Ruger Surprise!!

[PegLeg45]

My son brought me a "surprise" Ruger Mark II pistol the other night.
I call it "surprise" because it was completely disassembled and in a bag, and I was surprised I got it back together in working order.  

I have never had a Ruger Mark III apart on any level before, so when he called and asked if I would attempt to 'fix' it for one of our neighbors from down the road, I was reluctant at first (because of the nightmares others have told about the difficulty of Rugers)........ but my desire to help, as well as the curiosity, got the better of me and I said I'd try.

Well, I can honestly say, it wasn't the almighty trial I had heard it would be. With a little patience, and a couple of great youtube videos, I had it together in a jiffy.

I was happy.

My son was happy.

Our neighbor was very happy...... and for good reason...... After I got it working, and my son took it back, he returned and told me it had been our neighbor's dad's gun. His dad had taken it apart eight years ago and couldn't get it back together..... so he left it alone with all the parts in a bag for years. His dad fell into poor health and passed away last year, so our neighbor wanted to get it back into firing order in memory of his dad.


Now I was more happy.

[twyacht]

Good for you Peg!!!!! Feel's kinda nice don't it?

Built my AR from scratch with those darn youtube vids....

[gunman42782]

Putting a MK2 oe 3 back together is a breeze.  The trick is getting the hammer strut back into the mainspring housing.  That is where 99% of people screw up.  After you do it a few times it is a piece of cake.  I admit, the MK3 is harder because of the damn mag disconnect, but even it aint hard if you follow the directions.  Where I work, everytime someone has one they can't get back I get called on to fix it. 

[PegLeg45]

Putting a MK2 oe 3 back together is a breeze.  The trick is getting the hammer strut back into the mainspring housing.  That is where 99% of people screw up.  After you do it a few times it is a piece of cake.  I admit, the MK3 is harder because of the damn mag disconnect, but even it aint hard if you follow the directions.  Where I work, everytime someone has one they can't get back I get called on to fix it. 

Yeah, after you have taken one apart first so you can get a sense of parts orientation. Trying it the first time out of a zip-lock bag of parts....... not as fun.
    

[Timothy]

I had a similar situation with my SIL's 1911 several years ago.  He'd tried to field strip the gun without every having read the manual or done it before.  Had the slide all jammed up because he tried to take it apart like his Sig Sauer...  Forgot about the barrel bushing....or never realized it had one!

Hadn't touched a 1911 in a while myself but in a few minutes had it working again from memory...it helped that I was trained to do in the dark...

That day kinda rekindled my desire to start shooting again...

[Sponsor]

[sledgemeister]

My son brought me a "surprise" Ruger Mark III pistol the other night.
I call it "surprise" because it was completely disassembled and in a bag, and I was surprised I got it back together in working order. 

I have never had a Ruger Mark III apart on any level before, so when he called and asked if I would attempt to 'fix' it for one of our neighbors from down the road, I was reluctant at first (because of the nightmares others have told about the difficulty of Rugers)........ but my desire to help, as well as the curiosity, got the better of me and I said I'd try.

Well, I can honestly say, it wasn't the almighty trial I had heard it would be. With a little patience, and a couple of great youtube videos, I had it together in a jiffy.

I was happy.

My son was happy.

Our neighbor was very happy...... and for good reason...... After I got it working, and my son took it back, he returned and told me it had been our neighbor's dad's gun. His dad had taken it apart eight years ago and couldn't get it back together..... so he left it alone with all the parts in a bag for years. His dad fell into poor health and passed away last year, so our neighbor wanted to get it back into firing order in memory of his dad.


Now I was more happy.

Are Mark iii's that old?
I thought they was only about 4 or five?
They certainly get the newbies when trying to reassemble lol

[PegLeg45]

Are Mark iii's that old?
I thought they was only about 4 or five?
They certainly get the newbies when trying to reassemble lol

Showing my ignorance, I think you are correct, Sledge.
The Mk III's started around 2004 (I think) and if they all have magazine disconnects, the one I worked on would have to be a Mk II...... it had no mag disconnect. I never bothered to look at the markings on the gun the whole time I had it (about a half hour) due to being so focused on the assembly of it.

OP corrected for accuracy.......  ........ thanks for the catch. 

[Big Frank]

You done good Peg. When I was in the army one of the unit armorers brought in a surprise for me. He was carrying a garbage bag that jingle-jangled. Surprise! It was an M16 that was run over by a least a platoon of tanks. I didn't like surprises. I had to inspect it and document every part that was missing, bent, or broken (filled out in 5 copies). It was a complete basket case and had to be traded in for a new one.

[tombogan03884]

When I was in the Guard the Battery XO came to me after a weekend FireX at Camp Edwards.
He said, "You're not going to be happy, but we already dealt with this . Here's gun 3's M - 60 . "
He had been standing with his right side hidden by the arms room door.
He stepped in and handed me an M - 60 with a 90 degree bend in it.
It had been run over by the ammo truck that "didn't need no ground guide".
The only part saved was the bipod.
Replacement came from Saco Defense before they became Bushmaster and cost $10 K.