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Hello, I was reading an old post on here about dry firing the Ruger MKIII, I found out you can damage the firing pin stop. So I decided to check mine because I had not had the bolt apart in a long time. It turns out my firing pin stop is damaged, it is slightly bent and almost cracked in half. Also my firing pin rebound spring was broke into a few different pieces. My firing pin stop is the dowel pin type not the solid pin. I just figured I would share this with everyone as a reminder if you do a fair amount of dry firing without something in the camber you might want to check you pin stop. I never used a snap cap or empty brass to dry fire, I figured the firing pin stop was there for that reason but they can give way and further damage your gun. Luckily I checked mine just in time before it did any damage to the camber face.

The stop is there to prevent damage from normal use. Dry firing, at least for practice, is a level above the intended use of the stop. It pays to periodically inspect the stop pin because even the solid ones are prone to failure.


R,
Bullseye

Bullseye, do you know why some of the pins are the hollow type rather than solid, my dads is the solid type.He bought his MKIII about 1 1/2 years after me. Also, are the pin stop and the rebound spring a part I would have to get from Ruger or are there other factory part dealers I could buy from. I would like to replace them as soon as possible, I was thinking that a hardware store might have a dowel pin but then I still wouldn't have the spring I need, plus I would prefer a solid pin, but I might end up with a dowel pin anyway when I buy a new one depending on what they have I guess. Well, thanks for the reply and thanks for all the info here on Guntalk.

Actually the hollow or ro;l; pin is stronger as it is hardened spring steel.

bearandoldman wrote:Actually the hollow or roll; pin is stronger as it is hardened spring steel.

True, unless you get into tool steel,but then you have "brittle" problems.
Also, roll pins stay where you put them. (spring steel again)

Medicine Hat wrote:

bearandoldman wrote:Actually the hollow or roll; pin is stronger as it is hardened spring steel.

True, unless you get into tool steel,but then you have "brittle" problems.
Also, roll pins stay where you put them. (spring steel again)

Depending on what kind of tool steel and the heat treatment and tempering, it will not be brittle. Many types of tool steel, even when I was working in the trades many years back.

It seems they are using roll pns and solid pins today. I don't know what determines which pin they put in what pistol. I bought a new slabside Mark lll less than a year ago and it had a solid pin. My 5.5 target model that I bought several years ago had a roll pin. I have heard others say that they had seen the same thing.

Too many people were complaining about the solid pins falling, unnoticed, out of the bolt during reassembly. Ruger went with the roll pins in an attempt to prevent slipping by the stop pin. After that they got a bunch more complaints from people who thought their pins were missing because of the hole.

R,
Bullseye

After that they got a bunch more complaints from people who thought their pins were missing because of the hole.

Of course they did. They were the ones who told us over and over that the pin MUST be present, and then didn't include a picture or description in the manual near the warnings about missing pins.

bigfatdave wrote:

After that they got a bunch more complaints from people who thought their pins were missing because of the hole.

Of course they did. They were the ones who told us over and over that the pin MUST be present, and then didn't include a picture or description in the manual near the warnings about missing pins.

Good point!!! I remember reading the warning. They should have carified, but I am sure they were not going to add expense by replacing the inventory of owners manuals.

I ended up going to Lowes hardware and finding a roll pin. I got two for eighty-cents, they were slightly longer than the original so I ground down one end and it worked fine. The size is 1/8x3/4 for anyone who wants to replace this way. I will probably continue to dry fire with an empty chamber since these were so cheap, it's kind of a hassle to always put something in there.I can see how people loose the solid pin, my Fathers gun has one and it slides in and out really easy.

You can always pull the FP out. The dry fire all you want. BUT make sure you install it when you switch to live ammo.

blue68f100 wrote:You can always pull the FP out. The dry fire all you want. BUT make sure you install it when you switch to live ammo.

If you don't the gun haters will love you because it will be a really SAFE gun./

After detail stripping of my MKIII 22/45, i could not re-insert the firing pin stop (roll pin style). I had a shoot the next day so I improvised and cut the shaft from a dremmel accessory. After smoothing out the cut with a file it fit perfectfully and has held up well so far-about 600 rds.
My question is -what is the trick to reinstalling the roll-pin?
Is this common or did I perhaps open it up with the punch when removing it?
I don't want to damage the pistol and dont want to order a new pin only to find it will not fit.
Thanks

It is possible that you opened or otherwise damaged the roll pin during removal. You should be able to reinsert the side that the pin punch didn't touch with little difficulty. A 1/8" piece of drill rod works well for a firing pin stop too.

R,
Bullseye