Ruger Talk Forums banner

Mark II/Volquartsen LLV

9K views 29 replies 7 participants last post by  DrewBone 
#1 ·
...makes for a very nice combination compared to the standard OEM Mark series pistols. The target sights of the LLV are superior to anything Ruger produces, its top picatinny rail provides built in optic mounting capabilities vs. a screw on rail, and Volquartsen's improved trigger components are affordable and easily installed without the need for a gunsmith, for a win-win combination.




Find the LLV receiver for the Mark II, III, and separately for the Mark IV Ruger pistols in 4.5" and 6" barrel lengths, their own aluminum grip frames, numerous trigger kits, barrels, parts for other makes of firearms, etc., along with their own line of rifles/pistols at Volquartsen Firearms.

Be sure to visit their "Clearance" section often for occasional deeply discounted prices on individual parts and inexpensive new/unused/modified Mark pistol receivers which will allow you to easily change the configuration of your Ruger Mark pistol.
 
See less See more
2
#3 ·
And don't forget to check ebay for items that some "goofy" others have over-paid for, ilke this "Halo" bolt extension for only $29.95, with free shipping:

Others, ignorant of what it takes to L@@K around the internet have bought the very same style item from the "scalper sisters" on the east coast for $49.95 PLUS shipping, 'cause they claim they have skinny, weak fingers, and can't pull the bolt back on their Ruger Mark pistol without soiling their Depends.
 
#4 ·
Some may have noticed the different finish on the grip frame of the pistol above; in typical Ruger fashion, this stainless steel grip frame came from the factory with a brushed finish, which is really nothing but fine striations, in this case in numerous directions, which I'm really not fond of. There were also areas of the grip frame that were poorly finished/deburred, so I stripped it of everything but the mag latch, pins, and spring, and using the proper abrasives and care I smoothed and radiused a number of areas, then glass beaded it with the appropriate media to give the material a much more even and consistant finish, which looks especially nice after receiving a coating of wax:




I like the soft luster that the glass bead treatment provides much better than the original somewhat random looking brushed factory finish, being well worth the time and effort to undertake.
 
#9 ·
...makes for a very nice combination compared to the standard OEM Mark series pistols. The target sights of the LLV are superior to anything Ruger produces, its top picatinny rail provides built in optic mounting capabilities vs. a screw on rail, and Volquartsen's improved trigger components are affordable and easily installed without the need for a gunsmith, for a win-win combination.




Find the LLV receiver for the Mark II, III, and separately for the Mark IV Ruger pistols in 4.5" and 6" barrel lengths, their own aluminum grip frames, numerous trigger kits, barrels, parts for other makes of firearms, etc., along with their own line of rifles/pistols at Volquartsen Firearms.

Be sure to visit their "Clearance" section often for occasional deeply discounted prices on individual parts and inexpensive new/unused/modified Mark pistol receivers which will allow you to easily change the configuration of your Ruger Mark pistol.
WOW That's a nice Target pistol ! I hope you Enjoy many years of shooting it.















1
 
#16 ·
WOW That's a nice Target pistol ! I hope you Enjoy many years of shooting it.
Thanks BRR for your kind commentary. I pretty much like it the way it is, but if I were to change out anything it would be the standard black plastic grip panels, to more of a target style thumb rest type.

Very nice, I like it.
Thanks, I like it too :)

The pistol that was the basis for this combination had the light tapered barrel, which offered no way to attach a suppressor, so after considering most all of the Mark series upper/barrel combinations from Ruger, Volquartsen, and Tactical Solutions, I decided to give the Volquartsen LLV Competition Pistol Upper a try. It's beautifully made and finished, and they have a great reputation thanks to their machine honed and lapped stainless steel barrel and breech.

As expected, changing out the OEM Ruger trigger parts for Volquartsen trigger parts made quite a noticeable difference also; I don't have a means to measure the trigger weight, but it's definately both smoother and lighter than the original.

I'll need to mount a red dot on it soon as I'm having more and more trouble with iron sights lately due to astigmatism and cataracts. Every little bit helps ;)
 
#11 · (Edited)
"Frail" hiker? Pray tell to whom do you refer? ;o) hee, hee

Actually my hiking pistol is a RUGER 57 with HOLOSUN 509T circle/dot sight. The 57's great trajectory is good for the southwest's open spaces B/C it gives me a much better "stand-off' distance than say, my Glock 17. Plus three 20 round mags makes for a lot of defensive protection.

Back to the Mark II. I owned a Mark I in the '70s and its take down was frikkin'
terrible. That has been fixed with the MK II. That pistol was RUGER's very first firearm. It was even used by the Israeli MOSSAD (with a suppressor) for assassinations due to its close bolt system and reliability.

Nice bead blast job and beautiful "slide". I like that target version you put together.
 
#12 ·
"Frail" hiker? Pray tell to whom do you refer? ;o) hee, hee

Actually my hiking pistol is a RUGER 57 with HOLOSUN 509T circle/dot sight. The 57's great trajectory is good for the southwest's open spaces B/C it gives me a much better "stand-off' distance than say, my Glock 17. Plus three 20 round mags makes for a lot of defensive protection.

Back to the Mark II. I owned a Mark I in the '70s and its take down was frikkin'
terrible. That has been fixed with the MK II.
That pistol was RUGER's very first firearm. It was even used by the Israeli MOSSAD (with a suppressor) for assassinations due to its close bolt system and reliability.

Nice bead blast job and beautiful "slide". I like that target version you put together.
What you refer to as "take-down", or removing the barreled receiver assembly from the grip frame is exactly the same for both the Mark I & the Mark II.
So, did you REALLY have a Mark I, or is your memory extremely off?
 
#13 ·
I had a Mark I, but what may be a "memory problem" is my understanding of the newest RUGER Mark III which I thought had eliminated the backstrap take-down and used another method. Looking on Youtube I see that is NOT the case. Odd B/C I thought this was tehbig problem with that pistol. I know pissed me off due to the difficulty of opening it.
 
#20 ·
I had a Mark I, but what may be a "memory problem" is my understanding of the newest RUGER Mark III which I thought had eliminated the backstrap take-down and used another method. Looking on Youtube I see that is NOT the case. Odd B/C I thought this was tehbig problem with that pistol. I know pissed me off due to the difficulty of opening it.
Ummmm..........that would be the Ruger Mark IV. Another "brain fart"?
 
#14 ·
...makes for a very nice combination compared to the standard OEM Mark series pistols. The target sights of the LLV are superior to anything Ruger produces, its top picatinny rail provides built in optic mounting capabilities vs. a screw on rail, and Volquartsen's improved trigger components are affordable and easily installed without the need for a gunsmith, for a win-win combination.




Find the LLV receiver for the Mark II, III, and separately for the Mark IV Ruger pistols in 4.5" and 6" barrel lengths, their own aluminum grip frames, numerous trigger kits, barrels, parts for other makes of firearms, etc., along with their own line of rifles/pistols at Volquartsen Firearms.

Be sure to visit their "Clearance" section often for occasional deeply discounted prices on individual parts and inexpensive new/unused/modified Mark pistol receivers which will allow you to easily change the configuration of your Ruger Mark pistol.
Very nice, I like it.
 
#19 ·
For those who'd like to try their hand at glass beading stainless steel to get that "soft look", it's not that difficult to do at all, and nothing SECRETIVE involved. Most accomplished gunsmiths have been offering this service for many, many years.
The main thing you'll need is a descent air compressor. If you already have one of those, you might consider looking through "Harbor Freights" catalog for a spray gun with a top load cannister for the glass beads, and those are available from McMaster-Carr, if you can't find any locally. #170-325 is the right size to use to get a nice soft look, and when using this size variation the beads will leave no residue behind. A ten-pound package runs around $20.00 these days. Make sure you use a dust mask, safety goggles and rubber gloves when doing this work, and outside is best.
This type of finish is also applied before any of the bluing processes and provides a GREAT non-glare finish for hunting rifles. And there's absolutely NO reason why the upper barrel and receiver assembly can't receive this blasting finish also. Just make sure to plug the bore from both the breech and the muzzle ends.
Once you get the look you're after, remove the canister spray-gun and with a trigger blow gun, blow any captured beads off and out of all the tight areas involved with whatever you've made look better. Easy peasy!
 
#22 ·
For those interested, the Volquartsen LLV upper seen above, unlike Volquartsen's currently available lineup, is a DISCONTINUED version that they had finished in nickel boron, that I purchased through Wirthwein Guns, a Volquartsen authorized dealer. At the time of purchase there were no sights included with the upper; the only rear sight options that Volquartsen offers for these LLV uppers are either standard black adjustable or adjustable night sights, the latter of which I had no use for as this isn't a carry weapon, and in regards to front sight options, Volquartsen offers either black or fiber optic. I chose the black adjustable target rear and green fiber optic front, so at least there would be sights on the upper should I someday wish to sell it. I purchased these sights from Wirthwein Guns along with the LLV upper as they were offering them at the lowest price available.

The matching nickel boron compensater was the only thing that accompanied the upper; there was no included optional bottom rail.

Wirthwein Guns currently has two of these exact same DISCONTINUED 4.5" LLV Mark II-III nickel boron plated uppers left in their inventory, should any of you have interest in one:

DISCONTINUED Volquartsen 4.5" LLV upper for Ruger Mark II & III pistols w/compensater finished in silver/nickel boron, available at Wirthwein Guns...
 
#24 ·
The LLV uppers that can be purchased separately are the very same LLV uppers used with Volquartsen's Scorpion and Black Mamba pistols, which are currently available in a number of different finishes, e.g., black anodize, Cerakote in OD green, flat dark earth, and an American Flag pattern, and lastly their "Battleworn" nickel boron finish.

There's virtually no difference between uppers other than the Mark series pistols that they're designed to work with, the two lengths that they're available in (4.5" and 6"), and the coating applied to them. The straight nickel boron LLV plated upper seen on my pistol at the beginning of this thread is a previous finish that Volquartsen offered before they decided to offer their Battleworn type nickel boron finish instead, a finish that's become more and more popular in recent years.
 
#28 ·
After missing numerous opportunities to get one on sale I finally ordered a Volquartsen Competition bolt in black DLC from Wirthwein Guns. It looked almost too good to use...shown below installed. I removed the new replacement Mark IV bolt that I purchased off eBay to use originally with this upper, which I'll keep on hand to use with the original Mark II upper should I get a Volquartsen grip frame one of these days, or keep as a spare for my Mark IV 22/45 Lite:

Next up may be a set of thumb rest target or anatomical grips. I've looked at the Volquartsen laminated target grips, but they're only available in one size, with some claiming that they're too large, and without a pair to try on for size I'm hesitant to spend the $$$ on them. Altamont's are ok but I find most of their offereings to be either too flashy or too plain, and of course there's always Hogue...we'll see :)
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top