[8strings8rounds]

I recently purchased a Mark IV Stainless 10" Target. In my experience, almost every MKIV I've handled has had a canted front sight to at least some degree. I checked the front sights on both the stainless pistols they had, and one of the blued ones out of curiosity- all of them had canted front sights. Not quite import kit ak bad, but very noticeable.
I still made the purchase as I have been looking for this pistol since they came out.

A few years ago, I had this issue with a brand new Hunter. My first MKIV. I found the whole barrel was turned. The front sight is aligned perfectly with the top flute of the barrel, which leads me to suspect they still and mill these before threading into the receiver, but the whole thing is turned clockwise.. Ruger took the pistol "destroyed it" for being "out of spec" and sent me one with the identical issue.. but with an older SN and appeared to be used.. filthy, even.. as irritated as I was I didn't bother chasing it. I just wanted to shoot it.. and I figured they were all going to look like that, so I cleaned it, modified the sight and moved on..

Anyway, I grabbed my spare HiViz sight for the 10" and modified it the way I did for the Hunter. I just took material off the bottom on the high side to get it to sit straighter up and down. It isn't perfectly centered because the hole in the barrel is off center by a few degrees, but at least it isn't distracting when looking through the rear notch.
In the meantime, I took the stock sight, and made a cam washer for it, thinking maybe I can just turn the cam to move the sight where it should be. We'll see..

After getting the sight straightened, I put about 300 rounds through the pistol. It ran like a top.
When I cleaned it, I found a burr around the bore at the muzzle end. Kinda irked me, but I'm a machinist, and we just happen to make tools very similar to a crowning tool.. but then I also noticed something odd about the chamber. It appears the chamber isn't perfectly centered with the rifling? I'm talking only a couple thousandths of an inch, but it still caught my eye. Probably something nobody else would have ever caught.

So, I contacted Ruger to see what they said, and of course they said to send it in.
I'm debating this given my past experience, but maybe I will just to see if they send me another one with the same issue.. Or maybe I'll just say screw it and slap a scope on there as I was intending to do, anyway. Like I said, it ran flawlessly, and was accurate as I believe it should be. I may just be nitpicking.

Sorry for the lengthy post.

I'll share a couple pictures of the chamber compared to the Hunter, and my sight modification. I'll have to grab a pic of the canted front sight, later.

 

[8strings8rounds]

I tried getting a video focusing between the front and rear, but I can't upload it here. So here's a couple captures.

 

[FireEscape]

I tried getting a video focusing between the front and rear, but I can't upload it here. So here's a couple captures.

That seems to have been all too common an occurrence for a while. I am getting to be afraid to look too closely at guns that I have had for a while, I might find something that I will wish that I hadn't.

Somewhat off topic, when I passed my mouse over your picture this 'caption' came up

Finger Surveillance camera Bicycle part Circle Titanium

I get 'captions' like that periodically, it may be a conspiracy theory that 'someone' is trying to analyze everything that passes over the internet. I take some solace in how poorly it is working at this point.

Bruce

 

[taters613]

I tried getting a video focusing between the front and rear, but I can't upload it here. So here's a couple captures.

If it shoots as well as you say it does, I’d hang on to it.

I bought the exact same model of mark IV a couple years ago, and I, too, was initially disappointed by some aspects of the build quality. Serious tooling marks on internal surfaces; galling and peening of impact surfaces indicating soft, low-quality steel; things like that. I own a collection of 60’s & 70’s vintage, Belgian-made Browning Medalists and Challenger’s that are much higher quality in all respects. Even the well-used Browning’s don’t show any signs of peening, and every aspect of the fit and finish is superior.

However, despite all those observations, I’ve now put around 5000 rounds through my Mark IV, and I’ve found it to be a fantastic shooter! It’s nearly as accurate as my most accurate Browning’s, and it’s more reliable than any other 22 pistol I own. The takedown system makes it my easiest pistol to break down and clean; the design is very user-friendly and robust; and it’s just plane fun as heck to shoot. Also, thankfully, the peening and galling that initially concerned me doesn’t seem to have gotten any worse, so I don’t have any concerns about it’s longevity.

Anyhow, I suppose my point is this: The mark IV is a fantastic shooter, and that’s what it should be appreciated for. However, just like all other modern, production firearms in its price range, it was designed and produced with cost efficiency in mind, and thus exhibits all the superficial flaws that you might expect.
Now, if you want to get a much higher quality pistol for around the same price (perhaps less if you’re lucky), I’d recommend shopping around on Gunbroker for a Belgian-made Browning Challenger. I’ve been fortunate & patient enough to land two, LNIB Challenger’s for under $500 apiece.

Here’s a pic of my Browning collection

And here’s one of my upgraded Mark IV:

 

[wproct]

Taters613, you don't see quality like those Brownings of yours anymore. I have owned a Nomad, Challenger, and Medalist in my lifetime, but unfortunately they are all long gone.😡

 

[8strings8rounds]

Update**
I spoke with a CS rep at Ruger. They said I could send the pistol in for evaluation, but apart from the front sight being off, it kind of sounded like they weren't too concerned. She said she spoke with a tech about the chamber, and he confirmed their tolerances are +/-.003" and where I believe mine to be out about .002-.003" is likely fine.
Also, the burr on my barrel - she said if I can just touch it enough to clean it up without altering dimensions (which should be easy) then I should be fine to do it myself without voiding any warranties.

I am scoping the pistol, so the front sight won't matter in the long run. Still, I made myself another solution just to try out. - I opened up the screw hole and made an offset washer so I can cam the sight to where it needs to be. I think it came out pretty decent.

 

[8strings8rounds]

T

If it shoots as well as you say it does, I’d hang on to it.

I bought the exact same model of mark IV a couple years ago, and I, too, was initially disappointed by some aspects of the build quality. Serious tooling marks on internal surfaces; galling and peening of impact surfaces indicating soft, low-quality steel; things like that. I own a collection of 60’s & 70’s vintage, Belgian-made Browning Medalists and Challenger’s that are much higher quality in all respects. Even the well-used Browning’s don’t show any signs of peening, and every aspect of the fit and finish is superior.

However, despite all those observations, I’ve now put around 5000 rounds through my Mark IV, and I’ve found it to be a fantastic shooter! It’s nearly as accurate as my most accurate Browning’s, and it’s more reliable than any other 22 pistol I own. The takedown system makes it my easiest pistol to break down and clean; the design is very user-friendly and robust; and it’s just plane fun as heck to shoot. Also, thankfully, the peening and galling that initially concerned me doesn’t seem to have gotten any worse, so I don’t have any concerns about it’s longevity.

Anyhow, I suppose my point is this: The mark IV is a fantastic shooter, and that’s what it should be appreciated for. However, just like all other modern, production firearms in its price range, it was designed and produced with cost efficiency in mind, and thus exhibits all the superficial flaws that you might expect.
Now, if you want to get a much higher quality pistol for around the same price (perhaps less if you’re lucky), I’d recommend shopping around on Gunbroker for a Belgian-made Browning Challenger. I’ve been fortunate & patient enough to land two, LNIB Challenger’s for under $500 apiece.

Here’s a pic of my Browning collection

View attachment 186891

And here’s one of my upgraded Mark IV:

View attachment 186893

Those are beautiful.