Ruger mark iv won't clean

H

Huh12345

New member
So I have put about 1500 rounds through my mark iv and have cleaned it after each use. I have had a plethora of issues with it and have now another. Evertime I put a wet patch through the patch will come out clean but the barrel will be visibly filled with crud. I have tried and tried and tried to clean it putting well over 100 patches and using a wire brush and trying dry patches and it only seems to make it worse. I quite honestly fed up with this gun and am considering just taking it and getting my money back. It is also worth noting a geeenish blue liquid is coming out of it and I don't think it could be copper fouling. Any ideas???

Thanks.
 
If you can see deposition in the barrel and your cleaner is not removing it then I would bet your cleaner is not able to solubilize the deposition. The metal the gun is made of or its construction is probably not the issue. A different cleaner is needed. If it the deposition is green it could be acidified copper but if that is the case then your cleaner might be acidic which is not the best cleaner. Are you shooting jacketed ammo? What cleaner are you using? A good cleaner should have some solvent and surfactant in it. If you don't know what is in your cleaner you can request a Safety Data Sheet from the manufacturer or maybe even look it up on the interweb.
 
He is shooting a 22LR. It does not (or should not) need frequent cleaning, but; that is not the question.

I cannot help much. This seems very odd. I did have to clean my Mk IV when I first took it home. The bore looked perfect after cleaning and hardly seems to get dirty at all. I am shooing CCI std vel. Not that it matters for your situation.

It is possible ruger broke the tooling when they rifled your barrel. How did it look after the initial cleaning? Is it accurate off the bench. I would expect 2" at 25 yards as a absolute maximum. Mine all do much better, but a crap barrel might not hold to even that. I have thought about getting one of the new, low cost, Lyman bore scopes. I did not, but stories like this remind me to re-think that purchase.
 
After the first couple of cleanings it was fine. It got perfectly clean, no problem. I am going to take it to the shop I bought it from and see what they think and then probably ask for my money back. I have sent this gun to ruger twice already because of issues with the manufacrung of the pistol...
 
One thing I often do when my solvent isn't loosening things up is run oil through. Then brush with the oil instead, and then go back to solvent again. Oil seems to do as well for cleaning as solvent much if the time, at least for me. Also a stiffer brush might help.
 
Is it malfunctioning or are you noting accuracy problems? If not, then you don't have a problem.

If you are having malfunctions or accuracy issues then try the following.

1. Put a nitro solvent wetted patch down the bore and let it set for a few seconds. Then, using a solvent wetted bronze/brass bore brush, do several passes--maybe 10 or so. Be sure to go all the way through with the brush coming out the end of the bore and then all the way back through with the bore coming out the back of the bore rather than trying to reverse the brush while it's in the bore.

2. Using dry patches, COMPLETELY dry the bore. If the patches come out pretty nasty, wet the bore again with another nitro solvent wetted patch and then dry it again. Don't worry if the second round of dry patches come out dirty.

3. Wet a patch using a copper solvent or MPro 7 bore cleaner or Hoppes Elite bore cleaner and wet the bore thoroughly. Alternatively, fill the bore with a foaming bore cleaner--I recommend BreakFree Foaming Bore cleaner. Go watch TV until the next commercial break.

4. Using dry patches, COMPLETELY dry the bore.

Repeat all steps in order until the patches come out completely clean in step 4.
 
Oooh I haven't tried a foaming cleaner. Might need to get some! Walmart sells breakfree stuff, maybe I can get the foaming cleaner there too?
 
I think WalMart is where I got mine. Some of the foaming borecleaners are really awesome, some are only decent. The BreakFree has worked well for me. I seem to recall using Gunslick's foaming bore cleaner with good results. I'm using Hoppes Elite foaming bore cleaner right now and I'm not as happy with it in spite of the fact that I really like the Hoppes Elite NON-foaming bore cleaner.

Anyway, the key is alternating the nitro solvent and copper solvent and avoiding using the copper solvent/bore cleaner with the brass/bronze brush. The nitro solvent is used with the brush, the copper solvent/bore cleaner is used only with patches and the bore is thoroughly dried when changing from one to the other.

Otherwise the bits of brass/bronze from the brush dissolve in the copper solvent/bore cleaner and give a false impression that the bore is dirty by showing green on the patches.

Here's another post I made on cleaning centerfire pistols. Usually you don't need to do this much work on a rimfire. I generally clean my rimfires with patches only.

https://thefiringline.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6345798&postcount=7
 
I pretty much use breakfree for everything. I've got some Enos Slide Glide Lite but overall I don't see a reason to buy crazy oils and cleaners. BF makes proven stuff, so does Hoppes, and they're available everywhere. Works for me!
 
You have already doubtless gotten better advice than I could give on solvents. But I would reiterate what the other poster said: it doesn't have to be broken down and cleaned super squeaky spotless after every time yoi shoot it. I have a similar 22 pistol that is annoying to field strip. I swab out the barrel a few times after every shooting. I don't field strip it until I've shot 500 rounds or more. I could probably wait longer. It doesn't malfunction and is still more accurate than I am. And if it did malfunction, nbd, it's just a 22 caliber range toy and plinker. No one's life is on the line.
 
^^^^ Likewise. I own a Ruger MkII, one of the models that lacks the MkIV easy-strip feature, and mine is one of the individual guns with a "tight" receiver and frame that don't come apart or go back together easily.

My post-range routine is to lock the bolt back and clean out the inside of the receiver, the breech face, and bolt face with CLP and Q-Tip Precision Tips. Once they're clean, I oil the bolt and call it good. I normally don't even look at the bore.

Every once in a while, the pistol has occasional failures to eject and stovepipes because the chamber is getting dirty. My favorite solution is a good soak in Gunslick foaming bore cleaner followed by a clean BoreSnake, again with the bolt locked back. This seems to fix the FTE problems for the next several thousand rounds. The bore doesn't come out looking perfectly clean—perhaps 90% clean—but the pistol functions and shoots just fine, and that's what I care about.

I only take the pistol apart and thoroughly clean the bore (and trigger area) about once a year.
 
Ballistol (or a good CLP that will dissolve copper and lead buildup) that barrel and use a wire brush (no patch) like crazy. Then souse patches down that puppy until it shines like new.
 
Lots of good advice but the green coming out is a concern that maybe you are damaging the metal, just a thought. Maybe try a different cleaner.

The Mark pistols run pretty much trouble free even when moderately dirty. I have several one, a 1969 Mark I, with over 30,000 rounds through it and it rarely has any hick-Ups.
 
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Carguy,

Agreed and to take it to the next step. You can drop the backstrap / mainspring housing and pull the bolt without separating the upper and lower. That is to clean and lube the the bolt. Easy. I have the Mk IV (and older Mks) and the IV has a cool push button, but; not a big deal as far as practical goes. A REAL cleaning, requires all the pins pushed out out and compete gutting of the gun. If you dont do that is it just a little better angle on the spray cans with the upper removed. As always-IMHO.

I dont shoot enough to have gotten to need the full tear down, detail cleaning. Take my 2c, for what its worth. I only had too separated by old Mk's to do upgrades or just to learn how or inspect one time.

I am a firm believer that rimfire guns get more wear from cleaning than shooting. Your cleaning rod or pull through should never touch the bore. Only the patch should touch. I dont like to run a gun dry either, which is why I pull the bolt.

Not to mess with the OP head. If he did not do the cleaning a real problem might have gone un noticed. There is no reason in the world a 22 should be hard to clean like this. I, think, anyway.
 
I quite honestly fed up with this gun and am considering just taking it and getting my money back.
Click to expand...
If you can get your gun store to give you your money back after 1,500 rounds through it, you need to write a book on the art of persuasion. :)
 
I clean it after every use but I suppose after hearing all the advice that is unnecessary. In terms of accuracy I am not good enough of a shot to judge whether it is havinf accuracy issues or not. I'll just keep shooting it and if the stuff in the barrel becomes a problem I will take action. I may also just try another cleaner when it needs to be cleaned next.

Thanks for the great advice!
 
Accuracy and functioning aside,

JohnKSa
"Is it malfunctioning or are you noting accuracy problems? If not, then you don't have a problem."
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This is an expensive gun and personally one of the reasons I'd pay the extra is because of it's good looks/beauty. For me that includes insides as well as outsides.

OP. What about lapping it? I've used lead remover cloth on a jag, or wrapped around an older bronze brush. I've done this in combination with soaking with Montana Cowboy Blend gun cleaner to get a mirror like bore on several guns.
 
I did shoot 50 rounds of CCI Copper, maybe this is the problem. If some small pieces of the polymer/copper bullet have become embedded in the barrel it could be the cause of the dirty appearance and the greenish blue fluid that is coming out.

Just a thought.
 
If some small pieces of the polymer/copper bullet have become embedded in the barrel
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If pieces of polymer or copper have become embedded in your steel barrel you have some massive problems and need to send it back to Ruger right now.
 
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