.

Took her to the range twice and put two bricks of Wally World Federal bulk down range. Trigger pull dropped to 3 1/2 lbs and creep cleared up pretty well but still lots of spongy pre-travel before break.

Took her down yesterday and stoned/polished the sear, hammer, and trigger bar. Installed pre and over travel set screws in the trigger. Trigger pull is now right at 2 lbs but still has that spongy feel before break although there is now minimal pre-travel. Ordered a Clark Custom hammer bushing yesterday, hope that the removal of the mag safety and tightening up of the tolerances will remove that last bit of sponginess.
I've got a Mark II Target 10" that I bought new in the early 80s that I never had to touch, it's pull is 2 1/2 lbs, breaks like the glass rod and I never had to touch that one, it's all factory stock.

Added the inexpensive Tasco Red Dot today, never had a RDS before and wanted to see how I like it.

I'll report back on the trigger and RDS after I get the Clark bushing installed and run another brick or so through her.
Sal

 

[SocialD]

That looks nice. I have owned a SS mark II with the 5.5" barrel for about 16 years now and I love it, but I'm starting to think about getting a 22/45 because of the lighter frame and the 'newish' ability to repalce the grips. I think that it would be awesome to put a TS barrel on it. I have never used a Tasco red dot, but it should do the trick.

 

[gunman42782]

I have never owned a 22/45, having always been a MK2 fan, but the ones with the wood grips I really like. The original ones, without the grips, didn't do anything for me, but the dern thing really does feel like a 1911 with the wood grips.

 

[Sal1950]

gunman42782,
Yep I felt the same way, don't wish to hurt any ones feelings but the original MKII 22/45s were just butt ugly IMHO. The newer MKIII's looked better, but when the new RP's with the wood grips came out Ruger got me again, had to have it. I'm really enjoying shooting this gun,

I love my MKII but maybe cause of my age I'm getting weaker and seem to have a problem now holding her steady, that 10" barrel feels really muzzle heavy now. Funny it wasn't a problem 30 years ago. LOL
Sal

 

[Sal1950]

Promised to update this post so here goes.

Clark bushing kit took some/most of the sponginess out but there's still a little left do to there being quite a bit of slop around the trigger pivot pin both in the trigger itself and the pin to frame fit. Maybe I can talk Jim Clark into bringing an oversize pin to market. He needs to update the bushing kit for the 22/45RP in any case as the supplied oversize sear pin is too long for the RP model which has a narrower frame. It was an easy fix just to grind both ends of the pin down till it was the correct length.

After putting another 1k rounds down range I couldn't be more pleased with this gun overall. Trigger pull is now a very consistent and clean breaking 1 3/4 lbs, just about perfect for target use.

As to the Red Dot sight, I got to say for approx $35 from Midway, this Tasco impresses me. Works very well, nice fairly clean dot, holds zero. In fact I'm sure its only a matter of luck, but I took it out of the box, bolted it on the gun, and it only took about 3 clicks in windage to get it dead nuts at 25 yards..
Now that I have a bit of experience with RDS's I think I'd like something a bit less bulky and with a smaller dot for target work. I guess something like one of the 1" tubes models with a 3 MOA dot would fit my preferences but not sure if I want to spend the $100 or so it would take to get one. I'm sure I can be just as accurate with the stock open sites, but RDS's are just KOOL. LOL
That's all for now, I'll update again if Jim Clark brings out a oversize trigger pin after I make the suggestion, but then I'd bet it's not the first time he's heard about it.
Sal

 

[CraigC]

I have never owned a 22/45, having always been a MK2 fan, but the ones with the wood grips I really like. The original ones, without the grips, didn't do anything for me, but the dern thing really does feel like a 1911 with the wood grips.

Indeed! I always wanted to like the 22/45 because the 1911 grip angle was always so much more comfortable to me than the regular MK-series. They just felt too thin and too slippery in the hand. So I stuck to Buckmarks. These new 22/45 RP models feel great in the hand and swappable grips is always a bonus. The factory grips are a little thin but with standard thickness grips, it feels just like a 1911.

 

[Sal1950]

Dang I've fallen in love with this gun, just can't stop shooting it.
The trigger work just came out so sweet, that 1 3/4lb pull seems "just right" for this gun. The balance, grip angle, everything just suites me perfectly. I've had my MK II 10" for almost 30 years now and it's a great gun, but plastic or not, this 22/45RP beats it for me. Never thought I'd say that about a cheap tupperware gun. LOL
Sal