That a bad at the range was better than a good day at work.
Either I was wrong or I just had a really bad day at the range yesterday afternoon.
My aforementioned problems with the Volquartzen grips have spawned an even larger problem.
While at the range yesterday, my Ruger MKII malfuctioned in a very bad way.
First off, let me state that the only modifications it has seen are the previous Volquartzen grips, which have since been chaged out for some large $$ Houge Laminated Cherrywood gripstocks and a set of Williams fiber optic sights.
I have wanted to put the Volquartzen competition trigger and an extended bolt stop release on the pistol, and with what I’ll be spending on repairs, I may just as well have them installed while it is torn down.
This was the problem/s it was having: After the first three 10rnd mags, it started not ejecting with it’s favorite ammo (CCI Blazer, oddly enough). The empty case would get caught above the fresh cartridge and pinned inside the feeding area. This was a minor annoyance.
After clearing four failure to ejects I decided that I was going to stop and see what the problem may be. This is a relatively new pistol with less than 1000 rounds through it. I removed the now half-empty magazine, letting the mostly fed fresh cartridge stay in the feeding area.
That is where I made began my mistake.
Instead of picking the partially fed cartridge out with my fingernail, I pulled the bolt back to release the pressure from the bolt stop with the intention of closing the chamber and firing that cartridge at the target before putting the pistol back in it’s case.
However, when I let the bolt go forward it slamfired, sending a round downrange.
The pistol now rests in the safe of the range’s smith. There is obviously something broken isnide that I do not want to use my non-expert skills to mess with. If it is what I suspect it to be, I will just install the new performance parts at that time. The new trigger requires professional smithing to install the trigger forward travel adjustment screw anyway.
Please, always remember the rules for safe firearms handling.
#1 – Always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction.
#2 – Always keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot.
#3 – Always keep the gun unloaded until ready to use.
Number one covered my ass yesterday. The only damage was to my ego when I was embarassed that the pistol went off before I had chosen it to.
While I have never experienced a slamfire in my MkII, it has done the jam as described. Mine was a second hand purchase, and it had been well used. It would jam about 1 every 100 rounds, just as you described. I ordered up a MkII Wolff spring kit for it, along with a new extractor, and jams stopped. My old extractor had a visibly non-correct shape to the very tip – as if it was worn down at the tip or badly made in the first place. As my eyes are oldening, I used a bright light and large magnifying glass to see this detail, and then only after a good cleaning of the part. Good luck with yours.
Correction – it was the GP100 that got the Wolff springs. But that is another story….
The MkII got new Ruger OEM parts, ordered online from their website.
My Mk I is pretty omniverous, but 2 years ago it began doing exactly what yours did. I quit using Federal Ammo and the problem went away for a while, but soon the Remington stuff began jamming. The problem turned out to be in the hammer spring, pretty well hidden in the removable widgett you remove from the handle to dismantle the gun. Push the plunger down, and flood with carb cleaner, or remove the pin and thoroughly disinfect the assembly. LIGHTLY oil and reassemble. Gun now eats anything I feed it.
Interesting that you mention your Mk II likes CCI Blazers. I have a Mk III target that likes CCI Mini Mags best but shoots Blazers almost as well, and better than target ammo (even the Expen$$ive stuff).
I haven’t had the jamming problem but I did have the pistol “double” on me once. It was after a couple of hundred rounds in the session, and I didn’t clean it very well the session before. The double was on the last round in the mag so it may have gone full-auto. The range master was … generous … and politely requested that I have the pistol looked at before shooting it again. I found it was filthy and gave it a complete cleaning. After that, no problems and I limit it to 200 rounds between cleanings.
Which reminds me, I have a Volquartzen extractor I need to install in it…
When you find out what may have caused it, would you please post it. I have several of these pistols and have fired lotsa rounds thru all of them and have never had a problem, but I really curious to see if something is broken or did the firing pin just crud up and jam in the extended position.