Mark II pistol. Difficulty installing new recoil spring assy

[Bearcat]

I have a stainless Ruger Mark II target (5.5 bull barrel, if it matters) that has a recoil spring and guide rod assembly that has one of the "wings" broken off. It still functions, but I am interested in replacing it.

Got the new part from Ruger. So far, so good. Did a normal disassembly and installed the new recoil spring guide rod assembly. It looked fine. But it was then impossible to reassemble the pistol (which is easy to do with the older, broken guide rod/spring in place). The bolt stop will not seat fully. Visual inspection shows all of the parts lining up fine and it looks like it should all go together, but several attempts proved futile. Had the hammer and hammer strut piece all in the right alignment.....Put it back together just fine with the old, broken guide rod/spring assembly in place.

Any idea what the problem could be? Is there something on the interior of the receiver that might be causing the problem???

I'm stumped, and have had Mark I and Mark II pistols for over 25 years....

Thanks for any advice or assistance.

 

[reloader]

I just recently replaced the recoil spring in an old 1965 standard auto.
The new spring had to be retracted slightly to fit down into it's recess in front of the bolt stop, where as the old one didn't due to wear on the old spring.
Also some of my MKII's and III's that have less rounds through them require a rap with a plastic hammer to remove or seat the bolt stop.

 

[9x19]

Does the bolt stop pin slide thru the bolt easily (with recoil spring in place) when both are outside the receiver?

 

[Bullseye57]

If the bolt stop is failing to seat through the receiver the rounded "nub" on the back side of the butterfly end (winged part) may need a slight filing down to facilitate assembly. I have encountered several of the newer pistols with this part needing a little bit of fitting to ease the installation of the bolt stop. Keep the end rounded, but just file it down slightly until the bolt stop seats fully exposing the rounded top of the stop through the receiver mounting hole.

Hope this helps.

R,
Bullseye

 

[Bearcat]

If the bolt stop is failing to seat through the receiver the rounded "nub" on the back side of the butterfly end (winged part) may need a slight filing down to facilitate assembly. I have encountered several of the newer pistols with this part needing a little bit of fitting to ease the installation of the bolt stop. Keep the end rounded, but just file it down slightly until the bolt stop seats fully exposing the rounded top of the stop through the receiver mounting hole.

Hope this helps.

R,
Bullseye

Thank you. I'll try a little smoothing out of the winged part and see if that will help.

 

[SGW Gunsmith]

Check the crimped end that holds the "yoke" onto the recoil spring rod. I've seen quite a few of those where the crimp on top and bottom have some nasty sharp edges on it. I will use a swiss pattern, smooth-cut needle file to remove sharp edges on that crimped end and smooth it over with #400 grit emery paper. The bolt stop pin needs to be able to push the recoil spring assembly forward, slightly, so that the bolt stop pin can get up to where it belongs.

 

[Bearcat]

Check the crimped end that holds the "yoke" onto the recoil spring rod. I've seen quite a few of those where the crimp on top and bottom have some nasty sharp edges on it. I will use a swiss pattern, smooth-cut needle file to remove sharp edges on that crimped end and smooth it over with #400 grit emery paper. The bolt stop pin needs to be able to push the recoil spring assembly forward, slightly, so that the bolt stop pin can get up to where it belongs.

Thank you. I think that that may be it now that I look at the stamping of that part..... :lol: