I was out at the range during our warm and (surprisingly) dry weather working on material for our service. After working with a centerfire pistol, trying to make hits from the draw and working on time instead of precision, I broke out the Ruger Mark IV 22/45 “Lite,” this one a Black Hills Ammunition Commemorative model.
It’s worthwhile to work precision as the last effort before leaving the range and the Ruger Mark IV series is a great gun to use to perform that practice. This gun has a green anodized upper, laser engraving to establish its origins as a commemorative and it has a special serial number range. Weighing in at only 25 ounces, it’s not ideal for bullseye but that was my intention today.
The lower is black polymer. Like the 22/45 line generally, the grip angle mimics the Government pistol of 1911. The gun was furnished with custom stocks by Herrett’s, nicely engraved with the Black Hills Ammunition logo. I didn’t want to mess them up. Back into the box they went, replaced by the (supplied) factory black rubber stocks.
In my past experiences with the 22/45 Lite, the “Lite” part was a problem. While I don’t need a heavy 22 LR pistol, something about average weight for the usual service pistol would help me keep the gun steady on the target. Due to the reasons for me having this gun, I’ll not complain about the lack of weight. I’ll just be diligent in trying to hold it still.
I worked from 20 yards – it’s where the table was set – and shot on a bullseye target, the B-8 (CP) repair center. Each string featured five rounds, one-handed, right hand followed by a five-round string fired one-hand, with the left hand. I had a single round that failed to feed; the remainder of the 20 rounds fed and fired.
Two strings of five each were fired with each hand, with a total of 20 rounds on target. The shallow sights of the 22/45 Lite were hard to see on a center hold in the bull, so the first string was low, due to my six o’clock hold. I suffered through the rest, wishing I still had the Mark IV Competition model I let go back.
All hits were on the repair center, with five in the “8” ring. The remainder were in the bull, with three hits solidly in the “X” ring. The score was 182/200, not a prize winner.
As it was slow fire on a timed fire target, the score would have been considerably less, 162/200.
Still, with half of the rounds fired with the less dominant hand, I didn’t feel bad about the scoring.
As we’re nearing the midst of summer, it’s good to get out, away from “news,” phony controversies and the angst of social drama. When you shoot bullseye, it’s you, the ammo, the sights and the trigger. The focus on the task clears the nonsense from your mind.
It’ll still be there when you get back.
– Rich Grassi