Ruger MKIII target

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Thedub88

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Last night I tried to field strip my pistol with help from youtube. :uhoh: After pulling out the main spring lever, I got it to swing out, but I couldn't remove it from the gun. :banghead: After an hour of messing with it I gave up and swung the main spring back in and then the lever. Now I can pull the slide back no more than an inch. :cuss: What am I doing wrong.
 
Ok, so you need your manual, and some good sites, some of the youtube stuff, well isn't how it should be done.

You have something where it shouldn't be, you need to reassemble your gun
the manual has a pretty clear, step by step, and some of the things are minor, in one step you need to assemble the parts while the gun is upside down, so that a certain piece is in correctly.
 
"You have something where it shouldn't be, you need to reassemble your gun"

Nothing was removed. Just flipped dowm the lever and swung the arm down
 
Oh, follow the manual, the MK3 is one gun you must do it exactly how it says.
if you don't have one, you can pull it up on ruger's website
 
its a pain. i have the hunter model. someone was nice enough on this forum in the
last couple of days that shows a web site how to take it apart and put it back together.
i think its guntalk online .com
go to the forum and look under technical.
it was under .22/45 for mine. its a great site if you find it.
 
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Nothing was removed. Just flipped dowm the lever and swung the arm down.
Click to expand...

And when you swung the arm back up, you had the barrel pointed down. The hammer strut isn't in the right position.

Just a guess, but that's the way I'd bet.

Swing it back out, point the gun straight up and swing it back in.
 
Don't know what video you used but the one from Ruger is the best. Go here:
http://ruger.com/resources/videos.html
and click on "Ruger Tech Tips."
The Mark III is a pain to take down and put back together with the mulitple "insert mag", "remove mag", "tip it up", "tip it down", but with the video is can be done.
 
"The hammer strut isn't in the right position."

Agree. Having spent an hour the first time doing this, here's what you need to do:

-Pull the main-spring lever all the way out.

-Look up inside there at a strut. It is probably caught behind a piece of the frame. Use a screwdriver to push the hammer from below so that it comes free and hangs freely above the frame inside the mag-well.

-Keep the muzzle tilted up at about a 45 degree angle while you reinsert the mainspring pin up through the upper receiver, and then hold the trigger down while you rotate the mainspring back into the grip. If you have trouble rotating the mainspring down, try pulling it out and looking at the hammer strut, making sure its free. Sometimes you need to jiggle the frame a little bit. When everything is lined up correctly, the mainspring will swing back down with virtually no force. Then you should check and make sure the bolt will retract. If it only goes half-way, then the strut for the hammer is the issue, open it up and try again. It sometimes takes me a few tries to get the hammer strut in the correct position so that the gun closes correctly and the bolt retracts properly.

This video helped me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh5eylgiNcI&NR=1

Also the instructions for the MK2 are the same basically: http://www.1bad69.com/ruger/field_strip.htm
 
""The hammer strut isn't in the right position."

Agree. Having spent an hour the first time doing this, here's what you need to do:

-Pull the main-spring lever all the way out."

I cant get it all the way out, it was never out, just swung up. I could only get 1/4 inch of it pulled out
 
This guy is helpful. He uses terms that are easy to understand if you don't know the proper terminology. This is what I used to get mine back together.

The problem you have is that the dingle-berry is not in the right position, as stated above.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYHJm2P4kP0&feature=related

You don't need to pull the mainspring out all the way, just flip the pistol so it points up, shake the dingleberry, and try closing the mainspring again. If you feel spring tension on it as you are closing, then the dingle-berry is in the right spot, and you'll be good to go.

If you do want to fully dissemble, assuming this is a new pistol, then mainspring is going to be difficult to pull out, which is why you are having difficulty. This is normal. Get a small wooden dowel, or something to hit the portion of the mainspring you can see through the top of the receiver. Use a hammer (I use a rubber mallet) to gently tap on it until it goes down some more, while pulling on the mainspring if you can. You should be able to fully remove it. Be careful not to hit the rear sight.
 
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I'm betting the upper receiver and the lower frame are mis-aligned a bit and causing the lever to get caught. Try slightly tapping the upper with a plastic or wooden mallet when you have the mainspring lever out as far as you can. I can't tell you in which direction tapping would work but my guess is try tapping on the barrel end (backwards) as there is a slot cut in the lever. You'll see it when it comes out...
 
I'd just put the pistol into a vice with protected jaws and use a wooded dowl and hammer to knock the pin out. Some of them are in there pretty tight.
 
put an empty magazine in, point the gun up to the ceiling and pull the trigger. the hammer is probably in the "fired" position and the sear is holding it up.

murf
 
You CAN see the pin sticking out the top of the upper receiver right? It is possible to put the pin into the upper receiver in such a way that it goes forward of the recess for the pin and wedges itself on the hammer....don't ask how I found that out....:banghead:

If you can't get the mainspring to lift out of the back of the grip, try wiggling it side to side and working it in and back. Sometimes it binds up on the grip. Once you feel its all the way out the back of the grip, then you can start tapping the pin from the top to push it down through the upper receiver and get it lose. You might also play with pushing/pulling the upper receiver back and forth to loosen the pin.
 
ok!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got the bolt out, and the barrel off. I got everything cleaned a lubed and back together.
thanks for the help guys!!
 
I have actually had the upper assembly a bit too tightly (too far) onto the bottom which was causing a problem reassembling the gun! Everything needs to be just so for that little metal rod to line up with the detent in the mainspring so you can push the bottom of the mainspring assembly in and have it snap closed!

The best thing to do is take it apart and keep reassembling it, you will find it getting easier and easier!

Mine is a Mark II Target, but I am sure they go together the same way!
 
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