Sunday morning dawned bright and early, as is its wont, and Shootin' Buddy showed up for the drive to the range. As we set off on our normal route, we noticed that Good Morning Mama! Cafe had, instead of the "Coming Soon" sign that had graced it for so long, a sign reading "Yes, we're OPEN!" Almost as though by magic, the truck steered right into the parking lot.
Good Morning Mama! is an offshoot of local favorite Italian restaurant Mama Carolla's, which you know is good because they always have a line out the door like they're giving dollar bills away inside. Their new breakfast/lunch joint didn't disappoint, either. I ordered a breakfast burrito with eggs, chorizo, onions, jalapenos, and cheese, and it came with a cup of chili verde sauce with which to slather it, should that that appeal to you. Shootin' Buddy ordered an omelette yclept "Swiss Bliss", which contained pancetta in addition to the titular cheese.
Suitably ballasted, we headed out to Iggle Crick for the day's blasting.
I broke in the 22/45 by pulling it out of its case, giving the bolt a squirt of dry lube, loading magazines and getting down to shooting paper zombies. The only malf the gun experienced all day was a dud primer on a Remington Golden Bullet. It even ran fine with the godawful Federal bulk pack stuff I was shooting (which, despite being all from the same box, gave reports varying over the decibel range from "CB Cap" to "Stinger".) I hate all the added mechanical goofiness on the Mk III: The "loaded chamber indicator" is the most unnecessary device in Christendom, the mag safety prevents empty magazines from dropping free, and the built-in lock will probably never even have its keys unwrapped. The only real upsides are that it does feel more 1911-like in my hand than the previous iteration and magazines interchange freely with the older model.
Incidentally, the dry lube was great. I got a can of Strike Hold from 3 Part Supply while we were at the show and Shootin' Buddy was standing in a fog of the stuff, having brought dirty guns to use as controls. He was hosing down loaded mags, spraying it into the cylinders of revolvers, going cyclic with Ruger MkII's and a pile of loaded mags to see if he could get it to burn off, the works. I was happy that it greatly extended my range time with my K-22, because the chambers didn't even start to get a little bit sticky until right about when we were ready to go home anyway. Anyhow, good stuff.
A product I discovered through a MK II takedown site ( http://www.1bad69.com/ruger/ultimatecliploader.htm ) is the "Ultimate Cliploader" - Jeff Quinn favorably reviewed it here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.gunblast.com/Cliploader.htm
JT in TN
Strike Hold works!
ReplyDeleteI bought every can he had at the blogmeet. I'll keep a couple and give out the rest for Christmas presents.
Gun lube, the gift that keeps on giving all year long.
Shootin' Buddy
Really glad you're liking it!! I had a lot of fun doing the demo for you at the 1500.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you put it through its paces too!
Thanks for the MkIII review.
ReplyDeleteI now have at least ONE trusted user standard for comparison, with all the right angles getting covered.
You absolutely MUST pickup an Ultimate Cliploader. I just got one form Midway to replace the one I accidentally smashed,one you try it there is no going back to using your thumb to load ruger .22 Mags.
ReplyDeleteMag disconnect is easy to get rid of, just get MKII sear and hammer parts, I went with Volquartsen.
The LCI is a bit more expensive, but I really think the OASIS is worth it.
With the super light OASIS upper and the super tiny/light MKIII 22/45 lower, this is one of the most fun gun/toys that I have. Its also one of the best guns to get new shooters hooked.
Try a Tactical Solutions barrel before you try an Oasis.
ReplyDeleteBoth are very very fun and the light weight make the pistol FUN to shoot.
Personally, I want a new upper in pink....
(note: Verification word is bolshet...."nuff said)
I might suggest that the keys be used once, to insure the lock is in the "fully upright and secured position" of "ALL the effing way OFF." Otherwise it might be almost ON.
ReplyDeleteAs teh owner of a 22/45, that is the only use of the keys I have found to be, well, useful.
wv: entaness, the equivalent of a human auntie among ents?
My Mk. III 22/45 is perfect with one brand of Wally-world bulk .22, lots of misfires with the other.
ReplyDeleteIf I remember correctly, substituting the appropriate parts from a Mk II will get rid of the godforsaken mag interlock, and improve the trigger.
And the Ultimate Cliploader works very well, even if no clips are actually involved.
Tam, you might be interested to know that 1911 grips can be added to the 22/45. It's a popular mod, but does require permanently modifying your 22/45's frame.
ReplyDelete