# Mark III Standard - A Short Story....



## AZ Outlaws (Dec 3, 2007)

As a new/old Ruger owner I'm stopping by to say 'Hello' from Mesa, AZ.

Yesterday I purchased the newest version of a gun from my youth... a Ruger Mark III Standard. There's a short story that goes along with the purchase...

Way back in 1976, my first gun was a Ruger .22 Standard (can't remember if they were called Mark back then or not). My next gun was a stainless, 6" barrel, Ruger Security Six .357mag, for home defense. Then came the Charter Arms Bulldog .44 for CCW (yes Virginia, there used to be a time when you could actually get a carry permit in California without too much trouble, even if it was only valid in the county where you lived).

In 1985 I went to Japan with the US Air Force and had to put most of my stuff in storage, including the guns. While overseas, my wife returned to the states a few years later and a divorce soon followed. Everything in storage was released back to her.

Now it's 1992... I retired from the Air Force, returned to the states and went to claim my large floor stacked tool box which contained my three guns. After meeting the Ex at what used to be my home too, I asked, "where's my tool box and guns???" Her reply, "what tool box, what guns???" My prized weapons had vanished into the thin air of Sacramento, CA... never to be seen again.

Fast forward to 2007... I've been carrying around a short barrel Mossberg 500A Persuader 12 Ga shotgun for when out four wheeling and home defense the last 10 years or so, when the hand gun bug decided to bite again.

My first purchase was a Smith and Wesson M&P40 .40S&W. The magazine started dropping on it's own after only 30 rounds so I send it back for repair. In the mean time, I found a S&W forum and read up on the mag issue where I learned, while not wide spread there where reports of the mag release having to be beefed up and replaced. I turned around and went to the gun shop to see if they would buy back the M&P when it came back from the factory if I bought a different gun. They said, "yes", and I went home with a Sig Sauer P226 Elite .40S&W with the intention of selling the M&P to help pay for the added cost of the more expensive Sig. Well, the bug was biting hard... I took the M&P to the range when it came back and put 400 rounds through it without any malfunctions. I decided to keep it using the rationale it was easier for my wife to shoot than the Sig.

By now I'm reading up on the three guns I used to own and learn the Mark and especially the Security Six had become almost classics. You guessed it, now I was scouting the gun shops for a used Mark without any luck, so I adopted a new Mark III. Will an old Secirity Six and a Bulldog be in my future??? I wish, but I don't think so. I have a wife that was understanding enough to go along with me purchasing 'three' handguns in just over one month. I figure I should stop while I'm ahead....

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Now for the bad part... compared to my old Mark Standard, the new Mark III is a 'ROYAL' PIA to strip and put back together!!! Did I ever have a tough time of it!!! I almost threw it back in the box and putting it away on the top shelf, in the spare junk closet, never to see daylight again.

Last night I went to clean the Mark III and was that ever an experience!!! I spent just over three hours trying to field strip, clean and put it back together. I said to my wife, "I don't remember this gun being so hard to take down". I thought I was losing it (I later read the Mark I & II are not nearly as difficult to strip as the Mark III). I finally got it back together while sitting in front of the computer reading and watching videos on how to put this thing back together (Ruger has several  short videos on their site on 'how-to' a Mark III).

I tell you, you have to hold the gun this way and that way with the mag in, then out and then in and out a again all the while banging on the gun with a rubber mallet etc.... Geez, what an experience!!! I think I'll just be cleaning the bore and using spray cleaner and oiling what I can without tearing the gun apart again. We'll see.

Today it's off to the range to throw some lead down range. The Sig and M&P will get a box each. The Mark? Who knows how many of those tiny.22LR's it can chew up and spit out at a fraction of the cost of the other two.

Sorry for the long post, just thought some might get a chuckle out of one guys experience with a gun from his younger days....

*My new Mark III Standard...*










* The P226 and M&P40...*


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## JeffWard (Aug 24, 2007)

Swap it for a Buck Mark... hahahah

I think you should buy all your old guns... like coming home. But don't lose the Sig. That one is awesome.


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## AZ Outlaws (Dec 3, 2007)

JeffWard said:


> Swap it for a Buck Mark... hahahah
> 
> I think you should buy all your old guns... like coming home. But don't lose the Sig. That one is awesome.


Yea, I should of got the  Camper , but then it wouldn't have been the original first gun I owned. I'd like to buy the other two I owned, maybe down the road.

Yes, the Sig is awesome and I don't plan on parting with it....


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## alman63 (Apr 15, 2007)

I have a MKIII 22/45. It to was a pain to strip (put mag in and put mag ouy put back in and put back out) Went to rimefirecentral.com and got some very good info on the MarkIII. I removed the mag safety and what a difference. Also did a trigger mod that got the extra take-up out and it's just like shooting my 1911. Also try http://www.guntalk-online.com lots of good info there. Don't give up these new guns are still a blast to shoot but my fav. is the 1980 MarkI target model I have.


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## Baldy (Jun 21, 2006)

I have had the Mark I or standard since 1977 and it has had more than a few thousand rounds put through it.They are great little pistols and very accurate with in about 20 to 25yds. They are a PITA to tear down untill you get the hang of it. They work good for hunting tree rats and rabbits too.


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## DevilsJohnson (Oct 21, 2007)

I got one of those short barrel Mark III, I I like it pretty good. It feeds well and it's small enough for when I'm out in the woods and want a second gun in case I run across radical Muslim terrorist rabbits..Oh yeah..thet're out there..waiting:anim_lol::smt082


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## paine (Mar 2, 2007)

figgin chicks... gota love em, good story ha.



DevilsJohnson said:


> I got one of those short barrel Mark III, I I like it pretty good. It feeds well and it's small enough for when I'm out in the woods and want a second gun in case I run across radical Muslim terrorist rabbits..Oh yeah..thet're out there..waiting:anim_lol::smt082


NICE.


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