Ruger MKII 22 pistol - Two piece bolt question.

At one point, Ruger made the bolt for the MarkII 22 pistol in two pieces. The cocking ears look like they were silver soldered on to the bolt body. You can see a definite seam at this junction. Bumped into someone the other day that recommended having the bolt reinforced at this seam by welding the seam and then grinding the weld down so the bolt would function. This acquaintance claimed that the cocking ears would eventually separate otherwise.

I have a MKII target with a low round count. No problems so far. Would like some opinions on this point please.

I've owned 3 MKII 22 LR Pistols and still have 2 of them. Both are at least 10 years old and have over 5-8K rounds thru them and this is the first time I've heard this story. I've never had a single problem with any of my MK II's with the exception of a bent firing pin (my fault) and two defective magazines. I'd say that story is ''Horsefeathers''!

Some people will say anything to sound like they know something... but most often it just shows they don't.

Nah, that would NEVER happen.



The vast majority of the 2 piece bolts were stainless. Most never get fired enough to separate, but some do.

A now deceased smith used to drill a small blind hole from below and install a pin to prevent separation. Others have repaired separated bolts by installing a screw from the rear.

I'm not familiar with welding on stainless, but that may work okay. If I had a 2-piece and was worried about it, I'd just set that bolt aside and pick up a takeoff MKIV bolt from Volquartsen. I'm not sure what they're going for right now, but I'm sure they're under $60.

TestEngineer said:

Nah, that would NEVER happen.

The vast majority of the 2 piece bolts were stainless. Most never get fired enough to separate, but some do.

A now deceased smith used to drill a small blind hole from below and install a pin to prevent separation. Others have repaired separated bolts by installing a screw from the rear.

I'm not familiar with welding on stainless, but that may work okay. If I had a 2-piece and was worried about it, I'd just set that bolt aside and pick up a takeoff MKIV bolt from Volquartsen. I'm not sure what they're going for right now, but I'm sure they're under $60.

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Well, there you go! Curious as to what the incidence of failure is? My guess is a fairly low rate of failure. I'm not going to worry about it. If mine separates I will either have it silver soldered or I will install a screw from the back.

I just finished building out a complete MKII Target Model from parts. Volquartsen hammer, trigger, sear, mainspring assembly and sights. Replaced the 4.75" tapered barrel with a 5.5" bull barrel. Of course I could not find a MKII bolt of any description, anywhere so I used a MKIV bolt. The bolt works perfectly. I was going to have the bolt hard chromed but, the blue bolt and blued mainspring assembly look nice in contrast to the stainless steel. Think I will leave it this way. Went on line at e-bay earlier today and bought a new, unused MKIV bolt in blue for $46.00 including shipping... never hurts to have a spare!

Had some fun with my parts gun on The High Road, citing the double roll marked safety warning on the barrel and receiver as a "rare factory error worth thousands of dollars". a few swallowed that story hook, line and sinker until I got called out by a moderator as shameful and the thread locked down. That darn parts gun shoots into one hole...a real testament to Ruger's engineering ability IMO!

Proving once again, "with Ruger, never say never!"

2 piece bolts were mad efor early guns to save on metal during the war.

I'm no metallurgist but I would be surprised if silver soldering would actually hold the ears on for any length of time. Worse case, Ruger will replace it for free since it's actually a defect and could cause injury. They're replaced two for me so far.

I have a MKII with the two piece bolt, never have had a problem. Bought a spare for "just in case", fit and functions fine. Still using the original and put the spare in the parts box.

If memory serves there were some blue two piece roughly Korea war era. Never heard of them separating, but won't swear to it. The SS are much more common. If you look at your bolt it is very easy to see jf it is a two piece. There is a definite line.

Whatnickname said:

Well, there you go! Curious as to what the incidence of failure is? My guess is a fairly low rate of failure. I'm not going to worry about it. If mine separates I will either have it silver soldered or I will install a screw from the back.

I just finished building out a complete MKII Target Model from parts. Volquartsen hammer, trigger, sear, mainspring assembly and sights. Replaced the 4.75" tapered barrel with a 5.5" bull barrel. Of course I could not find a MKII bolt of any description, anywhere so I used a MKIV bolt. The bolt works perfectly. I was going to have the bolt hard chromed but, the blue bolt and blued mainspring assembly look nice in contrast to the stainless steel. Think I will leave it this way. Went on line at e-bay earlier today and bought a new, unused MKIV bolt in blue for $46.00 including shipping... never hurts to have a spare!

Had some fun with my parts gun on The High Road, citing the double roll marked safety warning on the barrel and receiver as a "rare factory error worth thousands of dollars". a few swallowed that story hook, line and sinker until I got called out by a moderator as shameful and the thread locked down. That darn parts gun shoots into one hole...a real testament to Ruger's engineering ability IMO!

Click to expand...

PM sent

Dan in MI said:

If memory serves there were some blue two piece roughly Korea war era. Never heard of them separating, but won't swear to it. The SS are much more common. If you look at your bolt it is very easy to see jf it is a two piece. There is a definite line.View attachment 2819

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The fact that the separation line is so pronounced on this bolt indicates that the process has already started. May take days, may take decades, but it will most likely eventually separate as per the picture above. The other indicator is a dimple forming on the back of the bolt. That's how I noticed one of my bolts going bad since I hadn't heard about this problem at the time and wasn't checking for it.

If you send your two-piece bolt back to Ruger they will replace it with a new MKIV bolt, which works fine in MKII Rugers.
The two piece bolt is well known and a common source of comment on Rim Fire Central which TE is a regular poster.