Shot my Ruger Mark IV for the first time today... My thumb bled like a stuck pig!

[PaulSoCal]

I bought a Ruger Mark IV over the holidays and for the first time I took it shooting to an indoor range today. Ran 120 rounds through it and had great fun. I haven't been shooting in many years and the good news is that on the large silhouette targets I was getting 10 rounds near the head and 10 rounds within the body when shooting 2 clips aimed at those areas. I shot all four clips three times each. Of the 120 rounds, I jammed 3 times. No idea why but I am not going to worry as the thing is not nearly broken in and it caused no particular difficulty when clearing the jam. Now, my thumb, on the other hand jammed once... I lost a chunk of the left thumb on the side closest to the index finger. Had this happened when I was younger it would have stopped bleeding easily but as I have been on a blood thinner for the last 6 months or so, even little cuts bleed pretty a lot. Lesson learned... Keep your left hand away from moving pieces while shooting. I am glad I wasn't operating a press. Won't make that mistake again. To be honest, I am not sure exactly where on the gun I got bitten, but it won't happen again. It wasn't when charging the gun, it was while shooting. Before using it, I thought I would buy the charging ring but it charges easily enough without it and the ring wouldn't have prevented the bite. At least it wasn't a bullet wound!

The rounds I was shooting were CCI copper plated round nose 40 grain 1200FPS. I am not sure how many yards the target was away, but I was shooting with my target at the same distance that 90% of the other shooters were using.

 

[hittman]

That many failures in 120 rounds isn't unusual with 22LR.

 

[PaulSoCal]

Thanks, My failure score is 3/1/120. i.e., 3 failure to eject, 1 thumb and 120 rounds.

 

[arfmel]

Be sure to get any blood off the pistol. It's highly corrosive and will cause severe pitting if left on the gun.

 

[BULL'S-EYE]

Glad you're enjoying your new Ruger firearm... Also, your Mark IV feeding device is called a magazine. NOT a "clip"...

 

[contender]

That's kinda interesting.
My first thought was you might be left handed,, to have your left thumb get bit between the index & the thumb.

On a MK gun like that,, the only external moving parts would be the bolt,, which should be well to the rear of the hands, and the trigger,, which could possibly pinch the thumb if it wasn't in a proper place. But if left handed,, the left thumb could possibly get pinched with the bolt due to it's position as the gun cycles.

UNLESS,,,,,, recoil (which should be very low,) caused your thumb to get rubbed by the bolt release as it's fired.

 

[PaulSoCal]

Be sure to get any blood off the pistol. It's highly corrosive and will cause severe pitting if left on the gun.

I read your post and disassembled the bolt. Not much blood on the gun. Just a few tiny spots. They were centered on the barrel release button right under the bolt. I am pretty sure that was the scene of the crime...

Thank you for the advice. I wasn't going to clean the gun tonight because my thumb is still bleeding but I did carefully not to create more spots.

Glad you're enjoying your new Ruger firearm... Also, your Mark IV feeding device is called a magazine. NOT a "clip"...

Thanks for the info. I found this online to discover the difference. Apparently I am not the only one to make this mistake.

What’s The Difference Between Clip And Magazine?

A magazine and a clip are not the same thing, and is very easy to mix them up. Learn more about what the difference is and why it’s an important distinction.

www.vedderholsters.com

That's kinda interesting.
My first thought was you might be left handed,, to have your left thumb get bit between the index & the thumb.

On a MK gun like that,, the only external moving parts would be the bolt,, which should be well to the rear of the hands, and the trigger,, which could possibly pinch the thumb if it wasn't in a proper place. But if left handed,, the left thumb could possibly get pinched with the bolt due to it's position as the gun cycles.

UNLESS,,,,,, recoil (which should be very low,) caused your thumb to get rubbed by the bolt release as it's fired.

Right Handed. My left thumb was resting on top of the right hand... Oops.

I was out of my element. Hadn't been to this range, never shot this pistol, Last time I was in an indoor range was maybe 20 years ago. The damn thing is still bleeding 4 hours after the bite. Not because it is so bad, but because of blood thinners. Only moving part on the gun and I manage to put my finger in it. I hope it leaves a scar... haha

 

[bykerhd]

Get a magazine loader and say goodbye to bloody thumbs.
The plastic loaders are inexpensive and will last about forever.
And, it is magazines, not clips.'

Enjoy your new Ruger they are great pistols.

 

[contender]

Looking at the picture,, I can just about bet you had your thumb way back on your hand, behind the bolt. I have seen a lot of people make this mistake. Usually it's a semi-auto rail that slices the thumb. I wasn't thinking about your hand being so far back. My mistake.

 

[PaulSoCal]

Looking at the picture,, I can just about bet you had your thumb way back on your hand, behind the bolt. I have seen a lot of people make this mistake. Usually it's a semi-auto rail that slices the thumb. I wasn't thinking about your hand being so far back. My mistake.

NOT YOUR MISTAKE!!! MINE!!

I will do better next time. I have been practicing a good grip. I was out of my element. When I go back, I will be in much better shape to perform at the range.

 

[AzShooter1]

The tool for loading them is call the McFadden Ultimate Clip Loader, even though they are magazines.

Looks like you rested your weak hand over your strong hand's thumb. The slide bit you. Remember to keep your thumb down if it was pointed upwards.

Have fun. I found that it took about 500 rounds to totally break in my Mark IV. After that I've put in excess of 30K rounds without a malfunction so good luck and good shooting.

 

[TestEngineer]

Right Handed. My left thumb was resting on top of the right hand... Oops.

That bite looks pretty painful. Kind of like a blister that breaks and then the skin peels off.

Anyway, it's kind of tough figuring out how to best position your off hand. I tried a number of different grips and finally settled on one that seemed comfortable. But I always suffered from "cold bore fliers". Then one day I brought my pistol to the range solely to let this RO shoot it. He is an accomplished competitive bullseye shooter. He kept all 20 shots in a group under 1" at 10 yards - no fliers. I studied his technique while he shot and tried to emulate what I saw. It sure wasn't natural to me at first - having both thumbs on the left side, pointed downrange. But I finally found a comfortable position that works for me. My left thumbnail sits on top of the frame against the barrel with my right thumb directly below the left.

This hold keeps my hands away from the biting bolt, and now my average 10 yard groups are 3/4" with open sights. No more fliers (unless the bore is clean/unseasoned) makes me very happy. I guess us old dogs CAN learn some new tricks.

 

[Mobuck]

I've been shooting Ruger 22 pistols for decades and still get 'pinched' by the ears of the bolt during loading/unloading.

 

[arfmel]

Pro tip: carry a ziplock bag full of band-aids in your range bag. And in your car glovebox.

 

[redfernclan]

Got the mark IV hunter a while ago and was disappointed with the jamming. Brought it up on this forum and was directed to a U tube video on how to "tune up" the magazines. Takes a bit of time and basically is deburring and polishing anything that rubs together. Well worth the time and have had zero jams since.
As far as the thumb? Kind of like leaving the plug out of a boat. If you haven't done it yet, you will.
As far as the clip vs magazine, don't take it personally. The core essence of the human language is to communicate. If you say a word and we know what you mean, you have accomplished your goal.

 

[GunnyGene]

I read your post and disassembled the bolt. Not much blood on the gun. Just a few tiny spots. They were centered on the barrel release button right under the bolt. I am pretty sure that was the scene of the crime...

Thank you for the advice. I wasn't going to clean the gun tonight because my thumb is still bleeding but I did carefully not to create more spots.


Thanks for the info. I found this online to discover the difference. Apparently I am not the only one to make this mistake.

What’s The Difference Between Clip And Magazine?

A magazine and a clip are not the same thing, and is very easy to mix them up. Learn more about what the difference is and why it’s an important distinction.

www.vedderholsters.com

Right Handed. My left thumb was resting on top of the right hand... Oops.

I was out of my element. Hadn't been to this range, never shot this pistol, Last time I was in an indoor range was maybe 20 years ago. The damn thing is still bleeding 4 hours after the bite. Not because it is so bad, but because of blood thinners. Only moving part on the gun and I manage to put my finger in it. I hope it leaves a scar... haha

View attachment 37464

That's almost like the traditional 1911 tattoo, except for placement. Consider it a sign of a made man.

 

[old 41]

 

[vito]

Maybe I'm just lucky with my Mark IV, but the only problems I have had with it are with dud rounds, not the gun itself. I traded in my Browning Buckmark for the Mark IV even though they are very similar in performance (for me) but I love the simple break down for the Mark IV, by far the simplest gun for dissembly and cleaning. Years ago I cut the web of my right hand by not having my grip properly on a semi auto pistol, and ever since then I am very careful in how I hold any semi, including the Mark IV. So far no cuts from this nice target pistol.

 

[crow#2]

won't the extractor cause jams sometimes.Paul so
If you need a extractor I've a new one in the package ,came from Valquartzen I believe. Just pm me your address. I'm in Indiana

 

[contender]

"As far as the clip vs magazine, don't take it personally. The core essence of the human language is to communicate. If you say a word and we know what you mean, you have accomplished your goal."

Generally,, among gun owners,, this is true.

BUT,, a few decades ago,, as we began teaching NRA Woman On Target clinics,, only to ladies,, my wonderful Miss Penny provided the best answer to this common occurrence. She said;

"Most gun people are men. And a LOT of men either think a woman shouldn't own a gun, or are just too stupid to know anything about firearms. So, when we teach,, we will teach the correct & proper terminology to our ladies,, so the stupid men can't dismiss us as too stupid to know what we are talking about. It's bad enough when we have politicians or the media spout off mis-information,, we aren't going to be just like them. We will do it RIGHT!"