Ruger Mark IV Competition Target

View · by **SGW Gunsmith** on Sat Mar 11, 2017 10:12 am

Looks like the Ruger Mark IV Competition Target commemorative pistol has reached it's goal of 1000 pistols. I now see that Ruger is offering the Competition Target in a normal production platform. No knife involved.

View · by **gun_fan111v2** on Sat Mar 11, 2017 11:13 am

Good news. I like the pistol but the commemorative set was pricy.

View · by **grimbeaver** on Mon Mar 13, 2017 7:57 am

I'll stick with my MKIII Competition. The MKIV features are not compelling enough to me to justify upgrading any of my existing pistols.

I do love how the feature list includes "Ambidextrous manual safety" on a firearm with a right handed only grip though. :lol:

View · by **SGW Gunsmith** on Mon Mar 13, 2017 12:12 pm

gun_fan111v2 wrote:Good news. I like the pistol but the commemorative set was pricy.

Yah! I think the knife added around $300.00 to the package. I probably would have gotten "squirrel guts" all over that nice knife anyway. Now, I'm trying to get a Competition Target from the distributor I deal with. I have a Mark II Competition Target and would like to see how those two compare in accuracy.

View · by **SGW Gunsmith** on Fri Mar 24, 2017 9:40 am

grimbeaver wrote:I'll stick with my MKIII Competition. The MKIV features are not compelling enough to me to justify upgrading any of my existing pistols.

I do love how the feature list includes "Ambidextrous manual safety" on a firearm with a right handed only grip though.

So, you were hoping for the Mark IV Target to arrive with a thumb rest on both grip panels? Sounds awkward to me. :shock:

View · by **SGW Gunsmith** on Mon Apr 03, 2017 10:50 am

Well, the one I ordered has arrived, and I'm not disappointed:

Being that I shoot right handed, there's no need for me to have the safety lever on the right side of the pistol. Very easy to remove and then use the "washer" that was provided:

I did detect a bit of side to side play in the trigger and a little bit of wobble in the trigger, over the pivot pin. Small stuff easily fixed.

View · by **FJ540** on Fri Apr 07, 2017 7:35 pm

Over all, very nice looking gun. I just don't get why the adjustable rear sight still looks like an afterthought after 40+ years of production.

View · by **SGW Gunsmith** on Mon Apr 10, 2017 8:16 am

FJ540 wrote:Over all, very nice looking gun. I just don't get why the adjustable rear sight still looks like an afterthought after 40+ years of production.

There is an LPA (low Profile Sight) rear sight available for these pistols, but then of course the front sight blade may need to be higher. Most of us 'ol farts add red-dot sights to replace the irons anyway.

View · by **FJ540** on Mon Apr 10, 2017 10:53 am

The issue isn't the height, it's that the dovetail is 3x wider than the groove it resides in and the whole mechanism looks scabbed on rather than designed to perch atop a round receiver - like a badly modified M1911 which started with a blade rear sight but someone stuck a Novak in. They look like a "crown" sitting on the slide instead of an integral part of the design.

For such an elegant design (ok, what used to be, since the front pin ruins the lines too), it sticks out as a distraction.

I still want one. :lol:

View · by **mmcnx2** on Tue Apr 11, 2017 6:44 am

I removed the front and rear because they both look like afterbirth and just bolted the reddot on the rail. Heck with my old eyes iron sights are only good for about 15ft anyway.

View · by **SGW Gunsmith** on Wed Apr 12, 2017 9:12 am

FJ540 wrote:The issue isn't the height, it's that the dovetail is 3x wider than the groove it resides in and the whole mechanism looks scabbed on rather than designed to perch atop a round receiver - like a badly modified M1911 which started with a blade rear sight but someone stuck a Novak in. They look like a "crown" sitting on the slide instead of an integral part of the design.

For such an elegant design (ok, what used to be, since the front pin ruins the lines too), it sticks out as a distraction.

I still want one.

OK, I see what you mean now. The rear adjustable sight could indeed use a face lift so it looks more svelte and blends better. I've lost the ability to make good use of the iron sights also, due to years of close tolerance machining and then the measuring of those parts, so bifocals have been the norm for quite a few years. When I do use the open sights I stick this gizmo onto the right lens of my glasses. The iris is adjustable for diameter and really helps with focusing on the front sight.

Otherwise, I also use a red-dot on several of my "shooters".

View · by **SGW Gunsmith** on Wed Apr 19, 2017 8:59 am

mmcnx2 wrote:I removed the front and rear because they both look like afterbirth and just bolted the reddot on the rail. Heck with my old eyes iron sights are only good for about 15ft anyway.

Which rail did you use?