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I own a Ruger MK 1 and we have used it For 20 Years +. We went through many cases of shells instructing our clubs First Time Youth Shooters. It performed flawlessly, has been EXTREMELY accurate, and it has been taken apart and cleaned hundreds of times. BY HAND IN THE FIELD!!

I recently purchased a Ruger MK111 for my daughter.

WARNING,,, DO NOT PURCHASE A MK111 UNLESS YOU SEE THE DEALER TAKE IT APART AND PUT IT BACK TOGETHER BY HAND!!
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO TAKE THIS MK111 APART IN THE FIELD WITHOUT A HAMMER!!

[size=18]THE DIRECTIONS SAY TO HIT THE BARREL WITH A PLASTIC/RUBBER HAMMER TO GET IT APART! YOU ALSO NEED TO HIT THE BOLT STOP PIN WITH A WOODEN DOWEL AND HAMMER. [/size]
WHY ISN'T THERE A HAMMER SOLD WITH THIS PRODUCT???

I HAD TO PUT THE TRIGGER GUARD ON THE EDGE OF A WOODEN WORK BENCH AND HIT THE BARREL 3 TO 4 TIMES WITH A [u]HARD[/u] RUBBER HAMMER TO GET THE BARREL OFF!!
I Had to HIT THE BARREL MUCH HARDER, TO GET IT BACK IN POSITION FAR ENOUGH, TO GET THE BOLT STOP PIN BACK IN.
(I had to hit the pin in with the hammer also)

THERE IS NO WAY TO GET A MK111 APART IF YOU MOUNT A SCOPE!! EVEN A SHORT "RED DOT" WOULD STICK OUT PASSED THE BACK OF THE BARREL, MAKING THE BARREL IMPOSSIBLE TO HIT WITH A HAMMER.

I SENT THIS RUGER MK111 BACK TO THE FACTORY FOR REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT.
IT CAME BACK IN THE SAME CONDITION.
WE CANNOT GET THE BARREL OFF WITH OUT A HAMMER.

EVIDENTLY "FIT AND FINNISH" AT RUGER IS NO MORE!

WELL WHAT SHOULD I DO,,, SELL IT TO ANOTHER SUCKER WHO WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO GET IT APART AT THE RANGE, WITHOUT A HAMMER?

I believe they are built this tight so as not to become loose with use. I own a stainless MKII which is just as tight as your MKIII.
I have never needed to strip mine at the range so for me it isnt a problem. As far as fit and finish, obviously the fit is what Ruger intended since the hammer is mentioned in the instructions.
I have only taken mine apart one time to do a deep cleaning. I hope you have as good a luck with yours as I have had with mine.

_________________
American by birth, Texan by the Grace of God.
"Get rid of that nickel plated sissy pistol and get yourself a GLOCK"

I have a MarkIII .22/45 Target Model. While I have not had to take it apart yet, I did notice that the more rounds I put through it the more it "lossened" up. When I first got it and went through some dry runs the gun was very "tight" and the slide was hard to pull back. Once I fired a few hundred rounds through it things loosened up and made it easier to use. I have read that once the gun is broken in and taken apart 2-3 times it becomes easier to tear down. Good luck.

milly,
What brand of shells are you using?
Mine james.

I use Winchester SuperX X22LRH and I also have Remington Golden Bullet in hollow point and solid point. The Winchester SuperX has performed very nice with no issues. The Remington Golden Bullet hp had one dud that did not fire and 2-3 that ejected too slow and bound things up. I have not tried the solid point Remington yet.

I have had a Mk lll Hunter for about three years and it is a very accurate, fun shooter. I clean it often without taking off the barrel and have completely taken it apart many times. It is tight but not impossible, I just use a small rubber mallet. With a trigger kit, it is now a tack driver as is his big brother, my 10-22 Target rifle. (both with Volks trigger kits).

Do a google on this, there is a web site that walks you thru the whole deal. I would gladly forward this to you but right now I have a pc crash. I will try to post this site soon. The mk3 has to many bells and whistles, I have a Mk1 and a Mk2, that once you learn the process you can do it in minutes. A retired rep from Ruger walked me through this on the phone.
It is really easy, however you do have to hold your mouth a certain way.
Jim

I think you are referring to this site?

http://www.heypete.com/pete/shooting/rugermag.html

That page refers to the Ruger 10/22 rifle magazine. The discussion here was in regards to tearing down and cleaning a new Ruger Mark III semiauto pistol. The MK3 is harder to tear down than the older MK1 and MK2 models. I still haven't had to tear my MK3 22/45 down yet.

There was a video posted somewhere that walked you thru a tear down. Not sure where I saw it.

Oops! Wrong link, sorry. Try this one.

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

There you go. That is very helpful.

I got this off the internet and would give credit if I knew. This works 100% IF YOU FOLLOW VER BATIM!
Give it a try and hope this helps.



Mike

I've got a Mark II and can get it apart by hand.. just have to give the back of the upper a big thump with the palm of one hand while holding the grip in the other.. as for the anchor pin, I was able to push it down with my thumb far enough to get it to go on out of the hole..

my problem was finding the right instrument to pry out the pointy latch thingie in the back of the grip!

btw I had not broken this one down for more than ten years, mostly in storage, so getting it apart was not easy.. but I didn't need tools. Never used a Mark III but I believe the only diff is that it has a bolt lock at open when magazine is empty, and my Mk II will close again as if it has a round in it.

_________________
Big Dave
Lived everywhere
Always came back to Texas

If you still have it and want to sell it let me know.

I have a three week old MKIII standard with the same problems. The gun was designed for ease of manufacture in order to be low cost. Breakdown maintenance was secondary. Don't expect to not need rudimentary tools to break it down.

I found several problem areas:
-The capture pin (bolt stop pin) on the hammer spring assembly was way too tight- I had to use vicegrips and a lot of cursing to extract it.
-The barrel/receiver assembly must have been put on by Tarzan. I needed a padded claw hammer to release it. It was struck hard a number of times before it let go. It was one notch short of being welded on.
-The planets had to be aligned to reinstall the pin. More cursing again...

Fixit approach:
- I used emery paper and a rat tailed file to SLIGHTLY open up the three holes for the capture pin.
- I beveled the top of the capture pin that faces the recoil spring fork to aid reassembly.
- I beveled the 'tit' on the recoil spring fork to aid reassembly.
- I used a small Dremel disc stone to remove a SMALL amount of metal under the 'foot' that captures the barrel assembly. And I applied a touch of grease. Note the under surface is curved, so that is possible that when you bang the barrel back on, it will be tilted slightly. Make sure the notch on the rear is the same on both sides of the frame. If the capture pin slides through all three holes when installed from the TOP- you are okay.

Reassembly is somewhat easier now: I still have to use a plastic hammer to get the barrel back on, but it only takes two or three whacks now.
It is still a pain to get the pin to go back in all the way, requiring a hammer whack from below for the final 1/8 in.
And you may need to use some medical forceps to put the hammer link in the proper position. It tends to get hung up behind a pin and you can't draw back the bolt when all is reassembled, since the hammer is up and blocking it. The hammer link needs to swing free and be in the 'cup' or small recess when you close/lock the mainspring assembly.

I still have not memorized when an empty magazine needs to be used or when the trigger has to be pulled during the procedures. But then I wasn't good at Rubic's cube, either.

There is an outfit at http://www.majesticarms.com/ that sells a "speed strip" kit for the Ruger which consists of a two piece capture pin which can be unscrewed from the top to aid extracting the bolt. Also included is a new hammer with a beveled edge. It's not cheap, but I have ordered one that should be here this week and I will report on it.

Until then, I'll continue to use the plastic hammer, pin drift and forceps (and notes) to break down and reassemble the gun. I have heard that if it gets as loose as what they demonstrate in the factory breakdown videos, the accuracy suffers.

OBTW- a small piece of printed circuit board with a rectangular slot cut in it makes a fine speed loader.
Enjoy- It does shoot nicely...
Bill