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Retired Utahn

Took apart my Competition Target 22/45 (Mark II) tonight and the Bolt Stop Pin remained in place when I dropped the Main Spring Housing. Didn't compute in my brain what could've happened. The bolt stop pin broke across the neck just about a 16th of an inch from the stop pin section. The smaller pin holding the rest of the neck of the stop pin to the 'jaws' or 'fingers' of the mainspring housing remains secure and the remaining portion of the neck swivels as usual. Just flappin' there with nothing else to do.

Help !!! Anyone know about this kind of thing?
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Four Corners' Steel

rugerguy · Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 4:33 pm Post subject:

yes, the temper was wrong, , it was brittle and sheared (snapped off) we've seen them actually crumble.......NOT very often...send the broken part back to Ruger (both parts) and they will replace it ( the entire mainspring assembly)...no need to return the entire gun, unless THEY are willing to pay for the freight....by the way,when we came across these in the shop for repair, the owners in about all cases were using "hyper velocity ammo..." that should tell you 'something'..........
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Dan

NRA Benefactor

wolfee · Single-Sixer Joined: 23 Dec 2008 Posts: 146

Rugerguy, is this issue a concern with the 10/22 shooting CCI Velocitors?

rugerguy · Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 6:05 pm Post subject:

most of the guys we know that shoot "hotter stuff" out of their 10/22's will put in those buffers ( a rubber bushing around the pin,,,,,seems to help,most of the times you will have feeding or ejecting issues, but as some guys say "works for them..." we see the holes in the rear of the receiver get peened (ovaled/oblong...)like gas in your car use what works for YOU and is affordable........we know that the 22 magnums got beat up pretty badly, and "voila" ,they no longer make them??????????
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Dan

NRA Benefactor

Retired Utahn · Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 6:43 pm Post subject:

Thanks rugerguy. I'll call Ruger and see what they are willing to do about the breakage. I'm not completely confident that I have the skill to replace the bolt stop pin and correctly peen the small pin that it swivels around on both sides. No longer have any tools and never was very skilled even in a simple job like this. Peening the small swivel pin looks like it'd take an educated blow instead of my, either, too soft or too hard guesstimate versions.
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Four Corners' Steel

rugerguy · Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 9:14 pm Post subject:

they should at "least" send you the 'bolt' and any good machinist or 'smith, should be able to drift out the pin ,put the new one in place, go back in with the pin in the same direction it came out of, and you should ONLY have to re-stake, the one side.........any small chisel punch can be used to restake this pin.............hell if you were over here, it would be DONE already. Rolling Eyes

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Dan

NRA Benefactor

Retired Utahn · Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 2:17 pm Post subject:

I see what you mean about what needs to be done, and how guiding words distant from the gun taking more time than the fix. I think I'll look for help in getting the job done-right when I have the parts. I'm not sure about how to keep the female part steady and how much to slam the male pin in and then stake it, without hints that experience would give me. Seems like the re-staking, even of only one side, would take some experience and skill. It's been recommended to get another pin and stake both sides which seems not unreasonable. Someone with real experience would know how to reuse the original. We'll see.

Don't want to make too much of this small job. Will post when it's completed and I've fired another million rounds in a week or two.

(Am thinking about getting this gun and my other 22/45 to Clark to ask them to do their excellent action work on them. Any thoughts?)

Utahn, the wanna-be competitor
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Four Corners' Steel

rugerguy · Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 2:34 pm Post subject:

We use what is comonly called a "bench block" a piece of copper or any other round ,NON metallic material, and has a series of holes (different sizes) drill here and there in the 'block' and you use this to "support" what ever part you may be working on and center the downward travel of pins ,etc. to go into the hole that is closest or fits the area you are working on......OR any other piece of "NON metallic material propped up in a vise or such and same thing, you want to support" the area you will be pounding on. Think it out, take your time, and yes "neatness does count...." Rolling Eyes

(just hate to see ANY gun thats been "pounded on.....")
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Dan

NRA Benefactor

blkhawk · Bearcat Joined: 16 Jul 2009 Posts: 14

I've had 3 of them break in my MK II. When the first one broke I too thought it was from shooting the hyper-velocity ammo in it. So I stopped using it and only used standard & high velocity ammo in it and had 2 more break on me.

Face it, every time you fire the pistol the bolt flies back and slams into the stop pin which stresses the "thin" end where the retainer pin goes through. Add to that every time you disassemble the pistol you swing open the mainspring housing and pull down on the pin stressing the same point in a different way. Eventually the part is going to fail especially if you do a lot of rapid shooting.

Myself, I just ordered a few bolt stop pins from Ruger and replaced them myself when they broke rather than send the pistol back to them to get fixed.

Retired Utahn · Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 3:10 am Post subject:

I called Ruger in AZ this morning and talked to a woman named Alma. She said I'd have to pay about $28 for a new mainspring assembly or about $10 for a new bolt stop pin. I said I'd understood that the bolt stop pin was likely heat-treated incorrectly and brittle. She took my phone number and said she'd have a tech call me. No one called back today. I don't think she worked in the Parts Dept, though I'm not sure where she worked at the plant. She didn't seem very interested, or even alert, and there was no use complaining much to her in this brief routine conversation.

I guess I'll call either the Parts Dept, or try to get a hold of the 'Tech' people she mentioned when I call tomorrow. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
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Four Corners' Steel

Retired Utahn · Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2009 3:22 pm Post subject:

I waited for a long while after Ruger service dept didn't call back. Involved with other things. Yesterday, explained my situation carefully and very congenially three times. The tech said a bolt stop pin on a 22/45 should never break no matter the ammo. He early on agreed they'd replace the pin and if I sent the mainspring housing they'd install the pin and charge me just for the bolt stop pin and postage. A kindly supervisor repeated the offer and said the need to charge was because it's an older gun. They said it's a 2002 gun, when I thought, from Ruger release dates by serial #, it was a 2005 gun. After talking back and forth, again congenially, she agreed to do the work at no charge to me. I guess this small bit of business will turn out all right. I paid a buck seventy five for insurance, cause I'd have trouble buying another mainspring housing for awhile due to being stupid about money most of my life. I'm rich in ammo (from a Cabela's sale 3 years ago, followed by little shooting since then), but poor in every other of life's material commodities.

Will post when the gun's back in working order.
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Four Corners' Steel