Ruger Mark III Reliability

[dross]

I have a Ruger Mark III, 22/45. It jams about once every other magazine, with Federal or Remington bulk ammo, worse with Remington. It fails to eject all the way, or fails to feed a new round.

Has anyone had this kind of problem. It's mainly an annoyance, as I use this pistol for practice, but if I could fix it, it would be a lot more fun.

 

[Simon6101]

Dirty

It sounds as if it it dirty. Also, does it do it with both mags or just one. The 2 things that generally cause the problems is dirty or the feed lips on the mags are off. Since you stated that you were using Remington ammo I am betting that it is dirt creating the problems. Remington 22 ammo is a very dirty ammo and will gum up most firearms quickly. I have Ruger MkI, MkII and MKIII. I use nothing but Federal bulk pack and all of mine are very reliable until they get dirty.

 

[bass4x4]

I have the same problem with Remington .22 ammo in my S&W 22a.

eric

 

[mettle]

I've had this issue as well. It is the orientation of the round in the magazines. I make for sure w/ every mag that they are as far back as possible and that eliminates all but the duds.

 

[antdog/zook]

i have problem with rounds feeding correctly in both mags. like the tip of the round is down and hits ramp?

with any ammo

 

[IndyGunworks]

Yep... Try cleaning then shoot again.

 

[dross]

I'll try cleaning it. It's done it pretty much from the first, but I'll tear it down and clean and lube it up good.

God I hate taking that thing apart.

 

[m_deaner]

Here are some ideas:
1. You might have a bad extractor. The factory part is stamped and many rugers come out of the factory with reliability issues due to this shoddy part. The Volquartsen Exact Edge extractor ($12) is a worthwhile upgrade.
2. Ruger 22s need to be clean. If you've shot more than 250-rounds you should probably give it a good cleaning.
3. Make sure the left part of the magazine isn't in direct contact with the ejector. If it is, you'll get stovepipe jams. File the extra material off the upper-left part of the mag until it clears the ejector.
4. Avoid Remington ammo like the plague. It's dirty and inconsistant. Also avoid Fiocchi standard velocity, as it is too long to reliably feed in the magazines. Winchester X-pert is another ammo that I've had a terrible time with in the Mark II/III series. Can't get through one mag without a jam.

I hope this helps.

 

[NEOCON]

Here are some ideas:
1. You might have a bad extractor. The factory part is stamped and many rugers come out of the factory with reliability issues due to this shoddy part. The Volquartsen Exact Edge extractor ($12) is a worthwhile upgrade.
2. Ruger 22s need to be clean. If you've shot more than 250-rounds you should probably give it a good cleaning.
3. Make sure the left part of the magazine isn't in direct contact with the ejector. If it is, you'll get stovepipe jams. File the extra material off the upper-left part of the mag until it clears the ejector.
4. Avoid Remington ammo like the plague. It's dirty and inconsistant. Also avoid Fiocchi standard velocity, as it is too long to reliably feed in the magazines. Winchester X-pert is another ammo that I've had a terrible time with in the Mark II/III series. Can't get through one mag without a jam.

I hope this helps.

Great advice right there!
Extractor took care of my problem I got mine from Midway.

 

[wolfman]

Here are some ideas:
1. You might have a bad extractor. The factory part is stamped and many rugers come out of the factory with reliability issues due to this shoddy part. The Volquartsen Exact Edge extractor ($12) is a worthwhile upgrade..

This alone, will solve almost every FTF and FTE issue with a Ruger MK series pistol

2. Ruger 22s need to be clean. If you've shot more than 250-rounds you should probably give it a good cleaning...

Not true, Ruger MK series pistols aren't clean queens and mine has had over 5000 rounds through it since its last cleaning.

3. Make sure the left part of the magazine isn't in direct contact with the ejector. If it is, you'll get stovepipe jams. File the extra material off the upper-left part of the mag until it clears the ejector.

Not sure how this would be a solution for this problem as the bolt has groves machined into its underside to provide clearance for the magazine and if it were sticking up too high, the bolt wouldn't cycle at all. Also, the extractor is centered on the "right" side of the bolt, high enough that if the mag was making contact with it, the bolt would not be able to close at all.

4. Avoid Remington ammo like the plague. It's dirty and inconsistant. Also avoid Fiocchi standard velocity, as it is too long to reliably feed in the magazines. Winchester X-pert is another ammo that I've had a terrible time with in the Mark II/III series. Can't get through one mag without a jam.

I hope this helps.

Number 1 recomended ammo for Ruger MK series pistols on both Ruger forums I belong to, is Federal 550 Bulk Packs from Wally World.

 

[m_deaner]

Not true, Ruger MK series pistols aren't clean queens and mine has had over 5000 rounds through it since its last cleaning.

Not true for you maybe, but it is true for me. Reliability falls off when my rugers are dirty.

Not sure how this would be a solution for this problem as the bolt has groves machined into its underside to provide clearance for the magazine and if it were sticking up too high, the bolt wouldn't cycle at all. Also, the extractor is centered on the "right" side of the bolt, high enough that if the mag was making contact with it, the bolt would not be able to close at all.

This is a fairly well-documented issue with Ruger Mark II/IIIs. Reliability can be a problem if the mags don't have some clearance from the ejector. There have been threads about this on RFC and on Bullseye's Gun Talk Online. I haven't experienced this problem myself.

Number 1 recomended ammo for Ruger MK series pistols on both Ruger forums I belong to, is Federal 550 Bulk Packs from Wally World.

I've had the best reliability from CCI Mini Mags.

 

[Lock n Load]

I currently have a 4.5" SS MKll and a MKlll Hunter, they do not like the Rem or the Win ammo. I exclusively use the Federal .22 plated HPs sold in the Maroon/ red value packs from WalMart. They shoot in both pistols and both 10/22s eat them like candy.

I realize its not top notch ammo, but since they HP I dont have to purchase any other ammo for small game, one ammo for (4) firearms.... no worries. It goes bang for me, is accurate enough, available and cheap.

As far as being dirty, I agree that after a point reliability becomes an issue w/ most rimfires.... mine seem to do great w/ 500+ rounds in a session, and I clean all of my firearms after a range trip.

 

[m_deaner]

I shoot lots of the Federal bulk pack too... it's pretty good. There are usually a few duds and light loads per box, but I can live with that for plinking ammo. As far as cheap ammo goes, I've had better reliability and accuracy with Federal Champion target high velocity, also at Wal Mart. It costs a bit more (usually $14.47 per brick, if you can find it).

If you're shooting your 22 in competition, you owe it to yourself to buy some Mini Mags. They are close to 100% reliable in my 22s and are quite accurate as well.

As far as cleaning, my newer Ruger Mark III starts having the occasional jam or two after shooting about 400-500 rounds. I try to clean my guns after each range session so I rarely actually shoot my guns dirty.

 

[Bisley Man]

I must indeed be fortunate. My 22/45 and 10/22 eats Remington .22's. The Federal and CCI .22's are cleaner,and I keep a good supply of all these. I strip and clean them every 500 rds as well.

 

[thats me]

i had the same problem

Its the ammo.... in the ruger you need to shot the regular ammo.... everyone is getting high velocity ammo and it wont allow it to feed properly

 

[JByer323]

everyone is getting high velocity ammo and it wont allow it to feed properly

My Mark III feeds everything from subsonics to Stingers, while it's true that Remington ammo may blow, I would be very reluctant to just call it an ammo problem from the get go. More likely a magazine issue.

GunTalk-Online.com :: Index is where you need to be asking these questions. Bullseye is a freaking god when it comes to the Mk series.
http://guntalk-online.com/forum/index.php

 

[antdog/zook]

mine was feeding bullet (centered on bottom edge of ramp) mag issue? this is a new mark III with about 300 rounds, and cleaned after 100 each time.

 

[Richard]

I have a Ruger Mark III, 22/45. It jams about once every other magazine, with Federal or Remington bulk ammo, worse with Remington. It fails to eject all the way, or fails to feed a new round.

Has anyone had this kind of problem. It's mainly an annoyance, as I use this pistol for practice, but if I could fix it, it would be a lot more fun.

I have not read through the entire thread yet so I do not know if someone has already answered this problem/question or not.

But from your description it sounds as if your chamber was not polished prior to leaving the factory, you may have to send it back to Ruger and have them polish it, or if your mechanically inclined you could preform the task yourself.

Just remember if you polish your chamber you do not want to remove the metal, you want to mirror it.

 

[Lock n Load]

for what Richard said....

I use a fine scotch brite pad to polish the feedramps from the 1911s down to the .22s. Gently polish in a back and forth motion following the feed direction vs side to side and go easy.... you can always polish more but never take any back. (the machinist side of me emerging!!!)

Most hardware stores carry these.

 

[Dr Falken]

Lots of good info...In a related question, as I've had FTF issues, if you have a MkII lower and a MkIII upper, is there any tolerence issues/ design issues that could cause problems. I suspect that my issues are the more mundane as commented on above, but I was curious if anyone knew if there was a fundemental problem switching upper and lowers between MkII's and III's.