Ruger Forum

pawn · August 21st, 2008, 05:23 PM

Hello All.

I have recently purchased a MKIII Stainless Steel 678 GC. I love the pistol and would like to ask fellow forum members which 22 ammo is their preference for consistently reliable feeding and avoidance of stove-pipe jams.

Premium ammo like CCI Stingers cycle flawlessly but I haven't had the best of luck with federal target ammo, remmington golden bullet and winnchester xpert---all Walmart bulk ammo purchases. Surprisingly (to me) the winnchester xpert probably was the worst ammo for my pistol- I put 500 through her today and had frequent problems, maybe every other magazine and that is unacceptable.

Please help!!!

BTW, I have disassembled and REASSEMBLED 3 times now and am becomming more confident in the reassembly- it was a challange the 1st time for sure

.

kind regards,

pawn

BuckJM53 · August 21st, 2008, 05:41 PM

I still remember the 1st time I field stripped my MKIII512 (my wife still ribs me from time to time about the sounds and language that was coming out of the basement that night

). As far as reliable bulk ammo, my experience is that the Federal bulk has performed the best for me by far (I end up with maybe one or two stovepipes per 200 fired). My experience with Remmington golden was horrible (at least 1 every couple of magazines). Mine also works flawlessly with the stingers, but I hate to spend the extra $$.

wolfman · August 21st, 2008, 05:51 PM

Of all of the ammo out there, Federal Bulk Pk tends to get recomended more than any other.
I recomend you get your 10 posts in, then look in the Library for the MK series IBOK, and either do, or have someone else do the mod work on the extractor, which will solve most fte problems.

Bullitholz · August 21st, 2008, 08:25 PM

My Mark III likes CCI Mini-Mags when it comes to shooting for accuracy but for plinking and just making noise I like to shoot CCI Blazer. The Blazer is about 3 bucks more for a brick but I have had NO bad rounds out of the last three 500 count bricks I have purchased.

Do yourself a favor and get a Volquartsen exact edge extractor to replace the Ruger part, you'll be glad you did. I took Iowegans advice and tried reworking my stock one and it helped but didn't solve the issues I was having completely. Once I put in the VQ part ALL of the extraction issues went away completely.

pawn · August 22nd, 2008, 05:56 AM

BuckJM53, Wolfman and Bullitholz- thank you I apprecicate your comments. I've placed an order for a Volquartsen extractor. Is installation best left to my gunsmith?

Bullitholz · August 22nd, 2008, 06:10 AM

If you can get your Mark III apart and back together you can change the extractor yourself. we'll help you once you get the part in hand.

Ruger should put these in the Mark pistols from the factory IMO.

DCunniff · August 25th, 2008, 04:16 PM

Shot some Federal bulk pack today in two different MK III's. Used some Winchester Wildcats before in a brick, have some American Eagle not opened yet. Shot some CCI. Ran some Remington match grade standard velocity for bullseye practice.

Beside the modifications, grip and cleaning have an influence.

Dana

pawn · August 25th, 2008, 05:42 PM

Thanks Dana.

Bozack · August 26th, 2008, 01:04 PM

Every .22 has it's preference for ammo. That said, bulk ammo is bulk ammo and not match or target grade because of the mass loading process and lesser standards of QC. I have found that the Federal bulk ammo has the least amount of problems. Winchester X-pert was lousy for my Mk II. Average accuracy and many FTF's, FTE's, and misfires. Remingtons were not any better. I have found the CCI Standard and Minimag to work well in my gun. This is what I will continue to use.

ec0075 · August 26th, 2008, 05:10 PM

Mine will fire anything, some rounds have better groups than the others. I have even shot some very old chocky lead stuff and it ate it up.

Richard

lead · August 27th, 2008, 02:55 PM

You will want to stay with high velocity ammo with a new gun, and I think Xpert is standard velocity.
I've had a couple MKII's that would shoot anything, but they were well broke in.
I haven't owned a MKIII yet, but any new semi-auto .22 will work best with a high velocity round. Save the Xpert for a .22 revolver and it will perform just fine.

DCunniff · August 27th, 2008, 06:04 PM

My experience with MK III is only two months on two guns. We've shot high velocity bulk ammo as I said, like some have mentioned. Have used standard velocity for some bullseye practice and shooting at 50 feet.

I did shoot Remington match grade this week versus bulk Federal high velocity on a sight in target wiht one gun on a rest and they were both good for accuracy that close.

We get less stovepipes as we shoot them more, lube them different, and pay attention to grip.

Also for reference, I shot a .22 Marlin riflle today withi iron sights at a sight in target, at 50 yards with Federal bulk ammo and Winchester Wildcat brick and they landed in the same diamond.

Is a matter more of finding one you like as the MK III breaks in.

Dana

pawn · August 30th, 2008, 11:08 AM

Got the extractor in yesterday; referenced Iowegan's E-Book as suggested and was able to change out the extractor, no problem. The book is a great resource, well done!!!

While I had the firing pin stop pin out I decided to remove the firing pin, rebound spring and rebound spring support to clean out the channel. Unfortunately, I broke the rebound spring support

after reassembling the bolt(apparently incorrectly) and attempting to return the bolt to the receiver.

I have a couple of rebound spring supports on the way from Numrich. Does the rebound spring sit in the channel as in the attached picture or is it the other way around (upside down)? Any other suggestions to make sure these parts are correctly situated in the channel. I know, it should be pretty simple- I just want to get it right.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Iowegan · August 30th, 2008, 10:36 PM

Since I reworked my extractor, my MK III eats anything. I haven't had a malfunction except for duds in a long time. From a bench rest with a 2X scope, my groups with a variety of ammo is excellent. My best groups are with CCI Green tag and Wolf Target 22s(not the typical Russian made crap, excellent quality ammo made in Germany). CCI Mini-Mags are great as are Winchester Silver Box. I've found the 40 grain solid bullets hold a little tighter groups than the hollow points. With all that said, last week I shot a .39" 50 yard 5 shot group with my scoped MK-III .... yup, Federal bulk pack 32 gr hollow points.

P95FAN · August 31st, 2008, 04:55 AM

Ditto the Federal "Wallyworld" bulk pack has been the most consistent of all the ammo I have shot. Thanks for the advice on the extractor. Where can I get one?