Maitenance question and first time firing.

In a few short hours I'll own my first gun which will be a Ruger Mark III 22/45.

I was wondering what I would need to clean the gun as far as tools, lubricants, or even readily accessible kits that can be picked up at a retailer.

Also, I bought 400 rounds of CCI mini mags to run through the gun first and then some cheaper Federal rounds for afterwards. Do I need to clean the gun prior to shooting? I'm picking it up near the range I shoot at and I live 30 minutes away. So I'd like to just pick it up and shoot it, but wasn't sure if I should right out of the box.

Congrats... Just a before shooting a quick wipe down off any excess grease it may have been boxed with.


After shooting you can field strip and clean it, but i have that exact gun and its not the easiest to field strip. If u go this route i strongly encourage you to look up field stripping mk iii 22/45 on youtube. Its way easier than readin the manual amd getting pissed up like many people do. Its not that dofficult just gotta learn what your doing.


If you choose not to go that route with a more detailed cleaning just wipe down what you can with a quality product and rag and itll be fine... Ill normally wipe down what i can on the bolt, ill bore snake the barrel, wipe the feed ramp down, amd get what i can reach everywhere else... Ill prolly give it a more thorough cleaning once or twice a year..... Some people dont clean em at all and they still keep working fine... Just depends how peticular are i guess.

As for the mini mags.... Gun prolly wont need them to get "broken in". I shot about 50 higher quality rounds before feeding it the cheap stuff amd never had a problem... They will eat just about anything you feed them, except the subsonic rounds eont work for me.

Thanks for the quick response. I'm eagerly waiting for a call from a local dealer that the gun has arrived and I can't help but check FedEx's tracking every 30s since the gun is somewhere in my town.

I'll watch some refresher videos on how to field strip it, but honestly I have literally spent months researching, comparing, and even spending over $300 renting guns (9mms included) trying to decide on which I liked best.

I'm glad to hear that I can wipe it down and get to shooting it. I've been looking forward to this gun for a very long time.

In my haste of hearing it'd be okay to shoot it right away I forgot to ask:

Assuming I will need to clean the guns sometime, what should I get? A simple bore snake and toothbrush? I already have steel and brass brushes as I've seen some people use those before (in videos).

I like to do a detail cleaning of a new gun before firing the first time, re-lube with a good gun oil/lube, I use Remoil and Rig mostly.
On .22's just maintenance cleaning with bore-snake, clean bolt face, feed ramp, & mag well. Nylon brushes unless very hard to clean then bronze brush, cotton cloth for wiping as in patch material or old bedsheet. If storing long term, I will oil a little more, being carefull not to let oil accumulate in wood stocks.
I tend to be a little more particular to the bores of guns shooting jacketed rounds as I don't shoot unjacketed in anything other than .22 cal.
Any major brand kit will have most everything needed.

Moose:
Congratulations on a new gun and welcome to the forum as well. I would not use steel brushes on the 22/45 or any gun for that matter. Stick to nylon brushes so as to not hurt the finish. Gun gunk isn't that stubborn with Hoppes 9 on your side.

Before shooting wipe down the gun and read the manual

Enjoy.

Mboose, I can't help but wonder, but is this your first gun? If so, I would try and find someone who can help you with the cleaning for the first time so you make sure you get everything done right and preserve that gun of yours. You could watch You Tube and get an idea of what is entailed, but it is always nice to have someone there if you have never done it.

As one other poster has mentioned, the mk III is a PITA to field strip. I have seen some say it is not necessary to field strip it, and you can just lock the bolt back and clean it. I don't agree with that method myself.

One site I did find that was helpful are the following two links. The first is how to field strip t with real pictures, and the second details a detail strip if you ever need to remove any of the inner workings for any reason.

Field Strip: http://www.guntalk-online.com/fsprocedures.htm

Detail Strip: http://www.guntalk-online.com/detailstrip.htm

John

Boose,
I would high recommend reading as many posts here on the forums as you can ..... do SEARCHES ....use different words ....
ie,. use your melon ....

Step 2 .....read more of them...

Don't have others do all your homework for you..... shows a lack of self worth......if you read a LOT about the subject....you learn so much more...

Take the initiative to LEARN ......

Take Care.....and read....

My select opinion... don't clean it.... buy a can of spray lube and cleaner and use this for a while... until you get up the courage to break the pistol down and clean it....

when that time comes you will need about 2 hours and a couple beers... very good light and no one else in the house.

Mboose-welcome to the forum and congrats on your choice. It's a great little pistol and you'll have fun for years with it. You've gotten very good advice above on cleaning so I won't repeat any of it.

I agree with Blume357's suggestion about a couple of beers. That way you can relax and enjoy field stripping it, cleaning it and celebrating your first reassembly.

Here's a link that may be helpful. http://www.guntalk-online.com/2245detailstripping.htm

Also, search YouTube for a video on field stripping the 22/45 by Buzzkill. Really simplifies the process. Really, it's not that difficult. Different, but not difficult.

Good luck and enjoy!

Shot the Ruger MK series in competition and we never stripped them. Lock back the bolt and clean what you see. They were stripped down by the weapons section each year after the 'season' was completed. I have two MK IIIs and other then stripping to install a trigger in each they get the cleaning as I stated earlier

I've owned a MarkI for a long, long time. Once you get the secret handshake, field striping it is very quick and easy. I didn't field strip mine for many years after losing the manual and not knowing the right way to get it back together properly. After I finally got lucky and it worked, I resisted taking it down to clean for a very long time. I started having FTF issues and feed issues. Got on the internet (wasn't available during most of the time I've owned this weapon) and found out how to field strip. Thoroughly cleaned it, and got rid of the FTF and feed issues. I now filed strip every time I shot. I'm starting to rethink that after hearing it may prematurely wear mating surfaces and give a sloppy frame to barrel fit. Maybe once a year?

Anyway, once you know how, field stripping is very easy. At least with the MarkI, Never done it on a MarkIII, but I assume it is basically the same with it.

Don't take the damn thing apart until it needs it. They do not need to be cleaned every time you shoot them and they sure as hell don't need to be stripped after every range session. If you take it apart before you shoot it, we'll have another thread cussing the gun as you try to figure out how to put it back together. It's not an M4 and this ain't the military.

You most likely will not need to clean it before you shoot it, but it would be a good idea to look through the barrel just to make sure there isn't anything in it. If looking down the barrel of an assembled gun bothers you, lock the bolt back and stick a thin soda straw down it to make sure it is clear.

Hey guys, I appreciate all of the advice. Shortly after my last post I received a call that my gun had arrived and I promptly went to get it. Upon taking it out of the box I wiped the gun off and decided to shoot it. I ended up putting 950 rounds down range (and have the blister on my thumb to prove it) and it shot almost flawlessly. 300 CCI mini-mags went through without a hiccup, but the Federal brand had many failures with most being on ejecting. After shooting the gun I saw lubricant built up on the bolt, which is what I attribute most of those to. I also figured that 20 failures out of 650 rounds wasn't too bad for a cheaper ammo.

As for cleaning the gun, I'm going to wait until it needs it. I saw a really good Hoppe's cleaning kit for $30 at Walmart, but my local sotre is sold out for now. It comes with the #9, bore snake, bore light, and a number of other things.

Also, while I appreciate the constructive, albeit needlessly condescending in some cases, criticism I have done my own homework. In fact, the purpose of coming to this forum was to seek the advice of enthusiasts and professionals. As a frame of reference, I first shot the 22/45 when I went to my parent's house while my town was under evacuation due to Hurricane Irene making landfall close to my city. I spent roughly 4 months shooting and comparing other .22s and 9mms trying to pick the right gun. I then researched my 22/45 to make sure that it was the one I wanted. Not trying to be cocky, but I would say that I knew more about my gun before ever physically having it than most people do after owning it for several weeks.

I will definitely be purchasing the McFadden Ultimate "Clip" Loader for this gun. From what I can tell of user videos, it makes loading the gun much easier. If anyone else wants to save their thumbs, I've found the item on midwayusa for $20.

Federals are the only bulk ammo I have a problem with cycling in autos. They tend to yield lower than advertised velocity and have a noticeable decrease in muzzle blast. Wait until you have a few thousand rounds through your pistol and try them again. Once things loosen up, it might cycle reliably. If not, there's plenty of other good plinking ammo available.

Most people don't feed two bricks of any ammo ,just a first day of shooting.

I think a visual check of bore and then shoot till it chokes is the schedule

of till it needs attention ! I do addmit I took my newest MK11 apart to

check it out ,there was no need to as I bought it from a real good Dude!

Well at least look down the barrell to make sure it is not full of failure!

Bob

Hi,

Guess I'll spit into the wind here: it's been MY experience, backed up by comments from the gunsmith I used to work for and the other smiths in our shop, that ANY new gun, and ESPECIALLY a new Ruger, should be field stripped, cleaned and lubed BEFORE ever taking it out to shoot.

A few reasons, as applied to Rugers (though some of it's rubbing off on other mfrs, too!):

--Our smiths joked Ruger's janitors didn't have trash cans, so they just dumped their floor sweepings in the guns when nobody was looking. I've seen evidence to support that idea.

--Ruger's legendary QC being as it is, you want to make sure all the bits are there. Comments here on the forum indicate that still happens.

--Oftentimes a little tiny extra bit of oil on all the pivots can help w/ break in. Other times, the guys at the factory forgot to hit 'em all to start with. I've seen some guns very nicely oiled, others bone dry, right out of the box.

--If all the above warnings turn out to be false w/ YOUR new gun, consider yourself both blessed, AND a little more knowledgeable, so that when it IS time to pull the gun down, especially if it happens in the field, you'll know what you're doing.

Just one person's opinion and experience, of course.

Rick C

The only three guns I've bought new were all Rugers and I shot all of them with out cleaning or anything ... they were clean inside and worked fine.

I've found Federal Bulk ammo is one of the better ones.... the Wally world stuff is the same as Federal Champion brand, just in a bulk box.

I don't see the need for a special loader for MK mags... what I did was just buy 8 more mags and load them all at one time.