I just bought a Ruger Mk 4 22/45 Lite pistol. Using what I consider to be "good" ammunition (Remington, Winchester, CCI) it is experiencing way too many failure to feed and failure to extract jams. Also getting some failure to fire issues. I have gone thru the mags and cleaned/polished all the internal parts so they operate smoothly. Any other suggestions?
Mk 4 Lite jams
- Thread starter area51guy
- Start date
It sounds like you've done all you can... hate to say it... send it to Ruger and let them make it work....
Welcome to the forum and yeah, what Blume said on calling Ruger.
SGW Gunsmith
Blackhawk
area51guy said:
Well, I sure do NOT agree that you have done all that YOU, as the owner can do about getting your Mark IV pistol to co-operate like you want it to. If you do send that pistol back to Ruger, they are only going to replace parts with the same parts they have in stock. Will there be much improvement? My educated and experience says, "No".
My recommendation for all ~NEW~ Ruger Mark pistols as purchased, is to run CCI Mini-Mags, or another .22 rimfire round that has close to the same velocity as the Mini-Mags, through your new pistol. All of the springs in your new pistol need to be exercised until they reach the working set where they were designed to operate fully and properly. How many rounds does that entail? There is no specific number that can reliably be depended upon, but after you run several hundred hi-velocity rounds through your new pistol, then try some of the standard velocity rounds that run at around 1200 FPS, and if those feed and cycle properly, then you are there.
With the Ruger Mark IV, Ruger has chosen to continue with the stamped steel extractor they've been using since 1949. There's a damn good reason why there are at least 7 various manufacturers of aftermarket extractors for these pistols and rifles. I have tried each and every one of the aftermarket extractors that are currently available and have settled on the best one that I have found that works superbly in all the Ruger Mark pistols and the 10/22 rifles. The cost of this much better extractor is less than a "pack of chewing gum" and will have your spent cases literally flying out of even the dirtiest of chambers.
So, try some CCI Mini-Mags in your new pistol, tune and smooth your magazines, and look for a much better extractor and I guarantee function will have you impressed in short order.
Today, I replaced the extractor and firing pin with parts from Tandemkross. Both look to be more precisely made than the Ruger parts. While I had it apart, I gave everything a good cleaning and lubricated lightly. After replacing the parts, I fed it a couple of 22 blanks to make certain the cartridges would fire (They did). Then, I loaded 10 rds in a magazine and fed them thru the action as quickly as I could pull the bolt back and let go. All 10 rds fed, extracted and ejected properly. Tomorrow, it goes to the range with an assortment of Remington, Winchester, Federal and CCI ammo. It is all in the 1200+ fps up to 1300 fps. There are both solid point bullets and hollow points. I have 4 mags so some of each box will be fed thru each magazine. I have them marked 1-4 so I can identify any that don't feed properly. Will report back later. The search goes on!
Captain America
Hunter
area51guy said:
It sounds as if you might have taken care of the issue, however, you made three changes, a new extractor, a new firing pin, and a good clean and lube. If it's fixed you don't really know what the problem was, I would have been curious to see what difference a good clean and lube would have made. Glad you got it fixed though and welcome to the forum.
SGW Gunsmith
Blackhawk
area51guy said:
Well, from my experience with parts that have been replaced with those they sell, you may still have problems. Unfortunately, they don't test any of the product they buy and resell. They sure don't make any parts, and I've been at odds with them for a long time on RFC.
There is a very rich reason that there are at least 7 aftermarket extractors now being sold to replace the $2.00 stamped steel extractor that Ruger provides ( since 1949 ) in the 10/22 rifles and the Ruger Mark pistols. I have tested all that are currently available, and my choice has culminated down to the "BEST" performing extractor of all those now available. The extractors that I now stock and install will have spent cases pulled completely out of even the dirtiest of chambers and landing 12 to 15 feet to the right of the ejection port. At the paltry cost of $10.00 each. It's all in the design of the working end of the extractor and how it grabs the .22 rimfire case rim until it's withdrawn from the chamber after firing and then contacts the ejector. It's not that complicated, but a properly designed extractor for the 10/22 and the Ruger Mark pistols will benefit your pistol, or rifle, performance 10 fold over any and all other extractors currently available.
I too, am having extraction and failure to fire problems with my MKIV Standard pistol. I've run Federal auto match, Agulia, and most recently WW super speed(1300fps) through mine with equal results. I have 6 magazines and have run 32 full magazines worth of ammo through the pistol with at least 1-3 failure to fire with each 10 rounds and a lot of failure to eject. I was wondering if the hammer spring had enough tension. I cleaned and lubed it and it's still not reliable. Form the information above, it sounds like I may need a better firing pin and extractor, as well. Bob!! 
Just got back from the range. With the new titanium firing pin and machined extractor, most of the failure to extract ,failure to feed and failure to fire problems have gone away. The only failure to fire were 3 cartridges with primer problems. When each of the 3 failed to fire, I extracted them, manually put them back in the chamber and tried the second time. Both firing pin strikes were solid. I then tried them in a second pistol with the same results. Will pull the bullets later tonight but suspect that the primer compound fell out of the rims. The only failure to extract and eject were with lower power ammo (1050-1100 fps cartridges). With the 1200 and up ammo there were no failures to extract. I had a small number of failure to load involving hollow point ammo. Maybe 4-5 out of 100+ fired. The solid point rounds all fed properly. I used all types of ammo on hand in each of the 4 magazines that I have for this pistol. Only 1 (#4) demonstrated feeding problems. Will take it apart again and see if there are any burrs or other things that could cause problems. The other 3 mags worked as they should. The ammo used was Federal, WW and Remington solid point and hollow point. Didn't have any CCI but will try it next time. So far, I am happy with the results/progress and fully believe that with a bit more effort will make this thing 100% reliable. The search goes on!
GypsmJim
GypsmJim
I guess I must be lucky. I bought my first "Standard" back in the early '70's. Followed by a Mark I, a Mark II, a Mark III and now a Mark IV. I can't remember EVER having an issue with the exception of using that crap Remington ammo of any flavor. Way too many "pops" instead of "bangs", and some times the slide would not go far enough back to extract.
I have never added any aftermarket parts, and I didn't even realize that the extractors were problematic. I would guess my Standard has thousands of rounds down the pipe by now.
In contrast, my 1911s (even as "good" as a Kimber) occasionally FTF or FTE.
My Mark IV was acquired last March and has fired approximately 500 rounds without one single hiccup. About half were indoors, where std. velocity is a club requirement.
I just love my Rugers...
I have never added any aftermarket parts, and I didn't even realize that the extractors were problematic. I would guess my Standard has thousands of rounds down the pipe by now.
In contrast, my 1911s (even as "good" as a Kimber) occasionally FTF or FTE.
My Mark IV was acquired last March and has fired approximately 500 rounds without one single hiccup. About half were indoors, where std. velocity is a club requirement.
I just love my Rugers...
Captain America
Hunter
GypsmJim said:
They're not, I have tens of thousands of rounds through my 10/22, 22/45, and Mark IV without a hiccup. Be very careful when you read the Ruger QC threads, it usually takes several posts to find out what the real cause of the "issue" is. Or, and these threads are my favorite, a gun functions exactly as it's supposed to but not as the owner of the gun wants it to function...and...the gun functions perfectly but some microscopic imperfection requires endless diatribes on this forum and countless trips back to Ruger. Member 5of7 said once "I don't buy guns to fondle and admire, I buy them to shoot", I am in this camp
Over the years, I have owned several of the Ruger 22 semi auto pistols. All of them worked perfectly, except this one. Quite frankly, I am disappointed in the gun's operational performance. Since I have owned others in earlier generations that worked well, I am simply trying to make this one just as good as the earlier examples. As someone with an engineering background, I understand that manufacturing tolerances can introduce less than optimal performance. It is an attempt to to discover just what is causing the jams and mis-feeds that has led me to try replacing some parts. If I can't find the answer in a reasonable amount of time, I will send the pistol back to Ruger for repair or replacement.
Backlighting
Single-Sixer
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2012
- Messages
- 122
I've ditched my semi auto 22lrs in favor of a revolver. No more failure to feeds or light strikes for me.
Made another trip to the range today. I had sourced some different brands and bullet styles that I had not tested before. Turned out that one of the CCI versions worked almost perfectly. Out of 5 magazines (50 rds) I had only one FTL, no FTE or FTFs. After looking carefully at each of the different bullets, it appears that this particular lot of CCI (22LR, 40 gr solid, 1235 fps) has an ogive that is more likely to properly guide the cartridge into the chamber. Some of the other CCI loads (hollowpoints) were more likely to catch on the top of the bbl and cause a jam. It appears that the trick is to have a nice round, properly curved bullet. After shooting some of the new ammo, I went back to a couple of the previously tried rounds (WW, 40 gr, 1300 fps) and a Remington load (Rem, 36 gr hp, 1200 fps). Both performed better than before but not as well as the CCI 40 gr. The other thing that is likely helping is that I now have 400-500 rds thru the pistol. Perhaps it is starting to get broken in! The chase continues!
Captain America
Hunter
Thanks for the report, my 22/45 hated hollow points so I've never even tried them in my Mark IV.
I took the Mk4 Lite to the range this morning. I had been having lots of FTF and FTE problems. Today, I had a (bulk) box of Federal Champion ammo along so I decided to give it a try. It gobbled up the first mag without a hitch! I fed another dozen or so mags thru the Mk4 and no problems whatsoever! Up to this point, I had been trying to feed it CCI or Winchester ammo with not much success. Maybe I have found a brew that it likes!
SGW Gunsmith
Blackhawk
area51guy said:
Normally, after that number of rounds, especially with "high velo" .22 rimfire, the new springs in a new Ruger Mark pistol will develop their working "set", or length. After that, the standard velo ammunition will most often work just fine. So, I think you're on the right track.
