Dumb Question: Browning Buckmark vs Ruger Mk4 22/45

[opngrnd]

I'm probably going to pick one of these two up. I find myself wanting to shoot more often for less money, helping new people shoot, etc, and a 22 pistol would do pretty nice for all this. (Plus I dont own a 22lr pistol, so I guess there's that...)

Is there any need-to-know info about either one that sets one above the other? These two come to mind:

https://ruger.com/products/markIV2245Lite/specSheets/43917.html

https://www.browning.com/products/firearms/pistols/buck-mark-pistols/limited-availability/buck-mark-plus-blue-lite.html

[grizzman]

For the intended purpose, both the Buck Mark and Mark IV will do well. I personally prefer a handgun used for target shooting to have more weight than the ones you linked, especially for new shooters.

I've got both a blued Mark IV Target and a Camper URX. With aftermarket fire control parts and fiber optic sights, they are very comparable in performance.

[Uni-Vibe]

grizzman's on track here. I just got a regular Mark IV, preferring that over the 22/45. Regular one has a bull barrel and a lot more weight for steadier handling.

Ruger Mark IV is called "Target," but isn't out of the box. I sent it to Volquartsen for a trigger. And I got rid of the thin plastic stocks, and got proper target ones. I now have about $700 invested in it, but it's super cool.

[El Pistolero]

OP are you set on the two choices you named? Because the M&P 22 Compact is worth a look, I just got into the training-with-rimfire game myself and I went with the M&P 22 Compact and I love it so far.

[Bart Noir]

Have no experience with the Ruger but I did just sell my Buckmark. Replaced it with the S&W Victory.

The Buckmark was a fine shooter but needed to be taken apart with a screwdriver for real cleaning. Well, so does the Victory but the Buckmark has little screws and lockwashers which must not be "misplaced" or the gun does not go back together.

The Victory comes with a Pic-rail to attach to the receiver. I put a cheap red-dot sight on it and it is loads of fun and good training for more serious pistols and their more advanced red-dots. I confess to be on a bit of a red-dot binge now.

Bart Noir

[LMT Shooter]

I've no experience with the Buckmark, but I own an older .22/45, and it has been 100% reliable (a few failures to fire from bad .22 primers) and is very accurate, although the Ruger is finicky about reassembly. OP, are you wanting a plinker/range toy, or are you wanting to train with a .22? I have a .22 conversion for SIG P226's, and I think you ought to look into a conversion for, or dedicated .22 version of, your primary handgun if you want to train with a .22.

But, every gun owner ought to have a .22lr pistol & rifle, IMHO, just for the fun of shooting a .22lr.

[opngrnd]

LMT Shooter-Primary long term intentions are for a fun, RDS equipped, suppressed range toy that I will enjoy shooting. That it's useful for varmints, etc is a plus. It's not a trainer in true form because I'm not looking to mimick the weight and feel of any other particular firearm. When I'm working on something specific, I will run through it a few times with a 22lr as a demonstration for fellow shooters, or so fellow shooters can try something before burning their more expensive ammo up. I'll often run a rifle stage with a 10/22w/RDS to show people what something should look like, then have them try it.

[LMT Shooter]

Gotcha, I should add that I clean my Ruger once every 5-10 years, whether it needs it or not, so it's not a high-maintenance gun. I do dump in lots of lube between cleaning, but not every time I shoot it. I can't imagine how anyone could not be happy with a Ruger, but the Browning may be excellent as well.

[ejr490]

The take down goes to Ruger for sure. But I’ve been shooting a buck mark for a long time and the only negative thing I can say is taking the slide off requires tools. But they have great triggers and are very accurate and mine has ben very reliable. But can’t go wrong with either.

Ed

[dmd08]

I have a 22/45 with the bull barrel. I also have an M&P 22 compact for my son. I greatly prefer the 22/45 and shoot it much better. I think partly due to the heavier weight and I really dislike the hinged m&p trigger. .22 pistols are tons of fun and cheap to shoot. We shoot them suppressed on a dueling tree. Everyone I take shooting loves how quiet and comfortable it is to shoot them. Especially new shooters.

[CRAMBONE]

The Buckmarks are supposed to be quieter when suppressed. I have an old Challenger that is pretty quiet with a screw on can but I want an integrally suppressed Buckmark. I had a “old model” 22/45 and it was a good pistol. Fairly accurate but taking it apart was a biotch.

[opngrnd]

The Buckmarks are supposed to be quieter when suppressed. I have an old Challenger that is pretty quiet with a screw on can but I want an integrally suppressed Buckmark. I had a “old model” 22/45 and it was a good pistol. Fairly accurate but taking it apart was a biotch.

Very interesting info. I wonder why it'd be quieter?

[Wildcat]

Something else to consider if you intend to make changes to the pistol.

The Buckmark receiver is the grip frame (as normal). So if you want to exchange barrels it can be done at will, with normal tools. A new barrel can bought simply.

The Ruger receiver is the tubular extension into which the barrel is mounted (like a bolt gun). A new barrel (with receiver) is another serialized part; unless you have a barrel wrench.

[shadowrider]

Kind of depends on what your intentions for the pistol are. I have both, a Buckmark Camper Heavy bull barrel and a MKIII 22/45 Lite.

The Buckmark positives are covered pretty well already, it's a good platform.

The MKIII 22/45 Lite is much faster swinging in target transitions in Steel Challenge and the grip angle and controls being placed just like a 1911 is nice. For your stated uses either will be good.

[Tulsa]

After quite a bit of research I bought the Ruger mark 4 22/45 tactical, and shot it this morning for maybe the fourth or fifth time. Like most 22's it's very choosy about ammo when it comes to accuracy, but it has fed everything flawlessly. My buddy's amazing Smith & Wesson model 41 wasn't reliable with the Fiocchi ammunition we were using, but the Ruger had no difficulty with it at all. From the bench I can put four or five shots of that ammo at 15 yards into an area you could pretty much cover with a nickel.

This model has a light polymer frame which works great with my hands. They have bull barrels with more weight at the muzzle than I'm used to, but I know many people like the additional mass. The mark 4 models are comically easy to field strip and reassemble. If border collies had thumbs it would be no problem to teach them this in about 2 minutes.

I may have just gotten lucky, but one of my nicest surprises about the gun has been how the trigger action feels. No creep and only medium heavy. I read a lot of reviews before I bought this Ruger, and I don't remember any where the conclusion put the Browning and head of it.

[gunnut284]

The Buckmarks are supposed to be quieter when suppressed. I have an old Challenger that is pretty quiet with a screw on can but I want an integrally suppressed Buckmark. I had a “old model” 22/45 and it was a good pistol. Fairly accurate but taking it apart was a biotch.

I have an older Buckmark and a MKIII 22/45 and to my ear the 22/45 sounds slightly quieter (less action/port noise). Tons of variables to that though. The Buckmark feels a little better and has a better trigger, the Ruger seems more durable. The MKIV seems to be a nice improvement over the MKIII.

[JediGuy]

I shoot my AR’s more now, but this is the first gun I bought. It’s what let me know how bad GI triggers are. Eventually, I’ll get a threaded barrel for it, but it’s just fun to shoot. It’s what I taught my wife and sister with. And just cool-looking.

https://www.browning.com/products/firearms/pistols/buck-mark-pistols/current-production/buck-mark-lite-gray-urx-5.html

[Jolr]

The Browning will have a much nicer trigger. It’s not even close

[austinN4]

The Browning will have a much nicer trigger. It’s not even close

Plus it is easy to improve with the Heggis Flip:
https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=He6kW-DiOMLAsQWG2IOABA&q=heggis+flip+new+buckmark&oq=heggis+flip%5B&gs_l=psy-ab.1.0.0j0i22i30l2.747.4025..7232...0.0..1.122.980.13j1......0....1..gws-wiz.....0..0i131j0i10j0i10i30j0i30j0i22i10i30.UqeSXazlPUw

I like my Buck Mark (yes, it is 2 words) a lot!

[tb-av]

I may have just gotten lucky, but one of my nicest surprises about the gun has been how the trigger action feels. No creep and only medium heavy. I read a lot of reviews before I bought this Ruger, and I don't remember any where the conclusion put the Browning and head of it.

This guy has nice upgrades. The Volq. sear and the TK flat trigger are really nice in my opinion. Mine is a MK III but it transformed the trigger action.
https://www.tandemkross.com/Ruger-MKIV-2245_c_204.html

[BWT]

I own and have used a Browning Buckmark a lot.

I’ve had a very positive experience, but I’d probably go with the Ruger MK IV. I found the way the slide opens when shooting does burn the hands and put carbon on you if shoot a lot.

Also, from what I’ve seen at least the Ruger is quieter as a host because it opens the port to the side versus an open bolt to both sides. Which with the increased back pressure from a suppressor will only intensify the carbon / occasional burns, etc.

I’d go with a threaded barrel for the Ruger just in case you ever decide to suppress it you don’t have to go through an FFL to get a threaded barrel (Ruger used to serialize the barrel which made buying an aftermarket barrel even more of a hassle).

God Bless,

Brandon

[themonk]

I have owned both and sold the Ruger. If you want a project gun that you can add tons of aftermarket parts to, go the Ruger route. If you want a solid shooter out of the box the Buck Mark is exceptional. I have the 4" threaded barrel Buck Mark and have to have at least 100k suppressed rounds through it. It has been phenomenal from a reliability standpoint. Having owned both the Buck Mark was more reliable over the Ruger. IMO I attribute this to the Buck Mark magazines.

I agree with grizzman above that generally if the gun is going to be used to help new scooters you are going to want a heavier gun. Easier to shoot and allowes them to lean trigger press without as much movement in the gun.

[opngrnd]

Thanks to all for the input. After going back and forth a few times on features, I decided to try this one:
https://www.browning.com/products/firearms/pistols/buck-mark-pistols/current-production/buck-mark-plus-camper-ufx-suppressor-ready.html

There were three features I wanted out of the box for sure, with a fourth feature that i kept coming back to.
1.Threaded barrel
2.Fiber optic front sight
3.Rail for RDS
4.Solid barrel

I really wanted to like the Ruger more, but the model I was interested always had holes in the barrel shroud.

[austinN4]

Thanks to all for the input. After going back and forth a few times on features, I decided to try this one:
https://www.browning.com/products/firearms/pistols/buck-mark-pistols/current-production/buck-mark-plus-camper-ufx-suppressor-ready.html

There were three features I wanted out of the box for sure, with a fourth feature that i kept coming back to.
1.Threaded barrel
2.Fiber optic front sight
3.Rail for RDS
4.Solid barrel

I really wanted to like the Ruger more, but the model I was interested always had holes in the barrel shroud.

Congrats! Same model I have except without the threaded barrel. If you want to improve the trigger right out of the box, Goggle the term: Buckmark Heggis flip.
Mine hates Remington Goldens (too gummy) but loves Federal bulk pack load #750 for cheap plinking.