FlyerTom
Single-Sixer
G'day all. This is yet another vent about stripping the MK III for cleaning. I purchased a 678G target model 2 weeks ago, and it seems Ruger dipped the whole piece into a bucket of oil and wrapped it in a plastic bag (the oil was even under the grip panels). No way was I going to fire that until it was cleaned up. I cruised the net and watched videos until I was sure I could do this without too much trouble. I was wrong. First off, the bolt stop pin and mainspring housing WOULD NOT come out of the frame until I whacked it from above with a home-made Kevlar punch. (I told you was prepared) I also had to beat the bejeezus out of the receiver to release it from the grip frame. After sopping up all the excess oil, the real fun began. Putting the receiver back on the frame is my nemesis. Snug? Nope. Tight? OH YEAH. Biggest problem is determining if it's on far enough. You can't really tell if all 3 holes are aligned easily until I got my 5/16" drill blank that I ground a chamfer onto. Is the receiver too far back? Not far back enough? Rotated? At various points it was all of the above. After I finally got the drill blank to come out the other side, there was the cuss-inducing task of getting the pin back out. It seems the receiver likes to rotate to one side or another when you're pushing it back. There really is no way to prevent that, as the square lug up front has two slight angles on the bottom of the tang. Once the bolt is in, it's not that difficult to reinstall the mainspring housing. My gripe with that is that everything inside that channel is black, including the dingleberry, and it's tough to see if it's in the right place. Oh - putting the magazine back in to release the hammer is a royal PITA, too. There's no way on God's green earth that I'm taking that receiver off again. I may even spring for Majestic Arms' speed strip kit - cost be damned. I don't need the chest pains and out-of-breath experience any more.
There. I feel much better now.
There. I feel much better now.
