Mark III-22/45 problem

[Athanasor]

Recently bought a Mark III 22/45 ( 5.5" bull barrel ) as my first foray into semi-autos. I've always been a revolver shooter and love my GP100 and SP101, and bought the Ruger 22 just for "fun shooting" at a lower cost.

My first four clips were trouble free and the pistol was very accurate right out of the box. Next trip to the range began having sporadic problems with failing to chamber or feed, failures to eject etc and thought it might be the winchester hollow points. Bought some solid, round nose remington ammo - same sporadic problems and realized that the magazine was, at some point, just dropping down a couple of millimeters out of the grip. The pistol came with two magazines and happens with both clips.

Has anyone else had a problem like this? I'm going to send the gun to Ruger, I believe, but would like any info from this excellent forum.

 

[chopprs]

Is the magazine catch fully engaging the magazine?

P.S. My 22/45 does not like hollow points but my Volquartsen gun feeds them like nothing. I am going to change the extractor on the 22/45 as I believe this is the issue.

 

[Donaldjr1969]

Athanasor,

I have the exact same pistol and it is about a month old. My first guess is that the magazine catch is not fully grabbing. Load a magazine and take a look at the right side of the grip frame at the other end of the magazine release button. Does it look like the following image?

If you notice, the opposite end of the release button is not flush with the grip frame. It is then possible to remove the magazine with your fingers. Under the normal operation of the pistol, the magazine can then slip a little bit.

Now your magazine release button SHOULD look like this.

Notice now how the release is fully flush within the grip frame? Now the magazine is fully secured within the pistol.

The magazine catch and whatnot is still rather tight for me. A good, but not overly forceful, tap will ensure that the magazine is fully seated and the catch fully engaged. I never had the issues you did but rather I noticed that when I was at home looking at the pistol before my first range session. After about 1200-1400 rounds through the pistol, it still seems tight. But I think the catch is now starting to loosen a bit. But before firing, I make sure the magazine release is flush and thus the catch is fully engaged before drawing the bolt backwards. Try making sure of the button being flush when you are at the range next time before firing the current magazine. I suspect that if it is fully seated, your issues will not reoccur. I have not had 1 FTF or FTE since I bought the pistol.

Chopprs, or others, has the magazine catch on a MkIII 22/45 been tight until a fair amount of rounds were cycled? If so, how many rounds did it take?

 

[chopprs]

Mine has been fine since new. Never had any issues....I have fired a couple thousand through it and it still works fine.

 

[Lone Wolf McQuade]

I have at least 1k rounds through mine and have not had any problems.

 

[redjak]

Next trip to the range began having sporadic problems with failing to chamber or feed, failures to eject etc and thought it might be the winchester hollow points. Bought some solid, round nose remington ammo - same sporadic problems and realized that the magazine was, at some point, just dropping down a couple of millimeters out of the grip. The pistol came with two magazines and happens with both clips.

I would try cleaning the magazine release mechanism, using spray gun cleaner. Spray inside the magazine well and work the magazine release button back and forth. The goop that gun makers coat everything with before shipping may be keeping the catch from fully engaging.

And as Donaldjr1969 said, tap the bottom of the magazine to fully seat it.

 

[Athanasor]

Finally got to the range today, just made sure the magazine "clicked" when inserted and had no problems at all. Used 2 different types of ammo. Feel kinda dumb now but I'll get over it.

 

[chopprs]

....so, you were not pushing the mag all the way up?

 

[Donaldjr1969]

....so, you were not pushing the mag all the way up?

Hehehe, chopprs. When the 22/45 is brand new, the magazine seats firmly enough even if the magazine catch does not click so that it will not drop put of the grip frame. And the magazine even looks fully seated. With that in mind, one would think it is indeed fully seated.

Nowadays, I am noticing my pistol is loosening up with the catch. With a full magazine, the catch fully engages without any extra effort. With an empty mag, only slight pressure is needed to make it fully catch. So to me, it is not a problem.

 

[Baldy]

It happen to me twice on the firing line at a steel match. That mag has to be seated all the way until you hear or feel a click. Good luck. :lol: