Ruger Mark III .22/45

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I am a new gun owner. I purchaced a S&W .45 1911 5" and a Ruger M III .22/45. The .45 worked great. First 100 rounds no issues - awesome gun.

Then I moved to the .22. What a disappointment. My first clip of 10, it jammed after 3 shots. It continued to jam after 5 - 10 shots. Very frustrating. Before I purchased the Ruger, I was looking at a Wather P22 (sp?), and was told the Mark II was "reliable".

Did I do something wrong? I want to return it, but wanted to reach out to the forum to see if it was me?

Thanks in advance!!
 
First try the other magazine and then different ammo.

I have several Mk 3's and they are work horse guns that thrive on heavy use. Mine are used constantly for training and have never dissappointed me.

The 22/45 can be a royal pain to re-assemble until you get used to it and have done it once or twice so read the manual and follow it specifically for assembly and you'll have no issues.
 
Did you clean and lubricate it first? Both my MkIII's came coated it a very heavy oil. I would at least pull the bolt, clean it and apply a light oil like CLP.

Did it stove pipe, ie leave the spent case jammed between the bolt and the receiver? If it did the Volquartsen Edge Extractor fixes the majority of these problems. I have one mkIII that has run perfectly since day one. I have another that could not make it through a magazine without stove piping. Replacing the extractor with the VQ one fixed all the problems.

Welcome to the forum and good luck.

ETA: Scouter Rick brings up a good point. .22 guns can be finicky with ammo. Mine run well on the Federal 550 bulk from Walmart, CCI mini-mags, CCI SV, or Aguila from the CMP.
 
Thanks for the response! It would jam with 1/2 of the bullet in and 1/2 out of the barrell (Make sense?)

It ejected the cartridge's ok.

I did not clean it before using. The gun at the store said I did not need to.

I will try cleaning and change the ammo. I will take a look at the extractor too.

Thanks!
 
Surprisingly I don't think the ruger is that hard to disassemble. Other the magazine problems mine has worked good. Now did you get the one with.removable panels or the older style. Check out rimfire central for tips on the gun that place is a wealth of information on .22so
 
Surprisingly I don't think the ruger is that hard to disassemble. Other the magazine problems mine has worked good. Now did you get the one with.removable panels or the older style. Check out rimfire central for tips on the gun that place is a wealth of information on .22so


Thanks Steve - I will take a look!
 
PHP:
The MarkIII isn't that bad once you've done it a few times. [wink]

Those videos really helped me the first couple of times though. [grin]

Thanks again Bill!! I guess I am more afraid I will ruin it.

Another question (Maybe a stupid question): Is it me or are all cleaning rods, swabs etc different? I wanted to see if there was anything (dirt etc) in the .22 barrel, but the kit that I got from the store worked fine for the .44 but not the .22, are there different kits? or one size fits all and I am just a novice?

Thanks!!
 
Where are you located? If you are near Westford I could give you a hand taking it apart, and more importantly, putting it back together the first time.
 
PM me with where you live bokedol... if you are close enough i am thinking it's time for you to visit and we'll round off some of those rough edges.
 
I had to lightly file the exit point of the magazines to get a completely reliable feed rate. I think the stamped edges were catching the brass as it left the mag. If you do this, make sure you only smooth the edges and do not remove too much.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk
 
I had the same exact problem... It was the mags. The bullets would catch in mine. They still do sometimes... but the problem decreased after I coated the interior of the mags with rem oil.
 
I had a similar issue with my 22/45 using cci mini mags, consistently failing at least once on every mag. i switched to aguila ammo and have been flawless for the last 500 rounds through the gun. I read a post somewhere saying that the stock extractor can be a problem, a replacement is apparently easy to install and available at midway, but i haven't tried that yet
 
Really? I just traded in my Walther P22 so that my wife could purchase the Ruger MKIII. Hands down, no questions the Ruger is the better of the two pistols. First day, without cleaning it, we put 400 rounds through it with ZERO malfunctions. The pistol was spot on with shots, and shot like a champ. I'm going to be buying a 2nd one for myself.

all the previous posts have given some great tips on it, but regret your purchase.

Was it the MKIII(metal frame) or the 22/45(Polymer frame)?
 
Mine jammed all the time. Fixed it by removing the metal plate that activated the stupid load indicator bar. Hasn't jammed since. (also removed ball and defend from the bolt release to make loading easier)
 
Really? I just traded in my Walther P22 so that my wife could purchase the Ruger MKIII. Hands down, no questions the Ruger is the better of the two pistols. First day, without cleaning it, we put 400 rounds through it with ZERO malfunctions. The pistol was spot on with shots, and shot like a champ. I'm going to be buying a 2nd one for myself.

all the previous posts have given some great tips on it, but regret your purchase.

Was it the MKIII(metal frame) or the 22/45(Polymer frame)?

22/45
 
the only problem I've ever had with my MK III was directly related to crappy Remington ammo. As the others have said, getting it apart and together the first couple of times can be frustrating. I mean, when the manufacturer recommendations include the use of a rubber mallet and paperclip, you know you're in for some fun...
Also, I highly doubt that any gun store would allow you to return the gun.
 
I have a 22/45. 4" bull barrel. Never cleaned , other than a bore snake and some infrequent oiling.
runs like a champ.

I thought the slide release was poorly designed - one way only : lock. And needed to be loaded by pulling the " slide " to go into battery. but over a few years it's smoothed out and now it releases when i thumb it.

It's one of those guns I appreciate more over time.
 
i had 1 mag that made my mkIII do same thing. "cleaned up" edges and have since put thousands thru it without a hiccup. one of my favorite guns to shoot. good luck withit. look thru rugerforum.net too for some answers.
 
the only problem I've ever had with my MK III was directly related to crappy Remington ammo. As the others have said, getting it apart and together the first couple of times can be frustrating. I mean, when the manufacturer recommendations include the use of a rubber mallet and paperclip, you know you're in for some fun...
Also, I highly doubt that any gun store would allow you to return the gun.

Agreed! My 22/45 hates that bulk Remington ammo.
 
PHP:

Thanks again Bill!! I guess I am more afraid I will ruin it.

Another question (Maybe a stupid question): Is it me or are all cleaning rods, swabs etc different? I wanted to see if there was anything (dirt etc) in the .22 barrel, but the kit that I got from the store worked fine for the .44 but not the .22, are there different kits? or one size fits all and I am just a novice?

Thanks!!

What part of the kit didn't work? A pistol rod should fit the .22, most I've seen in the "universal" kits are just small enough to work. The jag's are all diffrent sizes, as are the brushes. If you dont have a .22 jag you can pick them up anywhere (walmart etc) For patches I have only two sizes, 12 ga and "Up to .45" and I cut or double up as needed.
 
Ruger MK III 22/45 is a horrible piece of crap. I know many people who've had the exact same problem.

The regular Ruger MK III is really good, though. Trade it ASAP.
 
One Word.... BoreSnake!

PHP:

Thanks again Bill!! I guess I am more afraid I will ruin it.

Another question (Maybe a stupid question): Is it me or are all cleaning rods, swabs etc different? I wanted to see if there was anything (dirt etc) in the .22 barrel, but the kit that I got from the store worked fine for the .44 but not the .22, are there different kits? or one size fits all and I am just a novice?

Thanks!!
 
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