Does anyone have any experience with the Browning BuckMark .22 pistol? I am looking at one of the heavier, longer barrelled models for gopher shooting.

Are they very accurate? How about jamming?
Any comments will be appreciated. Thanks, Brian

quote:

Originally posted by Brian Canada:
Does anyone have any experience with the Browning BuckMark .22 pistol? I am looking at one of the heavier, longer barrelled models for gopher shooting.

Are they very accurate? How about jamming?
Any comments will be appreciated. Thanks, Brian

Like mine - I shoot it suppressed in the backyard (have 1 mile of lake behind me)

Mike

Thanks Mike, Also, that sounds like a nice property with a big lake behind it. Brian

I have a cousin of the Buck Mark. It is a Browning Nomad. It will hit Squirrels at 120 yards if you do your part. Never had a jam. I shoot 40 grain standard velocity 90% of the time.

I bought one for my daughter-in-law for Christmas a few years ago + she loves it!

Thanks, Very encouraging. Brian

I've gone down this road before. I started with a Browning Buckmark stainless camper model. I contacted Browning and ordered a 7 1/4 inch stainless barrel for it. I think they call it a bullseye barrel. Easy to install and it shot fine but made the pistol pretty nose heavy.

I bought a hunter version and it is much more balanced and shoots well. I have made several modifications to my Hunter version. Difficult to explain how I did this but added a spot of JB weld to the frame where the top of the trigger returns to when you release it. File the JB weld til the trigger returns to the point you prefer. This effectively removes the creep you feel when pulling the trigger. I also bought a trigger from Browning with an overtravel screw installed. So, I could adjust the overtravel as well.

Next, I bought a striplin recoil guide rod for the pistol. This guide rod does not have a circlip on it. It is one solid assembly. The Buckmark guide rod has a tiny circlip which holds the guide rod spring to the guide rod. It can go flying when you take the pistol apart for cleaning and be difficult to find. To help prevent this, I used to put the pistol and my hands inside a gallon ziplock bag when I took it apart. That way, should the circlip go flying, it remains inside the gallon ziplock bag. Finally, I recently bought and installed a Tandemcross Gearbox. This slightly changes the trigger pull weight and feel of the trigger.

One peculiarity with the Buckmark. The two screws which attach the slide to the frame can come loose from time to time. They have a small washer on them but I use blue loctite on them anyway. If you start to have any malfunctions with the Buckmark, check the tightness of both those screws. I honestly can't remember the last time mine came loose but it can happen.

All this after having owned and tinkered with a Ruger Standard model with bull barrel, MK II with bull Barrel, MKIII and MK IV Hunter. I prefer the Buckmark to the Ruger. I no longer own any Rugers. Hope this helps.

sep, That is very helpful, Good explanations of your mods/improvements. Thanks for posting. Brian

I per-fer Ruger Mark series to my buck mark.

P dog shooter, Thanks for posting. Brian

I have put many many tens of thousands of rounds through a MK1 Ruger only cleaning it.

My buck mark just takes more mainitance.

I'd like to pick up another Ruger at some point. They are great little pistols. I have had several but sold them. I 'm keeping my S+W model 41,a sweet + very accurate shooter however she lives in the safe mostly.

I had one back in the late 90's. It had a black matte finish, black plastic grips, 5.5 inch slab sided barrel and shot pretty good. It is definitely one of those 'I wish I had it back guns'. Why I traded it off I know not, but it must have been for something I thought I couldn't do without.

Steve.......

I just purchased another Browning Buckmark 22. (Number three for me) This one is the Browning Medallion with the 5.5" bull barrel, and beautiful Rosewood grips. It also has the Hi Viz/Marble fluorescent red front sight. I love them. They are scary accurate for me. I also have a Ruger.