Ruger 22/45 MKIII many misfires

Status
Not open for further replies.
1KPerDay

1KPerDay

Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2006
Messages
20,868
Location
Happy Valley, UT
So I have about 12K rounds through it. First ~10K were nearly trouble free... Federal Champion made prior to 2008. Maybe 3 or 4 duds in 10K rounds.

Lately with Federal Champion made in 2013, I get about 1 dud every other mag. I have been blaming this on the ammo, Obama, etc. But I wonder what else it could be.

the last bunch were during a run/gun match so the duds weren't examined for strikes or gathered up and reattempted.

I replaced the firing pin return spring at about 10K rounds. It had broken.

Should I replace the mainspring? It still feels quite stiff. Should I replace the firing pin?

I guess it truly may be just the ammo. I usually don't run lead/sticky lubed bullets through it simply because Federal Champion works great in my "ultimate cliploader" and shoots clean.
 
Crud can build up in the nooks and crannies of where the barrel meets the receiver that can interfere with the bolt going fully forward -- only takes a few thousands of an inch to cause week ignition.

I periodically need to clean that area with solvent and a dental pick.

Can't really blame the ammo if you've not looked at the misfires for adequate firing pin strikes. Most of my misfires in my AR .22lr and other .22lr pistols are from poor strikes presumably caused by this crud that builds up -- amazingly quickly with some ammo and some guns.
 
wally has great advice. Dental picks are your friend here. Make sure you clean the channel for the firing pin very well and lube it. Have you dry-fired the gun a lot? Is there any peening on the chamber face?

Sometimes the firing pin face can become blunted if excessive dry-firing has occurred, bending the firing pin stop and allowing contact with the breech face.
 
Very little dry firing. The gun was scrupulously detailed at 10,000 rounds. Misfires didn't seem to improve afterward. I should be more clear about examining the misfires. Previous to the match I had looked at them and they all seemed like good strikes. Occasionally I would try one and every once in a while I would get one that would fire on restrike but most wouldn't.
 
1KPerDay said:
So I have about 12K rounds through it. First ~10K were nearly trouble free... Federal Champion made prior to 2008. Maybe 3 or 4 duds in 10K rounds.

Lately with Federal Champion made in 2013, I get about 1 dud every other mag. I have been blaming this on the ammo, Obama, etc. But I wonder what else it could be.

the last bunch were during a run/gun match so the duds weren't examined for strikes or gathered up and reattempted.

I replaced the firing pin return spring at about 10K rounds. It had broken.

Should I replace the mainspring? It still feels quite stiff. Should I replace the firing pin?

I guess it truly may be just the ammo. I usually don't run lead/sticky lubed bullets through it simply because Federal Champion works great in my "ultimate cliploader" and shoots clean.
Click to expand...
Have you tried another brand of ammo? It could be you have a bad batch of 22LR.
 
occasionally mini-mags or CCISV, and several boxes of champion. I bought it all at once from Midway, though, so it's probably all from the same lot.
 
definitely try a different lot, but you might want to try something else...

See if you can get CCI Pistol Match. If you get that, and you get light strikes, something is wrong with the mainspring. I had a pistol that would occasionally experience light strikes with CCI SV and other 'good' rimfire competition ammo's. The CCI Pistol Match is one of the most sensitive rounds in terms of its priming. I never had a misfire or light strike using it.
 
22LR misfires

This -
Crud can build up in the nooks and crannies of where the barrel meets the receiver that can interfere with the bolt going fully forward -- only takes a few thousands of an inch to cause week ignition.
Click to expand...
After the 2nd try, i pull the bullet and look at the priming compound. At times its missing or misplaced, like on the side on the case body.I pull the bullets at the range by sticking the bullet part into a crack of a post and bending to one side.
 
I have owned a Mark III 22/45 for a few years now and IMO it is one excellent 22LR pistol. Mine eats anything I put into it and is exceptionally accurate.
 
I went through a period of bad 22 ammo, any of the bulk stuff would fail to lite at least every mag. I don't shoot 22 any more thanks to hoarders and empty shelves.
 
If it's not the ammo, check the hit the firing pin is making on the case. If it's too small / shallow, I'd guess that's the prob.

If you need it, look for instruction manual on this page:

http://www.ruger.com/products/markIIIStandard/extras.html

From the exploded diagram, there is a pin, "firing pin stop" pin, that keeps the FP from hitting the barrel. If the pin is getting worn a bit, either replace the FP, or carefully check/fix the contour of the tip, and remove a couple 0.001" from the hammer side of the hole in the FP. Tiny file, or appropriate size steel wire / punch wrapped with 3m 320 grit or so black auto body paper.
 
I'd probably be blaming the ammo if something that usually cycles fine suddenly doesn't AND other ammo does still work fine. I'd try another lot as previously suggested and then start looking into causes for misfires if the new lot or other types of ammo aren't working well. My 22/45 likes everything, except for Winchester bulk. I really think I got some bad ammo, but can't find any new stuff to check out.
 
It has to be either the ammo or internal crud. Get a spray can of 'Synthetic Safe' gun cleaner and literally spray the crap out of it. Blow in some air to clean and dry a bit, and then lube the wear points.
Once clean, try a few different types of ammo and see what results you get.
 
Pull your bolt and remove the firing pin and spring. Spray cleaner can be your friend. Toothpicks in the chamber area of the receiver. Your MK III/ 22/45 should fire virtually everything you put into it unless it is a really bad lot of Remington.

YouTube videos will walk you through every step of the process that will take ten minutes or less.
 
Wally nailed it, IMO. A couple have probably seen 50k rounds. I have 6 MK pistols. The feed/fire anything. If I ever get a couple of misfires, I know the back of the chamber needs cleaning.
 
It would be very unusual for the gun to be the problem. Very likely it's The ammo. Once I bought bulk Remington 22, and couldn't get 10 shots fired without at least one misfire. I found federal about 99% reliable, and CCI 100% reliable. Just my two cents.
 
Okay, starting to lean toward ammo. However, I shot 6 more mags of Federal Champion through and had one dud, which DID ignite when rechambered.

I shot 8 mags of Winchester bulk (222 from walmart or whatever it's called) and had only 2 mags that worked without at least one dud. several mags I had 2 duds per mag.

none fired when re-struck, even in another gun.

How can they get away with making garbage ammo and selling it for close to .10/ea?

:rolleyes:
 
People are surprised

They shouldn't be..I had a similar issue with the MKIII. Had to go back to Ruger twice before it was fixed..and I promptly sold it,,,Never buy one again...maybe a working MKII, but not the IMPROVED poorly working MKIII
 
As noted, mine has been flawless for over 10K rounds. And I didn't clean it for most of those 10K rounds.

Stock trigger sucked, but VQ sear and trigger and clark bushing has given this an incredible trigger and it's nearly 100% reliable.

Handles great, shoots great, mags are great...

YMMV :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

1KPerDay
  • Locked
Ruger 22/45 MKIII misfires: crappy ammo or something worn out?
2 3 4
Replies
90
Views
7K
1KPerDay
1KPerDay
1KPerDay
  • Locked
can light/improper firing pin strikes CAUSE hangfires/misfires/squibs? .22lr
2 3
Replies
51
Views
4K
Slamfire
Slamfire
T
  • Locked
Failures to fire with xds
2
Replies
25
Views
3K
2wheels
2
Gary O
  • Locked
S&W Model 41 misfires?
Replies
7
Views
1K
TEDDY
T
1KPerDay
  • Locked
Giving up on Federal .22 ammo
2 3
Replies
60
Views
5K
milemaker13
M
Back
Top