A friend called me on Wednesday and wanted to make the rounds, so off we went.
At a local Lawmen’s, there she was. Sitting on the bottom shelf at the far right was a familiar silhouette. I’d recognize those Bolt Ears, those grips and that long tapered barrel anywhere.
It was a Ruger Mark II Standard, with a 6 inch barrel, She in great shape and had been well kept. About 90% worth of kept. Standard sights and all metal, except for the grips. . The trigger was smooth, sort of like it had been tuned. The magazine was an M10 Standard. Not a scratch on her. Apparently she’d been shot and put away dirty but, that’s an easy fix.
I’d been looking for one of these for quite awhile. I had one back in 1989, but Ex-Wife #2 had sold it while I was out of the country. I’d inherited it from my Dad and as a teenager had put loads of ammunition through it. Since this one is packing SN 224—82XXX mine must have been a Standard or Mark I.
Ruger produced this one in 2002. Strange enough the year that Bill Ruger died. Ruger started production of the Mark II in 1982 and stopped selling them in 2005.
So, I finally got my Mark II. I’m planning a range trip this week. Unfortunately she only came with one magazine and there’s none available locally. I’ll just have to be patient. At $240.00 it was a good price.
I disassembled and cleaned the weapon Thursday. Mark IIs are a bit easier that the Mark III 22/45s, but still loads of fun. Read the Owner’s Instructions for disassembly. That’s the easy part.
Reassembly is another manner. I’ve done the Mark I, II and III. Read the instructions and look around on YouTube. It’s one of those things best learned by doing. A few suggested tools.
To remove the grip covers, I use a Brownells Magna Tip, with a 270-3 bit. They’re hollow and ground just right; it makes a perfect fit into the screw slot to avoid stripping it. I also use a 16 oz Strike Pro Fiberglass hammer, a plastic punch, a large paper clip and a couple of smaller gunsmith hammers.
For reassembly, the barrel receiver goes on top of the frame so that the square lug engages the square front recess under the underside of the receiver. The barrel is pushed rearward until it stops, with the rear end of the receiver slightly over-hanging at the rear end of the grip frame.
That’s where the problems can start. If the mainspring housing bolt stop assembly pin doesn’t protrude far enough above the top of the receiver, the pin will not allow the latch to close. After repeated effort if the pin doesn’t protrude enough to allow the bolt stop assembly to latch in place, don’t try to force it.
Point the pistol barrel down and look behind the rear sight. Check the position of the Slide Bolt and see how it is seated into the receiver. The ears on the bolt have circular grooves. With the bolt inserted in the barrel, if the end of the receiver is not centered on these grooves, that means the barrel needs to be further back on the frame.
Hammer time. Take the bolt out and reseat the barrel. With the bolt back in, the bolt stop assembly should slide right in and close the latch.
So I thought I share the new find. Gotta run I've got a line on an Argentine Mauser Model 1891, 7.65 Argentine caliber.
