ssjones

Folks:
Took my MkII to the range today with the daughter to fire it and my SP101.
At the last outing, with the original magazine, I had several fail-to-eject's occur. I thought perhaps the spring was weak on my mag, which is over 25 years old.

I purchased a new, Ruger magazine last month from a show in PA. The packaging says it is for the MKII. This new magazine doesn't easily fit into the gun and pops out occasionally. Worse yet, FTE's are very prevalent. I'm not sure this is the magazine or the Remington Gold Bullets I bought at Kmart. I never really used the gun very often until last year and primarily bought CCI ammo for it. I finally gave up on the new magazine as it failed to eject about 40% of the time. On one of the last times, with the daughter firing, it actually put a dent one of the bullets (she didn't realize it didn't eject). We only occasionally had an issue with the old magazine (maybe once in 20 rounds).

When I cleaned it tonight, I modified the extractor as decribed on page 8 of the IBOK. Will that help the ejection process? Hopefully I have a chance to take it to the range again soon and will bring three types of ammo (bought a box of Federal and have a pack of CCI on my bench) I appreciate any feedback.

ssjones

Found this last night, has anyone tried modifying their magazines?
http://xavierthoughts.blogspot.com/2...ine-tweak.html

G. Freeman

2 recommendations I can give you.

1st, buy a Volquartsen exact edge extractor. Should cure your FTE's.

2nd, call Ruger and describe your problem with the magazine popping out. You will need a low latch. They should send this to your free. Ask for a spring for that latch too. It may be time for a spring change for that latch.

ssjones

Thanks G. According to the IBOK, the reshaped extractor should cure my problems. If not, I'll order the Volquartsen piece.

Thanks for the tip to call Ruger. I'll see what they say about my magazine.

I might have a chance to shoot it Wednesday evening and am curious if my work made any improvement.

ssjones

I called Ruger this morning. Their tech lady said the Remington Gold Bullets are nothing but trouble and thinks that is the cause. She thought putting on a low latch would not be advisable and suggested trying another type of ammo first. The latch and spring were about $9. The two ladies I spoke to very pleasant and helpful and seemed delighted that I had owned the gun since '84 (but no free parts..)

I'll give it a try with other types of ammo and report back.

GhosTT

ssjones,

My 22/45 MARK II...Loves Remington golden bullets.
Accurate and reliable in my gun...it's first/favorite pic!

EVERY GUN is different....

SAW YA POSTED THIS.....
"Thanks G. According to the IBOK, the reshaped extractor should cure my problems. If not, I'll order the Volquartsen piece."


A factory Ruger rimfire...should function fine WITHOUT...paying for extra parts!

ssjones

Interesting, but I guess my gun is 25 years old.
Hopefully I'll find out tonight - joining my local Izaak Walton League and they have some nice ranges.

G. Freeman

My 3 MK II's feed these very reliably.

The answer you were given was a "standard" answer and really did no good to fix your problem. When I had the same problem many years ago, there was a cool gentleman there named Mike Smisko (lots of us in the Rugerforum.com knew about Mike's great service). I explained to him the problem about my mags popping out so he sent me the low latch and spring for no charge. It appears Mike is no longer there and maybe they've had a change in their policy regarding sending parts, opting instead for the "try a different ammo" approach.

I guess you can try another type of ammo, or better yet, just buy the latch yourself. $9.00 is no big deal, and their shipping is only $3.50 IIRC. This will save you time and money buying different kinds of ammo and test firing your pistol several times.

Good luck.

ssjones

Well, she gave me more than just change ammo. Guess I should have elaborated. The parts tech/sales person put me on hold to get a tech on the line. The tech said if I didn't have an issue with the old mag, changing to a low latch to fix the new mag might have adverse effects on the function of the old mag. That made sense. The tech suggested trying a different type of ammo in the new mag and than call back if I still had issues.
I didn't get the chance to shoot the gun tonight, but joined my local Izaak Walton league which has a 24 hour, indoor 22 range, so that opportunity will come soon.

ssjones

Well, fired about 150 rounds this afternoon and learned a few things.
1st - the new magazine doesn't go in correctly with one push like the old one. When it is first inserted and the latch feels like it closes, you can see a little daylight at the rear edge of the mag. This does not happen with the old magazine. It pops right in and the latch snaps fully into place. See pictures below.

Also:
- The gun doesn't stovepipe or FTE with non-Remington ammo with either mag (provided the new one is correctly inserted).
- It still stovepipes occasionally with the Remington Gold Bullets, but only five rounds in 150 today. It did this even with the old magazine. This is a huge improvement from my last outing.

I am not a gunsmith, this is my first venture into improving a gun, but G. Freemans advice to relace the latch and spring sure sounds like it might fix the issue with this new magazine. For $10 investment, I might give it a shot.


I joined our local Izaak Walton League and have full access to their ranges. My range time now will only limited by the ammo fund. <g>