For the second year in a row, my lovely wife has surprised me with a handgun from Ruger. Last year was a surprise New Vaquero and this year it's a MKIII 22/45 Target. Just like last year, I was completely blown away by the gift and did not see it coming.
I had wanted a .22 for quite some time and felt the lack of one really left a hole in my collection. The last .22 I had was a Walther P22 and it didn't last very long. I wanted something well made and more geared towards accuracy than whatever the P22 is geared towards. The MKIII fits that roll nicely and I think the wife did a good job on the configuration; A 5.5 inch barrel, adjustable sights in blue.
I got to shoot it for the first time yesterday and loved it. I shot 150 rounds of various ammo I had left over (CCI, Remington bulk, american eagle) and had no issues what's so ever. The sights seemed to be right on out of the box and I really, really like the trigger. I know that probably sounds crazy to some but the trigger works very well for me, both the size/shape and the actual pull.
My wife had the choice between a few different models of the same gun so it was a bit frustrating for her. She ended up going with the plainest model available, most likely what I would have done as well.
Like everyone else who owns one, I had a really tough time breaking it down and getting it back together. I do not enjoy banging any of my guns with mallets and cringed with each blow. The biggest problem was the tightness and reinserting the main spring housing. Now that I know what to do, it should be no problem.
All in all, I absolutely love my 22/45 and see it getting a lot of range time. Once I've really mastered the iron sites, I'll start considering one of those cool red dots sites or something similar. For now, it's perfect in every way.
Oh, and for the next time my wife logs and searches my post for gift ideas.. Thanks babe, you're the best.