Ruger's competition government model: a few words of praise for a deservedly popular pistol

Guns Magazine, Nov, 2002 by Glenn Barnes

While at the range the other day, testing some new .357 Magnum loads in my old Smith & Wesson Model 28, an older gentleman drove up. His beat up, archaic pick-up had barely come to a stop, when out jumped this brown haired little boy, clearly full of excitement.

The boy ran to the back of the truck and tried heroically to lift one of the range bags out of the bed with little success. He was slightly built, maybe six or seven years old.

"Grandpa, come help me with this stuff, I want to shoot!"

Grandpa walked stiffly to the rear of the truck, effortlessly picked up the range bags, and carried them to the table where we keep our shooting gear.

Grandpa glanced my way: "How are you doing today young feller?"

"Just fine sir. Hope you are. Your grandson's right excited, is this his first time?"

"Yes it is." The old gentleman beamed as he spoke of his grandson. "He has been asking me to take him here for the last year, and he's a pretty level-headed-kid, so I told him we would come today."

It was a pleasure to see the excitement in the lad's face and I asked if I might watch them for a while.

"Help yourself," Grandpa replied.

Watching grandpa give grandson his first shooting lesson was gratifying to say the least. Interesting to me were the handguns they were using.

Grandpa was shooting a Ruger MKI Target he purchased in 1954. The finish was mostly gone, but it was obvious it had been well taken care of. Grandson was using a new Ruger MKII Competition Government model that his dad bought for him. It was a good reminder -- whether you're seven or 70, you can't out-grow a Ruger MKII pistol.

A Better Mousetrap

In 1949, Ruger introduced a semiauto .22 pistol that was to become the standard by which all such guns are judged. The Ruger MKI .22 LR, also known as the "Standard Model," was heralded for its low cost, good looks, and rugged dependability. According to Ruger, more than one million of these pistols were sold between its introduction in 1949 and the change-over to the MKII design in 1982. Today, sales have reached well over three million.

In the highly competitive world of firearms manufacturing, where companies seeking to capture the market introduce new products almost daily, Ruger continues to succeed selling a design that is over fifty years old.

Ruger's 2002 catalog lists 17 different variations of the MKII pistol. These range from the basic Standard Model to the bullseye ready Competition Model. There is literally something for everyone, from the recreational plinker to the professional bullseye shooter.

Pick Of The Litter

Over the years, I have owned and tested many variations of the MKI and MKII pistols. All of them have been highly accurate and dependable. Currently, I own what many consider the ultimate in .22 LR target pistols: The Ruger MKII Competition Government Model.

The Competition Government Model sports a 6 7/8 inch slab-side barrel, wears target grade adjustable sights, is drilled and tapped for scope mount and rings (which are included with the pistol) and is made from corrosion resistant stainless steel. Weighing in at 45 ounces, this pistol is no fly-weight, however the extra weight pays dividends in the field and on the range in terms of accuracy and controllability.

Just how accurate is the Ruger Competition Government Model? What can we as shooters really expect from it? I took mine out to the range, along with several different types of ammunition to find out. All testing was done from a rest at 25 yards using open sights, and velocities were obtained using a Chrony chronograph, set up ten feet from the muzzle. Temperature was around 70 degrees, with no wind and lots of sunshine, the perfect day for testing.

Experimenting Pays Dividends

From experience, I have learned that most rimfires -- handguns and rifles -- are very finicky about what ammunition they prefer. My Competition Model was no exception. While none of the loads produced unacceptable accuracy, one load was clearly superior than the others: CCI's Blazer.

The Blazer rimfire ammunition consistently produced five shot groups under one inch. I'm sure you've read in the past, that the first, hand chambered round fired from a semiauto pistol has a tendency to shy away from the other rounds fired in the group. I'm not sure what actually causes this, but it does happen, and it occurred in every group I fired, with all loads tested.

If I could discount the "flyer," which I can't, the groups fired with the Blazer ammunition would run closer to onehalf inch. That's pretty amazing performance from an unaltered, box-stock, .22 LR pistol. An added bonus with the Blazer ammo is economy. It was the least expensive brand of ammunition tested, which translates into more shooting. I've included a chart with the six different types of ammunition tested, listing their performance.

There are many different kinds of .22 LR ammunition on the market, and all of them are fairly inexpensive compared to centerfire ammo. Thus there is no reason we shouldn't try as many as possible, to find out what groups best in our handgun. More than likely, at least one brand or load will clearly outshoot the others. In addition, this type of testing is a lot of fun.