PackinMama

I started my son, who is almost 9 yrs old, on a Ruger MK II this summer. He also had only shot his .22 rifle previous to that, and he did great with it. So good in fact, that I got him a Ruger MK III Hunter and put a red dot on it for him. Kids love the red dots!!!   The MK II's and III's are great because they will eat any old cheap ammo that you put through them. It seems like many of the .22 autos are finicky when it comes to ammo.

Welcome to TGO! It's always nice to see another woman that likes to shoot and appreciates fine firearms! Very nice MK III you have there! I have a similar one, only the barrel is longer and fluted. The ammo prices here are NORMALLY close to the same, but it's near impossible to actually find any .22 ammo anywhere in our country right now. Since our president got re-elected and the school shooting at Sandy Hook happened, ammo has become scarce and the prices have went through the roof. Just recently it's been coming back a little on just about every caliber besides .22lr. Walmart and several other big retailers might get in some .22lr about once a week but it's usually gone within an hour. If you want .22lr in this country right now, you pretty much have to go to online auction sites like GunBroker.com or go to the gun shows - and then you'll pay about two to three times what it should cost. Are you able to find plenty .22 ammo in Canada right now?

I have the same gun and currently I have a cheap BSA red dot on it. It works great and I have been picking off golf balls with it at 25 yds. with no problems whatsoever. The bad thing about it is that it's just too darn big for my liking. I've never had a scope of any kind on a pistol and it just makes the gun seem too big and bulky, and although I haven't looked yet, finding a holster to accommodate the setup might be a challenge. I've done some research and I've decided that I will eventually be getting a Burris Fastfire III for it. They get very good reviews and you can get one with either a 3 or an 8 MOA dot. The best thing is that they are very small and weigh less than 1 oz., which I think will work out much better on my MK III.

Sidewinder, I really can't comment on the fiber optic sights. I installed a red dot sight immediately after I brought the gun home. The red dot is awesome though!

Call Ruger anyway and tell them that you're gun did not come with the scope rail and they will most likely go ahead and send you one anyway. Ruger customer service is excellent and they usually go out of their way to make a customer happy. My gun didn't come with the extra fiber optic sights but when I told them that it didn't have it they want ahead and sent it to me, no charge.

Cabelas has Remington 525 packs in stock right now for $23.99. Total is less than $30 with shipping. FYI The description in one place says 100 rds then says 525 rounds in another. I called and it is 525 rds.

They are supposed to come with a scope rail. Just give Ruger a call and tell them yours was missing and they will send you one. Congrats on finding one! You'll love it!

I have to disagree with you TMF. The MSRP on the Sig P938 is $823. The MSRP on the Kimber Solo is $815. Lots of people seem to be willing to pay the higher price for the Sig. Why not the Kimber?

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the Kimber Solo. It's smaller than my PF9 and fits in my pocket nicely. The only bad thing about them is that they will only (reliably) shoot high quality 124 or 147 gr. ammo. That's ok with me since it's not a range gun. If I want to go burn through some ammo, I'll take my Glock. ;)   Since many of you really seem to like the Sig P938, I looked up the specs on both the P938 and the Solo. I  found that the Solo is shorter in overall length by .4" and narrower in width by .105" The height is the same, and the Solo is 1 oz. heavier.

I had plantar fascitis and had to have surgery. They severed the fascia and I felt immense relief the same day. The best advice I can give you is to get a second opinion before you do anything. A podiatrist would be best.

Finding a MKlll Hunter is no easy task, especially at a good price. My LGS has one in stock for $609. I bought mine on Gunbroker for $599 before I knew that my LGS actually had one sitting in their display case. Either way, the end price would have been almost the same. I've ran several different kinds of ammo through mine (CCI, Aguila, SK, Remington, Federal), some cheap and some really good, and it shot it all with zero issues. It's definitely not ammo picky, which is a huge plus these days because with ammo being so scarce, you have to shoot whatever you can find. I really like having a red dot on it, but the BSA that I used is one I had sitting around and it's just too big (although the gun handles it just fine). I'm planning on upgrading to a Burris Fastfire very soon. The fiber optic sights are pretty neat, and they would be good for what the gun was designed to do (hunt), but I don't think they're very suitable for target shooting, especially if you're looking for extreme accuracy. Some of the MKlll Hunters that I see online come with a little tube of different color fiber optic tubes and a special little tool so you can change them out. Mine didn't come with one, but a call to Ruger took care of that problem quickly. They sent me one free of charge. Now all I need to do is find a shoulder holster rig that will accomodate my MKlll with the red dot on it so I can take it out hunting on my property. :)

I posted the following reply in another thread about the MKlll but then I saw this thread and thought it would also be appropriate here. I just recently became the proud owner of a new MKIII Hunter, in stainless with the long fluted barrel, fiber optic front sight and the Ruger target grips. It is absolutely gorgeous and shoots as good as it looks. With a red dot on top, it's as accurate as my AR22 out to 50 yards. I haven't tried it past 50 yds.....yet. I ordered the bushing that you put in to be able to remove the magazine disconnect. I also ordered the piece to replace the loaded chamber indicator. I plan to get the Volquartsen stainless match trigger and sear very soon. That's the neat thing about the Ruger's.....there's plenty stuff available to customize them and make them even better. This gun is a keeper for sure. This is one that will become a treasured heirloom to my son, and his son, and so on. IMHO, every serious gun lover needs one of these in his/her collection.

I keep a couple feeders on the front porch and we have around a dozen. My cat caught one a couple weeks ago and I knocked the cat away and grabbed it up. I took it to the front yard and tried to release it since it wasn't bleeding and appeared uninjured. It would fly about two inches up from my hand and then land again. It did this several times and just couldn't get any higher. I sat it down on a bush and noticed something caught in it's wing. I picked it up again and began pulling at the thing on it's wing. It turned out to be a very large and long strand of spider webbing that was entwined all around it's whole body. I gently got it all off and then opened my hand. It sat there for about a minute and just looked at me (almost like it was thanking me).....then it flew off like nothing had happened. My husband now calls me the hummingbird whisperer. :)

I just recently became the proud owner of a new MKIII Hunter, in stainless with the long fluted barrel, fiber optic front sight and the Ruger target grips. It is absolutely gorgeous and shoots as good as it looks. With a red dot on top, it's as accurate as my AR22 out to 50 yards. I haven't tried it past 50 yds.....yet. I ordered the bushing that you put in to be able to remove the magazine disconnect. I also ordered the piece to replace the loaded chamber indicator. I plan to get the Volquartsen stainless match trigger and sear very soon. That's the neat thing about the Ruger's.....there's plenty stuff available to customize them and make them even better. This gun is a keeper for sure. This is one that will become a treasured heirloom to my son, and his son, and so on. IMHO, every serious gun lover needs one of these in his/her collection.

You're kidding?!! I haven't checked them in a month or so, but when no one else had Black Dog AR22 mags, they did and the prices were all pre-panic.....at that time at least. I guess they'll now be moved over to the same list I put CTD on. :mad:   Edit to add:  I just checked them and most of their prices are still extremely reasonable. The M&P 17 rd mags are $59.99 now....which is still too high.....but most others are still at pre-panic prices.

I joined TGO shortly after I had my son. I wasn't used to being cooped up in the house caring for a baby since my "thing" had always been hunting and shooting and being out in the woods. I absolutely loved being a mom, but still wanted to at least talk about my other loves, so I found this forum. I had been carrying a gun for over 20 years and having a child wasn't going to change that, so "PackinMama" just seemed appropriate. ;)

44mag.com is my favorite, hands down.

With my CMMG, I can hit golf balls consistently at 25 yards and 9 out of 10 at 50 yards. That is with a Vortex Strikefire red dot with no magnification. I can also do it with just my backup irons which are set up to co-witness with the red dot. There is definitely something wrong with your setup. You could possibly have a bad barrel.

Thanks OS! :)

I thought the same thing. I've tried several different types of ammo in my CMMG, and all my groups at 25 yds. with a red dot (no magnification) are just as good or better than the grouping Earl had with the Thunderbolts. (I'm not bragging, please don't take it that way)

I've found that Remington Thunderbolts are just about the dirtiest ammo that you can shoot. They might be accurate, but they sure get your gun crudded up fast. Oh Shoot - I've been wondering if you can use a conversion bolt in a dedicated upper. The bolt in my CMMG upper isn't stainless and I have a stainless conversion bolt that I'd like to use in it if I could. So how do you go about changing the chamber collar to the barrel adapter?

Ahhhh. The "slippery slope of backyard hens."  Yep. I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting better at my chicken imitations every day! :D LOL

I have a CMMG Sierra upper that I put on a PSA lower and I can honestly say that out of all the guns I've ever own/owned or shot, this one is my absolute favorite. It's cheap to feed, I don't need hearing protection when I shoot it, it's dead accurate out to 75 yards, and it never jams or misfires until you've shot around 500 rounds through it and the bolt becomes so gooped up with crud that it just can't cycle anymore. I have a Vortex Strikefire red dot on it with back up irons and I can pick off golf balls easily at 50 yards.   I can't speak for the JSE upper that Earl has, but I honestly don't see how it could shoot any better than my CMMG.  If you don't have a dedicated .22 upper and you enjoy shooting, do yourself a huge favor and get one!!! :) 

Having chickens and dealing with predators go hand in hand.  Around here, I have foxes, coyotes, possums, coons, snakes, and big rats to name a few. I've had chickens several times over the last 20 years and every time, they eventually all got killed by predators. This time, however, is different. This time, I built my coop right next to my dog pen and the dogs keep everything scared away. I also used 7 ft welded wire fence with 4 ft of chicken wire attached at the bottom with 2 ft of it rolled out onto the ground and covered with dirt. This way, when something comes up and tries to dig under, they hit the wire and can't dig any further.  So far, the only deaths I've had were caused from another hen pecking two of my chicks heads. Since I got rid of her, all is well. :)

You should be ashamed. ;)  Kidding aside, order her one asap! She will thank you for it, I promise! :)