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Well, just when I thought I was out of the woods with my new replacement pistol, a detail strip revealed the following issue. The LCI tube appears to have been miscast, there is a fissure in the LCI tube where metal is missing, and this fisher extends all the way to the other side, the barrel lug side. Pictures:








I know that this is not normal, and I also know that the LCI tube on the MK IIIs is already a weak point. Is this an issue that I should contact Ruger about?

Thanks.

Yes, I would contact them again. Otherwise this point will eventually crack out along the receiver tube. Normally one wouldn't notice this flaw but as you mentioned this is a weak point in the receiver. Since it is new they should have caught it in QA at the factory.

R,
Bullseye

Thanks Bullseye. I am starting to feel as if I won the lotto...

Your barrel also has an extended feed ramp. They did that to reduce the bullet to ramp strikes from the shallower ramp.

R,
Bullseye

Both of my MKIII's have had this issue yours has. My old pistol that just got replaced had it, and I checked my new gun when I fist got it, and it has it. As far as I could tell it did not create any problems with my old gun, mine did crack through from the corner of the lug cut out, to the LCI pin hole, so when I saw it on the new gun I figured they must all be like that. Geogezilla, what is the frame to receiver fit like on your new Ruger, mine was insanely tight. I almost called Ruger, because I didn't think I was going to be able to get it apart. A couple firm hits with a non marring hammer worked with my old gun, but this new one required full strength blows, to the point were I really felt uncomfortable hitting a firearm that hard.

This pistol is actually significantly looser than my old one, I can actually just muscle the barrel on and off.

Hopefully Ruger will try to make it right again... I think too many issues could arise from this issue for me to be comfortable keeping it.

Informative thread.

When did Ruger start doing the extended feed ramp?

How tight the receiver fits on the lug seems to vary considerably from pistol to pistol. My MKIII Hunter still requires a good whack to separate or properly align the receiver and grip frame. My MKIII 22/45 was so loose I thought something was wrong with the pistol.

Did you remove the LCI for detail strip or because you noticed the problem? I think if I ever removed the LCI's on mine, they would go into a little plastic bag in my parts bin.

Looking at the photos this looks like a SS barrel/receiver. That's odd for bar stock or tubing to have these kind of defects. Makes me wonder if their supplier got some rejected material.

I'm like Greener, When did Ruger add the extended Feed Ramp? I assume this is to address the feeding problems that some guns have. And is this for the 22/45 only.

greener wrote:Informative thread.

When did Ruger start doing the extended feed ramp?

How tight the receiver fits on the lug seems to vary considerably from pistol to pistol. My MKIII Hunter still requires a good whack to separate or properly align the receiver and grip frame. My MKIII 22/45 was so loose I thought something was wrong with the pistol.

Did you remove the LCI for detail strip or because you noticed the problem? I think if I ever removed the LCI's on mine, they would go into a little plastic bag in my parts bin.

I have/had 3 22/45's and they all have a different fit. They are all MarkII's, if I had a MarkkIII, the LCI would come out, be put away and forgotten. No need to fill the hole as there is a bigger one on the other side and that causes no problems.

The extended feed ramp is a recent modification, I cannot say when exactly. They were having a lot of complaints of ramp strikes and chip-outs on the shorter feed ramps so they modified the CNC program to allow a slight extension of the ramp.

R,
Bullseye

Greener, this new pistol was having some issues with jamming, so Bullseye recommended I remove the LCI to determine if it was causing the issue. I did, and the issue seemed to mostly clear up. I then decided to put the LCI back in after a detail cleaning and see how the function was, and that is when I noticed the fissure. I actually do not mind the appearance of the LCI on the MK IIIs, I just don't like when they put it on the top of the firearm.

Bullseye, what is a "chip-out"?

A chip-out is where some of the metal chips away during the cutting process. A lot of the feed ramps, with the knife edge, have shown this trend. The cutting tools can over stress the edges of the ramp and cause small fissures later resulting in some of the metal chipping and falling away. The feed ramps are cut to size after the barrel is installed along with the recesses for the front mounting lug.

R,
Bullseye

My new gun also has the extended feed ramp. I never had feeding issues with the old style though. My new MKIII also has a target crown, I have a blued bull barrel model. I sometimes wonder if Ruger has ever had second thoughts about adding the LCI to the MKIII, it sure seems like a lot of people report problems that occur from them. I recently installed a LCI filler from the guy that makes them on Rimfirecentral.com. I never had feeding issues from it, but without it, it is easier to clean crud from the breech if it isn't there.