pistol

As a competitive shooter, I am always looking for an advantage to shoot faster! One of my first ever Handguns was a Ruger Hunter on the traditional Standard Frame which most call the Target Frame. Being a 1911 fanatic, I prefer the 22/45 frame so I repurposed a spare 22/45 frame and placed the Ruger Hunter 6.88″ upper on it. Wow, did it feel amazing! I then added the Creekside Custom 19.22 https://creeksidecustomlasering.com/19-22-rimfire-trigger-for-ruger-volquartsen-tandemkross-pistols trigger with the Volquartsen Accurizing kit https://creeksidecustomlasering.com/volquartsen-accurizing-kit-ruger-mkiv/ to achieve one of the best triggers ever felt in a .22 platform. I like some weight in my hand, I added the Solid Brass Big Daddy grips and Magwell https://creeksidecustomlasering.com/solid-brass-big-daddy-grips-and-magwell-for-the-22-45-mkiv/ to add 15.7oz. For enhanced reliability I installed a Volquartsen DLC coated bolt. I hope it shoots half as good as it looks!

Initial Impressions
Right out of the box, the Ruger Hunter impressed with its long sight radius and familiar feel. The 22/45 frame adds a comfortable grip angle, and the extended barrel is extremely accurate, I was stacking shots on top of each other at 35 yards on the back plates of Outer Limits – free hand. The trigger setup limited sight disruption at speed to include the short reset.

At the range, this pistol delivered. It shoots great, grouping tightly at 35 yards with Eley Contact. The added weight from the brass grips and magwell lessens sight disruption as well. The 1.7lb trigger break with short reset enhances precision, though the return to sight picture is just a tad slower compared to my other Volquartsen Mamba X Iron Sight gun I have been shooting in competition. This isn’t a dealbreaker, but I’m addressing it with the planned compensator, which should speed up the return to center of the sights.

Does the return to sights really matter? If you are a new shooter it probably does not help you much. Over time, as your speed builds, it makes a significant difference. I was talking with Lance Bratcher Jr the other night, who has logged the fastest times shot in Rimfire Pistol Iron and Rimfire Pistol Open in Steel Challenge. He noticed a big difference with the trigger and then with the Brass grips and Magwell. The sights don’t seem to move. The reality is they move slightly but it is a blink of the eye and they are back to where you expect them to be. As I say, you can drive the gun harder and with the additional weight and less trigger movement you have less sight disruption. Less time hunting for the sights and more time getting on target faster!

Pros
• Exceptional accuracy with the long barrel.
• Custom brass grips and magwell add weight and style.
• 1.7lb trigger break with short reset thanks to Volquartsen internals.
• Smooth trigger with short reset.

Cons
• Return to sight picture could be quicker – good return to sights.
• Threading for a comp will be an additional step and $, but worth it.

Next Steps
I’m excited to thread the barrel for a compensator (Falcon II https://creeksidecustomlasering.com/falcon-ii-rimfire-compensator-for-pistol-1-2-28-thread-pitch/ ), which should mitigate the slight delay in sight alignment and enhance overall control. When threading, we’ll move the front sight back 0.5” to accommodate the threading. I’ll update this post with range results once that’s done. For now, this Ruger MKIV Hunter is a solid base for a custom build, blending factory precision with personal flair.

Stay tuned!

Shooters making products for shooters..

Steve

When I was younger I was a huge fan of Lincoln Logs. If you are reading this and you don’t know what Lincoln Logs are, they were Legos before Legos existed. The cool part is you were always able to build something with some basic components. The only limitation was your imagination, well until you ran out of logs or shingles! For me, building something better, cooler, functional was the highlight of my day. As I fast forward 40 years later, this is exactly what I am doing with Creekside Custom. Building products for Shooters by Shooters.

Ruger has been around for since before I was a kid. At the time, it was the entry level into how I started shooting. I remember when I opened my very first gun, I was 8 years old and that Santa did a great job that year leaving me a 10/22. A couple years later the first handgun I shot was a Ruger MKII. Needless to say, as I made a decision to base some of my enhancements to the Ruger Platform, I sought out to unleash the potential of the MKIV platform. In full transparency, there were ideas I had for parts in which I provided other companies ideas for. Some were made or changed, and others were not. I do not fault these companies, the market I enjoy and choose to exercise my 2nd Amendment rights is a very small market. So, I made the decision to do it myself.

Recently, I co-released two of the last products I plan to make for the MKIV; the 19.22 trigger shoe and the ICE Bolt Racker. Let’s start off with the Bolt Racker. There are other rackers on the market that are cost effective and they do a great job preventing your fingers from being pinched when racking the bolt. I did not find a version for competitive shooters to use In Case of an Emergency if you had to rack the bolt quickly similar to an Open Gun. The design was created to twist on, be effective, and ergonomically friendly. Mission accomplished. Yeah and it looks really cool as well!

Early in my shooting career I spent a lot of time shooting 1911s and I absolutely love the trigger length, the pull weight, adjustable pre-travel, glass rod break, reasonable over travel, and short reset. Oh, and the straight/flat face is something I strongly prefer in my triggers. As with other parts, I decided to make my own. As prototyping came along, the trigger felt just like my first 1911 and this is why it is named the 19.22. The mechanical advantage of setting the trigger shoe back helped in a couple of areas, mainly it decreased the average trigger pull around 1/2 pound in testing. The other magic for me is the reset is positive and short. My second – third – fourth – fifth shots at the 2024 RCSA World Rimfire were better and faster than I have ever shot with a rimfire iron pistol. A small detail, it happens to be aesthetic as well, is the small hook at the bottom of the trigger that scoops the trigger finger to the right spot every time.

The 19.22 trigger far exceeded expectations with selling nearly half of the first run in the first two days and selling the remaining triggers in the next five days. What was unexpected was the amount of posts, emails, messages, and calls of support from people in the industry. Outside of the sales, this is when I knew that people wanted the same thing I did. Thank you to everyone for your support. I was talking with a manufacturer the other day who congratulated me. I asked why. He said there is a small group of people who are willing to put the time, money, and effort in bringing their ideas to a reality. Never thought of it that way. After going through the process with creating a developing several products, I know why people don’t do it!

What is next? Great question. Working on something cool next. Need to let sales happen to replenish the bank account to fund the next project! If you have ideas – please reach out. I can’t say yes to every project, but at a minimum I can offer the insight I have gained through this process.

Let’s Shop

See you out on the range soon!

Steve

The Pursuit of Perfection – Rimfire Pistol Iron Sights

I made it!