Yeah, they've never been a favorite of mine. Every Ruger I've ever shot felt like it had sand in it compared to the S&W K-22 my dad gave me when I was fifteen.
K-22 are as nice as they come; particularly the older ones.
Fit and finish was actually quite nice on my Mini-14; the action was smooth, it handled and balanced really well; the only Issue was abysmal accuracy. If it shot beeter, I would still own it.
The smoothness of operation was the primary reason I bought a GP100; I would have bought a S & W if I had found one before the GP100 at my price. From a design and engineering stand point, the GP100 is stronger, and easier to clean and maintain.
There are lots of good 1022s out there (and the last few years more than a few dogs among them though); their .22 pistols from the Standard right up to the MK IV are good quality and very popular; their .2245, not so much. I know of a couple MKIIIs that have had the bolt knob break off due to inferior welds, but they have been easy to fix. Ruger had the safety issue with the MK IV that they have fixed for everyone. I shoot High Standard pistols, because I can shoot them better than I can shoot Rugers; they fit me better.
Ruger is still a north american company, they still have a huge share of the market, so they must be doing something right.
