Faulty Mark IV

[Romanglock]

Bought a new Mark IV Target in stainless Saturday and took it directly to the range. It wouldn't consistently lock in either mag. I was very careful to not touch the release button. After about 50 rounds, I returned it to the shop. They confirmed this issue and are sending it back to Ruger.
Anyone else have this experience? I thought the build quality was very good on new Rugers.

 

[Captain America]

Welcome to the forum. Ruger will make it right, however, I never take a gun to the range without a good cleaning, lube, and function check.

 

[hittman]

Yeah, Ruger will always make it right.

That being said ...... it's not uncommon for many 22LR semi-auto's to be finicky on ammo; needing a trial-and-error of a few different brands to see which it likes best. And, as said earlier, a good cleaning to rid it of any factory packing grease, etc. is always in order. I learned that one the hard way.

 

[RSIno1]

I thought the build quality was very good on new Rugers.

I'd downgrade that to fair. Bill's Ruger company yes - todays bean counter Ruger not so much. I wanted an early MKIV. I imagine the first 30 days of production got very detailed assembly and inspection. Now the line is probably running at 110% of capacity and mistakes are making it out the door.

 

[cjs1945]

I got the blued target model, and so far after about 600 rounds it has performed flawlessly, they seem to have cured just about every complaint that anyone had with the Mk. series pistols.

 

[VGEHTS]

Stainless Target model.
After 1 week and 300 rds,only 1 stove pipe. (prolly ammo problem)
Shoots way better than me,that's for sure!
Hopefully yours will be straightened out.

Today Wed,..another 300+ rounds and only 1 FTF.....(Federal Auto-Match white box) which was reloaded and did fire. Afterwards,I finished off with 40 rds of American Eagle,copper shielded.

My only *peeve* the gun shoots low,haf'ta cover the target with the muzzle,no 6 o'clock sighting....

 

[Mobuck]

"My only *peeve* the gun shoots low,haf'ta cover the target with the muzzle,no 6 o'clock sighting."

Rear sight adjustment maxed out?

 

[VGEHTS]

"My only *peeve* the gun shoots low,haf'ta cover the target with the muzzle,no 6 o'clock sighting."

Rear sight adjustment maxed out?

Sadly,yes......no more adjustment.
Next step,possibly lower front sight ie: mill it down 1/8"?...for starters.

 

[AzShooter1]

My Mark IV 22/45 lite seems to like everything I test in it from CCI Mini Mags to Standard Velocity Aquila ammo. Where I would get Failure to Feed and Failure to Eject in my Mark III the same ammo works in my Mark IV using the same magazines.

I've put over 3K rounds through it. All have fired and ejected perfectly. Other than the horrible trigger pull I'm happy. I do have a Volquartsen Trigger Kit coming.

 

[VGEHTS]

"My only *peeve* the gun shoots low,haf'ta cover the target with the muzzle,no 6 o'clock sighting."

Rear sight adjustment maxed out?

Sadly,yes......no more adjustment.
Next step,possibly lower front sight ie: mill it down 1/8"?...for starters.

Yesterday Saturday,I milled down the front sight little less than an 1/8th".
Today Sunday,'bout 80-100 rds,and she's right there at 10-15yrds.
A bit "Hi" at 25yrds but then it's prolly me aiming high and dimly lit at the far end of the range.
Didn't stay (but 45 minutes) long cuz of the crowds,so tomorrow will be be a more "scientific day".

 

[SGW Gunsmith]

My Mark IV 22/45 lite seems to like everything I test in it from CCI Mini Mags to Standard Velocity Aquila ammo. Where I would get Failure to Feed and Failure to Eject in my Mark III the same ammo works in my Mark IV using the same magazines.

I've put over 3K rounds through it. All have fired and ejected perfectly. Other than the horrible trigger pull I'm happy. I do have a Volquartsen Trigger Kit coming.

I believe MOST all Ruger Standard and Mark pistol owners have experienced the very same thing. Once the new pistol springs develop their working "set", they'll handle both standard and high velo .22 rounds equally well.

I have Ruger pistols from the early RST 4 versions right on up to the current version, including quite a few Mark II & III's in between, and not one of 'em ever heard about being "finicky" concerning the choice of ammunition I feed 'em, once the springs get to where they need to be.

 

[Maroy]

There is a good thread with fix on rimfire central under Mark !V, "magazine fall out". I had the same issue with my Competition, one mag worked great, second I could not get through the 10 rounds without it falling out or even falling out when I racked the first cartridge in. Ruger has sent me a replacement mag but just got it so have not shot it.

 

[Romanglock]

This Mk IV failed to lock in both replacement mags after 400-500 rounds. Sent it back to Arizona for the 2nd repair to the mag lock button, and again received two new mags. This time it failed after only five rounds!!!
I sent it back yesterday for the third time and stated I own 7 Ruger firearms, and I have lost confidence in this one. I asked for a replacement gun, or a full refund. We will see how good their customer service truly is.

 

[22/45 Fan]

This Mk IV failed to lock in both replacement mags after 400-500 rounds. Sent it back to Arizona for the 2nd repair to the mag lock button, and again received two new mags. This time it failed after only five rounds!!!
I sent it back yesterday for the third time and stated I own 7 Ruger firearms, and I have lost confidence in this one. I asked for a replacement gun, or a full refund. We will see how good their customer service truly is.

Next time remove the magazine ejector under the right side grip panel and try the magazines before sending it back. The ejector can be useful if the magazine disconnector is still in place but, even then, it's often more of a problem then a help.

 

[Captain America]

...I sent it back yesterday for the third time...

Is Ruger going to perform the recall while they have it? If so you get a free magazine.

 

[john guedry]

I bought a stainless Mk.4 about a month ago and got to take it to the range last Saturday. It shoots way better than I am capable of. Love it!!!

 

[SGW Gunsmith]

I've had two Ruger Mark IV's in my shop with the "dropping magazine" issue. Here's what I found:



With the magazine ejector in place, there is just enough strength in the ejector plunger spring to prevent the magazine from going all the way up and into place. Look closely at the above picture and you will notice a slight gap between the top of the magazine base and the metal grip frame. If you have this condition, you will find that it's quite easy to pull the magazine out using just your fingers. Now, remove the magazine ejector parts from their place in the grip frame:



See how the magazine now goes up a tad more? Without the magazine ejector in place, magazines click much more positively into place and are not possible to pull out by hand. The ejector assembly is a plastic, injection molded part. There will be some distortion found along the outside shape as that part is ejected from the mold that won't allow the ejector to work as it should without some edge trimming. I chose to leave that assembly out of the grip frame for future attention on my pistol. I no longer have dropping magazines during my shooting sessions and the magazines still "zip" out of the grip frame when the magazine release is pressed.
If you have dropping magazines, just try removing the ejector and then shoot your pistol. It only takes a matter of a few minutes to try this process and see if it helps with your pistol and help you locate where the problem is.

 

[GP100]

Hi DA Wood,

From the photo's, it looks like you might be able to just sand down the plastic piece a little bit on the mag ejector to solve the issue as well..

Correct?

 

[SGW Gunsmith]

Hi DA Wood,

From the photo's, it looks like you might be able to just sand down the plastic piece a little bit on the mag ejector to solve the issue as well..

Correct?

That's the plan right now, just to see if that works. Majestic Arms ( Dino ) is producing some pretty neat stuff for the Mark IV already. He's actually made the "ejector system" out of aluminum that's been CNC machined, so the periphery of his product will be much more precise, and consistent than an injection molded part. As the plastic parts solidify after being ejected out of the hot mold, the parts do deform a tad bit as they cool down and harden up.

 

[SGW Gunsmith]

This Mk IV failed to lock in both replacement mags after 400-500 rounds. Sent it back to Arizona for the 2nd repair to the mag lock button, and again received two new mags. This time it failed after only five rounds!!!
I sent it back yesterday for the third time and stated I own 7 Ruger firearms, and I have lost confidence in this one. I asked for a replacement gun, or a full refund. We will see how good their customer service truly is.

Next time remove the magazine ejector under the right side grip panel and try the magazines before sending it back. The ejector can be useful if the magazine disconnector is still in place but, even then, it's often more of a problem then a help.

That's what I did on two Mark IV's that came in with the "dropping magazine syndrome" . Removed the magazine ejector system and the magazines now stay in place and still zip out of the grip frame when the magazine release is pressed. If the magazines don't drop after removing the ejector, and you still want to keep it in place, one can try to trim the plastic areas on the ejector that are rubbing a bit and causing the plate to bind in place.

 

[john guedry]

Got my MK4 back today. One week after Ruger sent the e-mail saying they received it. Extra mag was there as promised.

 

[SGW Gunsmith]

Another thing that I've recently found concerning the Ruger Mark IV dropping magazines unexpectedly. The ejector plunger spring can be a bit long, to the point where the spring will develop "coil bind" whereby the coils get stacked upon one another and won't allow the bottom end of the ejector to move up any higher so that the magazine can not "click" into place and be held by the magazine release/latch. In that event, I clipped a couple of coils off the magazine ejector plunger spring and then it worked just fine.

 

[Romanglock]

This Mk IV went back a third time for the same issue (and the recall). Since I lost faith in this particular firearm, I asked Ruger to replace this gun, or refund it. They worked on it, replaced the lower unit, and returned it. The mag lock problem was resolved, but the mag release button failed to operate intermittently! This was verified by three experienced shooters over several outings.
I have lost faith in this Ruger product, and in Ruger's commitment to customer satisfaction. I think they rushed it to market.
I traded it in, at a $250 loss, for the SW Victory.

 

[Rocdoc]

Cannot blame you, that is poor service for sure

 

[Captain America]

...I traded it in, at a $250 loss...

My LGS sells your model for $481.30, if you only got $230 as a trade in you could have done much better selling it here. I would have been very interested in a stainless Mark IV at that price. Don't forget to use blue Lochtite on the barrel screw of your new gun, they're a PITA to find when your barrel falls off at the range.