How often do you takedown your ruger .22?

[wnycollector]

I have been thinking of picking up another .22 pistol. I am thinking of getting a ruger 22/45 MKIII 5 1/2" Bull barrel. The only thing that seems to be holding me back are the horror stories of the field strip/takedown

I clean my guns EVERY time I get back from the range, but truthfully cant imagine a need to do a full fieled strip of this pistol every time. I am thinking gunblast the innards and clean up w/ qtip/toothbrush, hoppes, then gun oil on a few patches down the barrel. wipe clean with rag and then silicone cloth.

Anyone care to share their ruger .22 cleaning regimine?

 

[jklinstein]

I've taken two approaches to avoid field stripping every time I shoot it, but if you field strip every time you should get pretty quick at it.

First approach is to use Q-tips (with Breakfree) to clean things up a little, and especially to clean out the chamber. My biggest problem is that when the chamber gets dirty I start getting FTF's, so this takes the priority for me.

My second approach was to cut & install a "shield" (google it) from a pop can to keep the trigger mechanism cleaner. I've had a few funky jams with this setup (usually the empty case getting caught by the loading cartridge), but it's for a gun that's really only for the range. I still clean the camber for feeding purposes, but I'm not as concerned about gumming up the trigger mechanism.

.22 semi-loaders tend to spit crud in the chamber, so I wipe the chamber dry before returning to the range (oil + grit makes sludge).

I do a full takedown at least a couple of times a year, or whenever I don't expect to get to the range for a few months.

 

[W.E.G.]

See http://www.1bad69.com/ruger/field_strip.htm

Complete with Mission Impossible soundtrack http://youtube.com/watch?v=nfHHsX9ZUWI

 

[Bullseye57]

Use this one for Mark III pistols.

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

R,
Bullseye

 

[SkiLune]

A guy I shoot IDPA with claims he has never totally field stripped his, in years. He opens the action and cleans what he can with break free, and a tooth brush, and scrubs the bore, and lightly oils what he can.

I started doing just that, a few months ago, after fumbling with my MK III 22/45 for hours once trying to get the damned thing back together. So far, no trouble.

 

[flashman70]

As few times as possible. Every time I put it back together there's something wrong and I have to re-do it. What a hassle.

 

[dhoomonyou]

A true PITA to RE assemble.

 

[phantomak47]

I have the pistol you are thinking about getting, I only clean the chamber out with Breakfree and clean the barrel when needed. No problems although the chamber can get very dirty after a few hundred rounds. I would buy it again, the price was right too at around $280.

 

[sniper350]

If the weapon was for self defense ......it gets field striped after EVERY use, no matter how few rounds are fired. More of a safety check of the weapon's parts...........than a cleaning exercise.

But for the Ruger Mark II that I own ................once a year is all I can stand to fight with the assembly. Taking the pistol apart is no problem.....putting it back together ....is the problem.

Using the methods described by others here............... Blasting the pistol clean with pressurized cleaning fluid seems to work well for me. I am also a huge believer in using a BORE SNAKE. I have never had my Ruger jam !!!! For a .22 that's pretty remarkable........but I only shoot copper coated bullets and the highest quality I can find.

JF.

 

[SoCalShooter]

I avoid it. It was necessary today for some maintenance to the chamber. But normally I avoid it.

 

[kymarkh]

You can keep one of these running for quite a long time with nothing more than Break-Free, an old toothbrush, Q-Tips and a Bore Snake. Scrub the fouling off the bolt face and chamber face with the toothbrush, get all the gunk you can reach with a Q-Tip, then light lube whatever you can reach with a Q-Tip coated with Break-Free. Run the bore snake thru 4 or 5 times then one more time lightly lubed with Break-Free and your done. No need to detail strip after each range trip - maybe once a year. A VQ extractor works wonders with these pistols also. Don't let the fear of putting these pistols back together keep you from enjoying one.

 

[DrDremel]

I have no problem whatsoever taking it apart and reassembling it. I clean mine every trip to the range. The key is not to try to memorize steps but to understand how the firearm works. Once you understand what is happening, it really is not hard. It only takes a few seconds to fieldstrip or assemble. I have two and have put over 500,000 rounds through one of them. It is accurate. I can hit a clay pidgeon at 100 yards about 8 out of 10 shots offhand.

 

[wnycollector]

500,000 rounds!!!!! that is impressive! I feel good when I go through a 550 round box of federal HP's I think I might pick one up next month (2 BIG gun show in the area!) thanks for the info folks.

 

[hkusp]

Have an MKIII. Use Non-Chlorinated Break Cleaner to clean. Bore Snake for bore. Break Free to lube. Only disassemble once a year to fully clean. Never had a jam.

 

[sph33r]

I try to avoid it but looking in the gritty dirty chamber after only a couple hundred rounds usually makes me do something. Really, the re-assembly isn't _that_ hard but it is definitely something you gotta get used to. I find that I have to refer back to the manual when I do get around to cleaning it and the pictures make it easy to put back together.

 

[10-Ring]

I clean after every range session w/ a gun

 

[BlkHawk73]

I might take my down once or twice a year at most. Never seen it so dirty that is was really an issue. Actually, they're only a PITA to reassemble the first couple times.

 

[kamagong]

I hate a dirty gun, so I clean it after I go to the range. Field stripping and reassembly is really not that difficult as long as you follow the instructions that come with your gun. I have the exact same model that you're looking at, and it's a joy to shoot and just a minor PITA to clean.

When I first bought this pistol I wished that it was all-metal like the other pistols in the Mark III line. I have learned to appreciate the polymer lower. After I disassemble this gun I take the polymer part and just run it under some hot water. Gets all the gunk out and I don't have to do a detail strip or worry about rusting. By the time I finish cleaning the bolt, barrel, and stop pin the lower is dry and all is ready for reassembly. A couple of minutes with the instruction manual and voila! everything is ready to go again.

 

[M2 Carbine]

I've got a Streamlight TLR-2 laser/light mounted under my 22/45 barrel. I practice 2-5 evenings a week with whatever laser equipped gun I happen to grab, so the 22/45 may be shot several days a week or not at all.

Bottom line is, I seldom clean it more than what I can reach with a Q Tip.
Not because the gun is hard to field strip, it's easy if you know how, but because I hate cleaning guns.

Fun gun.

 

[Average Joe]

The first time, as with any new gun, it takes a little while. The second time, it took only a few minutes. No big deal .

 

[Dienekes]

Other than the ones that are fitted too tightly and need a plastic mallet to field strip (not that common) it's just not that big a deal. I learned to do it while watching the Ed Sullivan show as a kid. And at that time I didn't have enough mechanical ability to replace a fuel pump on a Chevy stovebolt six.

 

[JohnKSa]

Follow the manual's instructions and you'll have no problems. It's not really accurate to refer to it as a "field strip". It's a takedown procedure, but the gun isn't designed to be "field stripped".

I clean my rimfires when (if) I notice accuracy is falling off, if I notice function issues or if I just get bored and feel like something to do.

 

[Floppy_D]

I own the gun you are considering... if it was 10x harder I still would have bought it, my favorite plinker hands down. Dremel had it right when he said "understand how it works"... that makes the whole process easy. I love my 22/45.

 

[ryan b]

I clean my MKIII every time i shoot i clean the barell and the action but i break it down completely every 1500 rounds or sooner if needed

 

[Beetle Bailey]

I clean my 22/45 MK II every time I get to the bottom of a 525 or 550 value pack of ammo. It can actually go a heck of a lot longer before I start to have problems, but by the end of a brick of ammo it is pretty dirty looking. Take-down was troublesome until I finally broke down and read the manual. Now it's easy.

BTW, the previous owner of my 22/45 knew how to clean it, but he didn't like to, so he just kept shooting it for thousands upon thousands of rounds. When I got it, I shot a brick thru it without problems. When I cleaned it, I literally had to remove layers of crud, as if I were an archeologist digging backwards in time. Even in this condition it worked just fine.