Ruger Standard/MK I Assembly

[rossa]

OK, I know that I'm not the only one who has had this problem. I inherited a .22 Standard in good condition, and I want to shoot it. I have disassembled it twice, tried to follow the manual to reassemble it, and twice I've had to take it to a gunsmith to get it together. There's nothing wrong with the gun, except Old Bill Ruger sure designed a funky way of getting it back together.
If you have one, you know what I mean. If you don't, you have to try it once to understand.
I've looked at online videos with instructions, but most homemade videos are poorly lighted and filmed, and it's hard to see up inside the gun to see exactly what to look for when putting it back together.
What I'd really LOVE is for someone in the Houston area who knows these guns to let me PAY him for an hour's time to sit there and take it apart and put it back together over and over again until I have it down.
Any takers?

 

[wwb]

I'm certainly not going to travel to Texas to help you, but if you look at the way the hammer strut has to sit in the mainspring pocket, it all becomes clear.

 

[ranger1]

This may help you. Go to page 9 of the instruction manual.

https://ruger-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/_manuals/markI.pdf

 

[Xsales]

but if you look at the way the hammer strut has to sit in the mainspring pocket, it all becomes clear.

I'd take you up on it but in Arizona

The number 1 issue (as others have said) is where the strut lays on top of the mainspring when it is being inserted

No Joke = Once it becomes clear (even if you do have to pay someone) it will be so easy you'll cry in your beer

I wish you well

Xsales

 

[jstanfield103]

go to you tube there are several Mark Series video's on this. Only diffrence is that a Mark I wont have to put the magazine back in.

 

[jarubla]

go to you tube there are several Mark Series video's on this. Only diffrence is that a Mark I wont have to put the magazine back in.

Agree with this sentiment. Only watch the o-fish-al Ruger ones.

Keep at it, they get better with time.

-Jay

 

[rsi705]

+1 for the link from Ranger1

I know this sounds crazy but I swear it is what works for me....

Print off the instructions/owners manual from the Ruger company site and follow it word for word and I mean word for word. It is all about the hammer strut.

No matter how many time I reassemble my MKI's I have to do this. I have done so probably 20 times and only get it right if I read the instructions a step at a time paying close attention as to just how to hold each piece.

Each time it works I wonder how I cannot do it without the paper but I can't unless I get really lucky. Good thing I really, really like the MKI's to shoot.

 

[rugerguy]

many folks "forget" to make sure the hammer goes forward (up) before you try and replace the mainspring housing,that strut must be "free" and able to dangle.........trick we always remember is when taking it apart, point the gun towards the floor, when reassembling, angle & point the gun towards the ceiling. Good luck, when you actually 'do it,' a little light will come on, and you will be amazed,it really is simple & easy.......then again, after a few hundred thousand times in the past 45 years, we kinda 'got it'..... :roll:
(wish I had a PENNY for every time we had to do it and show folks "how"...) :shock:

 

[mpeltier]

I have never found it a problem at all to disassemble or assemble. I learned when I was 10 by reading the directions. By contrast, the birdcage I just tried to assemble for my daughter did not go so well. I should have read the directions. :idea:

 

[rossa]

Thanks for the advice. Trust me, I have read and re-read as many online instructions as I could find, as well as the Ruger manual.
I have also looked at a bunch of You Tube videos. I could probably tear down and reassemble a transmission twice in the time it would take me to assemble one of these guns once.
I guess this gun will become a wall hanger, because I absolutely refuse to shoot a gun unless I thoroughly clean it afterwards. And I can't disassemble a gun to clean it if I can't reassemble it afterwards.

 

[rugerguy]

Trust me Rossa, you can do the Ruger in quicker time than it would take to even remove the bolts from the bell housing (let alone even getting the car up on a lift OR 'jacked up'........) its ALL in the location of the hammer strut, taking it apart as well as putting it back together.......always remember, "hammer & strut"........... :wink:

 

[Xsales]

Trust me Rossa, you can do the Ruger in quicker time than it would take to even remove the bolts from the bell housing (let alone even getting the car up on a lift OR 'jacked up'........) its ALL in the location of the hammer strut, taking it apart as well as putting it back together.......always remember, "hammer & strut"........... :wink:

Am going to again second this.

Once your brain "clicks" with the next to last hammer/strut positioning part, you will post here "MAN I GOT IT NOW AND IT IS SOME SIMPLE"

Your life will be forever changerd from that moment on

YOU CAN understand it, YOU WILL accomplish this, keep at it.

Took me 20-30 tries then it "clicked". Now it is easier than taking candy from a 1 month old Grand Son

We have faith in you MAN, stay strong, we are with you !!!

Waiting for good reports from you soon


Xsales

 

[SGW Gunsmith]

I agree that once you get the end of the hammer strut positioned correctly in the mainspring plunger "cup" you're pretty much home free. The part that drives me nuts the most on re-assembling Mark I's is that dang little "C" clip that keeps the trigger pin in place. I can't for the life of me figure out how folks with "fat fingers" manage to get that little devil in place without scaring the cat with all the cuss words pouring forth. :shock: I made up a little tool to help me get through this task much easier then it used to. I was digging around in my junk drawer and came out with a 1/4-inch open-ended wrench that I believe, was once used to set ignition points (remember those?). I dressed a shafted stone to the same outside diameter as that of the "C" clip, around .281 (9/32-inch) or so in my Dremel tool, just enough to get the O.D. of the "C" clip in there. I then ground the inside where the wrench would go around the nut, to the diameter of the shafted stone. I then dressed the sides of the wrench to the width of the "C" clip and then left the modified end of the wrench stuck to an old computer hardrive magnet overnight to get it somewhat magnatized. Using this little tool it's a piece of cake to get that pesky little "C" clip centered over the grooved trigger pin and then push the "C' clip down and into place. Here it is, maybe the picture will tell you what I didn't.

 

[Xsales]

DA

That tool looks great and great thinking on your part

 

[JWFilips]

The first time I tried putting one back together ( with the ruger instruction sheets in front of me) What was written sounded complicated but how bad could it be ....well after 3 hours I gave up. I to a 10 minute break then because it was almost midnight I figured one last try before I try to sleep (with thoughts of an un-useable MKI on my bench!)
I picked it up an wham right together first try! What did I do different I don't know?

Anyway, what the guys on the forum are telling you here are far better instructions then the over complicated version Ruger wrote up in the manual.
Wish I knew that back my fist time!

 

[RedlegM109A1]

many folks "forget" to make sure the hammer goes forward (up) before you try and replace the mainspring housing,that strut must be "free" and able to dangle.........

Yes: The two key steps are:

1. The hammer must be all the way forward after inserting the bolt and before inserting the mainspring housing. If it is not, what will always happen is that the mainspring housing pin will de-insert from the gun as you close the mainspring housing. When that happens this always means that you did not pull the trigger and move the hammer all the way forward.

2. Point the barrel more or less straight up, let the hammer strut dangle down, while closing the mainspring housing. Sometimes a firm tap on the muzzle with a rubber or nylon hammer is needed to knock the hammer strut loose.

As you close the mainspring housing, if you did step no. 1 correctly the housing will not de-insert, and it will fit into the grip. If you did step no. 2 correctly, you will feel the spring tension as you close the housing. Rack the slide and if the gun cocks, you are home free.

Took me an evening to figure the above out. It is easy to do, trickier to explain.

 

[rugerguy]

as said above...."Took me an evening to figure the above out. It is easy to do, trickier to explain." GOOD WORDS !!

it is difficult,hard to explain, the BEST way is a 'hands on, show it to me a few times, let them try it and voila', the little light comes on............

 

[rossa]

it is difficult,hard to explain, the BEST way is a 'hands on, show it to me a few times, let them try it and voila', the little light comes on............

Thanks for all the help and encouragement. The statement above is exactly what I want. Someone who can show it to me a couple of times so I can actually see what is going on. If a picture is worth a thousand words, seeing it live is worth a million!

 

[Xsales]

Rossa

No question with all of our words that if there IS someone close to you to hands on show you it will make all the sense in the world and 100% will be your best way to see an learn.

Now, who is close to you?
Is there a Ruger RCA or large gun show coming near you that there would be someone to ask?

IF you can't find someone (and learning is worth a Million to you) it may well be worth a plane ticket from AZ and I'll show you till you can do it in your sleep. Just saying

 

[rugerguy]

My wifes "Old " boyfriend, Donnie F. is down that way in Texas, somewhere.........(thats far enough away...) 8)
anybody who can tell you and show you "how" is him, he's been doing autos since the "beginning"........ :wink:
you can send me an e-mail and I can send you one of the sheets my wife used to pass out years ago ,showing "how to"...it helps