Good Grief! Another Mark IV Recall?
- Thread starter SGW Gunsmith
- Start date
VoodooMountain
New member
This is the first issue I have heard about with the firing pin
I have a mk2 that I bought back in the late 80's. Great gun with the exception of the trigger and disassembly. I remember when I bought it I was able to take it apart but could not put it back together. My non gun bro who is a mechanic figured it out and showed me. Its a pain in the butt in the beginning till you figure it out. Hope ruger gets it together. It is a great design.
SGW Gunsmith
Moderator
As far as why the hole was added? I can only surmise that it may have been done to speed up "lock time". Ruger would be better equipped to answer as to why they did that. It would also be interesting to read why that hole was placed so close to the radius that hits the firing pin stop pin.
I plugged that hole on a new Mark IV firing pin with 0-1 rod, and am testing it to see if that prevents any separation or breakage.
I plugged that hole on a new Mark IV firing pin with 0-1 rod, and am testing it to see if that prevents any separation or breakage.
I still think they should have left the MKI alone despite the redundancy...I only have 22/45s, a MkII standard and MKIII Target but I have had MKI Standard models in the past. I have no experience with the MkIV.
The MIII Target 5.5" bull barrel was bought when manufacturers were afraid of good triggers and the trigger it came with defied the description "Target"... a Volquartsen kit helped somewhat. The trigger is now about the same as the 22/45 Standard 4.75", acquired a lot earlier, and is not too bad.
As far as dis/reassembly when in doubt read the instruction manual...Even the 22/45s require some "acrobatic" maneuvering to reassemble. The answer to this is don't reassemble it...I do disassemble mine on occasion but I know some very experienced and knowledgeable shooters who rarely even clean their's let alone take it apart, with no apparent ill effects.
The MIII Target 5.5" bull barrel was bought when manufacturers were afraid of good triggers and the trigger it came with defied the description "Target"... a Volquartsen kit helped somewhat. The trigger is now about the same as the 22/45 Standard 4.75", acquired a lot earlier, and is not too bad.
As far as dis/reassembly when in doubt read the instruction manual...Even the 22/45s require some "acrobatic" maneuvering to reassemble. The answer to this is don't reassemble it...I do disassemble mine on occasion but I know some very experienced and knowledgeable shooters who rarely even clean their's let alone take it apart, with no apparent ill effects.
The MKII was the best of the series. I have to relearn how to assemble the thing each time, getting the mainspring assembly and hammer strut together is tricky. The more I do it, the faster I get. Last night, after a Bullseye Match, I did the reassembly very quickly. I had my hook pick in case the stupid hammer strut got under the frame cross pin.
The MKIII is even worse as you have to stick the magazine in and out to get the hammer to fall. In every point of departure from the MKII, the MKIII is a more complicated, confusing, and unreliable variation. The first MKIII's, the loaded chamber indicator rested directly on the cartridge rim. If you dropped the pistol on the loaded chamber indicator the cartridge would ignite. It also caused stove pipe jams in a Friends MKIII. We had the device milled, defeating the loaded chamber indicator function, but after that he could go through a magazine without a stove pipe jam.
My Ruger MKII Stainless is a reliable and accurate pistol
However, the factory firing pin was soft, peened/mushroomed in the back, and that caused misfires. I think the material is stainless steel which is shallow hardening. I don't need corrosion resistance in this application, I need toughness.
So I replaced this factory firing pin with a Volquartsen, which is made from an alloy steel. It works great.
The MKIII is even worse as you have to stick the magazine in and out to get the hammer to fall. In every point of departure from the MKII, the MKIII is a more complicated, confusing, and unreliable variation. The first MKIII's, the loaded chamber indicator rested directly on the cartridge rim. If you dropped the pistol on the loaded chamber indicator the cartridge would ignite. It also caused stove pipe jams in a Friends MKIII. We had the device milled, defeating the loaded chamber indicator function, but after that he could go through a magazine without a stove pipe jam.
My Ruger MKII Stainless is a reliable and accurate pistol
However, the factory firing pin was soft, peened/mushroomed in the back, and that caused misfires. I think the material is stainless steel which is shallow hardening. I don't need corrosion resistance in this application, I need toughness.
So I replaced this factory firing pin with a Volquartsen, which is made from an alloy steel. It works great.
SGW Gunsmith
Moderator
The back end of that firing pin sure is a sad looking affair. Ruger doesn't actually make the firing pins for the Ruger Mark pistols, they out-source those parts to an outside firm that stamps those parts out using a stamping die.
On some of the factory firing pins I have in stock, I have found the heat-treat inspection dimple from where they've measured the hardness on a Rockwell Tester. So, as you pointed out, there may indeed have been a batch of firing pins that reached Ruger, and were not heat treated properly.
There's a very good reason that there are several aftermarket outfits making much better firing pins for the Ruger Mark pistols. Just stay away from the titanium version. They have a tendency to become brittle from work hardening and then break.
On some of the factory firing pins I have in stock, I have found the heat-treat inspection dimple from where they've measured the hardness on a Rockwell Tester. So, as you pointed out, there may indeed have been a batch of firing pins that reached Ruger, and were not heat treated properly.
There's a very good reason that there are several aftermarket outfits making much better firing pins for the Ruger Mark pistols. Just stay away from the titanium version. They have a tendency to become brittle from work hardening and then break.