[Chicken]

Hey guys! My CZ 75b still has not come in yet. So, yesterday I purchased a new Ruger Mark III to take to the range, in hopes it will pacify me in the meantime. I saw a comment on another forum that you should clean it before taking it to the range even if it's brand new. I thought it should be ready to shoot straight out of the box. Also, I've read some horror stories about taking the gun apart to clean, but then I saw a few YouTube videos that made it seem simple enough. This was definitely an impulse buy, and I want to make sure I didn't get myself into something I can't handle. I love the heavy feel of the gun, but it is a little bit different than other guns I have shot/ field stripped. I plan on taking it to the range Saturday. Any advice/ input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!

 

[Overkill0084]

If it's NIB, you received an owner's manual. With the instructions and the diagram, that's how I figured it out. Add YouTube to the mix and you should be fine. If yours is anything like mine was, you will need to field strip & clean the packing grease out of it. It's not THAT hard. Once you figure it out, practice it a few times and you should be fine. Ruger must get that packing grease cheap, because they are quite generous with it.
Ironically, your CZ will probably be worse, Eastern Europe must have huge stockpiles of packing grease they are trying to use up... mine was ridiculous.

 

[jeepejeep]

Overkill pretty much got it covered. The only thing I can add is the gun gets easier to take apart the more it's disassembled. The parts kinda loosen and it's not as hard. Yes, it's a little more involved than other pistols but it's a great gun and well worth the extra few minutes to get it apart and back together.

 

[therewolf]

Put a scope on it, and it's a 50 yard tackdriver, with the 6-3/4"

slab-side barrel...

 

[partdeux]

strange reassembly procedure

Volquartsen trigger kit is awesome... assuming you don't have a safety issue like I did. But they fixed it for me at no charge.

I really like mine.

 

[Chicken]

Awesome insight! Thanks guys!

 

[sputnik1988]

They can be a nightmare to reassemble the first few times, once you figure it out, its not too bad.

 

[Vincine]

As some here posted, you have to do the 'Hokey Pokey' with a magazine to get the hammer to go down in order to get the mainspring back in. It's not really complicated, I just find it hard to work the main spring release.

 

[Chicken]

Good to know. I saw on another forum that a guy messed up his hammer strut on his Mark iii when he took his apart, and that made me a little nervous.

 

[Mr. Bluesky]

Get yourself a plastic-headed hammer for the first dozen times you take it apart and reassemble it. I already had one of these (http://www.stanleytools.com/default...ARTNUMBER=57-594&SDesc=8+oz.+Soft+Face+Hammer) which is a little easier to use on the gun than a full-on rubber mallet, and still doesn't damage it.

I would recommend not taking apart the trigger group. I couldn't figure out how to get the hammer, sear, and mag disconnect back in, and I could have looked up a video on how to do it, but I used the excuse to get a Mk II hammer and sear, which dropped in with no modification and are a hell of a lot easier to reassemble. Parts were from Volquartsen, same as Partdeux got his, and they've been great so far, even improving the trigger break a bit.

 

[partdeux]

Blue man...

with an empty firearm, flip the safety on, rack the slide, point the fire arm in a SAFE direction, pull the trigger. With the firearm still pointed in a safe direction, are you listening, the firearm pointed in a safe direction, flip the safety off. Mine discharged a live round! Scared the crap out of me.

But damn, the MKII hammer is a sweet trigger!

 

[Mr. Bluesky]

Blue man...

with an empty firearm, flip the safety on, rack the slide, point the fire arm in a SAFE direction, pull the trigger. With the firearm still pointed in a safe direction, are you listening, the firearm pointed in a safe direction, flip the safety off. Mine discharged a live round! Scared the crap out of me.

But damn, the MKII hammer is a sweet trigger!

Yep, that's why you've got a safety between your ears.

 

[partdeux]

Yep, that's why you've got a safety between your ears.

yea, that happened at my range during practice, luckily muzzle pointed down range... same night that an experience shooter fumbled his target pistol and put a round into his leg... not 5' from where I was sitting. Each incident was bad enough, but the two together shook me. Safety is first, second, and third.

 

[Redleg]

Overkill pretty much got it covered. The only thing I can add is the gun gets easier to take apart the more it's disassembled. The parts kinda loosen and it's not as hard. Yes, it's a little more involved than other pistols but it's a great gun and well worth the extra few minutes to get it apart and back together.

+1 ... it is not that the Mark pistols are difficult to field strip and reassemble. The real issue is that there are a couple of easy steps that are hard to explain in writing that most new owners miss. (I did, anyway.)

The most common issue in reassembling a Mark pistol is that before you re-insert the mainspring housing assembly (MHA) into the grip of the gun, you need to have the hammer all the way forward. Otherwise the MHA will de-insert itelf as you close it, which is maddening. For a Mark III, this means that you must insert an empty magazine, pull the trigger, and push the hammer with a Q tip or some other tool such that the hammer is all the way forward. Takes about a second, but if you don't do this the MHA will not close properly. This is explained in the manual but many new Mark users miss this step at first. I did.

The other common issue when reassembling a Mark comes right after you perform the above step and insert the MHA. Sometimes the MHA closes properly, but once the gun is fully assemble the action will not pull back all the way. This means that the hammer strut was not positioned properly when closing the MHA. The easiest way to avoid this is when you close the MHA have the barrel pointed in the air. I make it a practice to point the barrel in the air and give the muzzle a firm tap with a nylon mallet. Often you will hear a little "click" which is the hammer strut falling into the correct position. When you close the MHA, if the hammer strut is correctly positioned per above, you will feel spring tension on the MHA for the last little bit as you close it. This means that all is well.

The above tricks were my own little problems when I was first learning the Marks. No problem now, and they are great pistols. Actually you can field strip and clean a Mark faster than most other pistols.

 

[Axxe55]

the others are right, as they are a little difficult the first few times when new. they do get easier as they break in and you have done it several times. just follow the procedures in the owners manual and you will do fine. i printed a schematic of mine off and put it u on the wall in front of my bench to assist me in the teardown.

i bought mine about a year ago and found that i really like the pistol. mine is the Mark III 22/45 target model, and its pretty dang accurate. there is also lots of aftermarket parts and accessories for them. another suggestion, buy some more magazines. you will have so much fun shooting, that you don't want to stop to load mags!

 

[Vincine]

For a Mark III, this means that you must insert an empty magazine, pull the trigger, and push the hammer with a Q tip or some other tool such that the hammer is all the way forward.

Took me a whole evening to discover this. To me it’s counter intuitive to put a magazine into a pistol when stripping it.

I make it a practice to point the barrel in the air and give the muzzle a firm tap with a nylon mallet.

I'm looking for a small mallet for my range bag. Wish it wasn't needed.

you will have so much fun shooting, that you don't want to stop to load mags!

Yes, it’s a blast. Keep an eye out for bulk CCI rounds. Personally I get better results loading just one magazine at a time. It gives me a small break from aiming ‘sets’.

 

[Chicken]

Wow!!! Such helpful advice! So glad to be part of the forum. Thank y'all so much!! I'll give y'all a report on how I did.

 

[tCan]

Our MkIII is an incredible pistol.

 

[Redleg]

I agree that the Mark pistols are pretty darned tight the first dozen or so times you field strip them. Ruger ships the darned things tight. And they stay pretty tight, but the Marks do loosen up such that they become easier to field strip over time. I do think that if you own a new Mark you need to have a rubber or nylon mallet. With my two Mark IIIs there is no other way to separate the barrel from the handgrip assembly. The mallet is your friend. The day does come when you don't need it, but not very soon.

 

[winds-of-change]

See my avatar? I have so much fun with that gun.