Ruger kicked off its past 75 years with a humble little .22 LR semi-automatic pistol that Bill Ruger himself crafted in a garage workshop. Now in its fourth and cleanest iteration, the current Mark IV brings with it a one-button takedown process that revolutionizes its maintenance. All the complexity users had to overcome on past models has been replaced by a simple press of a button on the rear of the frame, and the pistol disassembles in seconds.
In this piece, we cover the whole Mark IV ecosystem including the Standard, Target, Hunter, Competition, 22/45, 22/45 Lite, 22/45 Tactical, and the Silencer Shop SSH, with special emphasis on the 22/45 in its 4.4-inch threaded bull barrel format, complete with range-tested accuracy data, a measured trigger pull, and a structured variant comparison table. Readers looking to have a question answered will find them here.
Throughout testing on our evaluation 22/45, we ran just shy of 2,000 rounds through our handy little pistol, including bulk pack Federal and Winchester. We also shot several different 100-round boxes of more specialty CCI ammo subsonics and hollow-points billed for varmint hunting.
We’ll cover the Mark IV’s history, variants, optics and suppressor use, range data, maintenance, upgrades, and give you a final recommendation based on the results of our testing.
By Michael Crites
Michael Crites has served as executive editor of AmericanFirearms.org since 2016 and previously held positions as associate editor and range correspondent dating back to 2000. He discovered his passion for precision shooting at age 12 during his first visit to his grandfather's shooting range, eventually earning an Expert classification in three different shooting disciplines before age 18.
During his studies at University of Wyoming, he earned four varsity letters on the collegiate rifle and pistol teams, serving as team captain for three consecutive years. He became the first UW student to complete the NRA Range Safety Officer certification while maintaining full-time student status. He graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Sports Communications.
His diverse career has included roles as Range Safety Coordinator for the National Rifle Championships in Camp Perry 2001; editor-in-chief, Precision Shooter Quarterly; series editor, Modern Firearms Handbook collection; managing editor, National Shooting Sports Foundation Newsletter; editor, Competitive Shooter Magazine; operations director for Western Arms & Ammunition Co.; senior editor for the Shooter's Reference Annual (Cheyenne); content director for The Firearms Report, published by the American Shooting Coalition in Billings, MT; firearms correspondent for Hunting & Shooting, produced by Outdoor Sports Media Group in Jackson, WY; and publisher for Wyoming Shooting Sports Journal in Casper. He has contributed as a regular columnist for American Rifleman (NRA Publications), technical editor for Precision, a publication of the National Bench Rest Shooters Association (Phoenix, AZ); and as firearms specialist for the Gun Owner's Annual.
As a digital content creator, he has written more than 400 articles on AmericanFirearms.org, developed shooting technique coverage for the Brownells Shooting Blog (Montezuma, IA) and Federal Premium "Range Notes" platform (Anoka, MN), and served as lead content strategist for International Defensive Pistol Association (Berryville, AR). Beyond Tactical Firearms, his current endeavors include content development for the Wyoming State Rifle Association (Cheyenne, WY) and technical manual production for High Plains Publishing of Laramie, WY.
He has contributed to the 12th, 13th, and 14th editions of Modern Sporting Rifles Guide and edited The Complete Guide to Tactical Shooting and Competitive Shooter's Reference Manual (Gun Digest Books).
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