Yeah, I know, no one's ever seen a Ruger standard auto.
But I got a new one last week and wanted to write up my first impressions. This Standard Auto is the blued one, Ruger only makes this model in blue these days, with a 6" barrel.
First off, these new ones are definitely light. The grip frame is aluminum and Ruger claims a weight of 30 ounces, mine is 30 ounces exactly on a digital scale. Weight feels all in the hand so it balances at the back of the trigger guard. A stainless Target Competition 'slabsides" balances only about 1/2 to 3/4" more forward, just in front of the trigger, but it feels so much more muzzle heavy. The Mk IV is easier to take apart and put back together, that's for sure! You do need to make sure that the slot in the receiver is fully onto the hinge pin at the front on the frame but otherwise it takes apart and goes together in about 3 seconds. Mine was a bit tight going over the bolt stop pin at first but that's working in and getting easier.
Being left handed the ambidextrous safety is a real nice feature. It doesn't fall naturally under the left thumb but is easy to manipulate with the right thumb in a two hand grip. Although the opposing lever doesn't interfere with your hand in a normal firing grip I can see how a right hander would want to remove the other lever. Ruger supplies a little washer just for that purpose and the instruction manual tells you how to remove it.
First thing you notice when dry firing is that the trigger is awful, horrible, pathetic, pick your derogatory term. It's l-o-n-g and c-r-e-e-p-y and drags and drags and then finally lets off at 5.5 pounds. Very little overtravel once it does let off but if you watch it from the side you can see it move a good 3/16" at least. Everything else about this pistol is great but that trigger isn't. (Now that I've called it crappy I'll inadvertently insult striker fired pistols by saying that it's really no worse than trying to do fine target shooting with a typical "staple gun" trigger). It's getting a little better after dry firing and some 200 live rounds but it's still pretty bad. Reading a few reviews on line seems to indicate that several others are seeing the same less than splendid triggers on their Mk IV's.
The front sight is only .095" wide (call it .1) which is narrower than the target models and the rear is wide enough to show a good bit of daylight on either side. It really allows for a fine, precise sight picture which came into play later. For the first range session I brought a punch to drift the rear for windage and a file to cut the front for elevation but the file wasn't needed.
Out of the box the first five shots at a 1.5" black square were 1" left and dead on for elevation. I mean I couldn't have asked for a better elevation adjustment. The group printed 3/4" to 1" above the front sight at 25 yards, that would put it dead on at 50 which is exactly what I was hoping for. Doing the math for sight adjustment I tapped the front sight right exactly .0094" (hey, it's an art) which centered the group. Okay, that's a lie.
My first adjustment put the group 1" to the right of the aiming square, but then half that number of taps back left centered the group. The sight moves with moderate taps of a small mallet, it's tight enough to stay put but you don't need to whang on it to adjust it. Just right.
Mechanical accuracy
seems to be on par with every other Ruger .22 auto I've ever owned, which is to say superb. "Seems" because that trigger just won't let you do your best work. With the frame rested against sandbags I fired 10 shots each for record with CCI AR Tactical, Winchester Super-X and some Wolf Match Target at 25 yards. 5-7 rounds would cluster in a nice 1/2" to 3/4" group then I'd scatter the remaining shots randomly around the center cluster. Even with that the worst group was only 1 1/4". The Winchester did the best but either that or the CCI ammo will serve since both print to the same point of aim.
After verifying sight in and testing the ammo I set to plinkin' and that's where that narrow front sight really helps with precise aiming. My .22 target setup consisted of steel discs of 3", 4" and 6" diameter set at 25 yards and another 6" disc at 40 yards. Standing on my hind legs I concentrated on the 4" and 6" discs at 25 and am happy to say that even with these old eyeballs didn't miss a shot out of 60 rounds. Used the kneeling position at 40 and only missed that one twice out of 50 shots. Moved that back to 50 yards and that's where the sight in really showed its worth. With the front sight held halfway up the disc the impacts centered on the target, i.e. POI was level with the top of the blade with shots evenly above and below. Not bragging groups but shots stayed in about 4" at that range.
This pistol proved to be just perfect as a plinker and general purpose .22 hose which is what I bought it for. I'm of a mind to go ahead and spend close to $130 for new Volquartsen innards since that trigger bugs me, plus that would do away with the magazine disconnector. Or not, since I can still hit what I'm aiming at quite nicely out to 50 yards. We'll see. Overall though, I really like this thing. It's heavier than the SR22 with a good sight radius so it's a bit easier to hit with but not so heavy it drags on you. Been severely thinning out the once large herd of handguns but have a hunch this one is going to stick around.
Well, that's it. Tune in next time when we'll discuss those little known loads using Bullseye in the 38 Special...
