Ever sent your pistol back to Ruger for jamming problems?

[Mick5150]

Hi Gang,

I'm having issues with my new Mark 4 Hunter jamming..... yes, the dreaded stove pipe issues. I purchased the gun brand new back in December, so at first I just thought it needed a break-in period. Judging by the number of empty ammo boxes I've kept, I have easily fired over 1200 rounds through this thing by now. I was keeping the empty boxes so I could keep track of the different ammo, and weed out the ones to avoid. Well, it's been six different brands..... so it's obviously not the ammo. Sometimes I could not even get through one mag without it jamming up.

While I've had many pistols over the years, this is my first Ruger purchase, so I must say It's rather disappointing that the gun performs so bad. I'm so jealous when I see people post about their gun eating any type of ammo. I've let three different people try the gun, and they have the same results. It's one thing to have problems at the range with my friends, but last weekend I tried a competition steel target shoot at my local gun club that was open to the public, but it was really embarrassing when the gun kept having issues and slowing everything down.

I've been reading up on these forums, and it appears that Ruger has great customer service, so I'm thinking about contacting them to see how they can help. You guys here on the forum are way more experienced with the Mark series guns, so I figured I would get your opinions first. I hate the thought of sending my gun back for repairs, but I fear I may have to do just that.

Any ideas? What would you recommend that I try before I resort to sending it back? If you've had this same issue, what did you do to fix it? Is this common for the new Mark 4 model? Also, if you sent one back for the same problem, what exactly did they do to fix it?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[WIL TERRY]

Define JAM further.
What did you do the FIRST time you took it apart.
And so it goes...

 

[hittman]

Usually the first recommendation with a semi-auto 22LR is to try different ammo and magazines. You seem to have that covered.

I agree with Wil ..... define jam some more please.

You install any aftermarket parts?
How often or thorough on your cleaning?

Don't be afraid to send it back. I cussed a LC9 for way, way too long before I sent it in. Since it returned from FREE service, it's cycled well over 1,000 rounds without a single hiccup.

 

[contender]

Welcome to the Forum!
Quite often,,, a jamming issue can be traced to the magazine(s). Have you tried a couple of different mags yet? If so,, a polite call to Ruger will likely get you a pre-paid return shipping label,,, & it'll get fixed quickly.

 

[22/45 Fan]

One more possibility, does the way you hold the gun put your thumb in the way of the bolt release or does your hand interfere with the right side safety lever? Either interference will cause failures.

 

[Mick5150]

Hey guys, thanks for the quick responses. I guess I should have gone into more detail on the jamming. It's the empty cartridge that will not fully eject that's causing the hiccup. I just engage the safety, remove the mag, and pull back the bolt & lock it open. Most of the time the empty casing falls out when I pull the bolt back, other times I have to reach my finger in there and move it until it falls out due to the fact that it's stuck against the next round that has not made it's way onto the feed ramp.

As far as the other questions:
1. I took the gun apart before it was ever shot, just to give it a quick general inspection and clean & very light lube.
2. I've not installed any aftermarket parts at all.
3. I give it a thorough cleaning & lube after each visit to the range.
4. I numbered my mags using a silver sharpie with high hopes that I could use process of elimination to determine if one of them was bad, but no luck there.
5. As far as holding the gun is concerned, I don't believe this would be the case. I've let three other people shoot it, and the problem has occurred to all four of us. My one friend has mitts like a gorilla, and my daughter has tiny hands.

I've been reading up on parts such as the ejector/extractor and their issues, but to be honest I'm not that familiar with such parts, and would not know or be able to diagnose if that may be causing the problem.

If I hit the range this weekend, I plan on taking a few photos showing the shell casing stuck....... maybe that might help diagnose the issue? I will try anything at this point.

I really appreciate you guys trying to help me with this. I'm no gunsmith, I'm just an average recreational shooter with a basic knowledge of firearms. I've owned multiple Glocks, Springfield 1911's, and had a Browing Buckmark years ago, but never had this type of problem.

Again, thanks for you help.

 

[hittman]

Call Ruger and arrange to send it in. Sounds like you've done everything right.

 

[timboy]

I would contact Ruger,their customer service is top notch,when I had issues with my then 5 year old SR9c they were very polite,sent me a shipping label and took care of everything.

 

[TomV]

I was having that problem with cheap hollow points, mostly Remington Golden Bullets, in my Mk III Hunter. I stopped using the cheap hollow point bullets, and also bought a Volquartzen extractor. Never had a problem since. But, like everyone says, Ruger Customer Service is top-notch and you can't go wrong with them. They even gave me a full cash refund on one Ruger I was having trouble with, so I went and bought a different model Ruger.

 

[Precision32]

I'd check the extractor. With the bolt in hand, slip a cartridge up under the extractor. As you do you should note the extractor hook move out 0.010" to 0.020". While a simple "blow back" has the spent case pushed back by the powder charge. Some claim the extractor is not needed. However, as soon as the case clears the chamber, gravity takes over and the case will likely miss hitting the ejector properlyand not exit the gun.

 

[Carry_Up]

I have a few suggestions. In general - in my opinion - all semi-auto shooters should become familiar with the specifics on chambering and ejecting in their particular gun. It is very important to describe what is happening and under what conditions. "Jam" is not a specific description.

From your descriptions, you are having a failure to eject, and in fact stove-piping of the empty brass. THE most obvious reason for this symptom is going to be an extractor failure. This little part MUST hold onto the empty case while the bolt retracts during recoil. If the extractor drops the case, your ejector cannot kick the case free of the receiver. And, the most common problem with the extractor is that the hook isn't shaped correctly. It must have a positive relationship to the rim of the brass case. Yours is almost certainly negative, which encourages the hook to slip off the case, dropping it on top of the feeding round. Volquartzen makes a special extractor for just this reason.

The other contributing factor in a failure to eject is a tight chamber. Should the chamber be incorrectly reamed, the empty will be difficult to pull from the chamber and may encourage the extractor to give up and snap over the rim. This possibility is easy to diagnose by simply dropping a few empty cases into your chamber and noting whether they are unusually tight.

Hope that points toward a fix. The only other thing that comes up for me is that occasionally the Mark series will develop a loose ejector rivet and allow the ejector to wobble around and cause eject malfunctions. Wiggle it with your fingers. It should be solid against the receiver with no side to side play.

That's the way it is.

CU

 

[bayou5252]

Regarding Ruger CS, a cousin of mine had a jam-o-matic SR1911. It continued well after the pistol was broken in.

Short story - he called Ruger, they emailed him a pre-paid label, the pistol was sent in and then returned back to him in about 10 days. Ruger changed the slide, barrel and bushing. He now has a very reliable SR1911.

Bayou

 

[Carry_Up]

Well, I'm not sure how that story relates to malfunctions in the Mark IV. I guess you are saying that the factory did a fine job of repairing their product? We don't really know what problems the gun had, but apparently the factory had no idea either. They simply had the assemblies at hand, and continued to replace parts until the gun started to work. Anything that gets the job done, I guess!

 

[black029]

You should just contact Ruger and return it. You have done alll you can do, and it's obvious something is out of whack. Since they are likely to fix it and return it in a few weeks, I wouldn't wait.
If they had a rep like Colt for hanging on to returns for months, you might consider a home fixit project, but since they don't, send it back.

 

[SGW Gunsmith]

Here's a routine that I've been recommending for years now and it has helped cure many of the NEW-gun issues, starting with the Ruger Mark II pistols. Consider, the springs are still a bit longer when installed in a new pistol. They have NOT been exercised to where they have developed their "final set", or working length as yet. What I recommend to my customers when purchasing a new Ruger Mark pistol from me, is to shoot several hundred CCI Mini-Mags, or another high velocity .22 rimfire round until the springs develop their final working length. Now, is there a "specific" number of rounds involved, no.

After I bought a new Ruger Mark II distributor model from Lipsey's, that pistol would stove-pipe on every other round of Wolf Match Target. Once I shot 400, or so rounds of CCI Mini-Mags through that pistol, it would thereafter handle the Wolff Match Target at 1040 FPS just fine.

A Ruger Mark III Hunter version with the 4 ½ barrel was another pistol that required several hundred rounds of CCI Mini-Mags until the spring set was developed, but that pistol now shoots standard velocity just fine. Many of my customers over the years have tried the same regimen with the CCI Mini-Mags, and have had their pistols come out of it accepting standard velocity in short order.

It's much more fun shooting these Ruger Mark pistols, rather than sending them back and then waiting until the time arrives when you really can shoot it.

 

[Mick5150]

Hi guys,

Well, I contacted Ruger customer service and spoke to someone about my issues. They suggested a couple things before I send my Mark IV Hunter back to them for repair. They suggested using only CCI Mini Mags since that's exactly what they use at the factory. They also said use very little lubricant during my cleaning process, and be sure I do not get any oil on or near the feed ramp. They were very helpful, and concerned of my issues, but wanted me to try these two things before I had to send it back. I figured I would give it a try since the last thing I wanted to do was send it back to them.

I was able to pick up 200 rounds of the Mini Mags, and finally got a chance to hit the range over the weekend. I had four failures out of the 200 rounds...... not bad. Much better than I originally was having. See the picture below - each of the four were exactly like this. The empty shell was not able to eject, and was stuck against the new round that did not make it up into the chamber.

Another thing I noticed when I had my reading glasses on while cleaning it - the feed ramp appears to have two very tiny gouges on the one side. Not sure if this would be causing my issues that have occurred since I bought the gun. I tried to get a picture of the feed ramp with my cell phone, but if you look closely you can see the two marks. They are exactly the same, and almost looks like they are supposed to be there? Any ideas? Could this be the problem?

It obviously got better using the Mini Mags, so I will most likely stick with that ammo since I can find them easily in my area. But what about the two gouges?

Thanks again for your help. As I said in my original post, this is my first Ruger so this gun is new to me. I don't plan on taking this to the gun club during their steel shoots if I cannot get it to stop jamming up on me.

 

[hpman66]

I at one time had some extraction problems with a MKII. I got a Volquartsen Exact Edge Extractor, installed it and haven't had any problems since. I also installed a Volquartsen drop in sear and it gave me an excellent 24oz. trigger(I don't know if these will work on the MKIV's). Rimfire Sports & Custom is good to do business with.

Extractor:
http://www.rimfiresports.com/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=RSC&Product_Code=VC10EE%2FVC2EE&Category_Code=VC2

 

[boomer92266]

the bottom of the feed ramp looks rough and not even across, that is from what i see in the pic. i would send the pic to ruger and see what they say.

 

[Mick5150]

the bottom of the feed ramp looks rough and not even across, that is from what i see in the pic. i would send the pic to ruger and see what they say.

You are correct. The feed ramp has looked this way from the day I purchased it. I will contact Ruger again to see what they think. I hate to send it in for repair, but it looks like I have no choice.

I'm rather disappointed since I purchased this gun based on the reputation of the Ruger Mark Series pistols, but it appears I ended up getting a bad one. From what you guys are all telling me, Ruger should correct this problem. I will be sure to keep everyone updated on this issue.

Thanks

 

[hpman66]

the bottom of the feed ramp looks rough and not even across, that is from what i see in the pic. i would send the pic to ruger and see what they say.

You are correct. The feed ramp has looked this way from the day I purchased it. I will contact Ruger again to see what they think. I hate to send it in for repair, but it looks like I have no choice.

I'm rather disappointed since I purchased this gun based on the reputation of the Ruger Mark Series pistols, but it appears I ended up getting a bad one. From what you guys are all telling me, Ruger should correct this problem. I will be sure to keep everyone updated on this issue.

Thanks

I have had feed ramps that had a similar look/appearance. I got a rod/dowel with approx. the same size dia.(slightly smaller) as the feed ramp. With some approx. 200 grit+/- wet/dry emery cloth(wrapped around the rod/dowel) I slightly polished the ramp. It worked well for me.