My favorite Ruger is my 10/22 that I've had since I was in high school in the late '70s. I've shot this gun thousands and thousands of times. I'm on my second barrel and the original two rotary magazines still work perfectly, just like they did 30 years ago. Too bad my brand new aftermarket 50-round mags don't work. I think it's the most dependable rifle of any caliber ever buit. I had some bad ammo that the rims blew out and the extractor and it's plunger and spring went flying through the woods somewhere. It still worked most of the time with those parts missing, but I soon figured out what was wrong and fixed it. The design is so simple you can look at the exploded view to understand it, and order the parts you need from the factory. No expensive gunsmith required. My uncle had one too, and my dad was so impressed with our Rugers that he traded in his beloved Browning .22 automatic for one. That's saying more than most people will ever understand. I have a folding stock and flash hider on my 10/22 to give it a tactical look and will put a bayonet lug on it too someday. I had peep sights on it and took them off, and put a 4x scope on, then took it off and now I have a red dot sight.
My second favorite Ruger is my 22/45 with a Houge finger-groove grip sleeve. I have a quick-disassemble thing I bought where you unscrew the bolt stop with an allen wrench, right through the top of the gun behind the rear sight, and then you can take the bolt out without even touching the the rest of the gun. That way my rubber sleeve stays on the grip and it's a lot simpler to clean it. No more prying that lever out and pulling the mainspring housing down and out, and then trying to get it all lined up right to put back together. Just one screw to take it apart and when you slide the bolt back in, you put the screw back in and you're done.
My third favorite Ruger is the Target Model .22 pistol that used to be my dad's, and my mom gave it to me several years after he passed away. One time me my dad were at the hunting shack, and there was a little red squirrel up a huge white pine chattering at me. I borrowed Dad's pistol, which I never fired before and went back outside. I walked around the tree until I could finally see the red squirrel. He was way up there and thought he was safe. Wrong! The first shot I ever fired from that pistol hit it right in the head. No need for a second shot as it was dead before it hit the ground. I know it was probably just a lucky shot, but I couldn't have done it without the perfect balance and accuracy of the Ruger. For anyone unfamiliar with red squirrels, they're about the same size as a chipmunk or a mouse. They get in fights with the more common fox squirrels and bite the nuts right off of them. It's hard to believe, but the little squirrel will dart right in and actually castrate the big squirrel in a fight. Anyone who likes fox squirrels, as pets or as food, should know that red squirrels are a pest that should be eliminated whenever possible. Here in Michigan there's no limit on how many you can shoot in a day, and the season is open year round for these varmints.
I was out riding my ATV one day and saw a guy with beagles and a stainless steel Ruger .22 pistol hunting rabbits. I bet that was his favorite. It's accurate enough to shoot rabbits on the run. And affordable enough for everyone in the family to have one. Or two like me.
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