Ruger MKII

[Mach1Run]

Picked up a MKII cheap as a small project to mess with. The reason I got it cheap is that it won't stay cocked, and it probably needs to be reblued. The hammer follows the bolt when you release it. I figured it was a reassembly issue since I know these buggers can be tricky.

Got it apart no problem and then reassembled using the online ruger manual abd several techniques on youtube. Once I got the hang of it I discovered that once you get it all back together correctly it will cycle correctly by hand anywhere from maybe 3 to 12 or so times before the hammer starts following to the bolt again.

I think the hammer strut may be worn, it sounds like its loose once it starts to cycle incorrectly. I can hear a faint metal tapping if I shake the pistol then.

I am thinking that since I will probably pull all the parts out anyway to reblue the frame and slide I could either replace just the strut, or more likely install the VQ trigger kit which has a new strut.

Anyone had a similar issue? What was the fix if you did?

[Trick Pony]

Does the strut look bent? A lot of people have a hell of a time disassembling and re-assembling these pistols and some even damage them in the process.

[Cobraman]

My girlfriends dad has a mk1 with only like 50 rounds through it. It is still in the box and flawless paperwork manual and everything. What are they worth?

[Mach1Run]

Doesn't look bent to me. But kinda hard to see it real well up inside the frame.

[Trick Pony]

My girlfriends dad has a mk1 with only like 50 rounds through it. It is still in the box and flawless paperwork manual and everything. What are they worth?

Well, they aren't especially valuable as a collectible since they made a ton of them. I'd say $200 or so in really nice shape since you can get a brand new Mark III for under $300.
They also don't have a bolt hold open and have 9-round mags and are not compatible with the newer 10-rounders for Mark II and IIIs.

[CJ]

That sounds like a sear to me, if you like and you have time you can bring it to me and I have all the factory parts we can swap out to get it fixed. I have a few bins full of MKII/MKIII parts, and we can do a trigger job too when it's all apart.

Trick Pony made a good suggestion, yes people screw up reassembly all the time, two of my MKII's are from people not being able to reassemble them. If you have another MKII/MKIII to compare it to it's easier to determine the problem. Overall they are very simple guns when they tear down. If the hammer is following the bolt then the hammer is failing to reset and lock back. The Sear/trigger is what locks and releases the hammer, so if it's staying released it isn't being caught by the sear more than likely.