# Ruger Mark I (it has some issues...)



## Last Man Standing (Dec 7, 2011)

Okay, so I admit it, I've never been a big Ruger fan and I've said a few somewhat unsavory things about them in the past... Well now I own one  In my defense I inherited it, so it's not like I went against my own word  Here it is:
[attachment=0:2aj906cl]Photo1 (4).jpg[/attachment:2aj906cl]
But this is the thing, it's a Mark I (I think it's a 1973 model?), and It's gone it's whole life without a single cleaning. Needless to say the thing did not cycle very well at all. So I gave it its first bath and expected that it would be much more smooth. Like usual, I was wrong  It used to have trouble loading rounds into the chamber, but after cleaning the feed plate it'll even take hollow points (no way it'd do that before). I cleaned everything else just like I normally would and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Well now it won't eject worth a ****! You have to pull it back by hand after every shot like it was a lever-action or something and about 1 out of 20 shot's or so won't even come out of the chamber without a rod or knife to pry it out. It's the weirdest thing, the bolt doesn't even blow back after each shot but it moves so easy by hand. What did I do to this thing and how can I fix it? I was thinking maybe the chamber was just dirty but recleaning it had no effect. I was thinking maybe a set of replacement springs could help it cycle better? after 40 years of sitting in filth there's no telling what condition those parts are in... Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated!!


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

I have a MK-II and found that it is important to fully dismantle the gun for a cleaning. Just a chamber cleaning wont do the trick. Lots of the trigger mechanism gets gunked up with all sorts of fowling. 

If you need any help getting it taken down, feel free to give me a holler and I'd be happy to help.


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## Cooky (Apr 25, 2011)

Ruger has downloadable manuals on their site. I would have one in front of you when you tear it down, Bax* mentioned giving you a hand, take him up on it if you can, they will kick your butt the first time or two. I would replace the springs, Wolff if they make a kit. Have a close look at the extractor; I had one break the very tip off. It didn’t stop working but got very erratic.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

Cooky is right. They are tricky little guns to dismantle. But in my experience, they are even more tricky putting back together! You have to hold the gun just right to get the spring to function properly


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## Last Man Standing (Dec 7, 2011)

I've taken it down all the way many times since it stopped extracting, it hasn't really changed it. I know what you mean about the trigger mech getting dirty, imagine what 40 years worth of gunk looks like!! I should've taken a picture haha It took sooo long to clean it... Thanks for the offer though Bax, If I can't make it behave I might have to have you teach me. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one that struggled with it reassembly, The first time I did it without any manual or diagrams and just payed close attention to where everything went. Man did I have trouble with getting that spring to work, took me like 30 minutes to figure out why the slide wouldn't go back. Thanks for the suggestions Cooky, I know midway-USA has a kit in their catalog, not sure if it's wolff or not though. I think I'll make that a little project of mine! I'll have to look at that extractor tip as well.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

At 40 years old, it may just need new springs like Cooky mentioned.

Have you dismantled the slide to see if anything is messing with the extractor? If you havent, make sure and do it over a table because there are a couple of small parts that can fall out and easily be lost. 

One other thing to mention (not saying I am right) but I have noticed that my pistol feeds much better with high velocity ammo or at least quality ammo. Bulk ammo seems to have some periodic problems in my experience. I really like Remington Peters for my .22 rifle but they seem to be of lower quality lately and they periodically get stuck in my gun. CCI Stingers never fail in this gun (but they are pretty hard to find in recent years).


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## Last Man Standing (Dec 7, 2011)

Well I think I'll swap the springs out for sure then. Yeah I took the whole slide apart and cleaned it out, I've even checked it again since it stopped working and didn't see anything. I think I'll do it again tonight just to make sure. You're spot on with the ammo thing, I ran some winchester wildcat through it and had some pretty terrible results. That's funny that recommended Stingers, I just picked up a couple boxes to try out this saturday. Sportsmans has a bunch of em.


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## Frisco Pete (Sep 22, 2007)

Actually the Ruger .22 Automatic is one of the most reliable semi-auto .22 pistols of all time. So if you can narrow the problem down and fix it, it will be a very good pistol. It is not an inherent design problem or cheap parts. Despite the sheet metal frame, the Ruger always has been a quality .22.
Yours is the Standard Model. The Mark I has either a 5.5" or 7 5/8" heavy barrel and adjustable sights. It wasn't until the minor revamping of the gun in 1982 that the term "Mark II" was applied to all models in the line.

But that puttin' in back together thing - oh man we all have stories... 30 minutes is fast for the first time!


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## bigbr (Oct 24, 2007)

Have you looked at the extractor. it sounds like it may be broken or not engaging. ten dollar part and easy to repair. big


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## Last Man Standing (Dec 7, 2011)

Frisco Pete said:


> Yours is the Standard Model. The Mark I has either a 5.5" or 7 5/8" heavy barrel and adjustable sights. It wasn't until the minor revamping of the gun in 1982 that the term "Mark II" was applied to all models in the line.


Good catch, I just got a hold of the manual and you're right. It's good to know what I actually have!



Frisco Pete said:


> But that puttin' in back together thing - oh man we all have stories... 30 minutes is fast for the first time!


Haha well it was a darn frustrating 30 minutes, I don't know if I've ever had a gun make me that mad before! :evil:

Bigbr, I think I'll do a spring replacement and I take a good look at the extractor while I'm at it. Thanks for the advice everyone!


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## chet (Sep 7, 2007)

I'm trying to put my thoughts into words here..... I have a few points for you gents to ponder on. keep in mind I have zero experience with this particular pistol....

1: He mentioned that he had to pull back the slide manually. New springs won't help. Springs dont get stronger with age..... new springs could help a feeding issue, but not an ejection issue (at least not in my pee-wee brain)
2: ammo makes all the difference. I hate wildcats. I have bolt guns that rip holes in the rims during ejections. I also experience wildcats sticking in chambers quite frequently (which likely causes the ejectors damaging the rim) if the brass sticks in the chamber then the action will not cycle - manually cycling the action could damage a weak ejector......
3: A burr in the chamber could catch the cartridge in one direction but not the other, possibly causing the sticky situation (combined with the crappy ammo)

just my thoughts, dont shoot me


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## Cooky (Apr 25, 2011)

Excellent point. Some .22s can be burred pretty badly by dry firing, it's common enough you can buy a tool to "iron" them out.
http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=8869 ... ONING-TOOL


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## Last Man Standing (Dec 7, 2011)

chet said:


> 1: He mentioned that he had to pull back the slide manually. New springs won't help. Springs dont get stronger with age..... new springs could help a feeding issue, but not an ejection issue (at least not in my pee-wee brain)


You're right, I should have clarified what I meant. I didn't think the ejecting issue had anything to do with the main spring that closes the bolt. You can't see it in my picture cause I got the bolt locked back, but there is a little spring on the side of the bolt. That spring is the one that puts tension on the ejector and allows a round to slip into place but maintains enough pressure to hold onto the rim for ejection. My thinking was that if that spring was dead it would have a very sloppy hold on the round and perhaps slip off of it fairly easy. The slide itself is buttery smooth, which leads me to think the all around best possibility is that some burring has occurred. I think my grandpa had a tendency to lower the pin before storage so that would add up.

Sorry if this doesnt make much sense, I'm tapping away on my phone and it's giving me some trouble haha Solid points though Chet. Thanks


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