MKIII creepy trigger pull

[Georgezilla]

As some of you may know, I had some issues with my MKIII Hunter receiver. I sent the pistol in and long story short, Ruger replaced the entire pistol, not just the upper (dunno why).

After installing my VQ parts in the pistol (Trigger, sear, plunger and springs), the trigger seems to have one major bit of creep (I think that is the term, anyway). When applying trigger pressure, there is a point where the trigger abruptly moves to rearward a bit, but does not break, it breaks nice from that point after more pressure is applied. This condition occurs every pull, never fail. After examining the pistol, what is happening is the sear is moving against the hammer hook in an abrupt way, but not breaking at that point. I tried many different part combos and I have narrowed the problem down to the hammer, but I only have one hammer (had to borrow another to diagnose it).

Is there anything I, with my limited knowledge/skills, can do about this? I know not to mess with the angle on anything, I haven't the tools nor the knowledge, but is there anything else that could be done?

If it matters, the pistol has 200 rounds through it, but to try and solve the problem by breaking it in, I have dry fired it (without the FP) ~1,500 times.

[Bullseye]

Your new hammer needs some more rounds through it to really smooth up. 5K and you'll likely have a smoother trigger pull. In some cases you can "boost" the trigger to enhance the fitment wear, but you don't want to do that too much or you could prematurely wear the hammer and sear.

A couple of thousand of dry fires may damage the firing pin stop so you want to be sure and inspect that too. On the new models I have found many damaged/dented firing pin stop pins from prolonged dry firing.

It's easier for Ruger to just pull a new pistol off the production line then to take the time to repair yours and send it back to you. They will eventually repair it but it will likely be sent out as a used/rebuild instead of new.

R,
Bullseye

[blue68f100]

Install a Clark MKII bushing will help limit the sear engagement. This will also removes the mag safety which impacts the trigger greatly.

[Georgezilla]

Thanks Bullseye/blue. I will wait and see if it smooths out. Bullseye, I observed the warnings you have given people in the past and removed the firing pin before the extended dry firing sessions.

Blue, thanks for the suggestion. I did try that combo in the pistol, still had the same bit of creep.

Bullseye/anyone that knows, what does "boosting" the fitment wear of the hammer/sear entail?

[Bullseye]

Boosting is the act of prying up on the hammer with a non-marring tool to apply a little bit of extra force (only a little bit of upward pressure is needed - do not muscle it) to the hammer and sear while squeezing the trigger. This process tends to smooth out rough tooling marks on the ignition parts. Use a little lubricating oil to avoid marring the hammer and sear when using this procedure. It is a technique more commonly used with 1911 hammer/sear parts but will also work with the ignition parts of other pistols too. As I've said previously, you do not want to do this boosting technique too much as you can over wear these parts. Also you need do this with the receiver off the frame and you must catch the hammer with a Ruger 22 Auto pistol, because the hammer strut will fly off of the mainspring cap and jam in the frame making it difficult to return the hammer to the mainspring cap.

I just wanted to be sure and mention about the firing pin stop because as you know most folks don't know there's anything wrong with their pin stop until a dent appears in the top of the chamber mouth.

R,
Bullseye

[Georgezilla]

Thanks, Bullseye. When boosting the ignition parts on a Ruger 22 auto pistol, is there a reason the mainspring must be installed? Could one just pry up on the hammer without the mainspring, pull the trigger, and not worry about catching the hammer?

I appreciate you ensuring that I was aware of damaging the FP stop from repeated dry fires. I would hate to have damaged my pistol. I have seen a few pictures of those damaged FP stops and often wonder how people even get them out of the bolt.

[Bullseye]

The reason for using the mainspring assembly is the tension from the spring places the hammer and sear in their natural configuration of engagement. Something that adding tension alone with the tool would not accomplish. There are some tolerance variations between these components and this could cause them to be slightly out of their natural positioning when inducing the wear. Remember, this technique is no substitute for a good trigger job, all you are doing is accelerating the wear on the hammer and sear face by adding some extra tension. Do not apply too much extra force with your tool. You can damage the hammer and sear by over lever torquing the hammer during the boosting process. Also remember to add some light lubricating oil to the engagement surfaces of the hammer and sear when performing this task.

R,
Bullseye

[Georgezilla]

Thanks for the info, Bullseye. I had not thought of the mainspring assembly orientating the the hammer and sear in their natural engagement configuration, makes total sense. I thought for a 1911 the only reason you would want the MS installed is so the leaf spring stays in place, I was off base there too. Thanks for sharing, I am always eager to learn things like this.

If I do try this technique, I will definitely wait a few thousand rounds and see if it sorts itself out. Even then, I may just get an after market hammer (wish Ruger would sell the hammer).

[Bullseye]

This technique is not a substitute for a good trigger job it can only accentuate wear to essentially fit polish the hammer and sear parts. It wouldn't really eliminate the creep but it would make the pull feel smoother.

R,
Bullseye