Feb. 2, 1973 was the original date on my New York state pistol license. The very first pistol that I bought, after New York state was kind enough to issue me a pistol license, was a Smith & Wesson (S&W) Model 41. It was a used .22 caliber target pistol that happened to come with two barrels. I believe that the barrels were probably something like 5˘ inches and 7˚ inches. The shorter barrel I used when I took the gun out into the field for casual plinking or small game hunting and the longer barrel was for more serious target competition. I’ve still got that gun, but can’t remember when I shot it last. Either way, I have been shooting .22 caliber pistols for fun and competition for more than 30 years with probably tens of thousands of rounds downrange.
I went to Joe Tartaro and asked if he knew if anyone was in the process of reviewing one of these Rugers, as found in the ad. His answer was in the negative, and I was told to go ahead and give Ruger a call. One evening, not long after the call, I got home from work, and I found a box in between my front door and the storm door that contained two Ruger pistols. I’ve never really understood UPS’s policy about adult signatures and it seems they don’t understand it either, because more often then not they violate their own policy.
Specifications
All of the controls, the safety, slide (bolt) release and magazine release, are located in the same place as they would be on a 1911 type pistol. They are not exactly the same but would be good for training and practice for those using or planning to use a .45.So, this Ruger model has come a long way from the first pistol that Bill Ruger designed back in 1949. The newest features to me are the internal safety lock, the loaded chamber indicator, and polymer frame. While I will probably never use the internal safety feature it does seem like a reasonable idea. The polymer frame feels right, with the correct angle to the barrel as the 1911s have, and I’m sure it will take the abuse that a field gun can receive.
With the Ruger 22/45 a big “honker” of a lock for the slide is also supplied. Actually for the bolt, this gun really doesn’t have a slide. This is a 1˚-inch shackle Master lock that goes through the hole in the open bolt to keep unauthorized individuals from being able to use the gun. It can also prevent accidents by children. It seems a bit excessive to me, but it does do the job. The lock can’t be used if you intend to keep the gun in the case, which seems to be a deterrent to using the lock at all. If I have a choice between storing the gun in its form-fitted, factory-supplied case or storing it elsewhere because it won’t fit in the case with the lock on it, the case is going win and the lock isn’t going to be used. Maybe this is something for Ruger to think about in the design of their next case.
This pistol has another safety device that while it works very well it is another of those devices that I wouldn’t use. Its a hex key lock that locks the safety in the safe postion so that the gun can be fired at all. I guess my biggest concern with this is not having the key with you when you do want to do some shooting. Once again we are trying to replace safe gun handling with a mechanical safety. The first sample gun was a 4-inch bull barrel model. This is probably the one I’m going to keep. It’s small, lightweight, and accurate. What more could I ask for? Besides, Claudia likes it and it’s cheaper to let her shoot .22 all day rather than .40 S&W.
The pistol is blued and has a very clear, large notched adjustable rear sight with a very large and high front sight blade. I have laid the Weaver scope mount that came with it on top of the gun and it doesn’t interfere with the use of the metallic sights. This way if you do happen to be using a telescopic sight or an electronic sight and they malfunction while in the field you could remove the broken device and still be able to sight with the metallic sights.
The retail price of a blued Ruger 22/45 with the bull barrel is $307 and seems to me to be a very good value for that money. I would want more than just the two magazines.This pistol is also available with a 4˚-fluted bull barrel with fixed sights for $305. The final offering in blue is a 5˚-barreled pistol with adjustable rear sight for $307. One more offering from Ruger in this model is a stainless steel model that has a 5˚-inch bull barrel for a retail price of $398.
Second Sample
The second sample that Ruger sent for us to try is what I would consider the deluxe model of the 22/45. This is a stainless steel pistol, with the polymer frame that has a 6-7/8-inch fluted barrel. It has all the other standard features with the exception of the rear sights. In this case the rear sight, while still adjustable is a V-notch with a white line vertically digressing from the bottom of the “V” to the bottom of the sight. The front sight is different from anything I have seen. You can’t really call it a front sight blade but it would serve the same purpose. It has what the Ruger literature is calling, a LitePipe inserted for a light gathering fiber optic sight. Supplied in the case comes a vial with six additional LitePipes. They are just slightly longer than the diameter of a dime and can be changed with ease. I really think I like the sights on the 4-inch blued bull barrel gun better.
This model of the 22/45 retails for $487.
We just finished a session of shooting on my basement range. Yes, I do like the short-barreled gun better, and Claudia does too. Claudia’s groups were about 2˚-inches average from a range of 21 feet. My groups were a little better at about 1˘-inches while firing from the 50 foot line. We both shot low and a bit to the right. It sure is nice to have a range at home where I can at least shoot rimfire ammo and centerfire lead ammunition. Unfortunately I don’t have an electronic sight at present that I could try out on the longer-barreled gun.Claudia shoots left-handed and today she learned an important lesson. After she had removed the magazine from the gun, she somehow pushed the slide release down while having her right hand at the mouth of the chamber. She got bit pretty good. So, be careful! Dee-De-Dee!
Disassembly isn’t hard to do, but you really must read the instructions first. When the firearm is taken apart, it consists of 5 groups—the magazine, the barrel assembly with the sights; the bolt with the firing pin, extractor and recoil spring; the mainspring housing and bolt stop pin, and the polymer grip section which includes the hammer, trigger and the safety. I found reassembly to be a bit of a trick and had to reread the instructions several times to make sure I was proceeding in the proper manner. There are several sharp edges that you want to be careful with to avoid getting cut. I did get nicked a couple of times. Under normal circumstances, you should be able to do most of your cleaning without any need to take the gun apart.
Loaded Chamber IndicatorA feature that I almost forgot to describe is the loaded chamber indicator. This device can serve you in many ways, but, of course, is still not meant to replace safe gun handling itself. The loaded chamber indicator is located on the left side of the barrel, right above the trigger and opposite the ejection port. I’ve always hated insurance companies and government agencies putting safety restrictions on items because if you don’t use them they don’t help any way. So I have always felt that it was certainly better to have good training and practice safe gun handling rather than depend on a mechanical device that could fail.
This one I sort of like. When there is a round in the chamber and only when there is one there, this loaded chamber indicator sticks out from the side of the barrel. Not enough to bother proper functioning or even enough to annoy the shooter. It tells you in two ways that there is a round in the chamber. First of all, like I said, it sticks out so you can either see it or feel it, to know that the gun is ready to go. Secondly, there is a read dot on it and it says the word “loaded” to further let you know that the gun has a round in the chamber. I like it. In this case I consider it a good feature. Best of all you can even tell in the dark if there is a round in the chamber.
There are two possible colors for the fiber optics front sight—a red and a green. I like the red. Changing the fiber optic is really simple, but if you don’t read the instructions, you’ll find it difficult. There is a key-like tool chained to the vial that contains the extra fiber optics. This key slides between the fiber optic and the base of the sight, depressing a spring that makes removal simple.
I found both versions of the Ruger 22/45 fun to shoot and accurate. We had no jams while shooting or any other type of malfunction. The only problem I had was with reassembly. Those were my problems and not the guns.I do personally prefer the blued 4-inch barreled gun to the longer barreled target model, but then I don’t intend to use this gun for competition. I intend to use this gun as a trap line, plinker, small game-getter, and as a backup survival pistol. You can carry a lot more .22 ammo than you can .45.
I hope some of you run right out and get yourself one of these 22/45s. I know you’ll like it. Don’t forget when talking with Ruger to let them know that John at Gun Week sent you.