How picky is your Ruger MKlll?

O

Ocraknife

New member
Mine is a jam o matic with any ammo I've fed it - probably more than 10 different kinds. I can rarely get through a mag without at least one FTE/FTF.

I've tried high velocity, normal velocity, low velocity, round nose, hollow point, plates, unplated and the results are better with some ammo than others but there is no ammo that I've been able to go a more than 30 rounds or so without a failure.

anyone else experience this? Should I send it back to Ruger?
 
I had one for only a brief time, but it ran like any other rimfire auto; about 99%.
If you are having failures to feed, and failures to extract and/or eject, it's going to be tough to diagnose. The classic suspicion, especially if you've used many different types of ammo, is a mag problem; any obvious damage?
Heavy tool marks on the breechface or barrel?
Sharp edges on the chamber entrance (could hinder feeding and extraction)?
 
Mine has been great as far as rimfire semi-auto pistols go. Function has been particularly good with anything CCI; but I feed it mostly a steady diet of cheap Winchester plated .22 from the 333/555rd packs. I also do a lot of suppressed shooting.

At the end of the day, it is a rimfire semi-auto though. It just isn't going to be as reliable as a centerfire caliber - especially not with a wide variety of .22LR.
 
Have you customized the Ruger at all? Anything you swapped out, Ruger will replace to back to stock condition. I assume people know that, but I also realize some situations fall through the cracks based on assumptions.

How long have you had it? The way you write the post, it sounds like it has never worked right in the entire time you owned it. Are you first owner or was it used?

Without hands-on, I can't identify what is happening.

I have 3 Ruger Mark series. A 22/45 [MKII, I guess], a MK II Government and a MKII.5 [MKIII upper with lci replaced and MKII lower, for mag compatibility with others].

I have also gone through them with a fine tooth comb to make the trigger work as I want it to.

I can't remember any significant jams [either FTFeed or FTE]. In 10 years. With any of them.

And I use the cheapest bulk .22lr HP ammo you can find.


You said you tried 10 types of ammo. Was all of it HP?

A thought occurred: if it were all 10 varieties of .22lr standard load on a new gun, I wonder if it hadn't broken in enough to cycle properly yet?

Another thought occurred: same thought, but all in the Hyper-velocity realm [of Stingers and up, 1350-1700fps loads].

No problems I can remember in mine, but I am sure it did have jams- just nothing noteworthy.
 
The only ammo I have had trouble with was the truncated cone projectile type (Remington). Everything else was worked with no problems. I have read of some magazine issues. Have you tried a different magazine? If so, send it back to Ruger.
 
Had one. It fired anything you could put in it. Ammo, gravel, tears of liberals.

Still hated that stupid gun so I sold it.
 
I have a 22/45 with perhaps 9000 rounds through it. Mine is not jamming like yours but when I first got it it jammed a lot more. After some examination I discovered the problem. I made the mistake of shooting a couple boxes of thunderbolts through it when I first got it. Worst ammo ever. I didn't realize how badly those had leaded the barrel and gummed everything up. The bore looked clean and shiny but it was leaded. I had cleaned the gun several times but not a deep clean. I pulled it completely apart and basically ruined two brass bore brushes getting all the lead out. Then I really had to clean around the feed ramp. That made things a lot better. I stayed away from anything Remington from that point on. I was still getting an FTE or an FTF every couple hundred rounds or so. At that point I started experimenting with ammo types. I found that copper plated worked much better than lubed or lead round nose. It also would have occasional hiccups with hollow points. I have finally found a brand that is 100% so far in about 2000 rounds. Aguila high velocity copper plated 40 gn round nose. Great stuff.
 
I had the first Mk 3 22/45 that came out, 4" barrel. It wouldn't feed any 'hollowpoint', only RN such as Thunderbolts. Ruger sent me a new bolt but obviously not the issue.

It's almost as if the feed ramp was too short. I kept getting 'smilies' of lead off the bullet nose.

I sold it and got a Mk 2 22/45 which ate everything.
 
Got the Hunter III and so far it's ran perfect. Got it at a pawn shop for $450, tax inc. With spare mag and scope base to.

Deaf
 
The Ruger Mk's have been around forever and have a reputation for being very reliable, so something is not right here.

First of all, make sure your Mk III is clean and lightly lubed. 22LR ammo is notorious for being dirty, so I like to use a dry lube like One-Shot on them.

Do the malfunctions happen with all your magazine, or just one? If you bought it used, maybe the magazines lips or magazine springs are at fault.

The loaded chamber indicator on the Mk III's is also a common cause of malfunctioning, since it adds a great place for "gunk" to build-up. Make sure this area is kept clean, or just remove the d##% thing like I did.

If this doesn't solve the problem, then a trip back to Ruger is the next move.
 
Mine has never seemed to be picky. However, after shooting some of that cheap Winchester stuff through it (which is exceptionally dirty ammo), I decided to stick with CCI stuff. I was lucky enough to get some on sale a couple of years ago and still have 1500 rounds or so.

Sounds like something is wrong with it.
 
I have a MKIII Target model. I haven't shot it in quite a while but it usually worked fine with just about any ammo I used. As mentioned, keep clean and well lubed as cheaper ammo is dirtier ammo usually. If your MKIII is that finicky, I'd give Ruger a call and send it back to have them take a look at it. They offer excellent customer service. Good luck! :)
 
Mine is the target model with a "USA Shooter" logo on the back. It was one of the more expensive MKIIIs so I expected more from it.

I've used High velocity round nose and those perform better but still jam too often.

It's not a mag problem because it does it with every mag

It's not a dirt or lack of oil issues as I keep it clean and lubed

I don't think it's a break in issue as I've fired at least 2,000 out of it

I think it needs to go back to Ruger. Hopefully they actually look at it and not just clean it and send it back.
 
If FTE is Failure to extract, then take a look at the extractor.
My MKII when I first got it had occasional FTExtract nad FTEject.
I replaced the extractor with VQ extractor - no issues after that.
 
In the thousands upon thousands of rounds through mine I can count failures on one hand. The only time it starts having trouble is after a few hundred rounds, rimfire ammo is filthy.
 
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