need help with Ruger Mklll 22/45 reassembly

[bdykd0]

I need some one on one help ....

I have a new Ruger Mklll 22/45 that I took apart and installed a replacement magazine disconnect bushing from Sam Lam of Canada...

it's suppose to aid in the magazine releasing easier ....

Getting the gun apart was easy enough ....

got the hammer pin pushed 3/4 thru and removed the hammer, spring, and metal disconnect piece....

swapped out the bushing in the hammer with the one from Sam ....

put the hammer assembly back into the gun ( minus the old spring and disconnect piece ) and tried and tried to push the pin back thru everything .... it wouldn't go .....

so back apart came everything .....

upon closer inspection I learned that the pin would not pass thru the new bushing-- even outside of the gun ....the hole was a bit too tight to even start it in .... so I found a 5/32 drill bit and worked it thru the new bushing ( Slowly and in reverse ) until I got it reamed out just enough for the pin to slide thru the bushing ....

great; I was feeling pretty good about it now ...

I got busy putting the hammer assembly back into the gun frame when the pin slipped back a bit and caused the slide release piece to fall out of alignment .... then the sear/spring asembly popped forward ....

I spent the rest of the day with my big fingers and several tiny parts in a narrow gun frame trying to line up several loose parts all at one time ,,,, really frustrating .... but I finally got it .....

thats when I noticed the trigger spring/plunger had came out and I had to disassemble everything again to reinsert them first , before getting all the other parts back in again ....

anyhow, I've said all this to say that I'm not afraid to tackle new things ...and am mechanically inclined ... I felt confident in tackling this

BUT I can't get the pistol to go back together now ..... the mainspring pin will not push all the way UP .....

I've tried tilting the pistol upwards 90/ 45 degrees, with / without a magazine inserted, pulling the trigger to raise the hammer, etc.

is there anyone in the Crockett Mills / Dyersburg area that I can meet to show me what I need to do to get this pistol back in order ?

my cell number is 731-445-4193

[Mike.357]

Ouch, i am sure someone will step up and help.

Fwiw i won't even break mine down to clean it.

And you never need to prove your courage again.

[MphsTiger1981]

If you took the mag disconnector safety out, then you should not need the magazine to reassemble the pistol. I know it is a simple thing, but is the hammer strut in the right place?

You might also check out Rimfire Central. com and go to the forum for your pistol and do a search for your trouble.

[lshel]

Might make sure barrel assembly is forward enough. I usually have to take a plastic hammer and give good tap back of receiver. This gets hole in grip and receiver aligned so takedown assembly can be inserted all the way thru top hole in back of barrel.

[bdykd0]

thanks for both of the replies / tips ....

I've tried both with and without a magazine inserted .... will look at the Rimfire Central website to look for other clues also ....

As for the plastic hammer .... I'm using one ... have checked the alignment with a wooden dowel to ensure a straight shot up ...everythings good there ....

the pin goes up and end but the mainspring asembly won't fold back in ....

[Capbyrd]

Sounds like the hammer strut isn't in the proper location when you are trying to swing the mainspring assembly down. If were closer to Memphis, I'd help you out.

[Jonnin]

I have spent anywhere from 5 to 45 min putting mine back together. Tilt, pull the trigger, give it a try, repeat, repeat, .... eventually whatever it is aligns and it works. It could just be one of those fail to align issues. It could be the result of your mod but I do not see that. It just sounds like the typical ruger frustrations.

[Raoul]

I have a Mk 3. When I put mine back together I had the same issue of the spring not seating. I found at if I held the gun level to start and then tilted the rear down as I seated the spring it finally secured.

It really is a PIA. Good luck

[bdykd0]

FINALLY got it to button up ....

but somethings still not right ...

pulled the slide back and it sticks and won't spring forward ....

something internally is not just right ...

breaking it back down again....

[QuietDan]

I had one of these for a while and enjoyed shooting it. However, the cleaning drill was just too much of a PITA for me and I sold it at a loss and got something else.

Tilt it up, tilt it down, insert the magazine, remove the magazine . . . .

All those stupid little lawyer bits cluttering up an elegant design.

Edited April 18, 2012 by QuietDan

[Jonnin]

FINALLY got it to button up ....

but somethings still not right ...

pulled the slide back and it sticks and won't spring forward ....

something internally is not just right ...

breaking it back down again....

also a "normal" bad reassembly. I would say that I get mine to go into this state about 5 times on the average before it goes together correctly. I can almost always reach THIS state (assembled but busted). Thankfully, you do not have to totally remove the mainspring thingy anymore. Now you can just slip it down a bit, turn the gun over, pull the trigger, push the spring thing back in, see if it works, repeat....

By the way, let me preach a bit on the virtues of cleaning this gun with a q-tip between big cleanings. You still have to do a deep clean and disassembly now and then, but you can clean the barrel and chamber and extractor and such without taking it down, which will keep it going for a long time. Most of the crud in this gun stays in the chamber.

Edited April 18, 2012 by Jonnin

[bdykd0]

it's comforting to hear that I am not the only one that has frustrations with this procedure ....

I think I'll let it lay for a while and try it again in a few hours ....

maybe I'll see something obvious that I missed earlier ....

[Mike.357]

Why do you have to disassemble it to clean it?

I am not sure at all of the benefit?

[Jonnin]

Why do you have to disassemble it to clean it?

I am not sure at all of the benefit?

eventually, the stuff you cannot reach gets soot buildup. It takes a while, but it gets up in the firing pin / recoil spring / unreachable area of the bolt / and other places. It also, eventually, gets down in the trigger group and gunks up the feel of the trigger.

Shooting mine an average of 100 rounds a week, I find I need to deep clean it at least twice a year. I usually do it about 4 times a year though, I prefer not to wait until it actually begins to actually need it. I waited until it needed it once and it was an unholy mess in there, better to not let it get quite that bad.

[Capbyrd]

All those stupid little lawyer bits cluttering up an elegant design.

Except that the lawyer bits aren't what causes this. Its the elegant design itself that causes these problems.

[QuietDan]

Except that the lawyer bits aren't what causes this. Its the elegant design itself that causes these problems.

Do they have the same problems with the Mark I's and the Mark II's??

[Jonnin]

Do they have the same problems with the Mark I's and the Mark II's??

Yes. Mine is a mark II actually.

[Mike.357]

eventually, the stuff you cannot reach gets soot buildup. It takes a while, but it gets up in the firing pin / recoil spring / unreachable area of the bolt / and other places. It also, eventually, gets down in the trigger group and gunks up the feel of the trigger.

Shooting mine an average of 100 rounds a week, I find I need to deep clean it at least twice a year. I usually do it about 4 times a year though, I prefer not to wait until it actually begins to actually need it. I waited until it needed it once and it was an unholy mess in there, better to not let it get quite that bad.

Thanks for the input. I am currently on an anti cleaning the Ruger jag. I want to see how long it takes to fail. Dunno if i will have the patience for it. I have a big can of foaming action cleaner i can try if need be. I hate stripping the thing.

[Garufa]

Aerosol Rem Oil is great at blasting junk out of little nooks and crannies without disassembly. It dissolves and carries away alot of the fouling.

[Jonnin]

You will be waiting a while. As much as I shoot mine, it has never yet "failed" to actually operate. The only failures I have had have been sticky chamber fail to extract issues, where the case pulls out of the extractor claw because it stuck to the chamber wall. That you can clean without disassembly.

The next place it will fail is going to be a stuck firing pin, which I would bet takes 5 to 10k rounds to get that much crud.

After about 1000, it begins to deposit little soot balls onto the shooter which smear and make a horrible mess on clothing and skin. They come out the chamber, the bolt becomes so dirty it gets on you when you rack the gun, and eventually they begin to fall out of the grip when you swap mags. It can fling them when you shoot if it gets bad enough.

If you keep the chamber clean, you will be waiting a long, long time for anything serious.

I second the rem oil. It is the worst lubricant of all time, but it is an excellent cleaner/solvent and also great to spray and wipe for guns that can rust.

Edited April 18, 2012 by Jonnin

[Capbyrd]

Do they have the same problems with the Mark I's and the Mark II's??

Yep. This is due to the design of the trigger and mainspring housing. That hasn't changed in the 50 years that they've been making them. The only thing that really changed would be the mag disconnect. But that only adds the insert the mag part of the reassembly instructions.

[QuietDan]

Yep. This is due to the design of the trigger and mainspring housing. That hasn't changed in the 50 years that they've been making them. The only thing that really changed would be the mag disconnect. But that only adds the insert the mag part of the reassembly instructions.

I'm thinking the part I disliked was the "tipping up" and "tipping down" situation. I thought it was the magazine out lockout that gave me the most trouble. I'm pretty happy with the 1911 level of complication for cleaning.

[pcrc11]

Go to youtube. There are a couple of videos on there that show how to reassemble a 22/45. I took the one apart I owned few years back. Spent hours trying to get it back together. Five minutes of watching the youtube videos and I had it put back together. You will be amazed how easy they make it look.

[Jonnin]

Of course it looked easy. I can do that too.

"OK, ruger assembly, take 47, in 3, 2, 1, action!"

1911 is worse for me. Curse whoever said a tight bushing was better.

Edited April 19, 2012 by Jonnin

[pcrc11]

Of course it looked easy. I can do that too.

"OK, ruger assembly, take 47, in 3, 2, 1, action!"

1911 is worse for me. Curse whoever said a tight bushing was better.

What difference does it make as long as it gets your gun put back together.