My pistol don't work right.

[98PK]

I have a Mark II target pistol that has problems with the bolt stopping before it gets into to full battery- something catches, or impedes it. It just doesn't feel real smooth when manually cycling the bolt either. I finally figured it must be the hammer. After carefully removing the hammer pin and parts it runs through, I noticed that though the parts look a little worn, nothing really looks wobbled out or worn over/undersize or anything like that. The hammer strut jiggles back and forth some, but it all looks pretty normal- except the strut has some gouges in its side from dragging through the hole in the top of the mainspring housing (I think.) It seems to me that the hammer does not stay horizontal, or flat in relation to the bolt like it should. Not real sure, because I don't know if it's possible to duplicate any of it for observational purposes with it all torn apart. Has anyone here had such problems with Ruger .22 pistols? It hangs open, or you can feel it "lag" for an instant before it returns to lock-up. Sometimes there are other issues such as the extractor not grabbing the rim like it should, and the occasional light-strike.
I'm about to order some Volquartson stuff to try and remedy the situation, but before I spend about $75, I'd figured I'd ask some experienced guys/girls first. Does this sound like any kind of common psychosis with Mark II pistols?
I've had it since the early 90's and don't even really know how many thousands of rounds have been fired.

 

[Pat-inCO]

Mine does something like you describe when ever it gets too dirty.
I just do a field strip, wipe down and reassemble, around 250-300 rounds.

 

[Mobuck]

I'd check to make sure everything else(chamber, extractor recess, bolt face, mainspring) is clean and lightly lubed before deciding if you need a bunch of parts. Eliminate as many of the other factors as possible before focusing on parts replacement--trust me, I've done far to many parts replacements only to find that some little quirk was the true problem.

 

[SGW Gunsmith]

I have a Mark II target pistol that has problems with the bolt stopping before it gets into to full battery- something catches, or impedes it. It just doesn't feel real smooth when manually cycling the bolt either. I finally figured it must be the hammer. After carefully removing the hammer pin and parts it runs through, I noticed that though the parts look a little worn, nothing really looks wobbled out or worn over/undersize or anything like that. The hammer strut jiggles back and forth some, but it all looks pretty normal- except the strut has some gouges in its side from dragging through the hole in the top of the mainspring housing (I think.) It seems to me that the hammer does not stay horizontal, or flat in relation to the bolt like it should. Not real sure, because I don't know if it's possible to duplicate any of it for observational purposes with it all torn apart. Has anyone here had such problems with Ruger .22 pistols? It hangs open, or you can feel it "lag" for an instant before it returns to lock-up. Sometimes there are other issues such as the extractor not grabbing the rim like it should, and the occasional light-strike.
I'm about to order some Volquartson stuff to try and remedy the situation, but before I spend about $75, I'd figured I'd ask some experienced guys/girls first. Does this sound like any kind of common psychosis with Mark II pistols?
I've had it since the early 90's and don't even really know how many thousands of rounds have been fired.

All of the issues you describe can be caused by an accumulation of gunk inside the receiver, as has already been mentioned. The bolt is quite easy to disassemble and then thoroughly clean. When doing that check the recoil spring in the recoil spring assembly to make sure that's OK. I have seen those spring break into two and three pieces. Use a good solvent to clean out the inside of the receiver to make sure nothing is there to impede the bolt from traveling forward and backward.

Extraction can fail if the extractor in the bolt is bound up with gunk and the plunger spring gets "coil bound" if gunk is captured in the coils. Or, you might consider replacing the extractor with a much better aftermarket brand for around $10.00. So, as was mentioned, a really good, complete cleaning is the place to start and may cure much of what you're finding.

 

[rugerguy]

...as well as the recoil spring guide rubbing against the inner part of the receiver tube, or the receiver itself NOT setting on the frame in the proper position, this happens with real tight ones can throw the alignment out of kilter, or any burr around the chamber area from "hits" of dryfire fire that may have put divots in the chamber face as well as the slim portion of the exractor cut in the breech ,make sure the chamber is ROUND, a new , unfitted extractor can distort this area...........there are quite a few things to look at and for with a 22 rimfire.
Bottom line for the MOST part is: clean, then the ammo and then the magazine...........

 

[WMB30]

With the gun clean, had same problem. Installing new recoil spring took care of problem in my case.

Bill

 

[98PK]

Thanks for the info, fellas. Thing is, this gun is like sterile clean! I've made sure of it. And I've always shot a variety of ammunition through it (whatever is US-made and on sale.)
Today I looked at the hammer pivot/pin and it doesn't look quite right. The right side end looks like it has worn weird and may not have allowed the pin to reach fully rightward. It just doesn't look right, and the pin will not fully seat (even sans hammer, levers and bushing.) I think it just plain wasn't properly seated. Not sure how it backed out or how long/how many it was that way? I had wooden panels on it that seemed to back everything like they should, but maybe not. My brother bought those for me way back in the last century, but it may have been better to stick with the originals (something I've pretty much always tried to do, exception being when someone buys you a gift.) We'll see.

Thanks for the input, guys!

Can someone tell me; when you look at your assembled pistol, does that hammer pin look like it is recessed a little on the right side, or is it pretty much flush? -when looking at the right side it is just about half-covered by the top of the right side grip panel.
Like I said this one doesn't quite look like it goes all the way home.

This all may very well have been the result of aftermarket grip panels- just took two decades to show!

 

[mohavesam]

If you suspect the aftermarket panels, simply try a set of originals... All aftermarket grips are not perfect. (I have a set of brand-new $$ Hogue premium grips that will absolutely NOT fit the gun they were made/sold for)!

Now get some 21st-century aerosol gun cleaner spray and blow the crud out of the machine! Dry and re-lube per the factory manual (RTFM).

Or remove the grips and drop the whole gun into an ultrasonic cleaner (beg, borrow or buy one). Aside from spring replacement, there is no real need to dis-assemble that gun these days. The ultrasonic cleaners are what we use for hollow turbine blades and rocket-motor internals - they are certainly more-than-adequate for pistols.

 

[SGW Gunsmith]

Thanks for the info, fellas. Thing is, this gun is like sterile clean! I've made sure of it. And I've always shot a variety of ammunition through it (whatever is US-made and on sale.)
Today I looked at the hammer pivot/pin and it doesn't look quite right. The right side end looks like it has worn weird and may not have allowed the pin to reach fully rightward. It just doesn't look right, and the pin will not fully seat (even sans hammer, levers and bushing.) I think it just plain wasn't properly seated. Not sure how it backed out or how long/how many it was that way? I had wooden panels on it that seemed to back everything like they should, but maybe not. My brother bought those for me way back in the last century, but it may have been better to stick with the originals (something I've pretty much always tried to do, exception being when someone buys you a gift.) We'll see.

Thanks for the input, guys!

Can someone tell me; when you look at your assembled pistol, does that hammer pin look like it is recessed a little on the right side, or is it pretty much flush? -when looking at the right side it is just about half-covered by the top of the right side grip panel.
Like I said this one doesn't quite look like it goes all the way home.

This all may very well have been the result of aftermarket grip panels- just took two decades to show!

The factory Ruger hammer bushing pin is often found to be slightly short of being flush with the right side of the receiver. When you look at the end of the factory pin, it appears to have been "sheared off" to achieve length. The best remedy I've found for that slightly short pin is to replace it with a Clark Custom "fitted" hammer bushing and pin kit. The pin provided with this kit fits perfectly flush with the right side of the receiver and the hammer bushing is made to remove any of the looseness that's often found with the factory hammer bushing. Those are the only kits that I stock for the Ruger Mark II pistols, and they are available in blue/black or stainless steel.

 

[98PK]

Thanks for that. I'm gonna see about the Ruger pivot I got coming, and perhaps cleaning up the pivothole in the frame's right side. I know a guy that can do stuff like that without messing it up. I'm afraid that pivot backed out enough to slop around in its hole, and may have buggered it up some. Hopefully it'll clean up and work still (I think it will), or it might require a new grip frame (hope to heck not!)

Moral of the story: Aftermarket stuff can cause problems later, and pay close attention to visible moving parts of a firearm throughout its lifetime.

 

[rugerguy]

yes, that pin may move back and forth a bit, as noted above the grip panels keeps in in place, as long as it does NOT go far enough into the frame to "drop" off ( out) of the hole, then the hammer/sear engagement becomes undone, locking up the works.......you could put a stake mark ether straight across or use a "ball" ( round tip) to indent, keep the hole "tight"........this does not have anything to do with the bolt dragging or failing to go into battery ( full forward)
once its all back together, the bolt should pull back freely, easily and smoothly, after the initial "cocking" of the hammer, you can and will "feel" any drag, thus is a matter of the ammo entering the chamber, not dragging on the lips of the mag or the shell following.....you can test any feed and function of any semi auto 22 rimfire by using "dummy" 22 LR rounds, load the mag up and yank them in and out one at a time, rapidly...also remmeber at times when folks use any
hyper velocity ammo, there can be a "bounce" and the feeding and extraction will falter...not good to use them except for one at a time, I know guys say they use them all the time and we've worked on more guns that this was an issue ,problem, so I say NO,,,,just MY cents, your gun, you use ,do , what works for YOU.. 8) :roll: :wink:

 

[98PK]

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