Saw a MkIII and Bought It

[wild_weasel]

I have had my eye out for an Mk III in Standard configuration for the past couple years, just have not seen them... The other day I was at the LGS, here in the OC, and spotted one for $318.00 offered with no sales tax as a Columbus Day special. All I’m waiting for now is the ten day waiting period here in California before I pick it up. While many grumble about all the added safety features I personally see them as enhancements since I intend to use it to teach my teenage son and daughter gun handling and marksmanship with it. The layout of the safety, magazine release, and slide stop are now similar to my 1911A1 and will allow transition to this gun once they are proficient with the Mk III. I am also impressed with the Mk III’s fit and blued finish. Out of the box the only upgrades I intent to make are replacing the extractor and firing pin with those manufactured by Volquartsen Custom in their bolt upgrade kit for $39, along with extra magazines from Ruger. I’ll let you all know how she shoots!

Cheers,
W-W

 

[wild_weasel]

I ordered the Volquartsen Bolt Upgrade Kit w/ firing pin and extractor and while I was at it went ahead and ordered the Volquartsen hammer bushing to allow me to remover the magazine safety.

Cheers,
W-W

 

[Slyk Willy]

Congrats on a solid purchase. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I've enjoyed my Hunter for a while now.

 

[wild_weasel]

All,

I picked up my Mk III Standard the other day. Before I took it to the range the stripped it down, cleaned, lubed, and reassembled it. At the range I could feel a lot of drag in the take up of the trigger before the sear released the hammer. On several occasions the trigger failed to reset. Very frustrating! So after two hundred rounds I packed it up for the night.
The next day the replacement parts ordered;Volquartsen Mk II hammer bushing, firing pin, and extractor arrived from Midway. The parts were easily installed. The big difference being the removal of the Mk III magazine disconnector. Back at the range it was immediately clear that removing the Mk III hammer bushing and Magazine disconnect eliminated the drag I previously felt in the trigger and cured the problem with the trigger not resetting. Even in the standard configuration this is a very accurate pistol shooting to point of aim and grouping at around an inch at 10 yards.
An additional note on removing the Mk III hammer bushing and magazine disconnect. While replacing the Mk III bushing with the Mk II bushing and removing the disconnect allows for proper spacing of all the part, the MkIII hammer has additional relief to make room for the disconnector. The additional radius of the Mk II bushing does keep everything in place but the clearance for the disconnector is still unsupported, this does not appear to be a problem functionally. At some later point I will most likely replace the Mk III hammer with a Mk II hammer without the additional clearance.
Ammo used was Remington bulk from WalMart. While I had no failures to fire with the bulk in the box of 225 the box of 550 had several duds that appeared to have no primer in the rim. I have had similar results in my Ruger 10/22.

Cheers,
W-W

 

[GasGuzzler]

Took me one time with my MKIII 22/45RP to order the Volq complete kit (for a MKII) and MKII bushing.

It's 9786789785 times better now without the 1/4"+ of take up and 1/8" of over travel.....not to mention losing the 7 lb. trigger it came with. $100 is a lot to spend on a "budget" $346 (after fines) new piece but WELL worth it.

Mag in and out is a lot easier and tear down/reassembly without mag in and out is a super plus too. Had an aftermarket bushing in it before it was ever fired because I knew I wanted the MD out. I already sold it to help pay for the Volq parts.

Midway was my source for the parts as well as a 3rd mag and a $5 HKS loader that well quell the rest of any potential MK I,II,III hate. Tear down? Watch you tube, buy a heavy plastic hammer, gain some confidence. Mine's fun to take apart now.

 

[DB30]

W W,
I used a Sam Lam bushing with the stock MKIII hammer. Worked great, no need for a MKII hammer. BAM makes one too.
DB

 

[wild_weasel]

All,

Was at WalMart the other day stocking up on ammo and bought the last box of Federal 22lr 550 round bulk on the self to try out in my MkIII. It worked great, accurate, no mis-fires, clean, no functional problems.

Cheers,
W-W

 

[GasGuzzler]

They work well for me too. Got two at Gander Mountain a while back for $15 per after rebate. 10/22 eats them like candy as well.