ARGH Ruger 22/45 problem

[Agent Akin]

Okay, so I tried to break down my 22/45 for the first time for cleaning. I kinda skimmed over the manual where it was saying that it was designed to be disassembled without tools... but you may want to have a rubber mallet and wooden dowel handy...

Seriously? A mallet and dowel?

Anyway, I tried to disassemble it without said ridiculous tools... and got stuck. Right at the point where the manual said a rubber mallet and dowel could be helpful.

I put it back together, but it's not right.. pulling back the slide just doesn't work right, it gets caught at one point while pulling it back and another while trying to let it go forward.

Soooo... does anyone know of anywhere I can take this to get it fixed up and possibly have someone show me what the correct way to strip it is? I've never encountered a weapon that needed tools before in order to break it down, so this is all new to me...

And, hopefully this place where I can take it not only won't want too much money to help me out, but they'll be near Burbank... I know, I'm not looking for much, am I? *grin*

[Agent Akin]

I'm honestly afraid to try now, as I'm not sure if it's cocked or not since I pushed the lever back in and tried the bolt... I can't dry fire it one way or another, and the manual specifically states that it needs to be uncocked... even if I got a rubber mallet and a dowel to whack out the thing that holds the bolt in after I've unlatched it, I'm afraid of the damage that could occur if it is cocked...

[davek8s]

It's fine, but you do need the mallet and dowel. You didn't break any thing. You just put it back together wrong.
The first time I put my mkIII back together, I had to put the parts in a box and leave it over night. I almost cried about it. After doing it dozens if times it gets easier.

[whipkiller]

HA, Welcome to Ruger 22/45 ownership! You didn't break anything,and you don't need to take it anywhere. Just take it apart and put it back together again.

There are some good Youtube videos on re-assembling these monsters.

I love my little Ruger, but it tends to be pretty dirty most of the time for this reason.

If you do it regularly, it's not that bad. (I don't do it regularly.)

[Agent Akin]

hmmm it specifically says that it needs to be uncocked in order to disassemble it, yet since I pulled the bolt back, not realizing how messed up it was, I have to assume it's cocked... this won't hurt it?

[NinetyEight740]

I started to take mine apart and ran into the same problem so stopped. Will require more attention at a later date.

[Sheldon]

Are all the 22/45 pistols MKIII or are there some MKII models? Where are ya located near, maybe someone nearby can help ya out if one of the many Youtube videos cannot. The bolt isn't coming all the way back because the hammer strut is out of place usually. You should still be able to rotate the mainspring housing out ward and reinsert it while aligning the strut up correctly and get it back together easy enough.

[Merc1138]

Yes, there are 22/45 MKII's as well. The only difference(well, besides the loaded chamber indicator and I think the legal safety text nonsense on the side) is the magazine disconnect so you don't have to insert a magazine to pull the trigger when stripping/assembling it. The rest of the nonsense(banging on it with a rubber mallet when it gets stuck, cartwheels to get things to fall into place) are still the same.

[MongooseV8]

Relax it's an easy fix. All you need to do is remove the take down pin again and slide your upper assembly off again and start over. You simply missed a step of tilting the gun up or down when you put it back together. I did this same thing probably 100 times with mine and never broke anything. It's actually very easy to take these apart once you learn how. YouTube is your friend!

[bucktooth7]

Quick disassembly and reassembly 0f Ruger 22/45 MK3

.Insert empty clip, cock and pull trigger.
.Hammer must be up.
(down, horizontal is cocked)
.Remove magazine.
.Remove bolt stop.
.Remove bolt.
. Tap frame directly below barrel.

Assembly.

.Hammer must be horizontal.
.Place barrel on frame.
.Tap rear of frame forward.
.Slide bolt in.
.Insert magazine point gun down and pull trigger.
.Push hammer all the way forward.
.Insert bolt stop.
.Turn muzzle up and pull trigger.
.Close bolt stop as far as it will go.
.Release trigger, remove Magazine close bolt stop.
DONE
Print this and keep it on your bench for future use. I've been in your exact shoes. You can fix it by following these steps.

[Agent Akin]

Great.

So, I went out and bought a wooden dowel, a rubber mallet, and a small vice with rubber covers for the jaws that I could vacuum stick to my kitchen table... I wasn't able to figure out how, exactly, I could hold the weapon, hold the dowel, and hit it with a mallet with only two hands, so a vice seemed the way to go.

Problem is, now I can't even get as far as I did before... while I can still pop open the housing latch on the mainspring housing, I can't swing the housing itself out far enough to even attempt to remove it, dowel or no.

Sooooo... back to where I was. Does anyone know of any gunsmiths in or around the Burbank area that might be willing to help, hopefully for a not-outrageous fee...?

[Agent Akin]

Quick disassembly and reassembly 0f Ruger 22/45 MK3

.Insert empty clip, cock and pull trigger.
.Hammer must be up.
(down, horizontal is cocked)
.Remove magazine.
.Remove bolt stop.
.Remove bolt.

While I can get a magazine in the pistol, it doesn't slide in smoothly like it used to, I have to push it.

I can pull the slide back a little bit and it stops... if I pull a bit harder, I can pull it all the way back, where it stays open.

I can lower the bolt stop, but the bolt won't go forward. I have to push it.

Pulling the trigger doesn't do anything.

To remove the magazine, I have to grab it and pull it out... they don't drop free anymore.

AARRGGHH!!! Who the hell designs a freaking HANDGUN that needs TOOLS to take apart?!?!?!

[bucktooth7]

Forget the tools, the only tool you really need is a small screw driver to start to remove the bolt stop as it is hard on your finger nail and then again to push the hammer all the way forward . no mallet or dowel!

[bucktooth7]

What you need to do at this point is put the Mag in and point muzzle up and pull trigger.drop the mag and see if the bolt stop will pull back out. If it doesn't try pointing the muzzle down and try it with the mag in and out. Push the mag stop down from the top with your thumb. No Hammers! No great force needed

[bucktooth7]

Once you get it field stripped again follow the assembly instructions. When you get to the part .Push the hammer all the way forward. Look at the bottom of the hammer. The Hammer strut (vertical thin metal strip) should be centered in the housing so when inserting the bolt stop , the bolt stop will straddle the strut.