Ruger mark III 22/45 problems! Need help - The Firearms Forum

Daric · 01-23-2012, 10:39 PM

I have watched hours of people taking down and putting back together this gun on youtube ,but nobody seems to be having the problem I am. I can not get the barrel to disengage from the frame. The slide stop and hammer are down. Every video I see they just hold grip and push foward on back of frame while pulling on barrel and it snaps off. In the manual it says if you need to you can tap rear of bolt with plastic hammer to remove. I have done that and got so mad I was hitting it harder than should ever be needed and it still did not move foward at all. Retaining bolt and main bolt all came out fine. I purchased this from davidsons and was thinking of just sending back and trying anouther but wanted to tell my troubles here and get some advise if possible.I have taken down and put back together these guns without problems in the past and can not find any reason for this problem. Thanks

todd51 · 01-24-2012, 07:56 AM

Daric, I have a recently purchased MK III bull barrel. It is the very difficult to remove the barrel from the frame on this one. I have to brace the front of the frame (padded with a piece of leather) against my workbench and whack it several times rather heavily with a none marring hammer. Same thing when putting it back together, I really have to hammer on it. This new pistol is much more difficult than the two year old Hunter that I have. I have even done a little polishing on the mating surfaces and that helped but this one is really tight. I never get over how ridiculous it is to have to take a hammer to a gun to get it apart or back together. I would say just whack it a couple good ones but brace the frame and watch that the barrel doesn't go flying off some place you don't want it to go.

gunslinger69 · 01-24-2012, 08:51 AM

This will be VERY hard the first time you do it, I think ruger uses a press to assemble this to get proper alignment. It takes a pretty good whack, like todd51 said just be careful where everything flies off when it does come apart.

PPK 32 · 01-24-2012, 10:37 AM

Its been a while since I've done my MKIII, but I think I did have to give it a good wrap with a rubber mallet. I always have to give my MKII a whack, not real hard, my Standard just falls apart. I think Ruger has a pretty wide tolerance on this. I don't hold the gun against anything I just hold the two pieces together, wrap it with the hammer and let em slide apart.

Daric · 01-25-2012, 07:44 PM

Thanks for advise. I hope it loosens up sum with shooting. I have never owned a gun that had to be beat with a mallet just to break down for cleaning.I did get the barrel off. I target shot the gun and was very impressed with accuracy and had no problems with cheap ammo. Thanks

todd51 · 01-25-2012, 08:18 PM

Daric, keep your eye on lining up the barrel when you put on as it is possible on some of them to cant it a wee bit clock or counter clock wise and that will not allow the bolt stop pin to go in.

Buckshot · 01-26-2012, 04:29 AM

I've owned a bunch of these, and I took the barrel off the frame on the first one I ever had just because the owner's manual said I could. I learned two things:

1. Depending on the particular specimen it could be very difficult and require a lot of "percussive maintenance" to remove and replace.

2. There's just about no reason to ever do it, making the whole struggle kinda silly.

PPK 32 · 01-26-2012, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by todd51

Daric, keep your eye on lining up the barrel when you put on as it is possible on some of them to cant it a wee bit clock or counter clock wise and that will not allow the bolt stop pin to go in.

Got a trick for this. I keep a philips screw driver aside just for lining the holes up, its diameter is the same size as the hole (not tight though). Once I put it together I put the screw driver in, push it down until everything lines up. Makes this task easier.

todd51 · 01-26-2012, 10:42 AM

Thanks for the tip PPK32. I like my Ruger MK's but I still get pi##ed every time I have to take a hammer to them. That just doesn't sit well with me beating on a fire arm like that. This new 5.5" Target is the worst of all.

Daric · 01-31-2012, 01:58 AM

Thanks for all the advise. Unfortunately I am now in a worse pickle that will probably only be solved by gunsmith. Some how or another the sear pin moved out slightly and everything inside ended up jammed. I did get apart after hour of cussing. I'm not sure if beating on gun jarred it slightly sideways somehow or if someone else that was around wanted to tinker and screwed it up. Doesn't really matter now. I have accounted for all of parts and after looking at gun diagrams decided to bag it and take to a pro.

jlloyd73 · 01-31-2012, 06:41 AM

My son just got one of these Rugers and it is a pain in the BUTT, but a little patience goes a long way.

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

http://www.wiztechs.com/knightsrealm...ield_strip.htm

todd51 · 01-31-2012, 08:17 AM

Daric, have a go at putting it back together. With the on-line help jlloyd gave you I think with a little more cussing you can do it. I think you are right that the hammering jarred the pin out. The only aggravating part of reassembly is the hammer pin, hammer, safety and slide release. You will cuss a few times till you get the hang of it. But look at it this way. Once it is back together you will never worry about having to completely tear it down in the future.

PPK 32 · 01-31-2012, 08:38 AM

Got my first Ruger many years ago at a gun show. Mk II target. It shoots great.....I do too!! Anyway, I watched the you tube, got help from Pawn trying to figure out how to put this darn thing back together. I use to take notes out to the garage for cleaning time, and only cleaned it when I was in the mood for a fight. Same story, either couldn't get it to lock up right, or would lock up great but the gun wouldn't work. I don't know what it finally took for it to sink in, but it finally did. Now, I can take it apart, clean it and 9 times out of 10, it will work after cleaning, it still messes with me to keep me sharp. Never had a gun apart with a hammer but never had a gun that's this easy to clean, ya can't launch parts off of these, like a 1911 or a Beretta.

fuzebox40 · 01-31-2012, 01:15 PM

I guess with every variation the included mentality is "Make it tighter, they're still getting it off!".
My MKII was no extreme case but the palm of my hand was getting sore when I decided, under protest, that I would have to cross the room for a mallet. I'm not lazy but this meant standing up and walking! I hate it when that happens!

01-23-2012, 10:39 PM	#1
Daric Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: TN Posts: 44	Ruger mark III 22/45 problems! Need help I have watched hours of people taking down and putting back together this gun on youtube ,but nobody seems to be having the problem I am. I can not get the barrel to disengage from the frame. The slide stop and hammer are down. Every video I see they just hold grip and push foward on back of frame while pulling on barrel and it snaps off. In the manual it says if you need to you can tap rear of bolt with plastic hammer to remove. I have done that and got so mad I was hitting it harder than should ever be needed and it still did not move foward at all. Retaining bolt and main bolt all came out fine. I purchased this from davidsons and was thinking of just sending back and trying anouther but wanted to tell my troubles here and get some advise if possible.I have taken down and put back together these guns without problems in the past and can not find any reason for this problem. Thanks --> Last edited by Daric; 01-23-2012 at 10:41 PM.. Reason: spelling

01-24-2012, 07:56 AM	#2
todd51 Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Central, Ohio Contributor Posts: 2,572	Re: Ruger mark III 22/45 problems! Need help Daric, I have a recently purchased MK III bull barrel. It is the very difficult to remove the barrel from the frame on this one. I have to brace the front of the frame (padded with a piece of leather) against my workbench and whack it several times rather heavily with a none marring hammer. Same thing when putting it back together, I really have to hammer on it. This new pistol is much more difficult than the two year old Hunter that I have. I have even done a little polishing on the mating surfaces and that helped but this one is really tight. I never get over how ridiculous it is to have to take a hammer to a gun to get it apart or back together. I would say just whack it a couple good ones but brace the frame and watch that the barrel doesn't go flying off some place you don't want it to go. __________________ Retired Praefectus Vigilum NRA Endowment Member

01-24-2012, 08:51 AM	#3
gunslinger69 V.I.P. Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: maine Posts: 84	Re: Ruger mark III 22/45 problems! Need help This will be VERY hard the first time you do it, I think ruger uses a press to assemble this to get proper alignment. It takes a pretty good whack, like todd51 said just be careful where everything flies off when it does come apart.

01-24-2012, 10:37 AM	#4
PPK 32 Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Frickin, Illinois Posts: 1,170	Re: Ruger mark III 22/45 problems! Need help Its been a while since I've done my MKIII, but I think I did have to give it a good wrap with a rubber mallet. I always have to give my MKII a whack, not real hard, my Standard just falls apart. I think Ruger has a pretty wide tolerance on this. I don't hold the gun against anything I just hold the two pieces together, wrap it with the hammer and let em slide apart. __________________ -Every road leads to a town, every town has a tavern, therefore you are never really lost. -If you are gonna be stupid, you'd better be tough. Jim Parrish

01-25-2012, 07:44 PM	#5
Daric Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: TN Posts: 44	Re: Ruger mark III 22/45 problems! Need help Thanks for advise. I hope it loosens up sum with shooting. I have never owned a gun that had to be beat with a mallet just to break down for cleaning.I did get the barrel off. I target shot the gun and was very impressed with accuracy and had no problems with cheap ammo. Thanks

01-25-2012, 08:18 PM	#6
todd51 Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Central, Ohio Contributor Posts: 2,572	Re: Ruger mark III 22/45 problems! Need help Daric, keep your eye on lining up the barrel when you put on as it is possible on some of them to cant it a wee bit clock or counter clock wise and that will not allow the bolt stop pin to go in. __________________ Retired Praefectus Vigilum NRA Endowment Member

01-26-2012, 04:29 AM	#7
Buckshot Senior Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Southern AZ Posts: 882	Re: Ruger mark III 22/45 problems! Need help I've owned a bunch of these, and I took the barrel off the frame on the first one I ever had just because the owner's manual said I could. I learned two things: 1. Depending on the particular specimen it could be very difficult and require a lot of "percussive maintenance" to remove and replace. 2. There's just about no reason to ever do it, making the whole struggle kinda silly. __________________ United States of America - Born July 4th, 1776 - Killed by 50 million brain-dead zombies November 6th, 2012 Mack: Shame what this town's come to. Charley Waite: You could do something about it. Mack: What? We're freighters. Ralph here's a shopkeeper. Charley Waite: You're men, ain't you? Mack: I didn't raise my boys just to see 'em killed. Charley Waite: Well you may not know this, but there's things that gnaw at a man worse than dying. - Open Range MOLON LABE

01-26-2012, 10:42 AM	#9
todd51 Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Central, Ohio Contributor Posts: 2,572	Re: Ruger mark III 22/45 problems! Need help Thanks for the tip PPK32. I like my Ruger MK's but I still get pi##ed every time I have to take a hammer to them. That just doesn't sit well with me beating on a fire arm like that. This new 5.5" Target is the worst of all. __________________ Retired Praefectus Vigilum NRA Endowment Member

01-31-2012, 01:58 AM	#10
Daric Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: TN Posts: 44	Re: Ruger mark III 22/45 problems! Need help Thanks for all the advise. Unfortunately I am now in a worse pickle that will probably only be solved by gunsmith. Some how or another the sear pin moved out slightly and everything inside ended up jammed. I did get apart after hour of cussing. I'm not sure if beating on gun jarred it slightly sideways somehow or if someone else that was around wanted to tinker and screwed it up. Doesn't really matter now. I have accounted for all of parts and after looking at gun diagrams decided to bag it and take to a pro. Last edited by Daric; 01-31-2012 at 01:59 AM.. Reason: spelling

01-31-2012, 06:41 AM	#11
jlloyd73 Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Contributor Posts: 1,932	Re: Ruger mark III 22/45 problems! Need help My son just got one of these Rugers and it is a pain in the BUTT, but a little patience goes a long way. http://guntalk-online.com/TroubleshootingPage.htm http://www.wiztechs.com/knightsrealm...ield_strip.htm __________________ --------------------------------------------------- The only thing better than good family is good friends. J and D Lloyd Get ready...it's getting "real" and really fast!

01-31-2012, 08:17 AM	#12
todd51 Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Central, Ohio Contributor Posts: 2,572	Re: Ruger mark III 22/45 problems! Need help Daric, have a go at putting it back together. With the on-line help jlloyd gave you I think with a little more cussing you can do it. I think you are right that the hammering jarred the pin out. The only aggravating part of reassembly is the hammer pin, hammer, safety and slide release. You will cuss a few times till you get the hang of it. But look at it this way. Once it is back together you will never worry about having to completely tear it down in the future. __________________ Retired Praefectus Vigilum NRA Endowment Member

01-31-2012, 08:38 AM	#13
PPK 32 Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Frickin, Illinois Posts: 1,170	Re: Ruger mark III 22/45 problems! Need help Got my first Ruger many years ago at a gun show. Mk II target. It shoots great.....I do too!! Anyway, I watched the you tube, got help from Pawn trying to figure out how to put this darn thing back together. I use to take notes out to the garage for cleaning time, and only cleaned it when I was in the mood for a fight. Same story, either couldn't get it to lock up right, or would lock up great but the gun wouldn't work. I don't know what it finally took for it to sink in, but it finally did. Now, I can take it apart, clean it and 9 times out of 10, it will work after cleaning, it still messes with me to keep me sharp. Never had a gun apart with a hammer but never had a gun that's this easy to clean, ya can't launch parts off of these, like a 1911 or a Beretta. __________________ -Every road leads to a town, every town has a tavern, therefore you are never really lost. -If you are gonna be stupid, you'd better be tough. Jim Parrish

01-31-2012, 01:15 PM	#14
fuzebox40 Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Apple Valley, Ca. Contributor Posts: 1,485	Re: Ruger mark III 22/45 problems! Need help I guess with every variation the included mentality is "Make it tighter, they're still getting it off!". My MKII was no extreme case but the palm of my hand was getting sore when I decided, under protest, that I would have to cross the room for a mallet. I'm not lazy but this meant standing up and walking! I hate it when that happens!