Ruger MK2 Magazines

[Dibbs]

>>The two aftermarket mags were like 50% fail to feed right out of the gate<<

I've tried after market mags. in my MKlls, namely MecGar. While I've had stellar success with their offerings in center fire calibers I found them to be unreliable in .22 form. You're better off just sticking with OEM mags. here rather than try and save a few bucks. Just my observation.

You could try Wolff springs. Cleaning the mags regularly is a good idea, if you shoot a lot. But Rugers are known for doing poorly with aftermarket mags, in general. 10/22s, Mini-14s,
it's a common complaint. I got a bunch of aftermarket Mini-14 mags, in a package deal, and wound up chucking all but the OEMs, after performance issues.

 

[Steve in PA]

I bought several Mac-Gar magazines for my Ruger MKII to augment the couple of factory magazines, no issues, no complaints.

 

[film495]

how much of a gap should there be between the back feed lip and the extractor? the factory mags look like 1/32 or 1/64 gap, and the aftermarket ones have more of a gap, a solid 1/8 or more and that is what is part of the problem for sure since sometimes the bolt will miss completely and just not strip a round at all. I actually swapped the internals, and all that happens is the mixed parts from the Ruger and aftermarket mags both seem to sit a little lower. Thinking maybe I should just add a little shim with a matchbook or something to how the baseplate fits into the mag to make it ride just a little higher in the firearm. Should not be to crazy to try something like that.

as an aside, I have no knowledge of the aftermarket mags, so I'm not busting on the manufacturer of them. the parts may or may not be original to the mags, and may or may not have been modified or damaged, no idea. all know is I'd rather have 4 working mags than 2, and these ones came with the firearms when I purchased it so, just going to give them a few tries to see if I can get them working. getting them sitting with the feed lips the same height as the Ruger ones seems like a good place to start.

 

[film495]

I threw in the towel on these for now. I think shaving a little off the baseplate might make them sit a touch higher and function correctly, but I ordered a couple Ruger ones, just to have 4 known good ones. May muck with them more at some point, but had enough for now.

 

[Garandimal]

RUGER OEM mags only.

Always work, every time.

Money well spent.




GR

 

[film495]

found a couple Ruger mk2 factory mags on ebay new in box, so picket them up, cleaned them, tested. they seem to function about the same as the 2 original ones that came with the gun. the base plate has a Ruger emblem, the original ones have a red emblem, so - just a little difference, they also have a series of small circles on the follower button, and the original ones are smooth. the one other thing I notice is they don't seem as smooth, the spring seems to not have as easy a time contracting and expanding over the stub at the bottom of the mag - kind of clicks as the spring coils go over and off. The original ones do the same thing, but it is not as pronounced, thus the original ones are a little smoother, maybe they are just broken in.

so, have 4 factory mags now, took the 2 aftermarket ones out of rotation - and next step, give them all a work out at the range.

 

[SGW Gunsmith]

found a couple Ruger mk2 factory mags on ebay new in box, so picket them up, cleaned them, tested. they seem to function about the same as the 2 original ones that came with the gun. the base plate has a Ruger emblem, the original ones have a red emblem, so - just a little difference, they also have a series of small circles on the follower button, and the original ones are smooth. the one other thing I notice is they don't seem as smooth, the spring seems to not have as easy a time contracting and expanding over the stub at the bottom of the mag - kind of clicks as the spring coils go over and off. The original ones do the same thing, but it is not as pronounced, thus the original ones are a little smoother, maybe they are just broken in.

so, have 4 factory mags now, took the 2 aftermarket ones out of rotation - and next step, give them all a work out at the range.

What does help on most occasions is, if you polish that metal spring guide as smoothly as you can, the spring will glide over it more easily. Chuck the smaller end in an electric hand drill and lock it on spin. Then polish the spinning guide with #400 emery paper until the spring will slide freely over it. Doesn't take all that long to do, and the effort is worth the result.
If the follower button track also feels a bit gritty, it most likely has rough edges, so I'd recommend that the track also be polished using the same #400 paper and a hard square sanding block, using just one corner and polish the snot out of those edges.

 

[kBob]

You want a bad Ruger pistol magazine? Jump in your time machine and buy some Ram-line replacement mags.

-kBob

 

[SGW Gunsmith]

You want a bad Ruger pistol magazine? Jump in your time machine and buy some Ram-line replacement mags.

-kBob

Are those still being made and sold? They are awful.