Ruger mark 3 question...

[btnh6668]

I made the cardinal sin of taking it apart. First time in two years.Trying to assemble it i am noticing the bolt is not going in all the way. The hammer is down and i dont see anything keeping it from going in. Pic provided. Any ideas?

 

[426wedge]

You are in hell now...

 

[btnh6668]

Haha indeed i am. The mark 4 is looking better by the day.

 

[Zappa]

I cheated the first time I took mine apart and reassembled it:

 

[Narrowback]

Remove bolt. insert mag. point barrel up and pull trigger to get hammer horizontal. You may have to stick a pencil in while pulling trigger. Take out mag. Try inserting bolt again. If that doesn't work try watching the ruger reassembly video a couple thousand times like I have to do. See Zappa's post above

 

[btnh6668]

Yea unfortunately ive done that already with no luck. Ill just keep trying until i throw it against the wall.

 

[btnh6668]

It feels like the snag is in the front. Not the hammer

 

[Mountain]

Start a new thread, but everyone has to agree to NOT say anything about the world's most impossible reassembly. Title should read, "Can Someone Take Their Mark III Apart and Tell Me Where This Part Goes?"

On a serious note, good luck and please report back what works. The last time I had mine completely disassembled was back in the days of dial up AOL. I must have called a gunsmith friend or called Ruger for advice since there was nothing helpful on the internet yet.

 

[btnh6668]

This is occurring even with out the frame. Does anything look off?

 

[Demoman]

Take back apart if you can. You might have to keep pressure on the back of the bolt I believe the hammer spur is in the wrong position as stated above final install mag in trigger pulled facing up. It can be a bear if it's in the wrong position

 

[FiremanBob]

If it's happening outside the frame, the bolt is just enough misaligned with the ejector to hang up. Wiggle the bolt as you insert it until you find the sweet spot consistently. Then try it with the receiver on the frame. If it hangs then, check to see that the bolt holdback is pressed down.

 

[btnh6668]

Fireman bob there is a little play but the bolt really only goes in one way.

 

[btnh6668]

I did notice the bolt catch seems to have some wear i dont recall seeing. Could this be the culprit?

 

[fshalor]

I did almost the same thing the first time I had my mk3 apart. Never happened with the mark 2s I've used so I didn't know where I went wrong .

I started over, but paid extra special care to the alignment of the floppy pointy bit that has to flop in and catch when inserting the pin and hindge assembly .

Copying the angle from the video and jiggling it was enough to get everything marched up.

 

[UJay]

After your post, I went and tore into mine and looks like a misalignment of the ejector would space it about what you are seeing. Or, what @FiremanBob said. Seems like a strong possibility given the pics/description.

uj

 

[oldguy68]

Remove the recoil spring assembly from the bolt and see if that is causing the problem.
Do this as you have shown above with just the bolt in the barrel assembly.
Clean up the bolt and extractor notch in the barrel a little more as well.

 

[JenkkiMike]

Are Mark III's the absolute worst when it comes to reassembly? I recently bought a Standard (Mark I) and I don't get what all the hype is about. I was able to reassemble it in under 5 minutes while watching a youtube video the first time and in about 20 seconds the second time. Do the extra features make it harder?

 

[ToddDubya]

Are Mark III's the absolute worst when it comes to reassembly? I recently bought a Standard (Mark I) and I don't get what all the hype is about. I was able to reassemble it in under 5 minutes while watching a youtube video the first time and in about 20 seconds the second time. Do the extra features make it harder?

Yes, the stupid mag disconnect that nobody wants makes it worse. Get the MK II hammer bushing and take all that junk out. It makes reassembly easier and allows you to fire without a mag inserted.

ETA, I guess you don't need the MKII bushing since you have a MKI, but MKIII owners would benefit from it.

 

[daekken]

This thread reminds me why I only disassemble my Mk III when I start getting malfunctions. I enjoy shooting mine, but I've never gotten any better at disassembling and reassembling it. However, after about 3,500 rounds it's finally broken in enough I can now do it without needing a dowel and a mallet. Finally was able to get the barrel off the frame, too.

Good luck OP. I honestly feel like my bolt doesn't go all the way in for some reason, but I can't recall specifically.

 

[22lr]

Uggh.. I need to clean my mark 3 tonight and this thread is already making me dread it.

This is my go to video:

 

[Dibbs]

This guys video helped me a lot.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwfpRMuEaBY

 

[426wedge]

Haha indeed i am. The mark 4 is looking better by the day.

The 666 in in your name should have been a clue....

 

[btnh6668]

lol good point 426wedge. Thanks for the help guys. Like usual when dealing with a Ruger i just kept repeating the same steps over and over and over and over again. Well after doing the same EXACT thing as the times before i got it to finally take. It will be a loooong time before i disassemble this gun again. Thanks again for the help.

 

[FiremanBob]

Every few months a customer would come in with a box of parts and ask me to put his Ruger back together. Normally I wouldn't charge him, if he was a decent guy. It's actually pretty easy once you know how to manipulate the position of the hammer and the hammer strut. Another trick when reassembling is to push the recoil spring retainer away from the bolt stop pin with a small punch to make it easier to push the bolt stop through the receiver. What's really a fun challenge is a full strip to replace trigger parts.

I highly recommend the Gunsmither Tools Pistol Pal (gunsmithertools.com). It makes the job much easier, and its extractor tool is the only way I know of to get the extractor out of the bolt for cleaning or replacement.

I'm thinking of doing a book and video on the Mark II and Mark III pistols, since it seems to trouble so many folks.

 

[LuvDog]

I’ve only taken my Mk III apart once. I’m afraid to do it again

 

[mac1911]

This is occurring even with out the frame. Does anything look off?View attachment 255279 View attachment 255280 View attachment 255281

Its the nitrel gloves. Believe me at work when things dont go well the gloves come off and WHAM shit goes together.
my hands are eternally dirty as seldom do things go well at work!

 

[Jay77]

Looking at your barrel only picture with the bolt the bolt should sit flush and slide right in. I’d look into that before putting the barrel back on. I have a 2 and a 3 and cleaning is a right of passage.

 

[UJay]

2+ Years ago I picked up a Ruger MKIII Hunter after borrowing a buddy's MKII Bull- At the time I thought it would be fun to record the process of disassembly / assembly of the brandy-new (to me) MKIII! I haven't though about the video for, well.. a couple years and the other night when I went and broke the hunter down due to this thread, I recalled the video.

What a colossal PITA these are! It is a 15 minute video and I just watched it again- it brought me to a painful place in my past that reminded me of the pain this was to break down.

Now I do say 'was' since breaking it down the other night was reasonable and not too many swear-words were had.

Since the original break-down vid, the Volquartsen accurizing kit and Tandemkross bushing abolishing the mag disconnect and LCI hole filler have been installed....
I wouldn't trade mine for a MKIV.

uj


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0FgwtSYd-g