Ruger Mark III trigger job

I also have an old Bull barrel Mk I (at the time, "Mk I" designated the target model - the first model was simply the Ruger Automatic Pistol.) and have fired it in a machine rest against an S&W Model 41. I couldn't tell the difference in groups. Even though the trigger pulls are different, they are both very usable and, as in the rest, off hand shooting showed no noticeable difference in groups.

Jim
 
(I have advised against tinkering with safety devices in a self-defense or carry gun, but the MK III Ruger is not normally used in either role so I have little hesitation about any safe alteration that can add to accuracy.)
Click to expand...

Interested fact is that, prior to it's re-design, the Mark III's LCI was anything but a safety device.

It was actually possible to fire the pistol by striking the LCI from the outside of the gun!

Honesty, I still don't trust the safety of the redesigned two-piece LCI. Best just to remove it and replace with the LCI filler pieces that are available.


.
 
Last edited:
Removing the magazine safety and installing an earlier bushing to take up the slack is not difficult. There are various videos on how to do it. Some people will use a small washer, but I think you are better off to buy the actual correct part. When you buy your Volquartsen kit, be sure to buy it for an earlier gun with no magazine safety if you remove yours. There is information on the rimfirecentral forum on how to buy a filler piece if you remove the loaded chamber indicator. Check here: http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=572563&highlight=filler
 
Filler piece?

No need to spend money to eliminate the LCI, and the jams that it causes.

My Mk. III would rarely get through a mag of cheapo bulk pack W/O a jam. A little research found the culprit. That pesky LCI.

It's very simple to remove the small tab that projects in to the chamber, and just reassemble without it. The LCI itself is the "filler" it's still there but non functional.

Worked for me and my Mk. III became like my old Mk. II, no jams. I have yet to rework the trigger and eliminate the mag safety. That's the next project.
 
Just do the mods like Fishbed77 suggested and you will see a dramatic improvement. The only other thing I've done to mine is add the Hogue finger groove grips. I strongly prefer these over the stock ones for my Mark series pistols.
 
Perhaps the so-called safety features are really "safety" features, but I prefer what I was taught 70+ years ago about handling guns safely.

Now to the Rugers, I bought a Mark iii Target. Nice gun, accurate, lousy trigger, removed the mag/firing safety device which made the trigger lighter, still not good. Bought the Volquartsen parts, trigger, hammer, sear and springs; installed them. Target was then a nice gun with a super trigger. Then, I bought a Mark iii Competition Target, also a nice accurate gun with the worst trigger I've ever pulled on a .22lr weapon. I gave it the Volquartsen treatment and replaced the hammer bushing with an after market one; at the same time replaced the hammer bushing on the Target. I wound up with two nice Mark iii's with great triggers.

Just bought a Mark ii Government Target; fired it last Tuesday. WOW! The trigger seems to be as good as what my Mark iii's now have. But, it doesn't like to eject the empties; about every third empty winds up cross wise above a fresh round being loaded.
 
Perhaps the so-called safety features are really "safety" features, but I prefer what I was taught 70+ years ago about handling guns safely.
Click to expand...

Yes - at no point was I recommending having any faith in the LCI as a safety device.

In fact it is quite the opposite.
 
Clark Custom Guns did a trigger job on a standard Ruger MKII that I own.
I purchased it because they had also mounted a red dot sight on it , detached retina's and five eye surgeries left me blind in my dominant eye and unable to use iron sights with the other , I had stopped shooting handguns, which I enjoyed doing , until this gun came along .
It's like a magic trigger, put the dot on a target and wish the shot off and the target is hit.
I shot NRA bullseye matches for years with a S&W model 41, at that time it was the best on the market. The model 41's trigger doesn't come close to the Clark trigger on that MKII, wish I had it back then.
Send it to Clark and wait for the magic to happen, those folks know exactly how to tune a Ruger. I give my trigger at 5 star + rating !
Gary
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top