can light/improper firing pin strikes CAUSE hangfires/misfires/squibs? .22lr

This is weird but my own empirical evidence suggests that my continual problems with my Ruger 22/45 MKIII and misfires may not be (solely) ammo related as I've come to believe of late. You can read the boring saga here if you want
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/ruger-22-45-mkiii-many-misfires.766880/
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...res-crappy-ammo-or-something-worn-out.815120/
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/giving-up-on-federal-22-ammo.828951/#post-10690303

but short story is I've fired over 15,000 rounds through this pistol, with the first 10,000 being primarily Federal Champion bulk plated 36 grain, with zero problems up till then. Moving into the obama years, I started seeing lots of misfires. I replaced every part I could think of, some multiple times. Still having problems. Got to the point where I can't trust this pistol for matches and it's frustrating for target shooting and plinking.

Today I opened a different box of Federal 325 bulk plated 36 grain to see if maybe it was a lot problem. Fired 34 rounds through my JC Higgins model 31. First round was a dud, but all others fired fine and felt identical in recoil and report. I decided to give them a try in my 22/45 and fired 8 mags. Had multiple hangfires (!!), several misfires, multiple "soft" rounds that went off but failed to cycle the bolt, and another SQUIB. I kept a range rod handy after every failure and checked the bore.

I then loaded another mag tube full in the JC Higgins, first round was a dud, the rest fired perfectly and sounded and felt identical.

I'm baffled. I'm thinking of calling Ruger again but I don't really know what they can do or say. I really like this pistol.

I want to replace the upper receiver now just to see if there's something weird there. It's the only thing I haven't tried. Anyone have one lying around? Maybe from a Pac-Lite upgrade?

Firing pin 3X, cleaned. Mainspring 2x, rebound spring and plunger 2x.

Out of curiosity I called ruger about possibly replacing or selling me an upper at a discount and she said they have no more MKIIIs. (the upper receiver, the serialized portion). Only MKIVs.

BigBore44 said:

What did the primer strikes on the squib and soft rounds look like? Are they even in length and depth as the rounds that fired normally?

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They all look the same to me.

milemaker13 said:

The hang fire rounds are most troubling. I can't remember having a hang fire that wasn't a black powder rifle. If indeed you have hang fires, I suspect the primer compound itself is the problem..

Try this- hold off on the federal bulk(everyone seems to be having problems with it). Get some better grade ammo, CCI mini mags for example, and try your experiment again. Record your results, then go back to testing the federal bulk rounds.
This way you may be able to prove/disprove your pistol as the problem.

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I have done this and CCI ammo seems to run fine for the most part. But I have had some problems with it and multiple other brands as well.

What I find bizarre is the hangfires/squibs. I've NEVER had a single squib in .22LR or hangfires until recently and only in this pistol.

I think I'll try to find an upper for a decent price.

VQ trigger, VQ sear, Clark hammer bushing, LCI removed. bolt and hammer and barreled receiver and mainspring and recoil spring assy are stock. Which from what I can surmise, are the only parts involved in the process. Firing pin OEM and modified OEM and VQ all have the same issues.

I've tried swapping bolts and lowers but I'll do it again for fun. I'll measure the trigger with my lyman digital which is the only method I have. Not getting hammer follow 99.9999% sure. Thanks for all the help and ideas though.

243winxb said:

Its no longer a "Ruger" with all the new parts.

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Yeah, that was my concern. I could drop the OEM guts back in but I also have a custom grip panel mod done which they wouldn't be happy about. She said they'd give all aftermarket parts back and return the gun to OEM condition. But the problem (I suspect) is the upper and she says they're out of those anyway.

Trigger weight is 1 lb 13 oz. Very nice trigger. I'll throw the crappy OEM trigger and sear back in and see if that does anything; may as well, as I've tried everything else I can think of.

ColtPythonElite said:

And what happened when you did?

I am believing that gun has a damaged chamber from being fired without the firing pin stop in place, or it had a elongated hole in the firing pin that allowed it to travel too far and hit the chamber.

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I'll have to reread those linked threads to remember properly. Chamber and rim portion shows no damage and looks good. HOWEVER there is some metal chipped/flaked off the rear of the barrel face from about 12 to 4 oclock. I thought it was just blueing wear but closer inspection shows it's been damaged/flaked off where the bolt impacts. I wonder if that's allowing some weirdness when seating the rim or something.