Unfired Ruger Mark II Malfunction

[bwflorida]

Ruger Mark II (stainless) purchased Nov 2001, in storage since purchase, never fired or even taken out of the factory case, until recently when it was loaned to a relative who wanted to try it out before buying it. A couple of days later, he returned it saying the gun was "frozen", i.e., the bolt cannot be pulled back more than about an inch, and the safety is locked in the "F" position. The disassembly process described in the manual appears to be too difficult for my arthritic hands, and even if I could accomplish that, I would not be able to diagnose an internal problem anyway. A local gunsmith quoted $60.00 just to examine it, so is there some simple explanation or fix for this malfunction, or because it's new/unfired, should I just send it back to Ruger for service?

 

[BADUNAME37]

Did this person try to disassemble it for any reason while they had it?

It seems that is a problem that "rears its ugly head" when the gun is assembled improperly with respect to the hammer spring and hammer spur that must be aligned "just so" when locking the grip backstrap clamp.

I bet that is the problem and you could fix it yourself (or have someone help you).

REFER TO NUMBER 8 HERE:

http://guntalk-online.com/TroubleshootingPage.htm

 

[bigfatdave]

Guntalk-online has the best Ruger mk__ instructions out there.

Based on your description, it sounds like improper assembly with the hammer strut caught on the cross-pin in the rear of the frame. Someone familiar with Ruger .22 autoloaders might be able to get it running in a few minutes, the problem would be getting someone to assist.

 

[loadedround]

Bigdave nailed it. Someone disassembled your Ruger and put it back incorrectly. My Mark ll ended up the same way the first time I took it apart for cleaning and it took me about two hours to assemble it correctly. You have to hold it at a certain angle for proper assembly, I'd have to show you and not tell you here how to do it.. Hopefully you have a buddy who knows Rugers to show you the proper assembly or possibly a friendly. Good luck!

 

[bigfatdave]

Thinking on it, the only feat of strength required is bonking the upper off of the grip. I think you can handle everything else, assuming the upper is on the grip frame properly.
So, to start, does the rear of the upper extend a bit past the rear of the lower? And can you tell for absolute sure that it does NOT have a round in the chamber?
If so, pull off the grips, drop the mag, and unlatch the mainspring housing.
Get the bolt stop pin out by pulling down (it may need help, I generally go ghetto and use a 2" bamboo chopstick fragment as a dowel to hammer the pin out from above)

Now that you're into the magic hammer strut region, sacrifice a chicken or goat, and then reach in to free up the hammer strut, you may have to push the hammer forward, and you may have to pull the trigger to free the hammer from the sear. Get the strut free, and spray its hinge out with some CLP, compressed air, or whatever to get crud out of that joint - it needs to dangle freely!

Since you have the pistol apart, tilt it upwards to allow the hammer strut to dangle, drop the bolt out (to get the bolt out, the hammer has to be down/back)
Clean out the gunk your friend left around the chamber, run some patches through the bore, wipe down the bolt, etc etc.

Then re-assemble using the directions from Dr Bullseye paying particular attention to that damn hammer strut.

You should be able to do a full functional check once you have it together, occasional dry-fire won't hurt a Ruger .22 pistol, or you can use a spent casing as a firing pin cushion if you like.

 

[orionengnr]

http://www.pilkguns.com/tenp/sprug.htm

http://www.1bad69.com/ruger/field_strip_quick.htm

http://www.1bad69.com/ruger/internals.htm

There are tons more links available, but one of these should do it for you.
They are kind of mysterious the first time; after that, not so much.

It's only a mechanical device with a few moving parts. The key is, those parts have to be assembled correctly. This is not exclusive to Ruger MkIIs; any mechanical device must be re-assembled correctly in order to function properly.

Give these links a look, try dis-assembling and re-assembling. Bet a buck it works fine. If not, pm or email me or one of the posters to this thread. Unless someone has really forced something, there is no way that any permanent damage was done.

You can fix it. We can help.

email:
orionengnr at yahoo dot com

 

[krs]

Disassembly is not included in "trying it out".

I'd tell that relative that he bought it the moment he began to pry the lever out.

 

[Steve H]

this speed strip kit can stop the problem from happening again

http://www.majesticarms.com/id10.html

 

[Jim K]

Bwflorida is lucky. I have known cases where "trying it out" included total disassembly, loss of several parts, and returning the gun in pieces in a brown bag.

Jim