Ruger Mk I Malfunction

[rswartsell]

I have a new to me old Ruger Mk I. I field stripped it according to instructions and found that 1 leg of the recoil spring stop was broken. I replaced the recoil spring assembly from Brownell's, dropped it in and reassembled according to manual. I had a bit of fumbling on reassembly, mostly attributed to hammer in wrong position when reinstalling mainspring housing.

Immediately after reassembly, things seemed good. The bolt cycled much easier. I locked the bolt back using the safety and then used safety to release the bolt. Now, safety will not move fully into either position and the bolt resistance is very heavy. Did I break the pistol? What seems to be the remedy?

 

[rswartsell]

No Mk I opinions?

 

[Chawbaccer]

Pull the main spring housing back out and make sure the hammer strut is in the correct spot.

 

[xmanpike]

I have the same old pistol circa 1972 or 73. I am not sure the leg was broken on the recoil spring stop. Mine is the exact same way. I think they actually made the piece that way originally. I know it looks weird but I find it hard to believe our pistols had the exact same problem. The later models definitely have 2 prongs, but I dont think ours does. I had issues putting mine back together too with mainspring. Let me know what you find out. I was considering fixing the recoil spring stop, but the pistol ran so well i decided to leave as is.

 

[WardenWolf]

My father's pistol is from 1972. His has 2 recoil spring legs. However, the legs began to spread as the pistol aged, which caused problems with the slide moving as it dragged on the receiver. I bent them back with pliars and it seems to have resolved it for now. If there are further issues, I may replace it. The safety on these guns is a bit flaky, but I guarantee you didn't break it by working on the bolt.

Incidentally, my father's old Mark I had a LOT of issues that I spent a significant amount of effort working on. Here is a list of the problems, and things I have done to it, as complete as I can remember them:

(1) Discovered the magazine follower cross-rivet was dragging on the inside of the wooden grip panel, resulting in jamming due to slower feeding. Used a Dremel to cut a channel in the inside of grip panel to resolve this.

(2) Pistol was having light strikes on primers, and not reliably setting them off (these same dented rounds worked in my Mark III). Honed the firing pin with a file to create a slightly narrower strike point, and polished the rough surfaces on the top and bottom edges of the striker (where it dragged on the spring and bolt body). This should result in deeper indentations and higher firing pin velocity.

(3) Thoroughly cleaned and oiled the action.

(4) Switched to using CCI Mini Mags exclusively, as these rounds feed more reliably (the copper jacket somewhat hardens them) and are far less prone to misfeeds due to limp wristing (don't even ask me HOW you can limp-wrist a .22LR, but this pistol is flaky enough that you MUST fire it 2-handed). CCI Mini Mags also seem to be much more accurate in this pistol than standard velocity rounds.

If there are further problems, I will replace the recoil spring assembly entirely, and replace the striker with a titanium piece.

 

[243winxb]

The recoil spring assembly can change position as it rides in the bolt sticking up to high. The spring will rub against the action. Try repositioning the spring assembly. Sometimes you have to bend the 2 legs just a bit so the spring & rod sit lower in the bolt assembly.