Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Optics for Ruger MK IV

Any recommendations for a target shooting optic for MK IV ?

I have a Burris ff3, a Vortex Venom,& a Nikon p-tactical spur on mine. They all work. Top load battery change is the desire. Others out there. Only scope I’ve used myself is a 2x Leupold but if you ever chase gray squirrels a scope can drive you nuts when they won’t sit still.

This on the sights themselves.

The Burris FF3 has been my pick mostly for the neat little mount they make specifically for the Ruger Mark series. It uses the rear sight dovetail and is very low and unobtrusive.

I went Holosun 507K ACSS vulcan reticle. I'm liking it so far.

10 MOA chevron is a nice aiming point for the trajectory of .22 lr.

Pretty much 7yrd-19yrd is hitting within the chevron triangle. 20-50yrd mid range trajectory 1/2" high at 35yrds. 51-100yrds again hits within the 10MOA chevron.


The utility of that reticle kind of blows my mind.

FF3 here. Check out the MaddMacs base for them.

Excellent suggestion. However, the op is looking for a "target shooting" optic. Is he looking for a red dot or actual pistol scope with traditional reticle? That Maddmacs base is so much nicer than the huge thumb screw sticking out of an otherwise svelte optic. I ordered one for my weaver rail on my Ruger MK pistol. Looks like just the ticket I was looking for. Thanks! Now, for the OP, if looking for just a paper punching scope and you don't mind the red dot, I have used the Bushnell TRS25 for years:

I recently replaced it with a Burris Fastfire III and I like the small Burris better for quicker target acquisition, which is handy for the type of shooting I do. Keep in mind, the Bushnell was very good in this respect, but the Fastfire III is quicker on target by design. For shooting static targets, this a non issue. The Bushnell has never lost zero and the battery life is great and it is more than half the price of the Burris FF III.


I personally don't want to use the rear dovetail to mount the red dot, so I use a rail. That way I can pull the red dot sight off and use the irons if need be. YMMV on that though.


Again, with this being said, it is unclear what the OP is wanting. Red dot or standard reticle pistol scope for his "target shooting"..

Red Dot for paper, 25 yard matches . Thanks

Really depends on how serious you are. Ever hear of the ultradot? Or Aimpoint? I ran a long tube Bushnell on one of my Rugers that mainly shot targets. Again, speed shooting I'd pick what some of these guys are suggesting: Burris Fastfire III. Even the Bushnell TRS25 will work well for your application. I wouldn't go bigger than a 3 moa dot though.. For just target shooting, I'd probably look at the Ultra dot match dot II.. About $280 on ebay right now..

I have a Swamp Fox Kingslayer on mine.

I put one of the Maddmacs bases on my MKIV along with a Crimson trace RDS. My goal was the lowest mounting possible and hopefully co-witness with the sights. It worked just as I'd hoped. I have a rail on my Buckmark and always have to hunt for the dot because it's just not intuitive setting up that high. Not a big deal when just punching paper off a bench but annoying when informal plinking.

Nice set-ups there tmitch. Liking that maddmacs base. Looks about perfect and probably very fast target acquisition. That dot on that Crimson Trace is pretty big though. 8moa?

Thanks. It's a 3moa dot. The cell phone camera won't focus on the dot so it "blooms" in the picture. Yes, it is much faster for me to acquire the dot. I think it's because the sights guide my eye to the dot, and as a bonus, if the dot fails the sights are instantly available through the window. The way the RMR was mounted to the rail on my Buckmark I had to hunt for the dot everytime I brought it up. I have since changed it to a TRS25 like your setup that sits a bit lower and it's better, but still not as intuitive as the C/T on the MKIV.

Very nice either way. Great pistols there!! That quick detach on the TRS25 is cool.

BSA,

I really like your Ruger MkIV with the FastFireIII! I also have the target stainless model except mine came threaded for suppressor.

You have a nice rig!

Leo

Thanks Leo. It handles very well. A little quicker target acquisition than the Bushnell TRS25 it had on there before. I like the TRS25 as well. A very good red dot for the money. The Burris Fastfire III is quite a bit smaller and lighter though. I had it out dialing it in the other day, getting ready for the next bowling pin shoot and the fastfire works very well. My requirements may not be the same as the OP's though. As long as I can reliably hit a bowling pin at 13 yards, I'm good to go. He's shooting 25 yards with his pistol. When I tested I was fast firing on the targets, to simulate what I will be doing in the pin shoots. Low ready hold, which at my club means pointing in the dirt about 2' ahead of your toes. Here's the 25 yard target:

That would not be a good target for a bulls eye shooter^^^^ But then again, most bullseye shooters can't put them in a target that size in that time. If that makes sense.

And because of recent events, I shoot 40 yards as a test, for all of my pistols:


If I can keep them all on a piece of copy paper (8 1/2x 11") in 6 seconds, I'm good to go. Bowling pins at 13 yards don't have much of a chance. Now the OP's requirements are different. He will be slow firing on a bulls eye target. I have a hard time shooting a pistol slow, because of the head to head competitions I shoot.

I ordered the Burris FF3 from Optics Planet. It was lower priced than the Vortex Venom and Optics Planet had free shipping.

Just got to decide whether I want try those maddmac bases for my Ruger Mark IV. Not sure if I should get the center mount or rear base mount.

leomort, that maddmac base is a good one. I upgraded mine and went with a maddmac base and really like it. The way tmitch has his pistol set up with the crimson trace would be ideal. However, I'm running a rail on mine because it is a MK2 and not drilled and tapped for a base like maddmac uses, that goes directly to the receiver. I should snap a better pic of it now with the maddmac base on the rail. Its nice and sleek now. I Really like that Burris FF3 red dot sight. I've been using the auto brightness setting and it works great. I'll bet you are going to like yours.

bsa,

Thank you for your feedback! I'm thinking about getting the one that go over the middle like tmitch mainly because it's cheaper than the one that replace the rear sight. I can't wait for the Burris FF3! It may not be as nice as the Vortex Venom or Holsum but it was cheaper plus free shipping. Figure I should be ok with it on a 22lr pistol. Testing the waters with red dots and think the 22lr is nice way to dip my toes in the water.

Leo

You will like it. A lot of the guys I shoot with use them on their Ruger MK pistols. Let us know what you think about it after giving it a good testing.

Maddmac's mid base with a Shield RMSc.

The Burris FF series has a mount for the Ruger that goes into the rear sight dovetail, which keeps the height of the RDS down.

The Shield and some other RDS's have a rear sight notch, which helps appreciably with finding the red dot. Took a bit of trial and error to find the right height front sight (to co-witness). I've re-installed the rear sight, but don't have a picture of it.

Maddmac's also has a base that uses the rear sight dovetail.

Comment on being able to change the battery from the top (without removing the sight)==> I feel this is way over rated, most of these sights use a coin cell battery that will last over two years. I change mine out every year, minimal adjustment if any needed. If you don't shoot your pistol once a year or you don't have a torx driver, or if you are so mechanically uninclined that you can not operate a screw driver... then yeah, get one that you can change the battery out from the top.

Jerry