GunTalk-Online.com

Hello,

I just bought a brand new Ruger Mark III Hunter. It is my first pistol and I try to do everything “right”. So I decide to field strip it and clean the excess lubricant before I take it to a range to test fire it. I read the manual and give it a go. I think you all know what has happened next.

I can NOT finish the job.

Here is the whole process I have been through and I want to know what I have done wrong.

1. Pull the bolt backward and release it.
2. Insert the clip and pull the trigger. Then remove the clip.
3. Use a paper clip to open Mainspring Housing Latch.
4. Swing the Mainspring Housing out of the grip.
5. Pull down the Mainspring Housing. (It took a couple tries and I had to wear my leather glove so my hand would not hurt so bad.)
6. (I did not reinsert the clip.) Pull the bolt and it drops out the receiver completely.
7. There is where I stuck. I tried to separate the Barrel-Receiver Assembly and the Grip Frame. I tried and tried without success.

I insert the clip and pull the trigger. I visually see the push the hammer down. I went to buy a rubber mallet and taped at the rear of receiver.

NOTHING HAPPENED. I did not dare to use the mallet hard since I did not want to damage the pistol.

Well, I tried to put it back after I failed to separate the Barrel-Receiver Assembly and the Grip Frame. I insert the bolt and it seems has a 1 mm or smaller gap and it would not completely closed. I did a visually inspected the Bolt Stop Pin Hole and I can see a tiny edge of the bolt showing from the Bolt Stop Pin Hole. I dare not to insert the Bolt Stop Pin with force.

So, what do I do now? I believe it would be better to continue to separate the Barrel-Receiver Assembly and the Grip Frame then assemble them back.

Please advise what and how I can do the job.

I am living in San Jose area and I belong to Sunnyvale Rod and Gun Club. If any of you guys living close by, let me know if we can meet in the gun club and discuss the whole thing.

Thank you very much. Email me please.

Digou Pang
In Desperation.
[email protected]

Reading your description, I see that you reinserted the magazine to move the hammer back to separate the receiver and the frame. But I did not see you remove it again before using the mallet. If the magazine is in the frame will not move very far but it will move. This is where I believe you are in this process. If you still want to take the receiver off, then you must ensure the magazine is out. If you want to stop and put everything back, the remove the magazine and tap the receiver from the muzzle side with the mallet. Put the bolt stop in from the top to move the receiver in to proper position. Once the holes are aligned, you can now install the bolt stop and mainspring housing in from underneath.

Use my web help pages to assist you with this process.

http://www.guntalk-online.com/fsprocedures.htm

And if you want to go farther than field stripping use this one.

http://www.guntalk-online.com/detailstrip.htm

There's lots of good links on the detail stripping page.

Hope this helps.

R,
Bullseye

I lived in the bay area for fifteen years but fled California to free territory many years ago. I've shot up at Sunnyvale R&GC many times. Pretty country out there but the politics there wasn't to my liking.

Bullseye,

Thank you very much for the reply. I did everything as you have directed.

I successfully field striped the pistol and put it back together.

Here is the problem again. After I reassembled it together, I pulled the bolt and the bolt only moved halfway. It would not move all the way back. What is going on here? What could I have screwed up this time?

1. I put the barrel-receiver assembly back on the grip and use rubber mallet to tap in position on line up the bolt pin holes.
2. I try the bolt stop pin from the top to assure they all lined up.
3. I insert the bolt, then insert the bolt stop pin.
4. Before closing the mainspring housing, I insert the clip and pull the trigger.
5. While keeping my finger on the trigger, I close the mainspring housing without any force.
6. The mainspring housing falls into place.
7. I pull back the bolt. It only moves about one third. Then it would not move. I can feel something is blocking it.

What have I done wrong? Please give advice.

Thank you very much. It is too bad you have to move out form Bay Area. Otherwise I can ask you directly.

I am looking forward to hearing form you.

Digou Pang
Waiting in agony

Digou,

This is an easy one to fix. It happens frequently, so don't feel bad. Your hammer strut has slipped off of the mainspring cap and is getting stuck behind the crosspin.



All you have to do to fix this is swing the mainspring housing out and close it again with the strut on top of the spring cap.

Look at number 8 on this page. http://www.guntalk-online.com/TroubleshootingPage.htm

The little cameras are links to photos for the steps.

Make sure your hammer is all the way forward (uncocked) when you close the mainspring housing. Also, turn the pistol upside down, this will ensure that little strut stays in place when you close and latch the housing back up in the frame.



Hope this helps.

R,
Bullseye