New Plinker...MKIII Hunter

[rxraptor02]

Well I have been wanting a plinker to keep the single six company. Well today was the day and I picked up a new Ruger MKIII Hunter.

I took the time to read and follow the Disassembly and Reassembly procedures. I did this a few times before I took it to clean it. After tinkerning with it a few times and actually cleaning it I had it back to gether and lubed in about 2 hours.

What a sweet pistol. I can't wait to get to the range!



and one with the single six

 

[Hauptmann]

I've got one myself. Sweet pistol overall. It's very accurate and feeds anything I put through it. The balance is great with the fluted barrel, and it's just long enough that you can fire it outdoors without ear plugs and not suffer too much discomfort. Obviously, you'll want some protection for practice shooting. Mine's a keeper.

 

[glockman19]

Nice pistol. Congrats. I like the fluted barrel. I may pick one up.

 

[greener]

Do some serious shooting with the Hunter, and plinking will take on an all new meaning.

 

[ANGUSLINCOLN]

I love my Hunter; I terminated a squirrel today from 25' with a dandy head shot.Accuracy is one of it's finer attributes. However, I have been experiencing a problem with the last shot-bolt open feature. It has stopped remaining open after the last shot. After researching the issue a bit, I have determined that you should not release the bolt with the slide release lever. Use the sling shot method of pulling the bolt back and letting it go to chamber a round from a loaded magazine. Repeated use of the the slide release seems to cause wear on an internal edge and will not retain the bolt in a locked open posistion. I am still searching for a solution to the problem and I am only assuming that this is the reason. After examining the internal lever, it does indeed seem to be a little bit worn, but not much. Untill I find a solution, I'm counting my shots carefully so as not to drop the firing pin on an empty chamber. I hope that you can prevent the issue with your new Hunter.Here's a teaser of it's potential:

 

[Hauptmann]

Nice shot there, Angus. Be honest though, did you do that with a rest?

 

[ANGUSLINCOLN]

Nope! Swear to God, one shot, first shot!...just ask my dog.

 

[rxraptor02]

Angus,

Nice shot!

what kind of 22lr are you using?

I know the Hunter will feed just about anything. I was planning on starting with CCI mini-mags and if they work well I was going to shoot 2 boxes(200rds) then try other stuff.

Thanks for the info about using the "slingshot" method. I try to use that method on all my other pistols so it will also be easy for me to remember to do so.

 

[ZipperZap]

Can't beat them - I have all the Mk series ... here's mine.

 

[boomer1911a1]

You might as well take off the LCI now. It'll start gumming up the action after about 200 rounds... and the dirtier, the sooner. But don't worry; it's easy and there are several threads with detailed instructions.

Mine came out on the first serious cleaning and I never looked back.

 

[ANGUSLINCOLN]

I just worked a 10 hour shift in 100 degrees, my brain is in neutral at this point; what is "LCI"?

 

[ANGUSLINCOLN]

rxraptor02, I'm pretty sure it was a Federal bulk pack with a hollow point. Whatever Wally World was carrying at the time. When I first got it, it had a hard time digesting the Remington Golden Bullet bulk pack ammo. They would constantly get hung up on the feed ramp. After a couple thousand rounds, it's not so much of an issue.

 

[Hauptmann]

LCI = Loaded Chamber Indicator

 

[ANGUSLINCOLN]

Can the LCI affect the last shot bolt hold feature? It doesn't seem likely. How exactly does it gum up the action? So far I haven't experienced any problems with it...that I'm aware of anyway.

 

[boomer1911a1]

Loaded Chamber Indicator

I was getting a ton of Failures to Feed. The bolt would carry the fresh round from the top of the magazine about halfway into the chamber before the blade of the LCI would stop it. A tap on the back of the bolt would send it home, but cleaning the thing was only a temporary fix.
The removal fixed it perfectly. And don't worry about the gap left where the LCI used to ride. Some say fill it, but there's no need.

 

[Taffnevy]

A lot of talk these days about .22's with the current ammo prices. I'm thinking about picking one up myself.

 

[Hauptmann]

I went ahead and removed my LCI. I've even thought about removing the magazine disconect safety.

 

[rxraptor02]

Well I went and put 230 rounds down range today.

100 CCI mini-mags just the RN. I also put 130 of the federal bulk pack with hollow points.

Not a single issue at all.

The gun was way more accurate than I was.

After the 230 rounds I looked over the gun and the end of the barrel had the most crud. The chamber was not that dirty. Once I started shooting the Federal stuff I could see embers shooting out of the bolt during recoil. I even got burned on the finger from one.

Having three mags made it nice, I just need to buy more so I don't have to reload as often.

I can't wait till next weekend. I am going up to Michigan to hunt with my father and brother. I hope to get some good pics of the tree rats..

-James

 

[greener]

I have a MKIII Hunter and MKIII 22/45. The Hunter has the VQ accurizing kit (trigger/sear/hammer) and the 22/45 has the VQ trigger and sear. The only accuracy problem either have is the guy pulling the trigger. I haven't had any feed problems that can linked to the LCI. The only feed problems seem to be linked to brand of ammo. Rem Golden bullets are a smidge shorter than other ammo and will occasionally catch the bottom of the feed ramp. Xpert22 is heavily lubed and will create all sorts of feed problems after 20 or so rounds. I believe this is because it gums up the magazine. I very rarely have problems with stove pipes and after two mags of Xpert22, everything stovepiped.

Other than the two mentioned, I've not had a problem with any other ammo types.