Ruger Mark III (22/45)

[konradh]

Hi. Just traded in my Mark II 22/45 for a Mark III Target with fluted stainless barrel. Diassembled, cleaned, reassembled, and fired about 250 rounds. A couple of questions:

1. The initial disassembly was no problem. Now, I can't get the barrel/receiver off. I've whacked it with a rubber mallet (which I never had to do on my old one) and it is in the forward position, but it will not lift off. I don't want to break anything. Advice?
2. I had a problem at the range. When a fresh magazine was slipped in and the slide stop button depressed, the bolt would only move forward a fraction of an inch. I usually had to lock it open, pull the magazine out, and try a few times to get it to go into battery. This only happens with ammunition in a magazine--when the gun is empty and mag removed, it snaps forward easily. My thought is that the magazines are not feeding well. Your thoughts? (BTW, I was using Remington High-Velocity HPs and CCI Mini-Mags.) My old gun would sometimes mess up a little, but only after 500+ rounds of dirty ammon. This piece was malfunctioning clean--and more often.

Thanks for any help!

Konrad

 

[Chuck Perry]

My MKIII 22/45 is back at Ruger now for consistent failures to feed and failures to eject. Bought it brand new, malfunctioned right out of the box. I managed to massage it thru about 500 rounds, thinking it just needed to break in, before I threw in the towel. Tried CCI, Federal, Remington and Winchester loads all with the same results. Next Monday will make 5 weeks that they've had it. Hopefully I'll be getting it back soon.

 

[aubie515]

I'd just give Ruger a call in the morning and talk to a gunsmith.

I have a MKIII and it's been a pleasure to shoot. I never liked the plastic grips on the 22/45 because of how wide the grip is and it looks cheap.

 

[konradh]

Thanks. I agree that the slim grips on the Mark III 22/45 are way better than the Mark II.

 

[12many]

Sorry to hear of your problem. I don't know the answer, but both may problems may stem from the same issue. I don't have the 22/45 though, just the all steel versions. Make sure the mags are out for disassemb. Sorry.

 

[ball3006]

The barrel/receiver on a Ruger auto...

is not meant to be removed..........chris3

 

[Technosavant]

is not meant to be removed..........chris3

Wha?

On the .22LR pistols (at least the MkI/II variants), the barrel/receiver needs to be removed in order to get it properly cleaned. Heck, on my Mk II 22/45, the thing just about comes apart on its own. I can't believe that they changed it that much for the Mk III variants. It is possible, though; they managed to develop a gun that is a cast-iron pain in the rear to put back together, so they may as well make it just as difficult to take apart.

 

[wally]

Its best to think of a Ruger .22 in terms of upper and lower parts. The MKIII upper should separate same as the MKII did. Mine was very tight the first time. A rubber mallet is your friend. Are you sure the hammer is in the cocked position, the mag is removed, and the upper has moved far enough forward?

The MKIII are a significantly bigger PITA to take down and reassemble because you have to insert and remove an empty magazine at the appropriate times to drop the hammer from the sear.

--wally.

 

[Bullseye57]

When I got the first Mark III, I kept forgetting to take the magazine out when attempting to separtate the receiver from the grip frame. It doesn't move very far with the mag installed. Your pistol should separate just like a Mark II. The Mark III model change did nothing to change that. Some pistols are tighter than others, especially with the 22/45's, because the factory peens the underside to tighten the fit. Typically some loosen up over time, I still have to use the mallet on many of mine to separtate them.

Your first rounds are striking the feed ramp and jamming. Make sure that the first (top) round is tilted upwards and that problem should go away. Like in this picture.



Hope this helps.

R,
Bullseye

 

[konradh]

Thanks for all the good comments.

Regarding the barrel removal, yes, I was an idiot. On the Mark III it's a big deal to have the magazine in or out at various times of the disassembly. Problem 1 solved.

Regarding the feeding issue, the picture about round placement in the magazine is very helpful. Thanks. I will test this out.

I feel that the new magazines with the Mark III don't have very strong springs. I have also had trouble with 10/22 (rifle) rotary mags.

One other thing: my front sight won't stay tight. I can fix this with some Locktite, but it's an odd problem.

The Mark III target with fiber optics sights is a great improvement over the older model. I like the sight picture, the fluted barrel, and the feel of the slimmer grips.

Best regards...Konrad

 

[chris in va]

I had a MkIII 22/45 that choked on everything. Sold it, got a 10 year old MkII 22/45 that was flawless.

Sold THAT because I got bored with it.

 

[Bullseye57]

I'm very pleased to have been of some assistance.

The first round ramp striking issue is a common one with a full magazine. The springs cannot consistently force a full stack of 10 upwards, but will have no problems once that first round is fired.

Another common problem is the front sights working loose. Locktite will solve the problem but be sure to first fully degrease the sight, screw, and screw hole. Allow a full 24 hours for the thread locking sealant to cure before attempting to shoot the pistol and you will solve that one too.

Hope this helps.

R,
Bullseye

 

[Bearcat]

I like the good old Mark IIs much better than the "new and *improved* Mark IIIs". The market is starting to reflect this as well with NIB Mark IIs selling for around $50 MORE than the new Mark III models.

--Doc

 

[konradh]

Maybe I'll regret trading in the 22/45 Mark II. One consideration (besides the looks of the Mark III) is the way the Mark III target is set up to take scopes or red dots. Putting a C-More or something on the Mark II would have been an ugly installation. Regards.

PS I did have some chokes on the Mark II when it was dirty, but not nearly as bad or as often.

 

[Mr Weebles]

I just took my 22/45 to the range and took it apart when I got home to clean it. No problems until I tried to reassenble the thing. After an hour of being unable to get it back together I did a Google search and found the following that some guy posted on another board. I'm re-posting it here in case anyone else has as much trouble as I did.

Here is my method for reassembling a Ruger .22 auto (all models). I find it easier for a newbie to follow this method that the arcane instructions in the Ruger factory manual:

Here is what I do:

1. Reinstall bolt into receiver while receiver is off frame.

2. Pull trigger, and manually pull hammer up to it's "Fired" position, with it's front face vertical and perpendicular to the top of the grip frame. (Sear pressure on front of hammer should keep it in place pretty securely, once you release the trigger.)

Now that you have the hammer in the "fired" position, DO NOT TOUCH THE TRIGGER until the pistol is reassembled. It's key that the hammer must stay in this "fired" position for the following steps. If you end up touching the trigger, the sear pressure against the hammer will be lost, and the hammer may move to the "cocked" position.

3. Hold grip frame with magazine opening facing down. Carefully lower barrel/receiver assy (with bolt installed) over hammer and onto grip frame. The slot in the bottom of the bolt should be guided down over the hammer. Push rearward to lock barrel/receiver assy onto lug in front of grip frame in the normal manner. DO NOT allow hammer to be bumped back to "cocked" position while doing this. If it does, go back to step 2.

4. Place pistol on it's side, with mag opening nearest yourself, and barrel pointing right or left, parallel to the width of your torso. Install the boltstop pin (attached to mainspring housing) all the way up into reciever while keeping pistol oriented this way.

5. With bolt stop pin fully inserted, but mainspring housing fully pivoted OUT of the grip frame, flip the pistol so the grip frame is facing with the magazine opening UP. (Basically you are rotating the pistol about the axis of the barrel, moving the mag opening from towards your chest, to straight up.) The pistol should now be upside down, facing sideways in front of you.

6. While holding the pistol upside down and sideways across you, tip the muzzle slightly UPWARD (no more than 30 degrees should do it). Holding in this position, close the mainspring housing.

Check for proper operation by pulling the bolt back. If it goes all the way back you did it right. If not, take it apart and do it again.

The whole objective of orienting the pistol in the ways I do in the steps above is to keep the hammer uncocked at all times. Doing that keeps the hammer strut free to flop over to join the mainspring housing when you close it.

Most persons get bamboozled when the hammer strut gets stuck behind the pin in the frame, and won't flop out to join the mainspring housing. The only way the strut will get stuck like that is if the hammer falls back towards the cocked position while doing the reassembly.

As usual, describing this process is a LOT more complicated than doing it. I can actually perform these steps on my .22/45 in about 45 seconds, if I don't let the hammer drop to the cocked position while doing it.

Using this method I reassembled the pistol easily.

 

[Bullseye57]

Here's some links to my web help pages for disassembling Ruger Mark III and 22/45 pistols, along with detailed disassembly instructions.

http://www.guntalk-online.com/fsprocedures.htm
http://www.guntalk-online.com/detailstrip.htm

Hope this helps.

R,
Bullseye

 

[Princi]

Most persons get bamboozled when the hammer strut gets stuck behind the pin in the frame

Except on the 22/45 where there isn't a pin.

After more MK II/III's than I'd like to admit, I again bought a MK III 22/45, a Hunter version with the fiber optic front sights.

"Wow" was my comment when I went to remove the receiver from the frame, it came off with no effort. It never really bothered me having to pound the receivers OFF the frames with the standard MK versions, it just bothered me having to pound them back ON.

I actually like the MK III 22/45 Hunter better than I do my MK III Hunter because I like the polymer frame and the disassembly (detailed) better. No one could be more surprised by that than what I am.

What does concern me is that when the receiver got a bit too loose with the metal frame, you could put the frame in a vise and squeeze it together a little (gently) to tighten the fit. I seriously would not attempt this with the polymer frame.

 

[rmgunsmith]

Ruger Mark III 22/45 Hunter

I just received a brand new Mark III Hunter model and field stripped it to clean everything up. When following the owners manual procedure for reassembly, I managed to finally get it all together. The receiver locks in place when the bolt is pulled back, however after pulling the bolt all the way back, and then releasing it, there is no "click" when pulling the trigger.

In other words it does not fire. What could be the problem?

Thanks

 

[ARGarrison]

I'm new to the MkIII (just got mine today, 22/45) so if I sound like an idiot so be it. You have to have a magazine in the firearm for the trigger to move the right way to drop the hammer. Without the magazine in place the trigger rocks with out sending the movement back to the sear. I'm hateing the magazine disconnet and I haven't even shot it yet!:banghead:

My problem was after getting the mainspring back in the bolt would not pull back more than to chamber check. I wasn't getting the hammer up far enough before putting the mainspring in.

I'll throw this out and ask. Can you use MkII 22/45 magazines in a 22/45 MkIII?

 

[Bullseye57]

I'll throw this out and ask. Can you use MkII 22/45 magazines in a 22/45 MkIII?

Yes. I use 22/45 Mark II and 22/45 Mark III magazines interchangeably all the time.

R,
Bullseye

 

[Ruffwood]

RMGunsmith

The Ruger MK III has a magazine disconnect, so the hammer won't drop without a magazine installed. Put an empty magazine in and try it again.

 

[rmgunsmith]

Ruger 22/45 Mark III magazine disconnect

Gentlemen,

Thanks for the advice and yes, once I inserted a magazine the trigger worked just fine. However one of the magazines will not load cartridges. I got one magazine without a button on the side and it works fine. The magazine without the button does not load cartridges when the slide is pulled back and released.

 

[Bullseye57]

If you have a magazine without a bump on the side it is a regular Mark II magazine body not a 22/45 or a Mark III magazine. It may have the 22/45 bottom block but it needs the locking bump to stay properly fastened in the pistol. If not properly positioned the magazine will not feed properly. Here's a picture of both models 22/45 magazines for comparison.


Hope this helps.

R,
Bullseye

 

[godzilla49]

Can't get 22/44 Receiver off of frame

I just field stripped my 22/45 MkIII for the first time. had to use a 16oz rubber mallet several times HARD. Make sure that the magazine is out, and that the hammer is fully depressed in the cocked position. Then give it a really good whack! I did notice that the receiver was creeping forward on subsiquent hard blows. I started gentle, but the last one that did it was all the way from the shoulder! The receiver will FLY off, be sure that you do this over a soft area to catch it. Might be a good idea(!) to remove any sighting devices, scopes, etc. for the first time. The word is after the initial separation, it is supposed to get easier... we'll just have to wait and see. I did notice in previous posts that one of the members sent one back for FTF/FTE problems... this one is dirty!! Since I'm experiencing the same problems after about 500 rounds form one range session, we;ll see if a thorough cleaning will help things out. More to follow.

 

[rsh]

hi..got a ? I hope you can help with..I disassembled completely..everything felt right at reassembly except the bolt wouldn't open smoothly..tried to disassemble but mainspring housing won't come back to the 90 degree position and bolt stop won't lower..seen where a good hit will free it up..I haven't gone beyond a mallet..dowel rod, etc..any thoughts? Thanks!