Mark lll 22-45 "loaded chamber indicator"

Biggjimm · Post by **Biggjimm** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 12:09 am

I was cleaning my 22-45 today & removed the "loaded chamber indicator" for the first time to clean the crud out of it. The LCI in my 22-45 has not caused me any problems at this point but I've read where some people have had feeding issues caused by the LCI & have taken them out & tried to find or make some type of filler piece to replace it with. My question is why couldn't you just leave the little metal piece out that the cartridge pushes against to activate the LCI? If you re-assemble it & put it back in the reciever without that metal piece that rides against the cartridge being in there it would just set there as if the chamber were empty. Seems the little spring would still hold tension against the LCI & hold it in place & there would be no interaction with the cartridges to cause feeding issues. Maybe I'm missing something but it seems like a simple solution to some people's feeding & ejections problems that are caused by the LCI. Be safe & shoot straight. Biggjimm.

Post by **Bullseye** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 7:29 am

That is one way to eliminate the LCI without leaving an empty slot in the receiver. Although some folks have had the plastic lever break because it is too short for the slot and rotates into the way of the bolt and shatters. You should ensure your LCI cannot over-rotate and do this before just removing the metal tab for live firing.

R,
Bullseye

bigfatdave · Post by **bigfatdave** » Mon Jun 04, 2012 5:36 pm

I dislike having a feature on the gun that appears to be functional but isn't.
Some idiots already use the worthless LCI as an "unloaded" indicator, I'm not going to rig mine to always show an empty chamber.

Leaving the slot empty harms nothing and eliminates a crud trap.

bearandoldman · Post by **bearandoldman** » Mon Jun 04, 2012 6:10 pm

bigfatdave wrote:I dislike having a feature on the gun that appears to be functional but isn't.
Some idiots already use the worthless LCI as an "unloaded" indicator, I'm not going to rig mine to always show an empty chamber.

Leaving the slot empty harms nothing and eliminates a crud trap.

My thoughts exactly, besides the other side of the receiver has a bigger hole in it anyway.

blue68f100 · Post by **blue68f100** » Mon Jun 04, 2012 7:04 pm

I have mine functional but I use it as a time to Detail Clean Indicator. I never use it as a load chamber indicator. Old school must look.

Biggjimm · Post by **Biggjimm** » Mon Jun 04, 2012 8:21 pm

Yeah I hear you blue. Mine hasn't presented any problems at this point & it doesn't bother me being in there so long as it doesn't start causing problems. After I wrote that I thought that's probably not a real good idea to have the indicator in there & not functioning because so many people don't actually look at the chamber & confirm whether or not it is loaded & beings the indicator says it's "not loaded" somebody could get hurt. I was just thinking out loud & having thought about it more, I wouldn't recomend doing it because of the safety aspect of it. I usually try to keep my guns out of the hands of idiots & careless people but you just never know. Accidents happen to even the most careful of people sometimes. I was thinking about that because I read a post somewhere about a guy who welded his up & ground it down & was complaining because he couldn't get it to "look right" afterwards. I thought if it would just go back in being disabled it would be alot easier than all that nonsense. Oh well to each their own as they say.

bgreenea3 · Post by **bgreenea3** » Mon Jun 04, 2012 9:37 pm

A couple guys have made a filler out of a fender washer a file and a lot of elbow grease.... you would have no false indicator if you went that route.

ruger22 · Post by **ruger22** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 11:07 am

bgreenea3 wrote:A couple guys have made a filler out of a fender washer a file and a lot of elbow grease.... you would have no false indicator if you went that route.

Made mine out of a stainless fender washer and a 7/32 inch piece of 1/8 stainless rod. Took quite a few hours of work ( with just hand tools) but has been well worth it since. There is a lengthy post and photos buried here somewhere.

I can pull the pin with some very needle nosed pliers and clean everything easy. Easier than cleaning the original LCI without losing any parts of it.

EDIT: Found it, if anyone is interested. My description and photos, about halfway down this page. Lots of other good LCI posts by others here, too.

http://www.guntalk-online.com/forum/vie ... i&start=15

Hakaman · Post by **Hakaman** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 5:27 pm

With all the complaining, dissatisfaction of the LCI, I wonder how many accidents
it has saved, or caused?

bgreenea3 · Post by **bgreenea3** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 6:08 am

As long as you treat every gun as of it were loaded its a moot point, really.....

bigfatdave · Post by **bigfatdave** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 2:17 pm

bearandoldman wrote:
bigfatdave wrote:I dislike having a feature on the gun that appears to be functional but isn't.
Some idiots already use the worthless LCI as an "unloaded" indicator, I'm not going to rig mine to always show an empty chamber.

Leaving the slot empty harms nothing and eliminates a crud trap.
My thoughts exactly, besides the other side of the receiver has a bigger hole in it anyway.

My RIA XT22 and mt KelTec PMR30 have slides that open up all the way across the chamber area, for that matter
(and many other rimfire pistols, those just happen to be in my collection)

greener · Post by **greener** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 8:35 am

I vote for either leaving it in and working or remove it entirely. I've left mine in but do not use them. I have 5 Rugers, only 2 MKIII's. I do not want to become accustomed to looking for a bump on the left side to tell me the gun is loaded and be shooting a MKII. Besides, the big hole Oldman mentioned gives you a better view of whether there is a round in the chamber.

glockeyed · Post by **glockeyed** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 6:49 am

there is also a guy making fillers at RFC

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/sh ... 19&page=60

Biggjimm · Post by **Biggjimm** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 6:59 am

That's a nice looking mark you got there glockeyed. I think my next one will be a SS hunter.

blue68f100 · Post by **blue68f100** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 8:38 am

Good looking MKIII pistol. I like the SS models.