Ever feel like your guns are just messing with you?

[UpperAtmosphere]

I've been shooting in a rimfire league with my father. He and I normally shoot Ruger Mark IIs that have been heavily tricked out.

Two weeks ago, my Ruger started giving me monster problems - failure to feed, bullets failing to go where I instruct them to go, the bolt eaaaaasing forward instead of snapping forward when I hit the release. Cost me a lot of bonus points I should have gotten.

I figured it was dirty (even though I clean it religiously between matches) and the ammo was crap, so we took it out for practice with some better ammo and it worked flawlessly - fed, accuracy was much improved, bolt slid forward with authority. Cleaned it again, lubed, let's go shoot.

Last week, it jammed a variety of times - not quite as bad as the week before, but I had informed the Ruger that this was the last chance it had, so after last week's league night I started practicing with my CZ Shadow with its Kadet upper. Swapped out hammer springs to make it more reliable, take it out for practice a few days, happy happy happy.

Last night was league, and I take the Kadet. I get off two rounds (we shoot in strings of five) and then it goes click instead of bang. Pull trigger again, figuring light strike - still click. Range officer inspects it, and the gun didn't pull the third round off the magazine. I reseat, pull the slide back, chambers a round. Pull trigger, gun goes bang. Pull trigger, gun goes click. Same deal - it didn't pull the next round from the magazine. They're all brand-new magazines, I had the two that came with the Kadet and then ordered two more.

"You have a backup gun you can use?"

Yeah, the Ruger.

Which proceeds to run flawlessly for the remainder of the match.

So I say:
My Ruger says:
The Kadet says:

 

[waburn]

Ever feel like your guns are just messing with you?

Yes. Bought a S&W 13-1 off of a friend. I like it, but it overlaps several I already own. Shot it a box of ammo though it and cleaned it. Functioned fine, smooth trigger and hitting to point of aim. Head to the gun store Monday, thinking of putting it on consignment. Gun store employ informs me of the fact that S&W k frames are not selling well and says anything over $200 will guarantee that it will just sit.

All is well, knowing it is worth more than that I bring it home. Wiping it down before putting it in the safe, I Attempt to cock the hammer. Attempt is the key word. Take the side plate off, and several bronze brush wires are wedging in the hammer and trigger. Clean, lube, and everything is fine.

Glad I did not put it on consignment.

Guess that is what the pistol thinks of being sold, so I figure I will keep it.

 

[MCgunner]

Well, my SR22 WAS messing with me. I bought it early, beta tester, but I just had to have it. Came with a plastic rear sight that drifted around as it wanted to. Took me a while to figure out why my one accurate gun couldn't hit squat. Still haven't contacted Ruger, but super glued the sight down so now it works again.

 

[sappyg]

Sometimes they do. Usually because I've been messing with them.

 

[mikemyers]

.....I've been shooting in a rimfire league with my father. He and I normally shoot Ruger Mark IIs that have been heavily tricked out......

Having spent the past two weeks trying to communicate with my S&W revolver, and finally figured out why it was misbehaving, I don't qualify as anything even close to being a gunsmith - just someone trying to learn.

I read your post twice, once because it was interesting and cute, and once more to see what I missed.

If I understand you correctly, it works better with quality ammo than the less expensive ammo. On the other hand, I think you're saying that it does't always work properly even with the quality ammo.

That got me to wondering what you meant when you said the guns were "heavily tricked out". You also said that you and your father have the same model gun - were they both "tricked out" exactly the same? ....and who did the tricking out? What was done?

Does your father have the same problem with his gun, as you do with yours?

If the two of you trade guns for one or two weeks, and you clean "his" gun, he cleans "your" gun, and you both go to the range the next time shooting the other's gun, using the other's ammo, does the gun you're using then work properly, while your father has the problems you used to have?



All this reminds me of watching an episode of Columbo on TV. Gather up enough clues, and maybe you can figure out what's happening.

 

[mikemyers]

Also, from this link: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=68685


"if you have any real mileage on your mk II, you might check the length of your firing pin as well. I rebuilt mine at almost 50k rds, it started having misfires and ejection problems. I bought a new firing pin and found that it was about 1/16" longer and the tip was more prominent than the old one. It had beat itself flat and shortened. I also replaced the hammer spring along with all the springs in the gun. New exctractor and all problems were solved.

if your gun is fairly new, then I would suggest looking for burrs or high spots on the sides of the hammer, firing pin and other related parts that could cause drag, then polish them a little. Your reliability should improve if done right.
Brownells has all the factory replacement parts at a reasonable price. "

 

[bannockburn]

Yeah I have a Remington semi-auto .22 that just can't resist messing with me. I mean I ha e done everything to make it happy; new magazines with adjusted followers, reworked springs, numerous brands (some of it very expensive), of .22 ammo and still can't get through a magazine without multiple FTF and FTE stoppages. It does even worse with Remington ammo...imagine that.

 

[mikemyers]

Yeah I have a Remington semi-auto .22 that just can't resist messing with me. I mean I ha e done everything to make it happy; new magazines with adjusted followers, reworked springs, numerous brands (some of it very expensive), of .22 ammo and still can't get through a magazine without multiple FTF and FTE stoppages. It does even worse with Remington ammo...imagine that.

Think of it as a precision machine. It's a lot of parts, that all must work together perfectly in order for the gun to function properly. As with anything else, out of all those parts, all it takes is one part that was manufactured incorrectly, or wore out before it "should", and you get "issues". If it was brand new, there's always the chance to have it fixed on warranty. If it's old, and used, your choices are to pay the manufacturer to repair it, take it to a gunsmith, or do all the research to fix it yourself, getting help from others here as to what to look for.

I just went through all that with a handgun, and two weeks later, after lots of great feedback from people at THR, finally found and fixed the problem (two parts didn't work together as smoothly as they should have).

I don't know much about a Ruger Mark II, but in the few minutes I spent looking around last night on the net, I found lots of people who had trouble with certain types of ammunition, and other responses about the reasons for misfiring, or not feeding correctly. I also found a book that might help you sort this out:

a) http://store.gun-guides.com/Ruger-Complete-Guide--22-Automatic-Pistols_p_10.html

b) http://www.midwayusa.com/product/281836/gun-guides-takedown-guide-complete-guide-ruger-22-automatic-pistols-book


Same book, I think - but I now prefer buying from Midway USA over most of the other places.