The Guns & Ammo Network

Ruger 22/45 Lite Pistol

by Ashley Dale • May 7, 2012 • 8 comments

The Ruger 22/45 Lite’s upper receiver is made of aircraft-grade aluminum and features serrated cuts, giving the pistol a weight of only 22.8 ounces. The 4.4-inch stainless steel barrel features a 1/2-28 thread to accept muzzle accessories. The receiver is drilled and tapped for Weaver-style scope (included free of charge) and the Zytel grip frame features replaceable Hogue black rubber grip panels that can be swapped out for customizing.

For further information contact: Sturm, Ruger & Company, Dept. SGN, 411 Sunapee St., Newport, NH 03773 or www.ruger.com

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  • MikeA

    I recently purchased a 22/45 Lite and put an Ultradot sight on it for bullseye shooting. I really like the setup and it's a lot of fun to shoot. Yesterday, I shot two 90 round matches outdoors with the combo. Everything worked fine for the first match, but on the second match most the shots were fliers with a lot of keyholing on the few rounds that hit the target. It was partly cloudy and about 88*F. I must have had excessive barrel leading or some similar problem. I tried several types of ammo that I borrowed from fellow competitors – all with similar results. The last ten shots of the 180 shots fired were back on target. Now I'm wondering if I made a mistake with the22/45Lite?

    • LARRY H

      I dont see how you could have had a leading problem and then all of a suden the problem went away it must have been fatigue or something.

    • MikeA

      I have been keeping the 22/45 clean and used a drop of oil on the first catridge's bullet when loading a fresh magazine in really hot weather and in the sun. Did I mention that I installed a Volquartsen trigger, and sear – and a quality red dot sight. Now this gun shoots extremely well and is real pleasure to shoot! Also now using CCI standard ammo. Scoring on NRA bullseye matches often in the 90's.

  • JMB

    7/25 went to the range with 2 browning 22s, started perfect, then it all went to s**t. As light and little recoil as 22s have, it's fatigue and limp wristing.

    • old vet

      The Ruger 22s are straight blowback, so "limp wristing" should not be an issue. fatigue on the other hand…..

  • GrandViewRanch

    My brother bought a 22/45 Talo Edition as his first handgun, and honestly, we're pretty disappointed in it. The magazine catch doesn't want to do its job (until you smack the base of the mag a few times) and it jams constantly. I have a 10/22 (with factory carbine barrel), and it's bad too, with very mediocre accuracy and lots of jams. I know hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people have had great experience with Rugers (or so I read), but we're just about ready to give up on the company (or at least its rimfires) altogether. Ironically, my dad has a decades-old Mark I and it outshines both guns considerably. You can just hold the gun and feel the difference in quality when compared to the modern Ruger rimfires.

    • TransplantGuy

      There is really no difference in the Ruger quality then and now. Remember, your 22/45 has the same upper as has been on the Ruger .22 autos pretty much since they were introduced. The parts remain very much the same, and moving to a polymer body vs. metal hasn't affected the accuracy of any of my .22 Ruger pistols – and I have at least 14 of them. Every one is a tack-driver – given that it is kept clean and properly maintained (which includes lubing it once in a while).

      Unfortunately, .22 ammo is the dirtiest around, and though the 22/45 et al will continue to function, that dirt does affect accuracy. If you mount a red dot or scope on your gun you'll see just how accurate it can be, and you'll immediately realize it isn't the gun that is the problem in most cases, as the sights are a bit coarse for some.

      One of our 10/22s had a squib round, and the next round was fired into it, pushing the squib out. Even with the barrel now having an area in the rifling that is bad, it is still as accurate as ever.

      I'd look at your trigger technique and such for the accuracy issue, and those jams are probably related to the mag – I use only Ruger factory mags, even in the 10/22, and have no problems at all.

      After likely more than 100,000 rounds thru our various Rugers, I can count on one hand the number of jams, FTF or FTEs we've had, not counting ammo issues (we now avoid Remington .22 ammo).

      If you still think the gun is at fault, give Ruger a call, and if they ask you to ship it to them, do so. They're very good to deal with and are interested in providing the best experience for their customers.

      And no, I don't work for Ruger.

      • old vet

        I've seen a couple of issues at the club with 22/45s not seating mags. They did change the design of that over the older pistol. Ruger had some problems with their customer service for a while, but you are right they seem to be very concerned with keeping the customer happy now, even if they were not the original buyer.