2 New Rimfires

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Yesterday my dealer called to tell me the 2 new .22 rimfire pistols I had ordered had come in. A new Beretta Model 87 Cheetah in .22 L.R., and a Ruger Mark IV Hunter. This is my second Ruger Mark IV. A couple of months back I purchased a new Ruger Mark IV Competition 100 Year Anniversary Model with the matching knife. I was very pleased with the gun, but because it was a limited production commemorative, I decided not to run up a high round count with it. So I went with this new Hunter. This is a post recall gun with the "improved" safety. The funny thing is I can't tell one bit of difference between the safety on this gun, or the pre recall model.

Both safeties feel and operate the same. Both can be positioned halfway if you try to position them that way. So I'm not sure what, if anything they actually "improved". Anyway, I'm very pleased with it. I didn't think I would be too excited with the shallow V-Notch rear sight. But after playing with it, it's not bad at all. Especially with the fiber optic front. It really stands out. I still however prefer the square notched rear target sight on the Competition Model.

The Beretta I was more concerned about because I purchased it sight unseen. These Beretta .22 Cheetah's are very hard to come by, and few dealers stock them. They are crazy expensive, with a MSRP $50.00 higher than the full size Model 92 Stainless 9 MM Inox Model. But after conversations with several people who owned them, I went ahead with the purchase. I wasn't disappointed. This gun just oozes quality. The slide to frame fit is like it's on ball bearings. The fit and finish couldn't be any better in my opinion. The bluing is deep and rich.

I felt somewhat comfortable with buying it because I already have the Model 87 Target, and it's a high quality piece. The Cheetah was no different. Another nice thing is the Cheetah will accept the 10 round magazines with the bumper pad from the 87 Target. The magazine doesn't look out of place when installed in the gun, and it gives it a 10+1 capacity, over the 7+1 of the 2 standard magazines the gun comes with. I hate shooting at indoor ranges, (too many idiots), but with the high Summertime temperatures we have out here this time of year, I don't have much choice. And I'm not about to wait until it cools off to fire both of them up. Here are a couple of quick and dirty phone camera pics of both guns.

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I honestly didn't know they made the cheetah in .22 till right now. I've got one of the little bobcat .22's and its a neat little gun. Glad you're enjoying your MKIV's. All my ruger .22's are either 22/45's and a MKII so no easy disassembly for me, not that you need to disassemble them very often.
 
Congrats!

I'm more of a 617/GP100 .22 shooter, but Ive been long-tempted to get an SA .22. Looking forward to the range report on the beretta especially.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
I hear from a friend that you don't have to be a magician anymore to reassemble a Ruger like that after field stripping it.


They are unbelievably easy to disassemble and reassemble. You can do both in under 10 seconds. I don't think there ever was, or is a similar model firearm that went from being a total PITA to field strip, to one that is so easy as these new Mark IV Rugers. I have to give them credit, they recognized the difficulty in the original design, then really improved it. Almost to the point of perfection. I just don't see how they could have done it any better.

I never even attempted to disassemble ANY of my Mark II's and III's. I just give them a good washing in clean Kerosene, then blow them dry with compressed air. It gets them really clean without the headache of trying to reassemble them. I've talked to gunsmiths who are starting to refuse them for reassembly, because they can't charge enough to make the headache worth their while.
 
Originally Posted By: nwjones18
I honestly didn't know they made the cheetah in .22 till right now.....


It's made on somewhat of a limited production basis. I heard they make a couple of runs a year of them in their Gardone, Italy plant for import, and that's it. As I said, they are hard to come by. Even here in Phoenix with gun shops galore, I've never seen one in the case anywhere. Even Cabela's doesn't handle them in .22. And you rarely see used one's, because people who have them tend to hang on to them. I see them occasionally on Gun Broker and Guns America, but not a lot of people are willing to part with what these go for. Especially for a .22 sport pistol. I think Beretta requires you to wear a $1,200.00 Tux when you shoot the thing.
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Originally Posted By: Blkstanger
I am wanting one of those Rugers. I used to have a Mark III and miss it.


You won't be disappointed if you get one. I have 2 Mark II's, and a Mark III. And I doubt any of them will be getting much use after working with these new Mark IV's. I like the fact the Stainless guns have a one piece lower frame, that's machined completely from Stainless Steel. No more welded sheet metal frames. Ruger did a nice job manufacturing this gun, and still managed to keep it affordable. It's also nice they offer an Aluminum frame in the blued models. For those who are concerned about the extra weight of an all Stainless frame. 42+ ounces makes for a heavy .22 pistol. I'm wondering when they'll be coming out with the tapered barrel sport models in both blue and Stainless?
 
Still have and use my Mark I and Mark II - shoot 'em, and take them down for cleaning regularly.

Once you break the horse in, they'll take down and go together without much fuss. Guess I've been doing it since the mid 1960s so it's old hat.

Had a Mark III for a short time, but its disassembly and reassembly with the magazine in was insanity. Couldn't get rid of it fast enough. Played with the Mark IV at the NRA Meeting in April - nice improvement, but it won't do anything my Mk I and Mk II won't do.

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Yesterday I got both the Cheetah, and the new Ruger Mark IV out to the range with plenty of ammo. It was hot, but I got there early and it wasn't too bad. I first got started with the Cheetah, because I was the most anxious to fire it. I lubed up both pistols well before I left. I set the targets at 50 feet, and rested the guns on the frames.

The Cheetah's sights were right on the money with a shallow 6 o'clock hold. I went through about 40 rounds this way, and the gun was printing perfectly. After that I just shot using a conventional 2 handed hold. The gun ran flawlessly all day. Both magazines ran perfectly, as did 2, 10 round magazines I brought from my Model 87 Target. All locked the slide back on the last round, and fed with zero FTF's or FTE's.

The trigger on the Beretta 87's takes a bit of getting used to. It's a bit different than most triggers. It has a lot of travel. But once you get used to it, you know exactly when let off is going to occur, and accurate shooting is easily accomplished. All total I ran about 300 rounds through it, without a single malfunction. This was with both high speed bulk ammo, as well as standard velocity in both CCI and Aguila brands. After about 100 rounds I shot mostly standard velocity because it ran the gun just fine.

The Ruger was up next. It was such a different gun compared to the Cheetah, it took some getting used to. Much heavier and far more muzzle heavy. Like you would expect from a long barreled target pistol. The sights were a bit off, with the gun printing about 4 inches low, and about 3 inches to the right. But they were easily adjusted, and after that I had no trouble chewing the [censored] out of the bull at 50 feet. Naturally with it's longer barrel and sight radius, the Ruger grouped tighter than the Cheetah.

I had the same flawless reliability from the Ruger. I had a total of 4 magazines with me, and all of them fed well, and locked the slide back on the last round. It also fed both high speed, and standard velocity without a hiccup. I would say I ran around 250 rounds through it total. After that it was getting hot, so I packed it in for the day. As you could imagine both guns were filthy when I got them home. I really loved the way the Ruger Mark IV came apart, and went together in seconds. You can get at everything for cleaning. After a good wet Kerosene wash, and a blow dry with compressed air, both guns were as clean as when they came from the box. A little oil, and both were good to go.

The Beretta was a little tricky to get the guide rod and recoil spring back into battery. But after a couple of tries, it slipped back together nicely. By the time I finished cleaning both guns it was about 105F outside, and I was pretty sweaty. So I took a shower and went for a swim to cool off. Overall I couldn't be much happier with either gun. A good day at the range for sure. Albeit a hot one! But when you live in the desert in August, you can't complain.
 
Originally Posted By: billt460
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The Ruger is nice! I have a stainless target model also, but without the fluted barrel.
 
I have a mint Ruger Mark 2. Its a bear to clean, obviously. I might clean it every couple of years. It takes me a solid 2 to 3 hours and a ton of YouTube videos to clean it and put it back together.

I think a Mark 4 is in my future.

And that Beretta is SWEET!
 
Originally Posted By: bubbatime
I have a mint Ruger Mark 2. Its a bear to clean, obviously. I might clean it every couple of years. It takes me a solid 2 to 3 hours and a ton of YouTube videos to clean it and put it back together.

I think a Mark 4 is in my future.

And that Beretta is SWEET!


Go with a Mark IV Bubba, in the flavor of your choice.... You will absolutely LOVE IT!
 
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