Ruger MkIII disassembly problem

[PALADIN85020]

I've been owning and shooting Ruger .22 autos since 1960, so am no stranger to the proper disassembly and assembly procedure for the standard, Mark I, Mark II and Mark III models. I have a stainless Mark III 5.5" bull barrel that is giving me fits. I have followed the instructions to the letter, but getting the mainspring housing lever/recoil stop bolt assembly into and out of the gun is a MAJOR frustration. It has to be pounded out with a drift, and pounded back in with a plastic hammer. The damn thing is tight unlike any of the many other Ruger .22s I own. I believe in thoroughly cleaning my guns after each firing, and this is REALLY frustrating. Is there anything I can do myself to alleviate this problem short of having to send the gun back to Ruger for a proper reaming?

BTW, I consider the magazine safety a major PITA when taking the gun apart. I'd like to sit down with the Ruger engineers who designed this particular "improvement" and have a teaching moment or two with them. I can understand why the prior Mark IIs are in high demand now. :x

 

[gatorhugger]

heck I cant figure out the Mark II's.
I got frisky the other night and tried just doing the first step, lifting the lever and pulling it out. I just wanted the bolt out.

Never made it.
I Put the lever back down and will continue just soaking it carb cleaner till it drips out the mag well.
I am sure there is a technique but watching Utube videos only frustrates me.
The normal video has some guy who picks the gun up, puts it down, picks it up, points, gestures a lot,
and spends 5 minutes talking about the darn gun, then disassembles it
too fast to see what he is doing. ARRGGHHHH!

 

[blume357]

All I can say is I finally learned that you have to take a small screw driver or pencil or something and push the internal hammer to the right spot and then the grip /lever spring thingy will go back in with out trouble...

but in with all that point the barrel this way and insert, remove re-insert an empty magazine and pull the trigger it sure gets confusing.

 

[BuckJM53]

Paladin ... Assuming that the hammer is released and in the forward position, I would suspect that your problem is one of the following:

1. Either the receiver is slightly rotated on the grip frame which will not allow for proper hole alignment (or proper seating of the grip frame) .... OR

2. The receiver is straight but the grip frame is just not seated far enough forward.

To check for these issues:

1. Check for improper rotation by looking directly at the junction between the bolt opening and grip frame (rotation is pretty easy to see ... see picture below).

2. If the receiver is straight (with the muzzel on a firm surface) strike the top edge of the grip frame (with a plastic mallet) until the rear lip of the receiver extends past the grip frame as shown in the picture below.

3. You can now check for proper hole alignment by inserting your bolt stop pin through the top hole (If it will go in from the top side, you will be able to insert it from the bottom without further issue)

 

[PALADIN85020]

Buck,

Thanks for the good info. As I've said, I've never had this problem before with any of my Ruger .22s, and I've got a bunch of 'em. Your illustrations were informative, and I appreciate the thoroughness of your suggestions.

I know that fore-and-aft and rotational alignment are important, but I think this must have been a "Monday Gun" in that things have to be forced considerably. I really think a re-reaming of the holes in the receiver and frame at the factory might be my ultimate solution.

Thanks again.

 

[BuckJM53]

Paladin ... I'd be interested in what it ultimately takes to resolve this problem (please let us know). Best of luck.

 

[raw6464]

I've been owning and shooting Ruger .22 autos since 1960, so am no stranger to the proper disassembly and assembly procedure for the standard, Mark I, Mark II and Mark III models. I have a stainless Mark III 5.5" bull barrel that is giving me fits. I have followed the instructions to the letter, but getting the mainspring housing lever/recoil stop bolt assembly into and out of the gun is a MAJOR frustration. It has to be pounded out with a drift, and pounded back in with a plastic hammer. The damn thing is tight unlike any of the many other Ruger .22s I own. I believe in thoroughly cleaning my guns after each firing, and this is REALLY frustrating. Is there anything I can do myself to alleviate this problem short of having to send the gun back to Ruger for a proper reaming?

BTW, I consider the magazine safety a major PITA when taking the gun apart. I'd like to sit down with the Ruger engineers who designed this particular "improvement" and have a teaching moment or two with them. I can understand why the prior Mark IIs are in high demand now. :x

If the gun passes Bucks recommendation, can you insert the mainspring bolt stop from the top of the receiver WITHOUT the bolt installed? Then can you install the pin from the top WITH the bolt in. If you can the problem is in the frame or the main spring bolt stop assembly.

It's obvious the holes don't line up between the receiver, the bolt and the frame. The problem could also be in the frame, the way main spring assembly "seats" in the frame and lines up the bolt stop pin with the receiver and the frame.

If you have access to another Mark, swapping parts may help to determine where the problem is.