Buy the Mamba and eliminate all the issues associated with upgrading the 22/45. I started like you, I sent the 22/45 to Volquartson and had them do a trigger job which was great, but the gun just did not feel right. I sold it and bought the 6" Mamba X and a Volquartson Ultralight rifle. I have seen many people having issues with various guns that they customize. It is not worth the time/costs. If you can afford it, buy the Volquartson. My other 2 quality guns are... A CZ Shadow 2 with a Cajon Gun Works (The Best) trigger job and my PCC is a LeadStar Prime with an adjustable Carbon Fiber Stock and Carbon Fiber grip!

On ALL of THEM.............I use a Trijicon SRO 5MOA

Roy

 

22Lr is also my caliber of choice and I have had a bunch of pistols to include upgraded Rugers and Volquartsens. I have sold the Rugers and kept the Volquartens. Recommend going with the Volquartsen, you will not be sorry.

 

I started with a 22/45 that I bought for plinking and casual plate rack matches. Over time, I incrementally converted it into a Black Mamba as I became more active in Steel Challenge.

if you build one, versus buy one, you’ll end up with the same gun as if you bought one. All you’re doing is replacing Ruger parts with Volquartsen parts. That said, if I had it to do over again, I’d just buy one. You really don’t save an appreciable amount of money putting one together. Either way you go, though, you will love the Mamba.

 

Thanks for the feedback! Yeah I'm definitely going to get a Mamba. It would be cool to build one up, but only if there was some kind of cost savings or something. The fact that both options cost about the same seems like VQ's way of saying "just buy our gun".

 

I built mine at a total savings of $210 and it is identical to the Mamba you can buy direct from Volquartsen. My total build cost includes two magazines just like Volquartsen offers with their in-house build price so I can compare apples to apples.
I was patient to watch for a lower, an LLV upper, and a VQ bolt for a price I was willing to pay. Once I had those it was just a matter of putting it together. Was the cost saving significant? Not really, but I like doing that kind of thing. I understand other folks feel differently and that's cool too.
Volquartsen will build your Mamba exactly the way you want it. There may be a time delay while they build it, but I doubt it's more than a few days and you will receive a Mamba ready to go out of the box. Go out and have fun with it.

 

6 months ago I was in nearly the same spot you are now. I was looking to purchase a new Mark 4 and wanted a threaded barrel. After looking at several of the models I decided that the 2245 was what I really wanted but I could not get that in a short threaded barrel. The cost was $600 plus I figured $100 for a used barrel that could be threaded. I also figured another $100 to have it threaded. I wanted the Volquartzen trigger job and I also wanted a new grip. Finally I planned on putting a Burris Fastfire 3 red dot on top. I figured that it would cost me at least $1,200 plus tax.

Cabela's has a Volquartzen Mamba x 3 inch for under $1,500. It was exactly what I was looking for and included all of the upgrades that you could do to your Ruger. Adding the upper and the bolt to the Ruger would have cost substantially more than buying this gun. In the end I bit the bullet and a little over a month ago I got the mamba x and wow is it a gun!

Instead of rehashing everything that I went through you can find a couple of recent threads that I started about this very journey.

Take care and good luck!

 

Buy the parts and do it yourself. It will be fun and you will learn something.

 

I placed an order last night for a 4.5" Black Mamba (model VF4M‑0026). A Gunbroker auction with a price I couldn't pass up showed up so I didn't waste any time. Can't wait until she's in and ready to shoot!

 

Congrats and good call, you will love it!

 

Congratulations. You will love it. Great ergonomics, and super reliable. Now go find a Steel Challenge match to shoot with it.

 

I think its worth trying to build one at some point. It will teach you a lot about the mark iv. I’ve put together a few and own one from the factory. Volquartsen is great on supporting their guns and custom builds.

 

Congrats, as others have said you will love it. My 6" Black Mamba is by far my favorite pistol in my collection.

 

Not a great picture but this is how mine is set up.