Ruger Mark III Problem....or ammo?

[Jolly Rogers]

This is due to the mag safety. It can be dealt with if you hate it like I do
Scroll back up to Bullseyes post and hit the link in his signature line. Check out his website. You won't be disappointed.
Joe

 

[collegeb]

Found a webiste that discusses some of the problems with the Mark III. My biggest complaint sofar is the manual lacking complete instructions...ruger techs on the phone gave me a few tips, but also the magazine does not drop free. I hate prying it out of the gun.

 

[Bullseye57]

Here's some links to maintenance instructions for the Mark III.

http://www.guntalk-online.com/detailstrip.htm
http://www.guntalk-online.com/2245detailstripping.htm
http://www.guntalk-online.com/fsprocedures.htm
http://www.guntalk-online.com/TroubleshootingPage.htm

The magazine disconnector safety can be removed and the mags will drop out just like a 1911.

Hope this helps.

R,
Bullseye

 

[rxraptor02]

Bullseye's site makes things a lot easier!

I used it to take mine apart a few times before the first cleaning and range trip.
I have the MKIII hunter.
I have only used CCI-mini mags and the bulk federal 550 count from walmart. I used about 300 rounds of the CCI-mm to start then tried the federal bulk stuff. I had no issues with cci. I did have one issue the federal but that was after 400ish rounds.

You said you had oiled it. These MK's don't need that much oil. If your bolt face/extractor has a lot of oil, that could be a cause as well.

 

[USMCDK]

I assume (so horrible of me to do) that your Mark III is a .22lr shooter??? If so then hell yes it's touch to ammo also I have found, while shooting .22lr, that the extractors aren't really good/reliable as those found on 9mm's and up.

I could be wrong but that's my take on the whole thing.

 

[51Cards]

Mine seems to work fine with everything but Aguila Subsonics. (The Sniper Subsonics work fine, but they're 60 gr.)

I have (hallelujah!) had none of the issues noted on Mk III posts. I do find that the loaded chamber indicator gets gritty, but it hasn't caused any trouble. (I think I've actually looked at it twice ...)

Depending on ammo, the ammo lube makes a big difference in crud buildup. It always shoots beautifully, but it does get gritty. (There's a web procedure for making a trigger shield --- can't find it this second.)

 

[purchawk]

My brand new Mark III has the same problem as discussed and pictured--failure to eject every two or three magazines and a spent shell hung up with the rim end between the guide rod and the next round. Has anyone had a good experience sending guns back to Ruger for this problem (which my dealer suggests) or am I better off getting an exact extractor and filing off the magazines?

 

[TNCarters]

Had the same problem with a Mark III Hunter recently. Would fail to eject one or two rounds every mag. Tried several different boxes of brands and all had problems every magazine or two. Instead of sending bact to Ruger tried replacing the extractor with the Volq. exact edge and not a single jam since after several boxes of different brands. Highly recommend it.

 

[kle]

I better off getting an exact extractor and filing off the magazines?

Swap out the extractor first; you can always put it back if it doesn't help. You can't un-file the magazines...

Also see if removing the Loaded Chamber Indicator helps, as it helped M2 Carbine above...

 

[purchawk]

Thanks!!

Much thanks to all who provided info, help, and advice on fixing stove-pipes in a new Mark III. A new Volquartsen extractor and some work on the magazines did the trick. About 200 rounds today and one stovepipe, and that one had a deep extractor mark, it just didn't quite clear.

On to many happy hours of shooting.

 

[pistolpete53]

I got a new MK3P4 Ruger and same problem it misfeed, jams, or doesn't feed at all. I have already returned it to Ruger they claimed to have repaired a new pistol. Still same problem. I am lucky to get 2 or 3 shots out of a ten round mag. I have tried different brands of ammo RWS, Aquila, Remington, Hollow Points, Solid, Subsonic, HyperVelocity, and still no luck.

 

[preston817]

Feed Ramp Jams -> It's the Mags.

This is a copy I posted in a related thread:

I finally purchased a MK III Hunter a couple of weeks ago and immediately (round #1) experienced a feed ramp jam with bullets I have fired flawlessly out of a MK II. (Yes they were lead hollow points, but so what.)

The MK II was never picky about needing the "right brand" of ammo.

I found that there is quite a bit of info posted at many sites about problems and fixes for feed / ejection problems. These are largely correct and are likely related to the same problems where the mags or lips are not quite at the right height.

I have posted photos and a summary here:
http://www.prestonsdocsonline.com

To the point, the front mouths of the MK III magazines are cut deeper than the MK II mags (at least the 3 that I have) and now there is nothing to start many types of bullets properly on the feed ramp.

Note that the MK II magazine shown in my photos is about 20 years old.
I compared new Ruger MKII and MK III magazines at the gun store a couple days ago.
I found that the new MK II mags also have the mouth cut deep like the MK III mag that I show.
This suggests that the same stamping die pattern may be used for the body of the both MK II and MK III mags with a second stamp for the MK III to form the side release tab, trigger cutout, etc.

In any case, the old style MK II mag will feed virtually any type of ammo, while the MK III mag is picky (as well as many of the newer MK II's by the number of people reporting problems in various forums).

Preston

 

[Steve C]

Cheap ammo equals more failures. Spend a couple more dollars and buy some good ammo like Winchester Super X or CCI mini-mag and I htink you will see the problems moslty dissapear. The bulk Federal and Remington copper plated HP ammo you can buy at Walmart are fairly good but have more failure to fire than the more expensive ammo. This is almost always becuase the primer compound wasn't distributed in the section of the rim you firing pin just happened to hit.

I've tried both types of the ammo you bought and they don't work well enough in my Browning Buckmarks to use. I've relegated the remainder of what I have to plinking in rifles with manual bolt or pump actions.

 

[kle]

Cheap ammo equals more failures. Spend a couple more dollars and buy some good ammo like Winchester Super X or CCI mini-mag and I htink you will see the problems moslty dissapear. The bulk Federal and Remington copper plated HP ammo you can buy at Walmart are fairly good but have more failure to fire than the more expensive ammo. This is almost always becuase the primer compound wasn't distributed in the section of the rim you firing pin just happened to hit.

I'll agree with you on the "cheap == higher failure rate/inconsistent priming", but not on the Winchester SuperX--that stuff seemed to be just as bad as (maybe worse than) the bulk Federal and Remington ammo. I actually had a squib using the SuperX, and other times the recoil was inconsistent, as if the powder charge wasn't the same between rounds. I could see it on the target, too--at 50 yards, there was a decent grouping around the 10 and X rings, and then there was one or two that were just barely on the 2ft x 2ft target paper.

CCI MiniMags (or even CCI Standard Velocity) should be good, though.

ETA: ...hmm....or was it Winchester Xpert? Either way, I don't think I liked either round.

 

[wally]

Winchester Xpert turns one of my 22/45 MKIIIs into a jam-o-matic, but is fine in the other and my MK II. But so far I've had four case failures in ~2000 rounds. Dud rate seems higher than the Federal bulk pack too, so I doubt I'll be buying more of it.

Same mags in either gun so I don't think its a magazine issue, and a mag that jammed three in ten shots with Xpert immediately ran 30 rounds of Federal bulk pack without incident, so I doubt its "dirt". The hollow point on this round just seems a bit too wide for some Ruger pistol feed ramps. Its fine in my 10/22 and Spikes Tactical AR upper and S&W M22A.

Winchester Wildcat has been fine in all my guns.

Spending "a few more dollars on ammo" and I'd rather be shooting my 9mm reloads.

--wally.

 

[kle]

...hmm....or was it Winchester Xpert? Either way, I don't think I liked either round.

 

[dogface]

I always use the federal bulk pack (550 rd pack) copper plated lead round nose bullets. maybe it's all in my head becasue my hand stays cleaner or has less contact with lead but i think they keep the gun cleaner and my mkIII 22/45 never misses a beat with them. However that gun is picky about fully seating the magazine, as in my have to be deliberate about putting it ALL the way in. the mag relase will hold teh magazine less than fully seated causing some of the strangest jams i have ever seen in an autoloader.

and once you take a ruger mkII or MK III appart once, it's easy after that, i can strip the thing and put it back together in no time flat! now detail stripping it... that takes some time. the fire control group is fun to reassemble! LOL!!

 

[Lakeshore]

Yesterday for the first time ever, after firing thousands of nearly flawless rounds, my MK III experienced multiple (as in @ 50%) feed failures. I am almost positive it was the ammo.

The ammo in question is Eley Sport 40 grain. The bullets seem to be coated with a waxy substance that causes them to drag inside the magazine. I could push the follower all the way down with a partially loaded mag and literally watch it move up in slow motion, sometimes not move at all. Same result with two clean mags that I know to be reliable. I will scrub them out and shoot some of my old standby ammo, Federal bulk pack and MiniMags, to test my suspicion.

Not knocking Eley ammo. Others may get good results with it, and there's the possibility I got hold of a bad batch.

 

[Just One Shot]

Clean, lube, shoot, repeat.

If you still have problems after this I'll be surprised.

Every MK I've owned, regardless of series, has needed a break in period.

In my experience they seem to loosen up around 400-500 rds. and 3-4 cleanings to where you can shoot it without any issues.

I recomend a lube with teflon, this seems to help alot when the gun is brand new.

 

[preston817]

I have moved more of this discussion over to the this over to the other thread:
Ruger MKIII Feeding Issues-Is it my mags?

It seems that FTF issues really are part of the same problem.

 

[stampedeproject]

Just an FYI. Took Bullseye's advice and some advice of other posts elsewhere and removed the chamber indicator actuator and the mag safety. Still have a few jams with the same CCI Mini-Mags, but maybe 1 in 100 vs 1 in 3.

 

[Utah1]

With my MKIII 22/45, I've never had a problem with Federal bulk pack or anything with CCI on the label. Winchester Wildcat however, with the way the bullet is designed doesn't feed very well. Well over 7-8000rds on the gun now.

 

[LightningMan]

I have a MKIII and had the same problems, already tried much of what has been suggested, but what worked the best was removing the metal blade off the loaded magazine indicator. You can leave the rest in place to cover the slot/hole in the frame, to keep the guns apearance normal looking. LM

 

[NinjaFeint]

Hey guys, just brought a brand new Mark III about a week ago and took it to the range today. I had so many Problems it was ridiculous. Out of 400+ rounds I think I shot two mags without either a failure to chamber, failure to eject, or misfire. The biggest problem I was having was the bolt catching the ejecting shell. I took the gun to the gun store and it seemed to fire fine.

I was shooting Winchester Xpert22 and Wildcat 22 ammo. I bought both probably about 6 months ago. The Xpert at Wal-Mart and the Wildcats the same store I got the gun.

I can't imagine the ammo being that bad. Most of the time I had 2-3 or even more malfunctions per magazine?

Am I doing something wrong?

My MkIII 22/45 does not like winchester xpert bulk. It jams 2-3 every magazine. Everything else works flawlessly.

 

[PedalBiker]

Sorry, I didn't read all the posts, but here is what I did with my 45/22 MK III.

I had horrible reliability at first and it was rounds hitting the sharp edge of the feed ramp. I just soldered a small section of washer to the bottom of the feed ramp which extended it by about 2mm. Now it's quite reliable.

It's possible that having the magazines positioned differently would have accomplished the same result. It did look like there is a lot of play for the magazine to shift inside the grip. I figured this would be easy and it was.