Mark III Deburring, DIY Mods, & Drop-In Parts

[Press Check]

While the less than flawless interiors of the MK-series guns are a head-scratcher, I guarantee that you won't find a single owner, who would ever give up their Ruger. The guns are absolutely without equal, in terms of bang for the buck, and longevity. A stock MK-series gun will outlast you, your kids, and their kids. Likely, even without proper cleanings nor replacing springs.

The loose internal tolerances wind up being an advantage, because there is little chance of things jamming up. Also, the mechanical structures of the firing system are simple, and durable. There is simply nothing to break, or wear down. No MIM. Everything is strong, stamped steel. May not be pretty, but it absolutely gets the job done.

The only modern .22 pistols which are going to have a refined internal build quality, are going to be match guns, like Hammereli, or something like the S&W 41. But those all cost at least three-times what the Ruger does, and will NEVER be as reliable, or easy to maintain.

Again, nothing I said should be misconstrued as a complaint. Aesthetically, the exterior is awesome, and internally, the pistol is bullet-proof. No reason to look elsewhere for a Rimfire.

[bplvr]

My wifey has tossed 2000+ Federal Blue Box rounds through her MK III 8"
and not one ,not one, FTE or FTF . She loves it !

[Press Check]

Completely deburred:

[CharlesV]

I agree 1000%---i will never voluntarily part with a Ruger Mk. I lost my Mk II in a house burgulary and the very next .22 i got was another Mk. That MkII had at least 4000 rounds though it, never once any firing problem and never was stripped or modified. I never got past barrel maintenance in all those rounds because if it aint broke dont fix it. I only shot CCI and yes it got a bit dirty in there but it worked so reliably and perfectly i plain didnt want to touch it and lose the magic.

Not all of my guns are Ruger but i totally trust that whatever Ruger I buy i will feel the same about. Dont let a rough interior stop your purchase, it certainly wont stop your enjoyment and satisfaction. But i wont ever agree that Ruger is a shoddy manufacturer, they absolutely are not.

Ok....so on one hand you have a great gun you can shoot right out of the box for years and never touch it. On the other hand its a bit ironic that Mks are almost the least accessorized guns out there (and indeed there isnt very much for them) but one of the few guns most WORTHY of buying accessories for.

[CharlesV]

Ok, i stand corrected about something--maybe it IS worth deburring. I found the greatest How-To using a MkIII Hunter as the object and im thinking id like this job done on mine. One of the selling points is that after the work, HAMMERS and PAPERCLIPS are no longer needed as stripping tools. Take a look at an excellent and caring job:

http://www.longislandfirearms.com/forum/v-print/m-1272241977.92605/

I dont have the facility to do this but yes id like it very much. Maybe i can write to him.

[Press Check]

Ok, i stand corrected about something--maybe it IS worth deburring. I found the greatest How-To using a MkIII Hunter as the object and im thinking id like this job done on mine. One of the selling points is that after the work, HAMMERS and PAPERCLIPS are no longer needed as stripping tools. Take a look at an excellent and caring job:

http://www.longislandfirearms.com/forum/v-print/m-1272241977.92605/

I dont have the facility to do this but yes id like it very much. Maybe i can write to him.

That's a good write-up. With the exception of the mill work (used a needle file), I've done about 90% of that work, but a whole lot more work with the trigger group and connecting components.

[CharlesV]

Ok, i said dont bother because in my case everything worked smoothly on the old Mk, far as i could see. Maybe the need for work depends on the individual gun. In his, as you saw, every part was scraping and gouging eachother and he had to do something. My new Mk III, its too soon to tell but if folks have a good running smooth action, leave it alone or just work on a single offending piece if needed. Ive seen guns ruined by the wrong hands when unnecessary (or necessary) work was done.

[Press Check]

Correct, every pistol is different, but I have never heard of a Mark series pistol that was void of any burrs or jagged edges, especially in stainless. Of course, some are better than others, but in general, any production pistol will in fact benefit from internal work.

Case in point, my pistol was running flawlessly when I took it apart and discovered how burred and jagged the interior was, and until you have experienced the end result of a finely tuned and polished Mark series trigger, you have no idea just how sub-standard the stock trigger is, in addition to the stamped, sheet metal parts.

As I discovered with the disconnector, some parts are not complete flat, and others have burrs that create friction when the trigger group is actuated.

If you have more than a hundred rounds through your MKIII, it is not too soon to tell. The 500-1000 round break-in period and mating of parts completely pales in comparasin to creating artificial wear by polishing, deburring and fine-tuning the parts.

[CharlesV]

You make a good argument for owners to inspect their guns.

[Press Check]

Trued / squared the bolt face and radius, corrected the headspace from .051 to the universally recommended .043, and installed a Volquartsen extractor:

[CharlesV]

how did you change the headspace?

[Jeepers]

how did you change the headspace?

remove metal from the front of the bolt

[ChrisZ]

Nice job cleaning it up.

lol, I guess this does not apply to me, as my 22/45 comes with a polymer lower.

[Press Check]

The Volquartsen trigger is nothing short of awesome. Quickly learned that fine tuning the pre-travel and over-travel required 1/4 turn incriments. Pre-travel has been reduced by 80%, and with the grub screw, over-travel is non-existent, but just prior to the break, there's still a small amount of creep remaining.





On a side note, since dry-firing is a necessary evil when testing and tuning your trigger, and doing so without a dummy round or snap cap will in fact score and damage the chamber wall, I use 4-6 x 7/8” drywall anchors, which can be had for less than $5 at hardware stores. In my case, $3.92 for 100:



These share the same rim diameter as 22LR rounds, and can be dry-fired upwards of 10 times each, so that’s 1,000 dry-fires. Also, they single-feed and eject from the pistol no different than a dummy or live round.

[mcmski]

I have a noob question.

When you polish parts like that, do you have to worry about corrosion on those parts or is the little bit of oil on those parts enough to prevent that? Any finish that was on those parts is obviously removed by the polishing.