Semi-nightmare Ruger Mark III problem

One of the guys from the club brought over a stainless Ruger Mark III that someone put together wrong and then made things worse.  Since they could not get the mainspring housing to open up all the way, they knocked the pin out that holds the latch.  That of course, made the detent ball and spring jam up in the bottom of the grip, so no way was the housing going to come out.

I got the housing out, after some coaxing and just a little cursing.  The mainspring and detent ball are okay.  The latch is long gone.  The pistol was purchased by a friend of the club member and he did not think to ask if there were any loose parts floating around.

Log story, I purchased a new stainless latch from Numrich, so it should be here later this week.  It should to back together okay.  I then need to give the new owner a short course in how to take it apart for cleaning and then put it back together the right way.

Bread tie formed into a loop gets it open.

The problem was, they got the hammer strut caught under that one pin, just below it, trying to put it back together, so the bolt would not come back, etc.  I guess, rather than thinking the problem through, they knocked out the latch pin and made things worse.

I think the trick is to knock out the sear and hammer pins.  Don't ask me how I know.

I got it apart without doing that, but that was going to be the last resort.

cdrt wrote:I got it apart without doing that, but that was going to be the last resort.

I am new to MK III and it happened to me the other night, the just kept on pulling the trigger and shaking it until the hammer moved. 

Bill Ruger must have had some sense of humor.

rich.tullo wrote:

cdrt wrote:I got it apart without doing that, but that was going to be the last resort.

I am new to MK III and it happened to me the other night, the just kept on pulling the trigger and shaking it until the hammer moved. 

Bill Ruger must have had some sense of humor.

Whoever screwed this one up, jammed the trigger strut so that no amount of shaking was going to make it come loose.  Just waiting for the new latch and an extra detent ball from Numrich to fix this thing.  It will have to wait until I get back from the Regional in OKC this Saturday.

I would suggested patience and maybe safety glasses.  It's not that easy of a job.  Make sure the pin fits thought the mainspring and latch easily before you begin. A slave pin might be helpful.   Maybe do it in an area that you can find the ball in case/when it goes flying.

285wannab wrote:I would suggested patience and maybe safety glasses.  It's not that easy of a job.  Make sure the pin fits thought the mainspring and latch easily before you begin. A slave pin might be helpful.   Maybe do it in an area that you can find the ball in case/when it goes flying.

The pin fits and should be easy to drive through when I get the latch.  I ordered two extra balls, just in case.  I think I have it figured out how to push the spring and ball in, so they will stay captured, while I install the latch and drive the pin through. If I don't need the extra balls, I will send them back to Numrich.

Years ago (late 90's?) I stopped in a local sporting goods store called Galyan's here in Indy.  They had a stainless Mark III slabside target model I wanted.  I asked the guy behind the counter to show me how to break it down before I bought it.  He got it apart and after about 45 minutes gave up on putting it back together.  He was pretty frustrated so I offered him $75 as is for it.  "Sold".  Still have it.

The good news is, it is back together.  No bad news.  I clamped the housing to my work bench, laying it flat, with the drift pin in place.  Using a piece of wood, I pressed the spring, detent ball and latch into the housing.  While I held it in place, my wife drove the pin in with a small brass hammer.  Since it was apart, before reassembling, I cut a couple coils off the mainspring to make it easier to compress.  That had the added advantage of reducing the trigger pull slightly.  When I checked it, it broke right a 3 pounds.  Took it to the range and it worked like a champ.  Now I just need to get it back to the new owner.  I'm going to suggest very strongly that he download a copy of the owner's manual from the Ruger website.

spyer40 wrote:Years ago (late 90's?) I stopped in a local sporting goods store called Galyan's here in Indy.  They had a stainless Mark III slabside target model I wanted.  I asked the guy behind the counter to show me how to break it down before I bought it.  He got it apart and after about 45 minutes gave up on putting it back together.  He was pretty frustrated so I offered him $75 as is for it.  "Sold".  Still have it.

lol, its not so bad after first 3 or 4 times......You just have to make sure the hammer strut is dangling down.

james r chapman wrote:Bread tie formed into a loop gets it open.

I use a zip lock. Same idea works good.

rich.tullo wrote:

james r chapman wrote:Bread tie formed into a loop gets it open.

I use a zip lock. Same idea works good.

Since I cut a few coils off the mainspring, it is really easy to pull the latch down without any assist from a zip lock, paperclip, you name it. 

cdrt wrote:

rich.tullo wrote:

james r chapman wrote:Bread tie formed into a loop gets it open.

I use a zip lock. Same idea works good.

Since I cut a few coils off the mainspring, it is really easy to pull the latch down without any assist from a zip lock, paperclip, you name it. 

Have you fired it since the modification?

Wile E Coyote wrote:
Have you fired it since the modification?

See my post above...yes, took it to the range and it functioned perfectly.  I was pleased that the trigger pull reduced the way it did.  I'm sure the owner will be happy with it, since he paid the guy $100 for it and the parts I used cost less than $20.

cdrt wrote:... I then need to give the new owner a short course in how to take it apart for cleaning and then put it back together the right way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwfpRMuEaBY