Ruger Standard misfire

[Idz]

My Mark IV is picky about ammo. Rem golden bullet misfires about 4/100 but Federal works fine. I also look for rub marks on the bolt and use a toothpick to put a tiny amount of white lithium grease anywhere that rubs and a drop of gun oil on the extractor pivot point.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I wonder what polishing the recess in the bolt face (where ammo case fits), as well as polishing the chamber.
I'd think a dremel small buff wheel and Rouge, even if you hit it hard, I don't think you would do any damage.

[fatelk]

Before doing that I think I'll talk to Ruger and see if they have any suggestions. I doubt they'll have any magic ideas, and I don't expect them to do any warranty work on a 45 year old gun, but it still won't hurt to see what they say.

The bolt face looks about the same as my old one, and any ammo I've used drops freely into and out of the chamber. I forgot to mention that I've used at least 4 types of ammo in testing, all with the same result, as well as 4 different magazines (1 MkI and 3 MkII).

Here's a close up of the bolt faces. The close-ups make them look dirty, and a couple small fibers look like cracks, but aren't. It was after firing so they are a little dirty.

[LAGS]

I did have a similar issue with the same type of gun years ago.
I found a Burr in the chamber from the previous owner DRY firing it all the time.
I had a tool back then to Iron out the little Burr.
But I have not seen them on the market for years.
I found the problem by coloring the rounds with a felt tipped pen.
Then looked for scratches on the case after firing.
The rounds fit the chamber fine when dropped in by hand.
But when firing , or should I say the round being cycled durring firing it dragged on the case just enough to restrict the bolt from closing all the way.

[fatelk]

I'll give that a try. Any ideas are worth checking out. Thank you!

What really confuses me, though, is that when I swap bolt bodies between the guns, both guns then work flawlessly. That just seems really odd.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I'll give that a try. Any ideas are worth checking out. Thank you!

What really confuses me, though, is that when I swap bolt bodies between the guns, both guns then work flawlessly. That just seems really odd.

Since you said the MkI you've had for 30+ years has fired thousands of rds worked with the bolt that 'may' have an issue...is the reason I suggested the polishing on the seemingly unfired 45 year old gun bolt and chamber. What ever the issue is? I'm guessing the wear has loosened the tolerances to overcome the issue.

[fatelk]

It was worth a try, but I can't see or feel even the tiniest imperfection in or around the chamber.

[fatelk]

Well, I've been trying to figure this one out again. I ordered a new extractor, even though I was pretty sure that wasn't it. It doesn't hurt to have a spare extractor, especially since we have multiple pistols and rifles that all use the same part. I even bought another magazine, found a new looking MKII at a show for $10.

I finally made it to the range again today. It did its little annoying trick 5 times out of 100 rounds. I got smart and made a "slo-mo" video with my phone, and it did it on the second shot. It cycles so fast that it's hard to see even on slow motion, but it looks like it cycles and feeds just fine, and then the bolt "bounces" slightly. It looks like for some reason the rim is not under the extractor as it closes, near as I can tell. The cartridge is fully chambered, and the bolt slightly bounces after closing, then closes again, a tiny fraction open because the extractor is resting on the wrong side of the rim. There is never a mis-feed, never a jam.

I think I'll do what I should have done earlier, and call Ruger. It's embarrassing that I can't figure this one out. I can usually figure stuff like this out.

[rbuck351]

Check clearance between the extractor and the bolt face to make sure there is enough room for the cartridge head to slide up easily. Check the back of the extractor for burrs and polish off any roughness. With the gun loaded, pull the slide to the rear and ease it forward looking for any resistance of the round sliding under the extractor. If none of that is a problem, file a bit of an angle on the bottom front of the firing pin as it sticks out the front of the bolt face on the way forward and the round can hang on that squared off bottom of the firing pin. It should have enough inertia to pop the pin back in the bolt but it might be rough on the bottom. Also check to make sure the firing pin slides freely. Don't know if any of these will help but cycling the action slowly might show whats happening.

[justashooter]

extractor spring and the rubber rod inside the spring might be replaced to good effect.

[fatelk]

Yep, I've tried all those things. I'll check them over again though. I don't know about a rubber rod though, not familiar with anything like that on this model.

Logically, it has to be something. I keep hoping it turns out to be something simple that makes me feel foolish when I finally figure it out.

[LAGS]

Does your pistol have the same issues with every magazine.
Or does it misfunction with only one.
People that only have a pistol with one magazine sometimes have issues , and it is hard to eliminate that as an issue since they can't compare how it fires with a different magazine.

[Texas by God]

If this has been suggested, please disregard. Replace the recoil spring. A new one might shove it into battery Every Time.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[ulav8r]

Is the extractor possibly hitting the bottom of the cutout in the barrel, causing the bolt to bounce back?

Edit: A weak recoil spring could also allow it to happen.

[fatelk]

I have 6 magazines, and it seems to do it occasionally with all of them. I'll have one magazine that works fine for a couple mags full and I get thinking maybe that's it, then it does it.

The only new part I've bought is an extractor. Frequency of malfunction seemed to decrease some after that, but it also seems to depend somewhat on the ammo used.

I have a couple other guns, another Standard and a MK2. I've swapped all small parts, including springs, to no avail. All the small parts from a known good gun in the problem gun, and the problem gun still has problems. All small parts from problem gun in known good gun, and known good gun is still good. When I swap the bolt bodies themselves (still with small bolt parts swapped), BOTH guns function perfectly. There seems to be some very minor difference in the bolt body causing the problem, but I can't see it. I've looked it over inside and out under magnification for any burrs or imperfections.

I found some slow motion videos on Youtube, of Ruger .22 pistols being fired. It appears that the bolt bounce I see in mine is normal. It would be interesting to have a good quality high speed camera to be able to see what it actually going on.

I can't get to the range very regularly. I think I'll give Ruger a call tomorrow to see if they have any idea what the problem could be, if they'll even talk to me about it. If they just tell me to send it in for them to look at it, that's a no-go. I'll keep tinkering with it before I spend a bunch of money on shipping and repairs. It has to be something, and it must be pretty minor if the bolt works perfectly in the other gun, and the other bolt works perfectly in it.

[Texas by God]

Shoot a brick of Stingers thru it? Maybe loosen it up a bit- throwing things out there at this point lol.

[rbuck351]

After looking again at the pictures of the two bolt face, I see a difference in the two firing pin faces. The one on the left appears much blockier. File a slight bevel on the bottom front edge and polish that pin to help the round slide up past the pin and behind the extractor on the way into the chamber. Also I would remove just a bit from the entire front edge of the extractor. It may be that the cutout in the barrel for the extractor was cut a tiny bit to small causing the extractor to bounce outward releasing the round and then as the bolt bounces back a bit the extractor settles behind the round.
Just guessing but either the round is getting ahead of the extractor on the way forward or it is being released and the bolt/extractor is bouncing back a bit leaving the round in the chamber. My guess is the bounce back.

[Kenstone]

I should have mentioned that I completely disassembled and thoroughly cleaned and inspected the entire bolt in detail. I couldn’t find anything wrong. It all looked like new, no burrs or varnish.

I tinkered with it side by side with my other one, chambering rounds slowly from the magazine and watching how they go in. I did notice that a couple times the rounds popped up out of the magazine instead of sliding up under the extractor like they’re supposed to. It’s not a magazine issue; I have a bunch of good magazines. I’ll swap extractors next time I get to the range; that should tell me something.

It looks like I can get a new extractor on eBay for $7. I never realized that the Ruger .22 auto pistols used the same extractor as the 10/22.

I didn't read all the other responses but wanted to suggest you clean/re-clean the slot/cavity/cut-out in the barrel face for the extractor.
Any debris in there will keep the bolt for closing.

[reivertom]

Have you replaced the slide spring assembly? I had one that had problems and a new spring assembly cured it. The old one wasn't strong enough.

[justashooter]

firing pin spring in bolt is same size as a BIC pen spring. AMHIK.
gunk in chamber area.